Acs US Embassy Queue

[lopburi3]

As most of us are queue considerate the below reminder may save some time as we are not expected to go to the end of visa queue for entry per below tweet. Also starting next month we should have appointment made online before visit (we should now but many fail to do).

ACSBKK ACS Bangkok

If you are visting us in the morning no need to wait in the long visa line - go up to the front and tell the guard you are here for ACS

ACSBKK ACS Bangkok

Important Bangkok ACS Notice: Beginning September 1st, appointments will be required for all non-emergency consular services.

ACSBKK ACS Bangkok

Bangkok ACS appointments can be made online here: http://tinyurl.com/3oxqp6h

[FarangBuddha]

I've been doing that for years...jumping to the head of the line outside the embassy...just wave my passport around in the air and shove all the Thais out of my way...it makes me feel so "hi-so"...almost like a Thampuying

Having to make appointments for any little service will sure be a pain in the arse, however.

[asiaexpat]

During my last visit to ACS the guard waved us over to the entrance and processed us in quickly. However, when we got the ACS area, there was no open window to report that we had an appointment. Had to take a number and wait until we were called. The lady later said we did not need to wait since we had an appointment, but they do not have a reporting desk. If everyone must have an appointment, the process will need to be improved. All that said, this ACS seems very efficient and we were out in less than an hour. Much better than Seoul or some other ACS offices I have used in recent years.

[lopburi3]

You go to first open window, even if they are calling a number, if you have appointment and are next served on my last visit (arrived at start of afternoon session). Last year there was a notice to go to specific window (but it could be in use when you arrived).

[moe666]

I had an appointment for income letter and I still had to wait 20 mins.

[taxout]

They've done this in other consulates and it seems to make no difference at all in waiting time: you still have to wait 15 or 20 minutes.

But now, you've got to plan your arrival at the consulate to your booking time.

And plan your visits to the consulate several days in advance, since places are often well booked ahead.

All in, the sort of thing only a mindless bureaucrat would love.

[Pib]

Regarding the making of appointments for non-emergency services I sure hope they open up a lot more appointments per day than they currently offer. Seems when I make my once a year trip to ACS to get an Income Affidavit for my yearly extension of stay it seems a lot of Americans are just walk-ins, have their queue ticket in-hand, etc., compared to folks who made an appt. I sure hope the ACS ain't going to turn people away who don't have an appt, because I expect many will have no idea of the new policy and X-amount traveled a good distance. Sure hope this ain't a method to reduce staff workload because of possible manpower cuts especially after they increased prices on my products/service by a very healthy amount about one year ago.

P.S. I just tried to reach their online appt system at 5:40pm and couldn't...kept getting the error of "Internet Explorer cannot display the web page." This can be caused by a variety of problems on their end and/or my ISP's (True in Bangkok) end. I can get to the How To Make An Appt web page, but clicking the either of the links within the page to access their Online Appt System gives me the mentioned error. Will try the link again later on.

[lopburi3]

I just used it with Chrome and 28 appointment times available tomorrow.

At 1756 confirmed working fine with IE9

And I am using TRUE in Bangkok.

[Pib]

I just used it with Chrome and 28 appointment times available tomorrow.

At 1756 confirmed working fine with IE9

And I am using TRUE in Bangkok.

I tried again at 6pm with IE8 and it still didn't work...I had tried Chrome also before making the above post. May have something to do with my new True "cable" plan which I got about 6 weeks ago...I switched from TOT.

But I haven't had any other problems in reaching any other websites/links with my True cable. Good to hear they have 28 appts open for tomorrow...tomorrow must be a slow day for them or they have increased the number of appts available. I know last year around 20 Aug when making an appt for my income affidavit the earliest open appt was approx 5 days out.

[Pib]

I just used it with Chrome and 28 appointment times available tomorrow.

At 1756 confirmed working fine with IE9

And I am using TRUE in Bangkok.

I tried again at 6pm with IE8 and it still didn't work...I had tried Chrome also before making the above post. May have something to do with my new True "cable" plan which I got about 6 weeks ago...I switched from TOT.

But I haven't had any other problems in reaching any other websites/links with my True cable. Good to hear they have 28 appts open for tomorrow...tomorrow must be a slow day for them or they have increased the number of appts available. I know last year around 20 Aug when making an appt for my income affidavit the earliest open appt was approx 5 days out.

