Report on visit to CW for 90 day report

[buick]

i arrived CW at 9am on Tuesday (this week, holiday weekend coming up), got queue A1 127.  they were on number 34 at the time of my arrival.  there is now an electronic board at the entrance to the immigration office area which shows the current queue number for each area inside (in the past i've used sections A, C, J, K, L but there are more !!).  maybe i missed that board on my last visit as i had an appointment at the L section and wasn't focused on a queue number.  that board made it a little easier to keep track of where i stood, not having to go back to the actual A area.

 

at 11am, i went to the A area as they were on 120 at that point.  while i stood there, i noticed someone sitting down with 210 and another person with 259.  i was done at 11:15am.  i'm fairly certain the 210 and 259 folks didn't finish before the lunch break.  if you want to be done by the lunch break, an arrival after 9:15am or so might be pushing it.  i can only speculate but that person with 259 arrived before 11am, will be there through the lunch break, and likely two hours after that - i waited 2 hours for them to process about 100 people, so they'd be doing the same.

 

earlier this year, i didn't do a 90 day report.  i flew out around day 105.  no mention of this 'miss' was made by the 90 report desk person.

[Upnotover]

You can easily make an appointment for that, might save you an hour or 2.

[DrJack54]

OP, did you provide TM30.

What docs did you provide.

Here is appointment link for next time.

https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/onlineservice-and-publicguide/

[bamnutsak]

25 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

You can easily make an appointment for that, might save you an hour or 2.

 

Yes, but...slots sell out quite quickly.

 

In July just a few slots remain on 25, 30, 31.

 

Personally I recommend making an insurance apppointment at day -30/-29, then cancel if your online is accepted.

 

 

 

 

[john donson]

why not do online ?

 

but, if/when I move, do I have to go in person or will my online 90 day stop working, well, it did not for 5-10 years initially...

[BangkokHank]

I will leave my home for Chaeng Wattana in an hour to do mine. I have an appointment for 14:00 this afternoon. I made the appointment online about a month ago.

 

Is there a form that I will have to fill out? Or do I just show up at the appointed time and hand them my passport? 

[buick]

23 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, did you provide TM30.

What docs did you provide.

Here is appointment link for next time.

https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/onlineservice-and-publicguide/

i had my passport and the TM47 form.  nothing else. 

 

thanks for the link, i hadn't heard of appts for 90 day reports.  i don't do them often given my travel schedule so don't pay alot of attention to some of the posts on the topic.

[buick]

1 hour ago, BangkokHank said:

I will leave my home for Chaeng Wattana in an hour to do mine. I have an appointment for 14:00 this afternoon. I made the appointment online about a month ago.

 

Is there a form that I will have to fill out? Or do I just show up at the appointed time and hand them my passport? 

 

you can get the TM47 Form at the desk just inside the entry door to the Immigration section.

[buick]

5 hours ago, john donson said:

why not do online ?

 

but, if/when I move, do I have to go in person or will my online 90 day stop working, well, it did not for 5-10 years initially...

reportedly, CW now requires an in person 90 day report if you've just returned to the country.  i've been on the NON O for almost 8 years and that's only the 4th 90 day report i've done - two in person and two online (before rule change).  i travel a few times a year so don't need to them much.

[buick]

On 7/16/2024 at 10:00 PM, Upnotover said:

You can easily make an appointment for that, might save you an hour or 2.

thank you for the info, i was not aware that appts could be made for the 90 day reports.  i did see desk A2, is that the area that handles appts ?  where do you check in when you have an appt ?

 

the appt system sure made the one year extension much easier.  i didn't mind this 2 hour session at CW but i'll gladly take a less than 30 minute session instead !!

[Upnotover]

3 minutes ago, buick said:

thank you for the info, i was not aware that appts could be made for the 90 day reports.  i did see desk A2, is that the area that handles appts ?  where do you check in when you have an appt ?

Can't say for sure but would guess it'll be on the appointment ticket same as for an extension appointment.  In any event the info desk will point you in the right direction.

[DrJack54]

10 minutes ago, buick said:

thank you for the info, i was not aware that appts could be made for the 90 day reports.  i did see desk A2, is that the area that handles appts ?  where do you check in when you have an appt ?

Even with appointment you still go to que desk far right side and show lady your application form and and appointment confirmation. 

She will write time and desk # 

In my case she actually picked up phone to the two desks handling TM47.

Added tip...if anyone needs a COR at CW (no appointments for that service) you can process application for the COR at same time as your 90 report is processed.

IO will even photocopy the TM47 for your COR application same desk. 

[bamnutsak]

45 minutes ago, buick said:

where do you check in when you have an appt ?

