90 Day Reports In Person?

[CaptHaddock]

I applied for the first extension of my non-imm "O" today. The officer mentioned that I will have to show up in person for my 90 day reports. I thought it was acceptable to do them by mail. She said that since we live in BKK, it's easy enough for us to go in person and that I would have to do that. Is this actually the case?

FYI, she definitely wanted to see the bank letter dated today. The one I gave her was dated yesterday. She advised me to go to the bank today today to get a fresh one in case someone required it from me later, which I did.

[Mario2008]

Many people living in BKK report by mail. The law says you can report by mail.

[IMA_FARANG]

I did my first 90 day reporting at Chaeng Wattana in BKK on the 27th of December and it was just the opposite for me.

I live much close to Chaeng Wattana....usually 15 minutes max by taxi from my house...so going there is no big deal.

However, I was advised by them (the female immigration officer spoke excellant English) that they would prefer people doing 90 day reporting to report by mail rather than in person. They handed me a sheet with instructions in English on exactly what was required to report by mail and exactly what to do to mail those documents to them. If I had a scanner on my computer I'd scan the instructions and post them....but I don't have a scanner.

I want to my it clear though, so nobody mis-understands, this was NOT my initial approval, it was my first 90 day report since I recieved my initial retirement extension back in September.

One thing though, although this time they did NOT request verification of my bank account balance, they sometimes will require you to go downstairs and make a token deposit or withdrawal of funds from your account. Only a deposit or withdrawal of 100 baht is enough....but you use your bank passbook for that.

The reason is that when you make that deposit or withdrawal using your passbook, it prints an entry with the:

Date

Amount

and Current Balance

as a record of that deposit or withdrawal in your passbook.

Even if you have a current letter of deposit...immigration may ask you to make that token deposit or withdrawal just because that printed record in your passbook is what they regard as absolute proof of your account balance as you apply.

So, if you're sharp...you'll always have that passbook with you....even though they may not ask for it then.

In other words...be prepared.

P.S. When you apply for approval for your initial retirement extension...they usually want your bank letter to be dated the same day as your application. Even if is only 24 hours old (yesterday), they may not like that fact.

It's the decision of the immigration officer, if he or she accepts it as valid.

[Pib]

I live in Bangkok/use the Bangkok Immigration Office at Chaeng Wattana and sometimes do my 90 day address reporting in person and sometimes via mail. In fact, for my Nov reporting I did it via mail--processed no problem.

The one time I asked an immigration officer at Bangkok Immigration at the old Suan Plu location about two years ago, "Can I report my mail?" she quickly responded with a "No, can not report by mail; you must report in person." And she emphasized the "can not" word. Now when I asked this question and also mentioned their web site states (and had for some time) I could report by mail the answer for the second time was still "No, you can not report by mail; you must report in person." I thought to myself, nothing like consistency between info on the immigration web site and asking an immigration officer--NOT!! I've seen this same officer at their new location at Chaeng Wattana and if I ever see her behind the 90 day reporting counter again I will probably ask the question again just to see what the answer is.

Summary: for Bangkok folks, at this point in time you "can" report by mail just like the Bangkok Immigration web site says you can, even if the immigration officer you talk to in person says no you can't. TIT

[gamini]

I live in Bangkok/use the Bangkok Immigration Office at Chaeng Wattana and sometimes do my 90 day address reporting in person and sometimes via mail. In fact, for my Nov reporting I did it via mail--processed no problem.

The one time I asked an immigration officer at Bangkok Immigration at the old Suan Plu location about two years ago, "Can I report my mail?" she quickly responded with a "No, can not report by mail; you must report in person." And she emphasized the "can not" word. Now when I asked this question and also mentioned their web site states (and had for some time) I could report by mail the answer for the second time was still "No, you can not report by mail; you must report in person." I thought to myself, nothing like consistency between info on the immigration web site and asking an immigration officer--NOT!! I've seen this same officer at their new location at Chaeng Wattana and if I ever see her behind the 90 day reporting counter again I will probably ask the question again just to see what the answer is.

Summary: for Bangkok folks, at this point in time you "can" report by mail just like the Bangkok Immigration web site says you can, even if the immigration officer you talk to in person says no you can't. TIT

Anyone can do your report. It is utter arrogance to ask you to report in person. What happens when we retirees are too old to walk? I staggered into Immigration in Hua Hin to do a 90 day report and the officer scolded me and asked why I did not send someone to do it for me. Now I always send my maid.

[lopburi3]

They are not saying the person must do it in person - only that they can not use the mail option if living in Bangkok. You can always have someone take your passport/TM.47 to immigration. This has been the case since they revived this requirement - if you ask you can use the mail system you are told no. But those doing by mail do not seem to have a problem. In the past this made some sense as all of the country was served by Bangkok for mail reporting. Since the change to local office reporting Bangkok has seemed more willing to accept from residents but as these reports indicate it is not across the board.

[Maestro]

...The one time I asked an immigration officer at Bangkok Immigration at the old Suan Plu location about two years ago, "Can I report my mail?" she quickly responded with a "No, can not report by mail; you must report in person." And she emphasized the "can not" word. Now when I asked this question and also mentioned their web site states (and had for some time) I could report by mail the answer for the second time was still "No, you can not report by mail; you must report in person." I thought to myself, nothing like consistency between info on the immigration web site and asking an immigration officer--NOT!! I've seen this same officer at their new location at Chaeng Wattana and if I ever see her behind the 90 day reporting counter again I will probably ask the question again just to see what the answer is...

As the post by IMA_FARANG shows, there is also no consistency between one officer and another at the same immigration office. So next time you want to ask that question again at Chaeng Watthana, ask a different officer and see what answer you will get.