What Is The Purpose Of 90 Day Reporting.

[meatboy]

I can see a purpose for it and this thread will not influence the requirement. But surly reporting to the local police station would make more sense, they are the people who come out and verify my location/situation after my annual Retirement Extension (using the map I have to provide to Immigration) so obviously the right hand is talking to the left.

totally agree we have one of those red police boxes by our house and i see the same officer regular he knows me,its just the obstacles that are put in front of us,but there again if it was not for us there would be less jobs for immigration to do,sitting in an air conditioned office with nothing to do,boring.

[Langsuan Man]

The only purpose of the 90 day report is to remind us farangs that the Thais are in charge

[chilliman]

This is just a little part of this big Thai money machine

[IMA_FARANG]

Yeh, it's a terrible inconvenience, isn't it.

Had to do one a week ago. Got there at 9:30 in the morning.

My Queue number was 200 ... they were taking care of number 140 when I arrived.

They were calling numers about 2 or 3 or a minute.

I had to sit there for a whole 30 minutes until they called me, and I had my new reporting date after a whole 2 minutes at the desk.

What a horrible inconvenience in my busy life.

Walked out of the place at 10:05. Have to do that every 90 days also.

Disrupts my whole life!

[Andre0720]

It is not to CONFIRM an address in Thailand. It is to DECLARE an address in Thailand.

If and when, for any reason, authorities would need to contact you, they could check your last declared address for that purpose.

For motor registration purposes, a legal document describing your address is required.

[cooked]

Immigration wants to know where you live. Is that unreasonable? I got to Immigration two days ago, got ticket number 1 and was out again in 10 minutes. No sympathy for people that can't get up early. Stating a false address is probably an offence.

[lopburi3]

Yeh, it's a terrible inconvenience, isn't it.

Had to do one a week ago. Got there at 9:30 in the morning.

My Queue number was 200 ... they were taking care of number 140 when I arrived.

They were calling numers about 2 or 3 or a minute.

I had to sit there for a whole 30 minutes until they called me, and I had my new reporting date after a whole 2 minutes at the desk.

What a horrible inconvenience in my busy life.

Walked out of the place at 10:05. Have to do that every 90 days also.

Disrupts my whole life!

Some obviously have little to do (like me) but some working here would have to take a full day from work just to do this simple task and perhaps drive a considerable distance at risk to there life and others for a totally redundant task.

[meatboy]

Yeh, it's a terrible inconvenience, isn't it.

Had to do one a week ago. Got there at 9:30 in the morning.

My Queue number was 200 ... they were taking care of number 140 when I arrived.

They were calling numers about 2 or 3 or a minute.

I had to sit there for a whole 30 minutes until they called me, and I had my new reporting date after a whole 2 minutes at the desk.

What a horrible inconvenience in my busy life.

Walked out of the place at 10:05. Have to do that every 90 days also.

Disrupts my whole life!

wait till you have to follow an agent with a case full of passports which has happened to me twice,but my question was what purpose does it serve.

[sprq]

Its stupid....

Some people I ask about it they say what's a 90 day report?

How do they get away with it?

Because it's almost never checked at Swampy

[meatboy]

It is not to CONFIRM an address in Thailand. It is to DECLARE an address in Thailand.

If and when, for any reason, authorities would need to contact you, they could check your last declared address for that purpose.

For motor registration purposes, a legal document describing your address is required.

how is it legal when you have to pay for it,it is suposed to be free,and the only address that document has is the one you gave that is not proof unless immigration visits your home see the land and transport web site,as for your last address that was entered on their computer at your yearly extension visit.if you do move then change it.

[meatboy]

Immigration wants to know where you live. Is that unreasonable? I got to Immigration two days ago, got ticket number 1 and was out again in 10 minutes. No sympathy for people that can't get up early. Stating a false address is probably an offence.

i done my yearly extension feb.no 1 in the queue there at 8am.got out 11.30 senior officer that has to sign off the passports was a little late. tues.this week arrived at 8am.to do my 90day report this time i was no 2,opened at 8.30 out 10.15 they decided to have a meeting.

is that reasonable?

[Tafia]

Yeh, it's a terrible inconvenience, isn't it.

Had to do one a week ago. Got there at 9:30 in the morning.

My Queue number was 200 ... they were taking care of number 140 when I arrived.

They were calling numers about 2 or 3 or a minute.

I had to sit there for a whole 30 minutes until they called me, and I had my new reporting date after a whole 2 minutes at the desk.

What a horrible inconvenience in my busy life.

Walked out of the place at 10:05. Have to do that every 90 days also.

Disrupts my whole life!

Some obviously have little to do (like me) but some working here would have to take a full day from work just to do this simple task and perhaps drive a considerable distance at risk to there life and others for a totally redundant task.

Why dont you authorise someone to do it for you?

[personchester]

Its a requirement, it happens 4 times a year, so why worry about it !!