 

 

Info is on the appointment receipt, mine says Counter 66, which is a doc check (I think - or maybe that's a desk position at the Queue Counter within the main Immigration office area), and mine also has a "B 1110"  on the Queu Ticket. The last time I went on an appointment it took ~ 3 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 18 by bamnutsak

[BangkokHank]

I did my 90-day report this afternoon with an appointment for 14:00. Here's how things went:

 

I arrived at Immigration at 13:15 (45 minutes before my appointment - on the basis of it being better to be early than late - and I came from far away by taxi, so I had to allow for the possibility of traffic, etc.) I first went to the information desk and got the TM47 form, which I then filled out.

 

Then I got in one of the three "normal" queues where they hand out the queue numbers. When it was my turn, I showed them my appointment confirmation (which had my queue number: 1128 - my appointment time: 14:00 and the counter at which I would be processed: 66 - the same counter mentioned by @bamnutsak above.) But it turned out that people with appointments should go directly to queue number 4, which I then did. (It's right next to the other three regular queues. I had never noticed it before because it is for people with appointments, and this is the first time that I had an appointment.)

 

At that queue number 4, after showing them my proof of appointment, they gave me a little laminated card that said essentially the same things that were on my queue confirmation: my queue number (1128) and the time (14:00), and the counter number (66). Counter number 66 is the first counter on the right as you go in the direction of the 90-day reporting room for people without an appointment. At first I overlooked counter 66 and went into the big room where the masses of people were waiting, but I saw that the counter numbers there started at 67. So I went back out and found counter 66.

 

I took a seat in front of counter 66 at 13:30, and for a moment I thought that I might even be waited on early, as there appeared to be only three people ahead of me. (Queue number 1125 was being processed when I sat down and I was number 1128.) Alas, it doesn't work that way - otherwise it would mess up the whole timing. Each "customer" is allotted 10 minutes for processing. If a person is processed in less than the allotted time, then the officer deals with another person who is in a different queue - perhaps people who have to pay a fine due to being late? Anyway, in the end, my number was called at exactly 14:00, and it took exactly three minutes to process me.

 

Conclusion: Even with an appointment, I still ended up being there for 45 minutes - due to my getting there early so that I would not miss my time slot. Now that I know how everything works, I think I could cut that wait time down a bit by going a bit later by the BTS, where traffic is not an issue that needs to be taken into account. Despite my 45 minute wait, I think the people without an appointment had to wait longer - perhaps even much longer. The total trip, door to door, from my home to immigration and back, took four hours. An absolute waste of time and energy, any way you look at it. But, well, it's the price I pay for being able to live in Thailand.

[DrJack54]

7 minutes ago, BangkokHank said:

Even with an appointment, I still ended up being there for 45 minutes - due to my getting there early so that I would not miss my time slot

Long winded post that does not match my experience.

I arrived early and the lady at que desk yes gave plastic que # and marked it with a time.

Basically I was given next in line. 

On another occasion the que lady actually checked via phone if appointment desk was available.

I was seen straight away.

Both refer to 2024

 

 

[Lorry]

30 minutes ago, BangkokHank said:

I did my 90-day report this afternoon with an appointment for 14:00. Here's how things went:

 

I arrived at Immigration at 13:15 (45 minutes before my appointment - on the basis of it being better to be early than late - and I came from far away by taxi, so I had to allow for the possibility of traffic, etc.) I first went to the information desk and got the TM47 form, which I then filled out.

 

Then I got in one of the three "normal" queues where they hand out the queue numbers. When it was my turn, I showed them my appointment confirmation (which had my queue number: 1128 - my appointment time: 14:00 and the counter at which I would be processed: 66 - the same counter mentioned by @bamnutsak above.) But it turned out that people with appointments should go directly to queue number 4, which I then did. (It's right next to the other three regular queues. I had never noticed it before because it is for people with appointments, and this is the first time that I had an appointment.)

 

At that queue number 4, after showing them my proof of appointment, they gave me a little laminated card that said essentially the same things that were on my queue confirmation: my queue number (1128) and the time (14:00), and the counter number (66). Counter number 66 is the first counter on the right as you go in the direction of the 90-day reporting room for people without an appointment. At first I overlooked counter 66 and went into the big room where the masses of people were waiting, but I saw that the counter numbers there started at 67. So I went back out and found counter 66.

 

I took a seat in front of counter 66 at 13:30, and for a moment I thought that I might even be waited on early, as there appeared to be only three people ahead of me. (Queue number 1125 was being processed when I sat down and I was number 1128.) Alas, it doesn't work that way - otherwise it would mess up the whole timing. Each "customer" is allotted 10 minutes for processing. If a person is processed in less than the allotted time, then the officer deals with another person who is in a different queue - perhaps people who have to pay a fine due to being late? Anyway, in the end, my number was called at exactly 14:00, and it took exactly three minutes to process me.

