Kl For 12M Non-Imm-O Visa

[seefah]

Last week I went to Kuala Lumpur to get a 12 month Non Immigrant O Visa which was successful.

Below are some details of what I took and what was actually requested.

Dependent Visa (Dependent of spouse or parent possessing Thai nationality)

1. Visa application form dually filled out. I had downloaded the MS-Word form/document from the embassy web site and typed in my details, then printed it off. However, as I was using Libre Office/Open Office software, the layout wasn't exactly the same and so didn't quite print correctly. I took it with me anyway and just copied the details by pen onto the supplied form from the entrance of the embassy. Don't forget to take your own pen.

2. Passport valid for minimum of 18 months to allow for 12 month visa.

3. Copy of passport. Although I took copies of all pages of my passport, as advised by someone in this forum, actually (or in my case) they only wanted the photo page of the passport and unsigned. I would say that if you did turn up at the embassy with only a copy of the passport photo page and they ask for other/all pages, there is a laser photocopier in the 7/11 shop about 5 minutes away at the Ampang Park station. Actually all 7/11 shops have a laser photocopier service, but the price is more than you'd pay in Thailand.

4. Photograph(s) of the applicant. I took 3 photos of me with white background, but they only wanted 1 photo.

5. Original and copy of official marriage certificate (for spouse). I took the original, a copy unsigned and a copy signed. They didn't look at the original or the signed copy, and took the unsigned copy only.

6. Original and copy of official birth certificate (For children). Not needed for my visa application.

7. Copy of Thai identity card (of spouse or parent). They wanted the signed copy.

8. Copy of Thai house registration (of spouse or parent). They wanted the signed copy.

9. Bank Statement with a minimum deposit of ฿100,000. I took the original bank book, photo copy of all pages of the bank book, and just for safe measure a confirmation letter from the bank stating funds in the account with bank rubber stamped and signed by manager (cost 200 Baht). The letter was a waste of ฿200 as the embassy would not accept that as proof. They also didn't see my original bank book and instead just took the photocopies of the book only, unsigned.

10. The current fee for the multiple entry visa was 550 Malaysian Ringgit which I had already exchanged along with other money in Thailand.

Before leaving the embassy, I asked if the clerk needed any other documentation or to see the originals of anything, as the only original document seen was my passport, the answer was no all done. Remembering other people's experiences posted on this forum, I left the embassy with the feeling of uncertainty, but in the afternoon of the following day, I waited no more than 10 minutes inside the embassy and left with my new 12 month visa in my passport.

Other information;

When you come out of the Ampang Park station exit to ground level, you'll see the road to your left with taxis waiting and the 7/11 shop and other shops to your right. The Thai Embassy is in the direction behind you, on the same side of the road. You'll pass the French Embassy and a car show room first before reaching the Thai Embassy. Its an easy >10 minutes walk and mostly shaded by the trees along the road side.

When I purchased the AirAsia flight I also took the SkyBus ticket option for 148.60 Baht, slightly less than what you'd pay directly on the bus. You'll have to print out the AirAsia Invoice which shows that you have purchased the SkyBus ticket already as you don't get any ticket or confirmation printed out when you go to the airport to collect your air ticket. On the invoice it will state under Service & Fees - 1 x SKYB. Just show the printout and they will give you a one-way ticket. Keep the printout so that you can use it again on your return to the airport.

If on a budget, its good advice I read in this forum to check hotel room first as their are some not so great rooms, of course. However, if you walk in, you'll most likely pay more for a hotel room than booking in advance online. That's just the way it is, they only seem to have promotion prices online. As I didn't want to pay for a budget hotel online without seeing the room, I found a hotel in Chinatown that had a Skype contact and booked directly for 1 night at RM88. Room was okay to sleep in but it had carpet that was well past its use by date and filled the room with a stale smell. I had found another hotel outside of Chinatown that had conveniently just opened and booked the rest of my time there at RM108 per night, which was a pretty good deal.