Just tried reaching the appt system on my other laptop. Same result...no-can-do. For any of you folks on True "Cable" internet, repeat, "Cable" internet (not DSL) would appreciate feedback to whether you can reach the appt system. I've done all the clearing of caches, rebooting the cable modem/router, rebooting the computers, turning off firewall/antivirus for a minute, tyring the Google DNS server, etc type things and can't reach the appt system. First time I've had an issue in reaching any http or https page. I could reach the site/page last year when I was on TOT internet, but now that I'm on True Cable there may be problem. Supposedly True DSL and True Cable internet are mostly separate systems so I'm trying to check if it may be True Cable issue. Thanks.

[Pib]

Regarding reaching the Bangkok Embassy ACS Appt System, as noted above I can not reach the Appt System link...IE8 and Chrome gives me weblink errors on both my computers...one running Win7 and one XP. I had no problem in reaching/using the other links on the ACS webpage; nor did I have problems reaching the ACS Appt System last year when I was on TOT 6Mb ADSL plan. From doing a Visual TraceRoute it appears the ACS Appt System link is really hosted on a State Dept server in the U.S. So, I'm thinking "maybe" the True "Cable" internet has a DNS/security certificate/etc type issue. Would be interested if other folks with True "cable" internet can each the ACS Appt page.

Anyway, not being able to reach/use the ACS Appt page was the last straw in not being able to reach some U.S. web sites like the government's Annual Credit Report web site, some video streaming sites, etc. So I signed up for StrongVPN this morning (easy and fast process) and I'm now able to reach above mentioned web sites, with no error message basically saying due to my location/IP address they can't provide service. Right now I'm streaming a CBS show episode in another window...before when trying to stream a video from some sites like CBS I got the "Sorry, no-can-do type message due to my location/IP address (i.e., my IP address is outside the U.S.)"

Tonight I think I will try getting my free annual credit report(s) online since I can now reach the required webpage. Oh, the stuff we have to go through sometimes to get full access/use of the internet. And I might even make an appt on the ACS system tonight.

[lopburi3]

Can't argue with success but I was using the same IP range first three digits as you yesterday on True and had no problem with access at the same time you could not access.

[Pib]

Can't argue with success but I was using the same IP range first three digits as you yesterday on True and had no problem with access at the same time you could not access.

I think it's a True "cable" internet thing. I just got an email from another ThaiVisa member here in Bangkok who is also on True Cable and he's having the same connection problem.

[asiaexpat]

Using IE and True DSL I have nade several appointments in the past without a problem. I did notice that the system seems to limited to specific hours (can't remember times) since I tried to cancel an appoint late in the evening and the system was down (got a failed notice.)

[Pib]

I haven't made an appt yet but from now being able to get to the Appt page, it appears they start off with a max of 50 appts per day and there are plenty of open appts for each day in Aug and Sep (I didn't look out any farther)...and even plenty of appts for tomorrow. I think they have plused up the number of available appts in preparation for the change effective 1 Sep.

[jfchandler]

Well, as I PM'd Pib separately, I did a side by side test of this tonight...since I have both a True DSL and separate True cable internet connection in my home.

First tried the appointments page using True cable with both Firefox 5 and IE 9, and it wouldn't even connect to the page...

Then switched on the same computer to instead using my True DSL service, and the consulate web page loaded perfectly fine the first time, not more than a minute after I had failed using the True cable connection... about 1 am Thurs...

Then to double check, I went back a moment later and tried my True cable connection still on the same computer, and once again the consulate appointments web page would not load...

Something screwball's going on there...at least as relates to its interaction with True cable connections.

[Jimjim]

For the uninformed, I think it would be helpful to explain what "ACS" means. American Citizen Services (ACS).

So if you are American and need some kind of consular assistance, yes? And does this apply for things like adding pages to your passport, etc.?

[Heng]

Will be even faster if they just add a checkbox that says 'have you filed your taxes this year?' and link up with the IRS.

[endure]

I had an appointment for income letter and I still had to wait 20 mins.

20 minutes! What an outrage!!!

[lopburi3]

For the uninformed, I think it would be helpful to explain what "ACS" means. American Citizen Services (ACS).

So if you are American and need some kind of consular assistance, yes? And does this apply for things like adding pages to your passport, etc.?

I did put US Embassy in title - it is the section that provides consular services to Americans and is located in the Old Embassy building across the street from the current facility (and same entry as used for visa issue). All but emergency services will require appointment per below email received yesterday:

Beginning September 1, 2011, non-emergency citizen services at the U.S.

Embassy in Bangkok will be by appointment only (except for voting

assistance). Most U.S. Embassies already provide citizen services by

appointment only and have found this assists in providing prompt and

efficient services. Embassy Bangkok and all other remaining U.S.

