Retirement extension completed in minutes - NO AGENT

[BenStark]

In the past few months, I have posted a few responses to posts that wrongfully claim that to complete an extension based on retirement takes you hours in Jomtien, unless you waste 10 -15K on an agent.

 

My response was always that it takes me less than 30 minutes, because I have my documents prepared, and I make an online appointment. I then get the response, from the same naysayer brigade that claim a yellow tabien baan has no value and is a waste of time, that appointments don't work in Jomtien.

 

So this year on my renewal, I again made an online appointment, similar to previous years. The only difference this time was that I had a new passport and the stamps needed to be moved.

 

My online appointment was yesterday at 1:30pm, and of course I had prepared all my documents in advance, as they are stored on my PC, and just need some dates edited and printed out.

 

I arrived at the office at 1:15pm, and the building on the left was filled up with people queueing to get their number. I didn't count them, but could easily be 100 people.

 

So I went straight to the information desk at the front, showed the appointment email I had printed out together with my passport, and got the number for desk 8.

 

Went inside, one foreigner was sitting at the desk signing his documents, and my number was called right away. Handed over my documents and was told this was a 2 step process, as first they had to move the old stamps to the new passport. This could not be done on the same day, and I feared that I had to make a new appointment.

 

On the contrary, I was given a form to fill in the request to move the stamps, and in the meantime the officer checked the document for the extension, declared them correct and stapled them together, before handing them back to me.

 

He then gave me a number and told me to come back at 11am today to complete the extension. I was outside the office at 1:28pm. That is THIRTEEN minutes.

 

Today I went back, and entered the office building at 10:42. Went to the right side of desk 8 and was handed my passports.

 

I then went to the front of the desk, and handed my documents to the same person who had served me yesterday, while I went outside to take a copy of the stamps in my new passport.

 

Came back and was asked for 1900 baht, which I paid and got a number with the message to pick up passport tomorrow after 2pm.

 

Exited the office at 10:54am, that is another TWELVE minutes.

 

To those that use an agent my message is, keep wasting your money because you can't be bothered to do due diligence.

[Celsius]

so it took you 3 days not 13 minutes as you claim

[Liverpool Lou]

Your report seems to suggest that it actually took three days.

"My online appointment was yesterday...

...told me to come back at 11am today...

...message to pick up passport tomorrow"

.

[BenStark]

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Your report seems to suggest that it actually took three days.

"My online appointment was yesterday...

...told me to come back at 11am today...

...message to pick up passport tomorrow"

.

 

So agents can do it faster? They put the stamps in your passport while you wait at their desk?

[scubascuba3]

Better to be truthful about the days and time, not minutes

[Celsius]

4 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

So agents can do it faster? They put the stamps in your passport while you wait at their desk?

 

I'll let you know in a few minutes next week

[bamnutsak]

Why would the OP be so vexed about how others manage their visa/extension processes?

 

This fascination with how others do something, and the neediness of these people to shame others is perplexing.

[Liverpool Lou]

8 minutes ago, BenStark said:

So agents can do it faster? They put the stamps in your passport while you wait at their desk?

They can do it without three visits to Immigration.

Edited February 29 by Liverpool Lou

[BenStark]

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Better to be truthful about the days and time, not minutes

 

Can agents do it in less time?

[BenStark]

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

They can do it without three visits to Immigration,

 

You have to visit the agents at least twice, once to drop off passport, then accompany them to the immigration to have your picture taken, and then again to pick up your passport.

Your argument is flawed Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, BenStark said:

 

Can agents do it in less time?

The OP claimed that his retirement extension was completed "in minutes".   It actually took three days - which I suppose is minutes...4,320 of them. 

[BenStark]

11 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Better to be truthful about the days and time, not minutes

Wasn't it you who said that appointments don't work in Jomtien?

[BenStark]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

The OP claimed that his retirement extension was completed "in minutes".   It actually took three days - which I suppose is minutes...4,320 of them. 

 

So how long does it take with an agent, you still fail to answer that question, because you are too eager to argue

[Liverpool Lou]

3 minutes ago, BenStark said:

6 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

They can do it without three visits to Immigration,

 

You have to visit the agents at least twice, once to drop off passport, then accompany them to the immigration to have your picture taken, and then again to pick up your passport.

Your argument is flawed Lou

As is yours, my passport is collected from my home and delivered back to my home with an extension in it.  I do have to have a photo taken though, you're right about that.  But, using the flawed logic of the OP, that "only takes minutes"!

[BenStark]

4 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

As is yours, my passport is collected from my home and delivered back to my home with an extension in it.  I do have to have a photo taken though, you're right about that.  But, using the flawed logic of the OP, that "only takes minutes"!

 

So how do you take the picture at the immigration office without leaving your home?

 

So you admit that with an agent it also takes several days to complete, but you're happy to part with 10 - 15K for that privilege

Edited February 29 by BenStark

[Liverpool Lou]

3 minutes ago, BenStark said:

So how long does it take with an agent, you still fail to answer that question, because you are too eager to argue

I'm not the one making claims about how long mine took and I wasn't asked that question, I'm just responding to the OP's very inaccurate claim in the OP title.  

[Liverpool Lou]

2 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

So how do you take the picture at the immigration office without leaving your home?

I didn't say that I didn't have to leave home for the photo, I said that you were correct about that aspect.  My extension does not necessitate three visits to Immigration as the OP's did.

