Immigartion E-mail List For Regulations

[opalhort]

Does the Immigration department have a service of e-mailing any visa regulation changes to registered subscribers?

I think if such a service is available it would help many foreigners, because we would not have to listen to all the rumours and second and third hand info spread over the various forums.

TV provides a great service, notably Sunbelt, Lopburi and many more, by providing the latest info. THANK YOU

But wouldn't it be great to receive the latest info directly from the source (immigration) rather than through a third party?

opalhort

[Maestro]

Does the Immigration department have a service of e-mailing any visa regulation changes to registered subscribers?

No. But it has a website where much of the information is outdated.

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Maestro

[opalhort]

Does the Immigration department have a service of e-mailing any visa regulation changes to registered subscribers?

No. But it has a website where much of the information is outdated.

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Maestro

Thanks Maestro, I'm aware of the website with the outdated info.

This is the reason why I asked about a mailing list.

Is there nobody here in Thailand who is in a position to make a suggestion in this regard to the Imm people?

How about Sunbelt?

opalhort

[Maestro]

It’s so nice to meet somebody who still believes in Santa Claus.

Seeing that the Immigration Bureau is not making the minimal effort to keep its website up-to-date, what makes you think that they would want to handle a mailing list or be capable to do so?

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Maestro

[cali4995]

Opalhort, it is difficult to fathom why they would want to make

accessing accurate information such an aggravation. It's been

mentioned before that having deliberate ambiguity to such

rules/regulations allowed the immigration officers rather broad

discretionary powers. That theory certainly worth considering.

[opalhort]

It’s so nice to meet somebody who still believes in Santa Claus.

--

Maestro

Well, I'm an eternal optimist. That's probably the reason why I have survived living in Thailand for the past 23 years.

I only thought that somebody with some clout would be able to put suggestions to the Imm people.

Okay, I'll wake up now and put my dream to sleep, but it can never hurt asking, right?

opalhort

[opalhort]

It's been

mentioned before that having deliberate ambiguity to such

rules/regulations allowed the immigration officers rather broad

discretionary powers.

Yes, but ambiguity can also be beneficial to people on the borderline (grey area) of the rules.

I've experienced this twice over fifteen years ago when I could not exactly comply with the written rules but the officers took other factors, not stipulated in the rules, into consideration and granted my extension request. NO, I never had to 'grease any palms'! (all my immigration dealings are at BKK Suan Plu)

The problem the Immigration office is facing is how to screen out genuine applicants. We all know that the visa system has been abused by some foreigners; so where to draw the line. The only way is to give the interviewing officer the authority to pass judgement.

Western countries do exactly the same with visa applicants. The only difference is that the screening is done at the embassy/consulate level. Whereas Thai embassies/consulates hardly do any screening. Therefore the real screening of an applicant has to be made in Thailand during the visa extension process.

opalhort