Food court called Signature on the 2nd flood of the KLCC Petronas Twin Towers building has some nice food and reasonable price. There is also a food court at the top floor of the shopping building. Street food is tasty also, but I found that any meat dish I asked for didn't really come with that much meat.

At KL Sentral station in Malaysia, on the ground floor there is an information desk. Behind that there are steps that take you upstairs, where you will find on the left the AirAisa shop which has the kiosks and staff if you want to check your flight details. However, on the day of leaving KL, I visited the shop to check in and get my boarding pass, but was told that I could only do that at the airport. Note that there is also other AirAsia agent shops at KL Sentral.

At the airport the process of checking in is easy. Type in your booking code, print the boarding pass, turn around and head to the closest AirAisia checking desk and get your boarding pass stamped.

For probably everyone this next bit of info will be useless, but here it is anyway just in case. When I first arrived at the KUL Airport, I noticed a toy shop in the arrivals area before the baggage scanner check through area. The toy shop had a particular toy I wanted for my kid but at the time I thought it would be better to get it from in town for potentially cheaper, but actually the shop's prices are as good as in town. As it turned out I couldn't find the same toy in the city, so my intention was to get it on my return to the airport before leaving. As you might expect, the security guards will not allow anyone back into the arrivals area before baggage scanning, unless of course you have a pass. To get a pass, walk past McDonalds, you'll see a corridor which has a doorway to an elevator and staircase to upstairs. Upstairs you'll find the Malaysia Airports office where you can request a day pass for RM1 and deposit ID or passport, no forms to fill out. Then you can freely walk through the arrivals area to the shops. Afterwards, take the pass back to the same place and get you ID back. Happily I got the toy I wanted for my kid and even got a discount which covered the cost of getting the day pass.

[lopburi3]

Excellent report - thanks much for posting it.

[Maestro]

Added a link to it in the list of "Latest Reports Of Getting A Visa In The Region"

[seefah]

Corrections to my original post above;

The Thai Embassy is an easy <10 minutes walk from Ampang station, not greater than like I posted above.

The Signature food court is on the 2nd floor of the KLCC, not 2nd flood. My typo excuse, I was thinking about food and the r and d keys are next to each other on the keyboard ;-)

Addition

Depending on where your hotel is, or where you travel within Kuala Lumpur during your stay, you might use both the Light Rail Transit (LRT) train and the KL Monorail. The LRT is similar to Bangkok's BTS trains, however the LRT trains go both over and under ground. The monorail which goes only over ground is a separate system with much smaller trains which has some stations reasonably near to the LRT. Unlike Bangkok's BTS and MRT linking stations that pretty much sit on top of each other, in Kuala Lumpur you have to do a 2 - 5 minute walk between most linking LRT and monorail stations. What you might find is that you come out of one station and are not sure which direction to go for the other systems station. I found as a general rule that the pavement/side walks that have shelters that run the entire length of the pavement leads you to the station of the other system. All other pavements of course had no shelters. This was particularly useful not only in knowing which direction to go, but as it rained in the evenings, it kept you dry between transferring to another train/monorail.

What should be an obvious tip (and oversight on my part) - to avoid any ill feelings when you get back home, don't forget to take back from Malaysia some ka-nom or something, even if you can get the same back in Thailand for cheaper. Fortunately the suggestion of buffet tonight seems to have fixed my wrong doing ;-)

[Somtamnication]

Xcellent report. I may have to go next week.

Thanks.

[Somtamnication]

The KL website seems to be down, as does mfa.co.th. Tried it with a vpn as well and nothing. Anyone got the form from their site?

[TravellinShoes]

That's good news! I was always under the impression the requirement was 400K, at least that's what they told me when they gave just 3 mths in Singapore several yrs ago. Since then I did a couple of runs to KL with 400K in the bank book and got the yr multi no probs. Time has come again when I need to go to KL, so glad to know I only need to find 100K. Thanx for posting the info.

[thaiphoon]

1 post has been removed as seperate topic has been opened. Pls do not duplicate information requests. Thanks.