Phibun Immigrations

[mosan]

Visa Extension of Stay Trip Report

I went to Phibun Mangsahan, Ubon Ratchathani today, 28 July 2011, to accomplish my annual

visa extension based on retirement. This is my ninth trip to Phibun and each trip seems to be

more pleasant than the last. I arrived at 1:35pm to an almost completely empty office. A female

Senior Police Sergeant Major looked up, said "hello", and reached out motioning for my

paperwork.

My paperwork:

- Passport

- TM.47 Notify of 90 Day Stay (and receipt stapled to a page in passport)

- TM.6 Departure Card (stapled to page in passport)

- TM.7 Application for Extension

- One 2 centimeter x 6 centimeter photo

- American Embassy Income Affidavit

- 1900 Baht

Additionally, I included two copies of the following:

- Passport photo page

- Initial Entry VISA Stamp Page

- TM.6 Departure Card Front (and Back side to show initial entry stamp)

- Current Extension of Stay Stamp Page

- American Embassy Income Affidavit

- 1099R (original plus copies for proof of income—explained below)

- Retiree Account Statement (original plus copies for proof of income—explained below)

First, the immigrations officer looked through the stack, promptly wrote out a receipt for the

application fee and handed it to me. Next she updated the computer, and had me sign one copy of

each document in my stack. She explained that only ONE copy was needed and returned the extras

to me. Then she pasted the photo on the application, had me sign the front and back, stamped my

passport and placed the paperwork on a desk.

Shortly thereafter, a female Immigrations Police Lt. Colonel entered the offic, After spotting

my paperwork on the desk she reviewed it, initialed off on everything, and handed it back to her

subordinate. The Senior Sergeant Major quickly handed me my passport, quoted me the date of my

next 90 day check and said "you're done". I was amazed! I thanked both her and the Lt. Colonel

then looked at the clock...it was 1:50pm.

Immigrations did want to see proof of my income but they never got the chance to ask. I read

about the rumors so I put a Form 1099R and a Retiree Account Statement in my documentation

stack. The Form 1099R is an income tax document which shows annual distributions (payments)

from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, Individual Retirement Accounts and

Insurance Contracts. The Retiree Account Statement shows monthly income and deductions of US

Military Retiree Pay. The immigrations officer retained a copy of both documents as proof of my

receiving said income.

Edited July 28, 2011 by MOSAN

[bergen]

You lucky man!

Having a short time at the Phibun Immigration office.....

Well done!

[elwood]

You lucky man!

Having a short time at the Phibun Immigration office.....

Well done!

Yes, and that Pol. Lt. Colonel is a very tasty lady - in my eyes at least. Even gave me a coffee when I was there in January, poured by her own hand!

Congratulations OP - we are very lucky to have Phibun as our immigration office, especially when you read on here about some of the awkward gits (no, the officers, not the expats) at other stations.

Elwood

[sezzo]

As I will be also using Phibun for my yearly extensions when I return to live in Thailand I have a question for you. Was the paperwork that you submitted in english or was it a verified translation in Thai. The reason I ask is that up until 5 years ago I was living in Ubon and was using Phibun for my marriage visa extensions and I had to submit thai translations of all english language paperwork. Im hoping this has changed

Thanks,

Carl

[mike123ca]

As I will be also using Phibun for my yearly extensions when I return to live in Thailand I have a question for you. Was the paperwork that you submitted in english or was it a verified translation in Thai. The reason I ask is that up until 5 years ago I was living in Ubon and was using Phibun for my marriage visa extensions and I had to submit thai translations of all english language paperwork. Im hoping this has changed

Thanks,

Carl

Hi,

I'll be doing the same thing in two or 3 weeks.

I'll let you know about the status of English documentation.

Just curious, what documents do you have to submit that are in English?

Each time, I visited Phibun immigration, the place is very quiet and the staff

was pleasant. I hope it continues to stay that way.

[elwood]

As I will be also using Phibun for my yearly extensions when I return to live in Thailand I have a question for you. Was the paperwork that you submitted in english or was it a verified translation in Thai. The reason I ask is that up until 5 years ago I was living in Ubon and was using Phibun for my marriage visa extensions and I had to submit thai translations of all english language paperwork. Im hoping this has changed

Thanks,

Carl

I don't know whether translations are a requirement these days, but as I was asked at Phibun for notarised translations of my marriage certificate when I first applied 15 years ago, I always gave them a copy in subsequent years, and they never returned it as not required.

Now, with the retirement extension, I hand over a translation of my embassy pension letter.

Elwood

[sezzo]

Mike,

The documents that I was planning to submit were a stat dec or proof of income letter/statement which apparently is required to be procured from the embassy. I was also going to submit a letter and transfer documentation from my bank in Australia of my funds going into a Thai bank account. The bank letter and statement from Bangkok bank will obviously be in Thai already.

I have noticed in this thread that Phibun immigration office seems to be quiet nowadays. 5 or 6 years ago when I was doing the 12 month extension it was common to be in the building all day as there were always hoards of people there (mainly thais/lao)

[elwood]

Mike, yes the staff are still very pleasant and helpful; the only police station in the world I have ever visited and felt comfortable!

But not always quiet - I try to get there at opening time, usually first or second customer, but at times I have seen several customers arrive while I'm being processed.

Elwood

[ubonrthai]

I've had nothing but good experiences at Phibun. They are sometimes slow but there's rarely more than a couple others waiting if that. They've also given me good advice on how to change my paperwork for easier approval. And on yet another occasion they let me renew a couple days late because of an emergency and didn't charge a penalty fee. They will treat you like a human being, unlike places like Chiang Mai where you are a number in the midst of hundreds of others.

Edited July 30, 2011 by ubonrthai

[mosan]

There was one time about two or three years ago when I was asked to supply a translation for my Embassy Income Affidavit and only becaused I asked the question before hand during a visit for a 90 Day check-in. Upon arrival to do my annual extension, the Immigrations officer (Sr Sgt Maj Piyat) told me the translation was not required as everyone was used to seeing this document and understood them quite well. So other than that, I've never had to have anything translated.