LTR Health Insurance : Self-insurance with US$100,000 Bank Deposit

[T_Dog]

I used the new US Consulate appointment system and had an 8:30 time today. I arrived at 8:05 and at 8:25 I was done and out the door with notarized documents in hand.

With the new appointment system, once you are through security screening you go directly to Window 1 to confirm you appointment and explain your needs, then you pay any fees at Window 2. After a very short wait, you are called in to finalize what you need.

Here are a couple of time saving hints:

-Leave your phone at home or in your car/motorcycle. This goes for cameras, remote keylocks, and anything electronic.

-Print off and bring a copy of your appointment.

-Look at the US Citizen Services FAQ website

http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service/a...rvice-faq2.html

to see if the forms you need are listed in question number 8. If they are, print them off and fill them out before going to the consulate.

-If you don’t have a printer, download them to a flash keychain drive and print them at an internet shop.

All in all, I was amazed at how efficiently the appointment system worked for me. Hopefully everyone will benefit from this in the same way.

Note: http://chiangmai.usconsulate.gov/service/m...pointment2.html is where you make the appointment, but I could not save a pdf of the appointment using Firefox on my MacBook for printing at an internet shop. I had to take a photo of my computer screen and then print that off. Not that convenient, but it worked. If you have a printer directly connected to your computer, you should be able to print the appointment easily.

[elektrified]

Thanks for the report. The U.S. Government is the last place on earth I would go to for help with anything.

[PeaceBlondie]

They have alwas been helpful to me, in Ciang Mai, Bangkok, and Shanghai. Issuing passport in Houston, too. Sending my SSA application to Manila, etc. However, neither T Dog nor I use them for our motorcycle needs or som tam purchases.

[T_Dog]

They have alwas been helpful to me, in Ciang Mai, Bangkok, and Shanghai. Issuing passport in Houston, too. Sending my SSA application to Manila, etc. However, neither T Dog nor I use them for our motorcycle needs or som tam purchases.

But they do make a great Khao Soy there!

[luvthailand]

I was there on Tuesday to add pages to my passport and it went great. My total time at the Consulate was literally 15 minutes, quite incredible! (I had the proper form filled out prior to arrival, in addition to the appointment page). I thought the experience was very American, that is, high security, friendly people, and extremely efficient.

After going through the metal detector, they asked me to turn my phone off and give it to them. But I only put it on silent, not turned off as they actually asked me to do. When I left and recovered my phone, it would not receive a signal. I had to turn it off and turn it on again. It was not obvious, it was on and functioning all right, but it could not receive a signal. It was half an hour before I realized it was not working, when I got error messages sent back from text messages that I sent and realized that I had to reboot it. This has never happened to my phone before, so I am not sure if they do something with them while stored in the embassy so that they can't receive a signal. Anyway, as OP said, leave your phone in moto/car or be sure to turn it completely off before handing it over.

LuvThailand

[elektrified]

I was there on Tuesday to add pages to my passport and it went great. My total time at the Consulate was literally 15 minutes, quite incredible! (I had the proper form filled out prior to arrival, in addition to the appointment page). I thought the experience was very American, that is, high security, friendly people, and extremely efficient.

After going through the metal detector, they asked me to turn my phone off and give it to them. But I only put it on silent, not turned off as they actually asked me to do. When I left and recovered my phone, it would not receive a signal. I had to turn it off and turn it on again. It was not obvious, it was on and functioning all right, but it could not receive a signal. It was half an hour before I realized it was not working, when I got error messages sent back from text messages that I sent and realized that I had to reboot it. This has never happened to my phone before, so I am not sure if they do something with them while stored in the embassy so that they can't receive a signal. Anyway, as OP said, leave your phone in moto/car or be sure to turn it completely off before handing it over.

LuvThailand

Unbelievable... You are asked to turn the thing off but you don't follow the rules. Now you complain because it doesn't work properly. Did it ever occur to you that there may be a reason that they want people who can't live without a mobile, and carry it inside a consulate, to shut it off once inside there??

[bunta71]

Too lazy to look myself....are they still limiting American Services to only two half days per week?

[sendbaht]

US Consulate here in CM gets all gold stars. Only used the walk up service so far but do have a appointment

next week. I bet all the large 3 photos inside the waiting room have changed? Have they?

[luvthailand]

I was there on Tuesday to add pages to my passport and it went great. My total time at the Consulate was literally 15 minutes, quite incredible! (I had the proper form filled out prior to arrival, in addition to the appointment page). I thought the experience was very American, that is, high security, friendly people, and extremely efficient.

After going through the metal detector, they asked me to turn my phone off and give it to them. But I only put it on silent, not turned off as they actually asked me to do. When I left and recovered my phone, it would not receive a signal. I had to turn it off and turn it on again. It was not obvious, it was on and functioning all right, but it could not receive a signal. It was half an hour before I realized it was not working, when I got error messages sent back from text messages that I sent and realized that I had to reboot it. This has never happened to my phone before, so I am not sure if they do something with them while stored in the embassy so that they can't receive a signal. Anyway, as OP said, leave your phone in moto/car or be sure to turn it completely off before handing it over.

LuvThailand

Unbelievable... You are asked to turn the thing off but you don't follow the rules. Now you complain because it doesn't work properly. Did it ever occur to you that there may be a reason that they want people who can't live without a mobile, and carry it inside a consulate, to shut it off once inside there??

Actually, if you will reread my post, you will see that I was not complaining about anything. I just thought it was very interesting as a former electrical engineer -- this is why I went out of my way to explain that I did not carefully follow their directions and to try to assist others to not make the same mistake that I did. They asked me real quick for the phone as I was about to walk into the main area, and I forgot how to turn my phone completely off.

You have two very negative and unnecessary comments on the same thread, congratulations!

Life is good!

LuvThailand

[Dean1953]

I have only had the occasion to use the consulate in Chiang Mai a couple of times; to add passport pages, to noterize something and to get a passport and american "birth certificate" for my son. I wish they handled permanent residency visas, even if only one day a month, as having to go to Bangkok with my wife and 4 kids several times was a major pain both in time and money spent.