Assist Thai Visa Services

[Semper]

Oh well, if you make 5K/hour, I can understand your decision.

[thaimiller]

Oh well, if you make 5K/hour, I can understand your decision.

No I don't but if I didn't use the service it would be a lot longer than an hour. I certainly would lose more than this having to go on 2 maybe 3 occasions without the use of this service.

[uptheos]

Wow, 5000 baht!

And who probably gets half....poor overworked immigration officers.

They're raking it in.

[thaimiller]

Wow, 5000 baht!

And who probably gets half....poor overworked immigration officers.

They're raking it in.

I don't care if Thaksin gets half as long as it makes my life easier.

[Semper]

Oh well, if you make 5K/hour, I can understand your decision.

No I don't but if I didn't use the service it would be a lot longer than an hour. I certainly would lose more than this having to go on 2 maybe 3 occasions without the use of this service.

Not if you use the Immigration On-Line Queue System. And the 90 day thing you can do by mail, I assume, as you are running some sort of business that you have to visit the post office once in a while.

[thaimiller]

Oh well, if you make 5K/hour, I can understand your decision.

No I don't but if I didn't use the service it would be a lot longer than an hour. I certainly would lose more than this having to go on 2 maybe 3 occasions without the use of this service.

Not if you use the Immigration On-Line Queue System. And the 90 day thing you can do by mail, I assume, as you are running some sort of business that you have to visit the post office once in a while.

not that its any of your business but no I dont, I own and run a fully registered export business that requires containers to ship products all over the world, (yes I have a work permit and pay tax) and I only go to the post office for my mail, which before you ask gets send to a po box that I pay 150thb a year for, I use my motorbike to shoot down there to pick it up, setting off from my big 4 bedroomed house in Mae-jo as parking in 1 of my 3 cars takes some doing outside the post office because of traffic. I also enjoyed my 1500thb Christmas dinner at the Holiday Inn that for me was worth every penny because of the quality of it. I think Ive answered everything again that you have wanted to know about my life in the past 3 weeks. If you like me so much come and have a beer with me in The Red Lion one day instead of being a nosy <deleted> on here.

Edited January 10, 2012 by thaimiller

[uptheos]

Wow, 5000 baht!

And who probably gets half....poor overworked immigration officers.

They're raking it in.

I don't care if Thaksin gets half as long as it makes my life easier.

Oh absolutely - some people seem to think immigration officers have it tough.........they don't know what tough is until they've experienced a February Tuesday night, on the terraces at The Millers. (they do have floodlights? )

[thaimiller]

Wow, 5000 baht!

And who probably gets half....poor overworked immigration officers.

They're raking it in.

I don't care if Thaksin gets half as long as it makes my life easier.

Oh absolutely - some people seem to think immigration officers have it tough.........they don't know what tough is until they've experienced a February Tuesday night, on the terraces at The Millers. (they do have floodlights? )

Floodlights, we haven't got elastictrickery in Rotherham yet. We do have great Pies n Mushy Peas, with a warm Bovril though.

Edited January 10, 2012 by thaimiller

[Semper]

Oh well, if you make 5K/hour, I can understand your decision.

No I don't but if I didn't use the service it would be a lot longer than an hour. I certainly would lose more than this having to go on 2 maybe 3 occasions without the use of this service.

Not if you use the Immigration On-Line Queue System. And the 90 day thing you can do by mail, I assume, as you are running some sort of business that you have to visit the post office once in a while.

not that its any of your business but no I dont, I own and run a fully registered export business that requires containers to ship products all over the world, (yes I have a work permit and pay tax) and I only go to the post office for my mail, which before you ask gets send to a po box that I pay 150thb a year for, I use my motorbike to shoot down there to pick it up, setting off from my big 4 bedroomed house in Mae-jo as parking in 1 of my 3 cars takes some doing outside the post office because of traffic. I also enjoyed my 1500thb Christmas dinner at the Holiday Inn that for me was worth every penny because of the quality of it. I think Ive answered everything again that you have wanted to know about my life in the past 3 weeks. If you like me so much come and have a beer with me in The Red Lion one day instead of being a nosy <deleted> on here.