Embassies are changing to this system by September 1, 2011. For more

information, you can refer to our webpage

<http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service.html > , or make an appointment

through our online appointment system

<https://evisaforms.state.gov/acs/default.asp?postcode=BNK&appcode=1 > .

Please plan accordingly. No appointment is needed for emergency

services.

Sincerely,

American Citizen Services

U.S. Embassy in Bangkok

This email is UNCLASSIFIED

[Pib]

Well, as I PM'd Pib separately, I did a side by side test of this tonight...since I have both a True DSL and separate True cable internet connection in my home.

First tried the appointments page using True cable with both Firefox 5 and IE 9, and it wouldn't even connect to the page...

Then switched on the same computer to instead using my True DSL service, and the consulate web page loaded perfectly fine the first time, not more than a minute after I had failed using the True cable connection... about 1 am Thurs...

Then to double check, I went back a moment later and tried my True cable connection still on the same computer, and once again the consulate appointments web page would not load...

Something screwball's going on there...at least as relates to its interaction with True cable connections.

Yea, my guess---and it's only a guess per my PM back to you a few minutes ago-- it's probably a digital certificate issue on the True Cable system since a good portion of the system is completely separate from the True DSL system due to the different technologies involved, probably different IP servers, etc. And then again the problem could be on the ACS Appt System side. I don't know...I'm not smart enough to figure out the internet magic. But since I now have VPN I can reach the ACS Appt System and several other government/public webs site I couldn't reach before because of my location being in Thailand. Oh, the things we must go through to have good/full internet access from Thailand.

[Pib]

For us True Cable internet folks, see below link to another ThaiVisa topic/post on what should fix your problem in connecting to the ACS Appt Sys (and a couple other sites). Basically it uses a True Proxy Server. Thanks to SuperNova for providing the fix...or at least it fixed the problem for me.

http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__4603239

Edited August 4, 2011 by Pib

[lopburi3]

Below was tweet in last hour by ACS

ACSBKK ACS Bangkok

Have heard that some ppl are having trouble accessing our online appointment system. Please let us know if that's the case so we can fix it

[NancyL]

Looks like Chiang Mai was the pilot project. We've been using the "you gotta make an appointment on-line" system for ACS service for at least 18 months. The biggest recent enhancement is that if you show up for ACS without an appointment, they sit you down at a computer and the Thai guards provide some help if you're completely computer illiterate. Most of my friends in the plus80 crowd are really torqued off with the requirement, but they get torqued off about many modern advances.

I think the required appt. system is great. When we first came here, we had to arrive at the Consulate in advance of opening, where we were directed to wait across the road, where there was no place to sit and no food vendors (my God, I didn't think that was possible in Thailand. Food vendors show up whereever there's a crowd!). Oh course, no toilet either.I figured the consulate had cleared out the area. I thought the herd of Americans waiting for ACS looked like a great terrorist target.

Then once the Consulate opened the doors at 8 am, we'd all rush across a very busy street to be first in line. Sometimes, an enterprising early-arriver would make little slips of paper with "pre-numbers". That was great. One time, though, a real American "I'm the only one who counts" person said the pre-number system the crowd had developed was stupid and it was every man for himself once the gate to the consulate opened.

There was a small melee, but no one was injured.

So, the ACS appointment system in CM is basically a success. I just wish they extend the period of validity for making appointments. I'd really like to schedule an appointment for Hubby's income letter in early November, but the system won't let you schedule that far in advance.

Meanwhile, the CM Immigration office is experimenting with a similar system. Of course, right now, it's voluntary and they schedule just one appointment per hour. They'll let you schedule for all appointments, which doesn't make sense to handle 90 day reports like you do visa extensions. Also they're having browser problems similar to that the the ACS Bangkok system.

There has been a good thread on the CM forum about problems with the new Thai Immigration system and the members finally figured out the details of their browser problems. I forwarded a link to that thread to someone at a higher level in contact with CM Immigration. I just hope the Am. Embassy is also made aware of this thread. There's some good, helpful, info for the computer programsers.

Oh, while the CM Immigration on-line reservation system does have many problems, one of the best features is that you can schedule way out into the future. Already got Hubby's visa extension appt. scheduled. Now all I have to do is get him in to the Am. Consulate for the income letter!

[Mrjlh]

Last time I went which was months ago I had an appointment. First I literally had to push myself to the front of the line at the entrance. The guard didn't seem to care if I was an American or not. If they had a "blue" passport that was all that mattered. Then inside they kept calling numbers and not asking for appointments first until I spoke up. At times they don't seem to follow their own rules. But I was in and out in a reasonable time.