Annual Extension Of Stay A Cw

[GarryP]

This morning I filed my first extension of stay application at Chaengwattana. All my previous applications were filed at Suan Plu. It is certainly much nicer than Suan Plu and I was finished in less than 15 minutes with a 30 day under consideration stamp. What did get me though is the ever changing documentary requirements. The officer I saw this morning was polite without being friendly, a little stand offish so to speak. She asked if I had all the original documents, which I did but she did not want to see them. I had the requisite photos of my wife and I had also printed them on A4 paper as I thought it would be easier for filing. However, she selected only one A4 page containing two photos and gave the rest back. She did not want the new Kor Ror 2 I had obtained for the local district office and was satisfied with the copy I had from last year.

However, every silver lining has a cloud. Two new demands were placed on me, a copy of my rental agreement and a letter from my place of employment confirming my salary. These had never been required before. I pointed out that the rental agreement I have expired over 5 years ago and that I was now renting without any agreement. She said it did not matter, a copy of the old agreement would be okay. I did not question the letter confirming salary, which seems overkill as copies of tax payments, payroll and forms were provided and these indicate my level of income, but the office will arrange for someone to deliver it tomorrow.

I did learn, however, that not all the officers in the section I was in are quite so strict. This is the reason why such documents were not requested from me before. I just lucked out and got the strict officer for the first time this morning.

I should perhaps clarify that I have a category B visa, extend my stay based on being married to a Thai and use my salary as evidence of income. I have been obtaining my extensions of stay this way for the past 18 years and prior to that was extending based on money in the bank. Despite this, I am still caught unawares by new requirements that are not published or that seem to be tacked on at the whims of officials on any given day. I have had the same officer request different documents on three different visits and I only started submitting photos two years ago despite others saying they had to start submitting them 4 or 5 years ago. It would be nice if there was a certain amount of standardization as in my case it is a long way to pop back home and pick up something new that they have decided now needs to be included in my application.

I also find the demands for photographs quite amusing. My family does not have any great interest in taking photos, so although I have a camera, it is used precisely once a year to take photos for my visa application. It is then put away to gather dust until the next extension of stay is due. To say my photos look staged would be an understatement.

Despite the problems and the distance, much more enjoyable than Suan Plu. We got there early and had breakfast at one of the restarurants, and had a nice wander round. Hopefully, next year I can get a more relaxed officer. Overall not a bad morning and I managed to do my 90 day report too so killed two birds with one stone.