Not sure what you are on about. But obviously a export business suits you very well as you don't have a direct contact with your customers. Thanks for the beer offer, but I'll have mine at home.

Nosy about your life in the past 3 weeks???

Edited January 10, 2012 by Semper

[Mapguy]

Firstly, to answer OPs question: Assist Thai Visa Services is friendly and can be helpful (as can be several lawyers or various purported "advisors" --- for a price), but Assist Thai Visa Services is not always complete and correct in providing service for all problems. The service is fundamentally for people unsure in a new environment or hesitant to do their own homework for routine matters and have the money to pay others to do it for them, or as a "favor."

Assist Thai Visa Services generally depends upon personal connections retains by one or more staff members who once served as in immigration joined with common sense and sympathetic assistance for people who don't cope particularly well in new circumstances. They charge for their services, which is fair. Is the amount fair? Up to you!

The ballooning expat "market" is a way to make a living (or enjoy a financial feast) for some people who know the "ins and outs" of how to do things around town. It seems a lot of innocents abroad end up here and need comfort and assistance. If they have some money, they can pay for it --- and I do not write of bribes to officials. There were once volunteers (proficient in Thai and English) who actually worked inside the counter at the immigration office. Immigration officials eventually told them to leave.

Continuing help at immigration is available --- if you are affiliated with certain organisations or otherwise pay for it, as with Assist Thai Visa Services or a law firm. It all depends on what you wish to pay. The help is might constitute a form of marketing, an inducement to other services on offer in "getting settled," investing, and so on. It rather depends on what you have to spend and wish to spend and the degree or comfort or discomfort with settling in Chiang Mai.

Finally a word about the immigration officials in Chiang Mai. In my experience, they have been consistently helpful. Yes, depending upon when you wish to visit the office, it may be quite crowded. Sometimes, it can be unpleasant, but not because of the service, instead because of the crush of clients.

In several years I personally have always received good service. I have never had to wait very long; perhaps somewhat under an hour on one or two occasions when I found myself in the crush. Take something to read! I have never --- never --- been asked for "tea money." It has never --- never --- been suggested. The last time I was there, the immigration officer processed a visa renewal in ten minutes. I had done my homework and was properly prepared. I looked at my watch, smiled and said "Record time!" He smiled back, and said, "It's the paperwork. You have it right, and there's no problem." So, if you have the ability to pay and don't wish to bother doing things independently, then it's "up to you," a popular expression hereabouts.

Oh yes, by the way, the last time I did a 90-day report, it literally took two minutes from the time I entered the door! I do not josh!

I can't imagine the difficulty of serving as an immigration officer in Chiang Mai these days: the press of people, the unreasonable expectations of some people, the rudeness of too many expatriates. Enough to turn people to drink! On the other hand, although improvements have indeed been made in procedures to handle all the increased business, they have not been sufficient enough to keep up with the increasing press of expatriates who decide to reside here who, perhaps, expect too much. One egregious problem is the lack of straightforward reliable information; for example, the website is still quite primitive and, locally, the young assistants are not as proficient at providing the right answers to questions often put awkwardly in other languages. The English language, however, you might recall, is not the local language and Anglophones are not the only foreigners in town!

[Beetlejuice]

Oh well, if you make 5K/hour, I can understand your decision.

No I don't but if I didn't use the service it would be a lot longer than an hour. I certainly would lose more than this having to go on 2 maybe 3 occasions without the use of this service.