Edited February 29 by Liverpool Lou

[TroubleandGrumpy]

Ok OK - clearly paying for and using an agent is what some people like, and doing it themselves (like me) is what others like to do. I think the OP is being 'defensive' and did not realise that the title of his post and the words he used came across to some as an attack on those who use agents.  Maybe a more appropriate title would have been ' Extension done quickly in Jomtien' and then details on how things progressed. 

[bamnutsak]

2 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

I think the OP is being 'defensive' and did not realise that the title of his post and the words he used came across to some as an attack on those who use agents.

 

Well, he did close with this (and used all caps for no agent)....

 

44 minutes ago, BenStark said:

To those that use an agent my message is, keep wasting your money because you can't be bothered to do due diligence.

 

 

Again, I don't get the need to insult but maybe the OP has some ongoing feud here?

 

 

 

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

8 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Maybe a more appropriate title would have been ' Extension done quickly in Jomtien' and then details on how things progressed. 

Maybe a more appropriate title would have been ' Extension done in three daily visits at Jomtien'

[TroubleandGrumpy]

4 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

 

Well, he did close with this (and used all caps for no agent)....

Again, I don't get the need to insult but maybe the OP has some ongoing feud here?

 

Yeh - maybe he does - lets see where it goes and how he responds.

[BobBKK]

39 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

So agents can do it faster? They put the stamps in your passport while you wait at their desk?

 

Yes, they can, dude... I have used an agent for 15 years - a private room with a dedicated IO officer. Never any "come back another day".  I loathe all these "I saved $50; look how smart I am" posts - then it actually took three days lol.

[BenStark]

Just now, BobBKK said:

 

Yes, they can, dude... I have used an agent for 15 years - a private room with a dedicated IO officer. Never any "come back another day".  I loathe all these "I saved $50; look how smart I am" posts - then it actually took three days lol.

 

Obviously an illegal agent, maybe you shouldn't brag about on the open forum

[Andre0720]

1 hour ago, BenStark said:

In the past few months, I have posted a few responses to posts that wrongfully claim that to complete an extension based on retirement takes you hours in Jomtien, unless you waste 10 -15K on an agent.

 

My response was always that it takes me less than 30 minutes, because I have my documents prepared, and I make an online appointment. I then get the response, from the same naysayer brigade that claim a yellow tabien baan has no value and is a waste of time, that appointments don't work in Jomtien.

 

So this year on my renewal, I again made an online appointment, similar to previous years. The only difference this time was that I had a new passport and the stamps needed to be moved.

 

My online appointment was yesterday at 1:30pm, and of course I had prepared all my documents in advance, as they are stored on my PC, and just need some dates edited and printed out.

 

I arrived at the office at 1:15pm, and the building on the left was filled up with people queueing to get their number. I didn't count them, but could easily be 100 people.

 

So I went straight to the information desk at the front, showed the appointment email I had printed out together with my passport, and got the number for desk 8.

 

Went inside, one foreigner was sitting at the desk signing his documents, and my number was called right away. Handed over my documents and was told this was a 2 step process, as first they had to move the old stamps to the new passport. This could not be done on the same day, and I feared that I had to make a new appointment.

 

On the contrary, I was given a form to fill in the request to move the stamps, and in the meantime the officer checked the document for the extension, declared them correct and stapled them together, before handing them back to me.

 

He then gave me a number and told me to come back at 11am today to complete the extension. I was outside the office at 1:28pm. That is THIRTEEN minutes.

 

Today I went back, and entered the office building at 10:42. Went to the right side of desk 8 and was handed my passports.

 

I then went to the front of the desk, and handed my documents to the same person who had served me yesterday, while I went outside to take a copy of the stamps in my new passport.

 

Came back and was asked for 1900 baht, which I paid and got a number with the message to pick up passport tomorrow after 2pm.

 

Exited the office at 10:54am, that is another TWELVE minutes.

 

To those that use an agent my message is, keep wasting your money because you can't be bothered to do due diligence.

All that is possible of course, but from my understanding,

Only for people who have NEVER used an Agent before, Only...

 

Now is that the case for you????

[Andre0720]

25 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

Obviously an illegal agent, maybe you shouldn't brag about on the open forum

No such thing as an 'illegal agent',

particularly when in some situations, their use is suggested by Immigration Officers, at the Immigration Office...

[BenStark]

2 minutes ago, Andre0720 said:

All that is possible of course, but from my understanding,

Only for people who have NEVER used an Agent before, Only...

 

Now is that the case for you????

 

Why would someone who ever has used an agent, be required to continue using an agent forever?

[BenStark]

Just now, Andre0720 said:

No such thing as an 'illegal agent',

particularly when in some situations, their use is suggested by Immigration Officers, at the Immigration Office...

 

Oh yes there are, and quite a few have been the subject of a thread in the news forum already.

 

Using an agent without having the funds in the bank is definitely illegal.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, BenStark said:

 

Can agents do it in less time?

This isn't about agents it's about you trying to pretend it was done and dusted in minutes when in fact it was days 

[scubascuba3]

59 minutes ago, BenStark said:

Wasn't it you who said that appointments don't work in Jomtien?

In the past it didn't work but apparently if you bowled in they might let you go in anyway, maybe that happened to you

[BenStark]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

This isn't about agents it's about you trying to pretend it was done and dusted in minutes when in fact it was days 

 

Only people like you would count the days it take to process, as that time is always required, even when using an agent.

 

My point is that many, and particular you, have claimed that appointments are not possible at jomtien, and you are required to queue up