 

Conclusion: Even with an appointment, I still ended up being there for 45 minutes - due to my getting there early so that I would not miss my time slot. Now that I know how everything works, I think I could cut that wait time down a bit by going a bit later by the BTS, where traffic is not an issue that needs to be taken into account. Despite my 45 minute wait, I think the people without an appointment had to wait longer - perhaps even much longer. The total trip, door to door, from my home to immigration and back, took four hours. An absolute waste of time and energy, any way you look at it. But, well, it's the price I pay for being able to live in Thailand.

Thx for posting,  even my experience is more similar to Dr Jack's

[BangkokHank]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Long winded post that does not match my experience.

I arrived early and the lady at que desk yes gave plastic que # and marked it with a time.

Basically I was given next in line. 

On another occasion the que lady actually checked via phone if appointment desk was available.

I was seen straight away.

Both refer to 2024

 

 

You missed your calling as a diplomat.

[rwilem]

10 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Added tip...if anyone needs a COR at CW (no appointments for that service) you can process application for the COR at same time as your 90 report is processed.

Last fall I needed to do the 90-dayer in person, after the online submissions were rejected. I made an appointment and also prepared the form/copies to get a COR at the desk at the same time. After completing the 90-dayer at the B desk dedicated for appointments the clerk refused my request for a COR. No dice. Flatly refused, and told me to get a number at the main 'check-in counter' if I wanted a COR.

 

So I went over and got a number for the COR, served by the slow-moving B desks. It took a couple hours before it was done. Just sharing my experience. Maybe they'll do it, maybe not.

 

Pro tip: I would have been best served by getting a number for the COR right away at the time I arrived to Immigration, as I got there about 45 minutes before my 90-dayer appointment, and killed time downstairs. Lesson: get the number for COR right off the bat.

 

 

[DrJack54]

7 hours ago, rwilem said:

I would have been best served by getting a number for the COR right away at the time I arrived to Immigration,

When I went to que desk (far right) I showed lady my appointment confirmation and my filled in form for 90 day report AND my filled in form for COR.

She noted both on my que slip. No issue.

Note: I have had to do couple of COR and 90 reports this year.

One io is delightful and helpful the other is the opposite. 

[JimTripper]

Why bother posting when there is no consistency? It seems to be different for many people who go in for the same reason.

[rwilem]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

One io is delightful and helpful the other is the opposite.

Well, yeah I must have gotten the latter, ha.

[mokwit]

12 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Long winded post that does not match my experience.

I arrived early and the lady at que desk yes gave plastic que # and marked it with a time.

Basically I was given next in line. 

On another occasion the que lady actually checked via phone if appointment desk was available.

I was seen straight away.

Both refer to 2024

 

 

Might be a very recent change - Last year re entry desk would see you early if you had an appointment, this year wait for your number to be called at the appointed time while we see others in the interim.

[oldcpu]

An educational thread - illustrating how different various Immigration offices can be.

 

When I used to be on a Type-O/OA visas, I often would go to Phuket immigration for my 90-day report (as the on-line reporting rarely worked for me). It is less than a 15-minute car drive from where I live.  I think the most I ever had to wait at the immigration for a 90-day report was close to 45-minutes (it was a zoo that day at the office, and it was very over-crowded), and most times for a 90-day report I was in/out in less than 15-minutes, ... sometimes less than 5 minutes when using the Phuket central immigration office automobile drive through.  No appointments needed.

 

Reading of over 2 hours being required in one case at CW, and 45-minutes being a relatively quick time, was, for me as noted, educational.  It definitely "drives home" how different various Immigration offices can be in terms of what one does.

 

I assume the conclusion for CW is to always try and make an appointment?

[rwilem]

5 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

I assume the conclusion for CW is to always try and make an appointment?

Yes, you got it. Some time back, the 90-day system was failing for me and the appointment system was down. It took about four hours from when I arrived till when I was done. Use online appointments for all you can.

[mokwit]

Anyone know what the current rate for an agent to file TM47 (90 day report) at CW is? - getting silly money quotes from a couple I asked in lower sukhumvit. They claimed very little of it went to them and some other entity got the lions share.

Edited July 19 by mokwit

[Lorry]

7 hours ago, mokwit said:

Anyone know what the current rate for an agent to file TM47 (90 day report) at CW is? - getting silly money quotes from a couple I asked in lower sukhumvit. They claimed very little of it went to them and some other entity got the lions share.

Anybody can do it for you. 

My gf would probably charge you 300 max, plus expenses. 

A friend of mine gives his gf 1000 (they live in lower Sukhumvit).

I once did it for a friend. Free. Foreigners are cheap.