Not if you use the Immigration On-Line Queue System. And the 90 day thing you can do by mail, I assume, as you are running some sort of business that you have to visit the post office once in a while.

not that its any of your business but no I dont, I own and run a fully registered export business that requires containers to ship products all over the world, (yes I have a work permit and pay tax) and I only go to the post office for my mail, which before you ask gets send to a po box that I pay 150thb a year for, I use my motorbike to shoot down there to pick it up, setting off from my big 4 bedroomed house in Mae-jo as parking in 1 of my 3 cars takes some doing outside the post office because of traffic. I also enjoyed my 1500thb Christmas dinner at the Holiday Inn that for me was worth every penny because of the quality of it. I think Ive answered everything again that you have wanted to know about my life in the past 3 weeks. If you like me so much come and have a beer with me in The Red Lion one day instead of being a nosy <deleted> on here.

The way I see it is; that it`s your hard earned cash and you are entitled to spend your money anyway you wish, no need to try and justify how and what you spend to me.

Everyone’s situation is different and what’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander. Anyway, good luck to you and wishing you all success.

My point is that applying for a visa extension is not a complicated process. For some reasons there are applicants that fear visiting Immigration almost as much as a trip to the dentist. For a peasant like myself who does not have stacks of cash lying about, considers being charged 5000 baht for this so-called visa service, as a lot of money and a rip-off and has to keep to a certain budget and that a visit to Immigration is a painless process. After all it`s only once a year, so no big deal and I save 5000 baht in the process.

Whoever thought up this visa application lark must be a very savvy person. Big earner for doing practically sod all. I would guess that many applicants use these agencies out of fear and naivety as to how to apply for a visa, the requirements and how the system works. Wish I would have thought of this first or had shares in the companies. Just think about it, only need 10 customers per week and that’s 50000 baht. As the wise man say’s; there’s one born every minute.

[Ulysses G.]

The only medical check that I know of it the one required to obtain an "O-A" visa in your home country.

It is a different subject, but I think that there is a new rule that one has to get a medical check every year when renewing a work permit.

[NancyL]

The only medical check that I know of it the one required to obtain an "O-A" visa in your home country.

It is a different subject, but I think that there is a new rule that one has to get a medical check every year when renewing a work permit.

Ah, that's right, but I don't think that's what HelloDolly was talking about.

Folks -- let's remember that people who extend their O visa due to marriage have to jump thru more hoops than those of us on retirement extensions. Plus the people on "marriage visas" may have family and work responsibilities that we retirees don't have. Many of us retirees have more time than money so it makes sense to go it alone in doing a visa extension. That may not be the case for people doing marriage extensions.

[onthedarkside]

It is a different subject, but I think that there is a new rule that one has to get a medical check every year when renewing a work permit.

Just renewed my WP last week, no medical check/certificate required.

[thaimiller]

Folks -- let's remember that people who extend their O visa due to marriage have to jump thru more hoops than those of us on retirement extensions. Plus the people on "marriage visas" may have family and work responsibilities that we retirees don't have. Many of us retirees have more time than money so it makes sense to go it alone in doing a visa extension. That may not be the case for people doing marriage extensions.

At last someone on a retirement visa makes sense and understands people have more to do in life than come on Thai visa. Thanks Nancy.

[jonwilly]

I went to Assist Thai Visa Service this morning and requested a briefing their services.

I have lived in CM for over ten years now and while retired with plenty of time on my hands I am quite happy to cough up B1,000 for four 90 Day renewals and B5,000 plus the Immigration Fees, for the yearly renewal of my Non Immigrant Type O.

They mentioned that a 'Bar Code' system for Passports is being proposed by Thai Immigration to speed up the process but Full Final details are not yet available.

I will start with the 90 Day and if all goes well will graduate to the Yearly type O.

Friendly positive attitude at, Assist Thai Visa Service, which promises well.

john

The early years at CM Imigration where aceptable but now it's hassel I do not need.

[Mapguy]

The latest edition of the Expat Club newsletter had a advertisement-column from Assist Thai Visa. There were two interesting items that I pass along because they are new angles (to me) on two visa situations and I am curious if anyone has experience with this sort of situation.