Because it's stupid. Once a year and/or notify them if there's a change of address is adequate.

Its their country their rules, stupid or not. and for 4 times a year it can hardly be considered a major chore.

Most offices accept reporting by mail so wheres the hardship?

We all have a choice......

Quite right, we absolutely do have a choice,,,,,,,,,we can choose to say whether it's stupid or not.

Yes, but we should not complain too much about it, otherwise they will change the 90 days to 30 days, moreover, prior to going to the immigration office, they may asks us to first visit the local police station in order to to officially confirm our address.

[Spoonman]

Strikes me that the 90-day frequency is a bit excessive. Why not every 12 months concurrent with annual extensions of stay - with a duty to notify any address change in the meantime within 24 hours (consistent with the obligation on house owners & hotels to report details of foreigners staying on their properties)?

In my humble (and cynical) view, the purpose of a 90-day reporting frequency is 2-fold:-

(1) To make life as difficult, awkward and inconvenient as possible for long-stay foreigners; and

(2) To chop down as many trees as possible in order the generate the mountains of unnecessary paperwork held at immigration offices.

I find it sooo frustrating and inconvenient to hand my passport to the receptionist so that she can sort out my reporting.

[lopburi3]

Yeh, it's a terrible inconvenience, isn't it.

Had to do one a week ago. Got there at 9:30 in the morning.

My Queue number was 200 ... they were taking care of number 140 when I arrived.

They were calling numers about 2 or 3 or a minute.

I had to sit there for a whole 30 minutes until they called me, and I had my new reporting date after a whole 2 minutes at the desk.

What a horrible inconvenience in my busy life.

Walked out of the place at 10:05. Have to do that every 90 days also.

Disrupts my whole life!

Some obviously have little to do (like me) but some working here would have to take a full day from work just to do this simple task and perhaps drive a considerable distance at risk to there life and others for a totally redundant task.

Why dont you authorise someone to do it for you?

Someone still has to waste time for both me and immigration officers. I clearly said I have the time and enjoy the trip but for others it can, and often is, a problem which should not happen if they are qualified for a one year extension of stay the check can be made at that time.

[chrisinth]

Keep track of foreigners on limited, specific purpose visas,

Actually it has nothing to do with that as those on such visas do not report there address as they do not stay more than 90 days at a time and any exit resets the clock. It is a requirement of the immigration act of more than 30 years ago so not something new.

Dam_n. I figured that was factually incorrect but thought I could get away with it. Not. Well, I guess the old boys 30 years ago were rather visionary, forward thinking if not xenophobic guys; and law abiding long stays in Thailand in 2013 still get lumped in with the lowest common denominator.

Having just gone through my first non-o marriage ext, I didn't think it was that onerous and am happy Thailand has such a facility. I haven't done a 90 day yet, I'm still in my 1st 30 day "under consideration" phase. Maybe I'm not jaded enough to bitch and forget we are fortunate Thailand has such a facility in the first place. Can't say the same about my own country.

The 21st century will continue to knock, maybe bring 90 day reports on line, maybe we can use our BKK bank ATMs at out of province ATMs without a fee. Who knows?

Don't forget that your 90 days notice is not connected to your visa extention, but runs from the time you entered the country, ie, runs from your entry stamp and not from the extention date....................

[chrisinth]

The address given on my 90 days notice is not my home address but my work address. This has been the case for the last 6 years or so when we first started doing the 90 days. (didn't do it before this time)

[ubonjoe]

The purpose is to meet the requirements of Section 37/5 of the immigration act of 1979.

5. If the alien stays in the Kingdom longer than ninety days, such alien must notify the

competent official at the Immigration Division , in writing , concerning his place of stay , as soon as

possible upon expiration of ninety days. The alien is required to do so every ninety days. Where there is

an Immigration Office , the alien may notify a competent Immigration Official of that office.

Source: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/doc/Immigration_Act.pdf

The immigration immigration act is way past due an update. There are various clauses that don't fit the Thailand of today verses 34 years ago.

If you don't like it ask your Thai wife and/or friends to complain about to their MP's.

[Blueyonder]

I have worked and lived in 11 countries, to include many Arabic countries. Mostly for a two year contract, once for 5 years and last year in Papua New Guinea for a year. I have never had to report to anyone during these contracts. I get my work visa, usually a two year visa, some countries give 3 years to senior management (like me) but that's it, no reporting.

It does not serve any constructive purpose.

[Dogbreath]

Nominally, the purpose of the 90 day report is to keep track of foreigners on long term visas. Actually, it enables the higher ups in Immigration to hire more people and increase their budget which in government work means more power and political weight. It all has very little to do with its stated purpose.

[Danbit]

I understand that they want to know where we are OK.

I have a multi O Visa valid untill August 2013, and for the first time i 5 years have I not been out of Thailand in 3 months so I went to Immigration and then it started again. My 3 months ended 29 March and I was to leave for HKG 11 April.

