Suan Plu Immigration Open Temporarily For All Nationalities

[KED]

My one year retirement extension was due to expire Nov 10, so I was watching the news about Chaeng Wattana Immigrations and the flooding situation. Luckily someone posted that Suan Plu Immigrations is temporarily re-opened for all nationalities during the flooding problem (well, at least unless Sathorn floods also).

I went there today and understandably it is very chaotic and I was braced for a long long wait; however, I managed to extend my retirement visa and get a multi re-entry permit within 2 hours.

The area was crowded but not nearly as crowded as before it closed and not nearly as many people there as at Chaeng Wattana.

The busiest area was the Tourist Visa queue - not sure if that was for extending the visa or what.

There were queues for 90 day reporting / Visa exstension / Re-entry permits / Tourist visas - not sure if you can do everything there that you could do at Chaeng Wattana.

A double bonus for me that I only live 2 km from Suan Plu so I was able to walk there. Thanks to Thai Immigrations for being pro-active.

On a side-note, for the retirement extension (year 2) as a U.S. passport holder, they accepted my notarized letter from U.S. embassy and the photocopies from my passport. They did not ask for a copy of my Thailand bank book nor for any proof of residency. Perhaps this was because they were in temporary mode and not looking to cause any hassles or bottlenecks.

Another strange thing which I attributed to the temporary situation. I was asked to fill out two additional forms - not sure what both forms were about - one just asked my name / passport info / date and then there was a check box that I understood what the extension entailed (alhtough it didn't list any requirements like 90 day reporting or anything. The second form was even more confusing - the first half asked for my name / passport info / address in thailand and then the second part was asking for another name of someone who was guaranteeing me - i filled out the first half but then told the agent I didn't understand the second half...she simply stapled this uncompleted form with the other 10 pages - strange.

[lopburi3]

Thanks for the report. Appears everything was normal. Those two forms are one that officer used to complete (they do the lower part) but in recent years often have applicant fill out the top bio information. The other is a new (believe this year) form confirming you understand your extension of stay ends when/if your status that allowed ends (divorce/end of employment and such).

[justyn]

Thanks for the report. This is great news. I need to clarify one point. You said that you got your retirement renewal and a re-entry permit in the same visit to old immigration office. Is that correct? Later in the post you said that one of the windows was for re-entry permits but you weren't sure. That seemed ambiguous. I only need a re-entry permit. Can I get one there?

Thanks in advance.

[Mario2008]

Currently yes, you can get a re-entry permit at Suan Plu because of the flooding, or at the One Stop Service Centre. Where you have to go depends on the reason for your extension of stay.

See: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/509339-bangkok-immigration-opens-extra-service-points/

There is also a regular re-entry permit service at Suan Plu every Saturday morning!

[KED]

Yes, as confirmed above, re-entry permit can be obtained at Suan Plu - my confusion was that there was also a queue area "Tourist Visa" and I wasn't sure if that was just for exteneded tourist visas or what...but either way - all can be done at Suan Plu for now.

[GreenFace]

Hello all,

Can I extend my tourist Visa tomorrow at the old office tomorrow? I have only just realized it expires on Sunday :-(. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Khon Baan Nok]

I also was a US Passport-holder renewal of a Retirement visa as of yesterday.

I went to the Suan Phlu special service centre, and within 1.5 hours had my one year extension and a multiple entry permit.

They are done in the same place, but in different queues. Upon entry you are issued (after verification of your paperwork) a wait ticket for the requisite service.

It was crowded, but well-managed.

One thing to note: I had both the income guarantee and bank balance options available, and I had documentation of both in Thai and English.

I have two bank accounts (one dollar, one baht), and my letter from SCB combined the balance of both, which met the B 800K criterion.

Preference was given to the bank balance, though I was reprimanded for not having my bank balance "up to date", even though I had obtained my balance letter from SCB the previous afternoon. The "problem" was that there were no very recent transactions against the dollar account. A written note was made in my file that next year I have to provide an "updated" book balance, i.e., one that shows a transaction from within the last few days. I witnessed another person being sent out to do a 100 baht ATM transaction for the same reason.

Lesson learned: next year, do some kind of simple transaction JUST BEFORE renewal, and base the copies of the bank book and the bank letter on that amount.

Incidentally, the reason they went ahead and honored my request was because I had the original bank books with me - good idea to bring this along.

S.

[Maestro]

Hello all,

Can I extend my tourist Visa tomorrow at the old office tomorrow? I have only just realized it expires on Sunday :-(. Any help would be much appreciated.

Yes, you can get an extension of stay at the Suan Phlu office. See this report:

[lopburi3]

An extension of stay would not normally be available on Saturday. Suspect will have to wait until Monday but no overstay if do then.

[TaoNow]

Did my 90-day report yesterday (Friday) at Suan Plu.

Arrived at 7:45 a.m. and entered the queue which stretched around the side of the building.

At 8:30 they opened the doors and asked people if they were there for the 90-day report.

I was issued a queue number (7th) and told to wait in front of Room 202 on the 2nd floor.

After 15 minutes my number was called and I handed in my passport and the filled-out TM 47 form.

I then returned to my seat to wait for processing.

That took another 15 minutes and I was out of there.

Well done Suan Plu.

[thaibai]

I was there yesterday too.

Staff were swarmed and worked really hard.

Still the staff were really friendly and chatty.

They said they could not close for lunch or eat.

At 2PM one girl working there said: "too many people

I cannot eat, I am sooo hungry"

Dont bring your car, it is impossible to park there.

[remobb]

This may sound stupid but I never go myself as my work always do it for me. I need to know where this place is exactly. I need to do the 90 day reporting and the school is closed so I will have to go alone. Can anyone give me easy directions or near where. Thanks.

[bridge2bridge]

This may sound stupid but I never go myself as my work always do it for me. I need to know where this place is exactly. I need to do the 90 day reporting and the school is closed so I will have to go alone. Can anyone give me easy directions or near where. Thanks.

Take the sky train to sala daeng, keep to the left exit and turn left onto Convent rd, turn left at the t intersection, cross the first foot bridge, go downe the stairs on the left and turn right at the next intesection and the old immigration is on the left about 1 km, or the easy way is just get a taxi from sala daeng bts about 75 baht.

[jayceenik]

I also was a US Passport-holder renewal of a Retirement visa as of yesterday.

I have two bank accounts (one dollar, one baht), and my letter from SCB combined the balance of both, which met the B 800K criterion.

Preference was given to the bank balance, though I was reprimanded for not having my bank balance "up to date", even though I had obtained my balance letter from SCB the previous afternoon. The "problem" was that there were no very recent transactions against the dollar account. A written note was made in my file that next year I have to provide an "updated" book balance, i.e., one that shows a transaction from within the last few days. I witnessed another person being sent out to do a 100 baht ATM transaction for the same reason.

Lesson learned: next year, do some kind of simple transaction JUST BEFORE renewal, and base the copies of the bank book and the bank letter on that amount.

Incidentally, the reason they went ahead and honored my request was because I had the original bank books with me - good idea to bring this along.

S.

For their own reasons, which I don't understand, there must be an account transaction just preceding (same date, I believe!) the bank account balance certification letter's date.

Last year they sent me to my bank's local branch in Chaeng Wattana (basement) to either deposit or withdraw 100 baht bacause there had been no such transaction immediately preceding the letter.

Lesson learned, this year I did a withdrawal just before requesting the letter be made.

And, yes, you must bring your bank books along. Including the old one if you got a new one recently. And their photocopies!