I have never heard of a couple sharing an 800k funds account, and, second I have very rarely heard of any Americans or others having presented consular affidavits regarding adequate pension income being asked for additional proof, Although I do believe an immigration officer may ask for any proof (or additional proof ) he or she wants, I have never heard of this being a general requirement.

From the CM Expats Club Newsletter:

If you are married and are seeking to use the sum of 800,000THB as a couple (retirement visa), you must have a stamped marriage certificate from your relevant embassy, and the bank account must only be in one name - either the husband or the wife. A joint account is not acceptable.

American Citizens, you will need to show proof as well as your declaration of income at immigration. This can be pension letters or proof of income i.e bank statements etc. If you do not have any proof and only a sworn statement you may be refused a visa.

[Mestizo]

It is a different subject, but I think that there is a new rule that one has to get a medical check every year when renewing a work permit.

Just renewed my WP last week, no medical check/certificate required.

Both the Work Permit office in Chiang Mai and Bangkok are now requiring this medical check, including a blood test. The blood test is the new thing and they check for multiple issues. This was required last year when renewing my work permit for the company in Chiang Mai I used to work for, as well as the new company in Bangkok I now work for. Friends down in Bangkok working for large multi-national companies have also confirmed they had to do health check with blood test this year.

One friend in Chiang Mai who teaches, said that the school's doctor is purposely skipping the blood test, but is still able to get work permits issued with just a basic health check.

So, it seems like the rules are not uniformly being enforced yet, but I believe in the near future, everyone should plan on having to do a yearly health check with a blood test, to renew work permits.

-Mestizo

[Mestizo]

For what its worth, the attached images show what they are checking for with the blood test. The one in all Thai, is from the form provided by Rajavej Hospital and the other is from a form provided by my HR staff in BKK. Somewhere I have a document in Thai that was sent from the Ministry of Labor to the Chiang Mai company I used to work for, which outlines the requirements for the health check and blood test (all in Thai). Unfortunately I cant find it right now.

-Mestizo

[theDukes]

Went last week for the visa and the work permit. I used Assist Thai Visa to facilitate and they did a great job. Never had a problem at immigration and I love the folks who work very hard there.

On the work permit, a medical check is now required along with a few documents that were not asked for when renewing in the past. They are checking blood for syphilis, alcohol and heroin and some friends and I believe AIDS but I didn't see it on my report. For the X-ray they are checking for TB and they checked my heart for abnormalidies.

On a good note they offered me a 2 year work permit. Also I have always found the work permit officers to be helpful and friendly and this time they were fabulous.

[Mestizo]

Went last week for the visa and the work permit. I used Assist Thai Visa to facilitate and they did a great job. Never had a problem at immigration and I love the folks who work very hard there.

On the work permit, a medical check is now required along with a few documents that were not asked for when renewing in the past. They are checking blood for syphilis, alcohol and heroin and some friends and I believe AIDS but I didn't see it on my report. For the X-ray they are checking for TB and they checked my heart for abnormalidies.

On a good note they offered me a 2 year work permit. Also I have always found the work permit officers to be helpful and friendly and this time they were fabulous.

My friend who just had this done in Bangkok, also mentioned that his doctor told him they were testing for HIV/ AIDS as well. Wonder what would happen if someone tested positive for HIV. Would they be denied a work permit? Its also somewhat concerning if they are actually secretly testing for that and not informing people.

Also, from what I understand they are NOT checking for the actual presence of alcohol, but for some enzyme or something produced by the liver that would indicate long-term alcoholism. Regardless, I did mine on Friday mornings (prior to the start of weekend partying), just to be on the safe side!

-Mestizo

[NancyL]

The latest edition of the Expat Club newsletter had a advertisement-column from Assist Thai Visa. There were two interesting items that I pass along because they are new angles (to me) on two visa situations and I am curious if anyone has experience with this sort of situation.