When I got my Visa, I did prove that I got more than sufficient money. Now they want me to prove that I have >800.000, easy I did bring my 2 books from SCB updated same day, one with 600.000 fixed deposit and one saving with 405.000,-

It did not work, they wanted one book only or a letter from the bank that added the amounts and informed that it was more than 800.000,- They got it.

I wonder why they need that information, they got it when I got my O visa in August 2012 from abroad,

Now I have a Extension of stay up to 29 March 2014 could be it is a retirement visa and it indicates that I must show up every 90 days.

My "new" Visa indicates that Re-Entry Permit must be made before leaving Thailand. I wonder if they do it in the Airport, but I do not need it,

I expect I still can use the old Visa valid untill August 2013 as I travel much and I will not be in Thailand for more than 3 months.

I just got the "NEW" Visa so that I could stay in Thailand without going with a bus to Cambodia. The alternative was to pay 500B/Day from 29 March to 11 April total 12 days or 6000 B fine for overstay.

Why make it easy when you can make it complicated ?

[Spoonman]

You got a permission to stay extension not a visa.

[ubonjoe]

You apparently went to immigration to try and extend your 90 days entry by only a few days but found out that all you could get was the one year extension of stay (not a visa).

If you stay more than 90 days you will have to make a report to immigration.

If you use your visa for entry to the country you will loose your extension of stay. You must get a re-entry permit either single for 1000 baht or multiple for 3800 baht.

You can get re-entry permit at airport after you get boarding pass. At swampy it is just before immigration desks and they charge a 200 baht service fee because they do the needed copies and photo for you.

Edited April 6, 2013 by ubonjoe

[jreidy]

Keep track of foreigners on limited, specific purpose visas,

Actually it has nothing to do with that as those on such visas do not report there address as they do not stay more than 90 days at a time and any exit resets the clock. It is a requirement of the immigration act of more than 30 years ago so not something new.

Agree..but to help the hard pressed officials, I would suggest a minor rule change. All long stay visa holders who are owner occupiers to report annually.

[ubonjoe]

It is not a rule that can be changed easily. It would have to be done by Parliament in the forum of an amendment or a completely new immigration act.

[personchester]

The Thai Immigration Dept knows that the 90 days reports have no administrative purpose, but it is a constructive

device in order to control foreigners residential in Thailand.

Edited April 6, 2013 by personchester

[watcharacters]

I can see a purpose for it and this thread will not influence the requirement. But surly reporting to the local police station would make more sense, they are the people who come out and verify my location/situation after my annual Retirement Extension (using the map I have to provide to Immigration) so obviously the right hand is talking to the left.

I see your viewpoint bdenner and understand you are happy with the way things are. As many have stated countless times before, the issue they have is the lack of consistency.

Each immigration office is operated as a private fiefdom with rules only on to itself. An address verification letter in my local immigration office costs ฿500. instead of being free. In other areas of Thailand it costs much more. One can never be sure what to expect. In most Western countries as well as a couple of SEA countries there's a clearer requirement for things. thailand is far from making things clear as to requirements in terms of enforcement.

I don't know anyone in my city who has had a visit to confirm information from either the BIB or immigration.

And as far as complaining goes, I'm certain anything posted on Thaivisa is no more worthwhile than a pimple on an elephant's butt

[watcharacters]

Keep track of foreigners on limited, specific purpose visas,

Actually it has nothing to do with that as those on such visas do not report there address as they do not stay more than 90 days at a time and any exit resets the clock. It is a requirement of the immigration act of more than 30 years ago so not something new.

Agree..but to help the hard pressed officials, I would suggest a minor rule change. All long stay visa holders who are owner occupiers to report annually.

.

It sounds as if you're trying to make an intelligent suggestion. You should know that's not acceptable in LOS. Please go back to the drawing board.

[Markaew]

I believe it is a safety measure to allow locating Farangs if there embassy needs to or if they go missing

Or suspected of criminal activity. Though too easy to fake an address as, at least in Chiang Mai, they never check the validity of the address.

i go to immigration tell them i live at this address then they can charge you 500bht.for a letter [proof] yet i could be in timbucktoo.i get it now £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

I have been here for over six years and I've never had to do that. Maybe you pissed them off.

[JLCrab]

It is not a rule that can be changed easily. It would have to be done by Parliament in the forum of an amendment or a completely new immigration act.

Good one, Joe. The Immigration Act of Thailand 2522 (1979) before PC computers, email, mobile phones, etc said :

Section 37

5. If the alien stays in the Kingdom longer than ninety days, such alien must notify the competent official at the Immigration Division , in writing , concerning his place of stay , as soon as possible upon expiration of ninety days. The alien is required to do so every ninety days. Where there is an Immigration Office , the alien may notify a competent Immigration Official of that office.

Changing the above would not be a simple procedure.

Edited April 6, 2013 by JLCrab