I have never heard of a couple sharing an 800k funds account, and, second I have very rarely heard of any Americans or others having presented consular affidavits regarding adequate pension income being asked for additional proof, Although I do believe an immigration officer may ask for any proof (or additional proof ) he or she wants, I have never heard of this being a general requirement.

From the CM Expats Club Newsletter:

If you are married and are seeking to use the sum of 800,000THB as a couple (retirement visa), you must have a stamped marriage certificate from your relevant embassy, and the bank account must only be in one name - either the husband or the wife. A joint account is not acceptable.

American Citizens, you will need to show proof as well as your declaration of income at immigration. This can be pension letters or proof of income i.e bank statements etc. If you do not have any proof and only a sworn statement you may be refused a visa.

Married couples have always had the option where one can utilize the 800,000 baht method to obtain a retirement extension, while the other is considered a dependent. The upside is that only one 800,000 baht account is needed (not two). The downside is that if the person with the retirement extension dies, leaves the country, or the marriage dissolves -- then the dependent has a very short period of time to obtain her own visa. Assist Thai Visa is giving good advice that a joint bank account can't be used for this purpose.

About American citizens needing to show proof of income -- well so far there haven't been any reports of anyone being asked for this at Chiang Mai Immigration for retirement extensions. I think it would be reported in this forum or on the Visa forum. There have been some reports of Americans presenting an income letter for the purposes of a marriage extension being asked for pension letters, bank statements, etc., but not for a retirement extension.

Edited January 30, 2012 by NancyL

[Awk]

The latest edition of the Expat Club newsletter had a advertisement-column from Assist Thai Visa. There were two interesting items that I pass along because they are new angles (to me) on two visa situations and I am curious if anyone has experience with this sort of situation.

I have never heard of a couple sharing an 800k funds account, and, second I have very rarely heard of any Americans or others having presented consular affidavits regarding adequate pension income being asked for additional proof, Although I do believe an immigration officer may ask for any proof (or additional proof ) he or she wants, I have never heard of this being a general requirement.

From the CM Expats Club Newsletter:

If you are married and are seeking to use the sum of 800,000THB as a couple (retirement visa), you must have a stamped marriage certificate from your relevant embassy, and the bank account must only be in one name - either the husband or the wife. A joint account is not acceptable.

American Citizens, you will need to show proof as well as your declaration of income at immigration. This can be pension letters or proof of income i.e bank statements etc. If you do not have any proof and only a sworn statement you may be refused a visa.

I'm not an American citizen, and my embassy is unfortunately quite stringent on what proof it requires to issue a paper

stating my income, but for the last two years I have had to produce additional proof regarding my income. I was quite surprised the first time since I had not seen it mentioned on the visa forum, but was better prepared the next time.

[udonguy]

i use assist for my 90 day reporting but dont see a huge advantage for my visa if booking online my slot - their service for the 90 day is excellent

[uptheos]

For what its worth, the attached images show what they are checking for with the blood test. The one in all Thai, is from the form provided by Rajavej Hospital and the other is from a form provided by my HR staff in BKK. Somewhere I have a document in Thai that was sent from the Ministry of Labor to the Chiang Mai company I used to work for, which outlines the requirements for the health check and blood test (all in Thai). Unfortunately I cant find it right now.

-Mestizo

The only one that farang's bring in large quantities are alcoholism. (and addiction to fast junk food).

[BigJohnnyBKK]

My friend who just had this done in Bangkok, also mentioned that his doctor told him they were testing for HIV/ AIDS as well. Wonder what would happen if someone tested positive for HIV. Would they be denied a work permit? Its also somewhat concerning if they are actually secretly testing for that and not informing people.

I'd be very surprised if foreigners with AIDS would be allowed to enter/remain in Thailand. There is no right to privacy nor much respect for human rights. Of course enough money with the right connections will get you whatever you like.

The only anonymous testing service I've ever heard of is the Red Cross just north west of Lumpini Park in BKK.