Visiting The Chiang Mai Immigration Office

[uptheos]

Uptheos' concern about the rainy season is not an idle one, and perhaps he has been caught in the rain. Shelter (undercover seating) is limited except for the Burmese laborers, and I wish them no ill. Their problems are much, much more trying than mine, and they are probably missing a day of work (and being paid) while they sit, and wait, and wait.

I wonder, and no doubt we will never know, how much the company paid for its advertisement. But, whether they did or not, it is understandable that Thai Immigration would be grateful for the relief from hassle that a "service" provides. At least a service can get the paperwork in order, not a talent all foreigners share equally.

I did glance at the fee. Bt12,000 annually per person, I believe !!! Now, even if one lacks some sense of detail dealing with detail, that does seem more than a little exorbitant! And, in Chiang Mai, at any rate, you might still have to stand in the rain because you (and any dependents) will have to show your smiling faces at the office in any case.

Nah, you'd just need to arrive at the time given to the agent by immigration.

I wonder what the split is?

Edited March 11, 2014 by uptheos

[Mapguy]

Scored two hat tricks this afternoon at Chiang Mai Immigration! Even despite an electric power outage in the building!

The first score was a combination of retirement and dependent extensions to stay. Took a total of 15 minutes interview time and a 20 minute wait for the return of the passports. See another post about documents needed: Retirement and Dependent Visa Documentation at Chiang Mai Immigration.

The second score was a slap shot: two 90-day reports. A little wait, but it was an early Monday afternoon. See my other post on 90-Day registration: the mail in option does exist. See the pinned thread above.

The final goal was two multiple re-entry visas. Here, however, the game dragged. VERY slow. Despite having a queue ticket taken upon entering the building, there was still an hour and a quarter wait until passports were returned. There was no particular crowd, and there were three officers processing the work at the front desk! In years I have never seen such a delay.

Total elapsed time, due to the extraordinarily long processing time at Desk 1 was 2:40 --- and that included a five-ten minute electrical power outage!!

Crowded. Not overly so. The two retirement desks did not seem pressed at all. We had two back-to-back appointments. You can only book for one person in one slot, but the officer has always taken us together.

Oh! Talk about luck! The first parking slot in the lot was empty!

Edited June 23, 2014 by Mapguy

[JLT]

Last Friday morning, I checked my passport and suddenly realised that my 90 day stay renewal was up (and not only that but that I was 7 days over the stamped date!).

I completed a TM47 at home and drove to Immigration, arriving at about 11.15am. Found a parking spot, hustled into the photocopying service for required 90 day renewal photocopies. Signed same, walked into the Immigration office and at the counter asked for a number and was given 151, I looked at the board where number 150 was being displayed. No-one appeared to be waiting, so after a couple of minutes I presented myself at the counter whereby an officer checked my ticket number, took my passport and photocopies and then laughed as he pointed out how close I was to being out of time.

He handed my passport and accompanying documents to a clerk(?) and within 2 minutes they were back in my hand and I was on my way. Total time, not more than 15 minutes....excellent service, with good humour and a smile.

[T_Dog]

Is the 87 second walk from the airport pay lot to immigration still the best option for car parking?

[Sparkles]

Is the 87 second walk from the airport pay lot to immigration still the best option for car parking?

No cost at Airport Plaza,maybe 2 mins, and 20 baht for the petrol station opposite I believe

[T_Dog]

Is the 87 second walk from the airport pay lot to immigration still the best option for car parking?

No cost at Airport Plaza,maybe 2 mins, and 20 baht for the petrol station opposite I believe

The petrol station sounds convenient. A few years ago they were chasing people away so they must have changed their policy to make some extra cash.

[Mapguy]

Took me 93 seconds from the airport! I am out of shape!

Edited September 24, 2014 by Mapguy

[T_Dog]

Took me 93 seconds from the airport! I am out of shape!

I was trying to remember who posted that 87 second time. You probably had to wait 6 seconds to cross the road so don't fret!

[mania]

Just picked up my yearly after 30 day review ext & happened to be close enough time wise to do my 90 too.

Not bad time wise but while waiting for my passport back with the new stamp I did think of one idea

that would maybe help the workers there....

You know they have that big flat screen now above center counter?

gives info about procedure etc...

They should give keyboard access to it to the counter folks who

are always trying to call folks forward to get their passport.

Seems due to noise, multiple microphones overlapping etc + pronunciation at times

you see many folks go up to find it was not them called & others don't go because the name

sounds nothing like theirs yet it was them being called

If the counter folks had access to that flat screen with a keyboard a simple

Mr. John Smith/Canada come to counter 3 etc would be nice

Just a thought

Edited September 27, 2014 by mania

[northernjohn]

Just picked up my yearly after 30 day review ext & happened to be close enough time wise to do my 90 too.

Not bad time wise but while waiting for my passport back with the new stamp I did think of one idea

that would maybe help the workers there....

You know they have that big flat screen now above center counter?

gives info about procedure etc...

They should give keyboard access to it to the counter folks who

are always trying to call folks forward to get their passport.

Seems due to noise, multiple microphones overlapping etc + pronunciation at times

you see many folks go up to find it was not them called & others don't go because the name

sounds nothing like theirs yet it was them being called

If the counter folks had access to that flat screen with a keyboard a simple

Mr. John Smith/Canada come to counter 3 etc would be nice

Just a thought

That is an excellent idea.

Especially with the multi announcements and the pronunciation.

I take my wife as she is very good at picking my name out. Still would be nice to be able to double check it.

[Wong!]

Im really disappointed with the immigration rules here. My non-O was expiring early March, so, I went in exactly 30 days in advance to apply for extension. Everything was in order, except the lady looked up in shock when she saw my bank book and asked if the funds were still there? I said yes, as you can see from the required BANK LETTER that was dated yesterday, it states the account and amount. This, for some insane reason is not good enough, and we had to go to the bank and make a deposit of 100 baht and update the book bank. In my opinion this totally defeats the purpose of getting a bank letter, does it not?

Anyways, after the interview was told to come and pick up the visa early April!! This was Feb 7th I went in. It seems it does not matter a rats ass that we were there a month early, they will return the visa 30 days after the expiration date. Waiting 2 months to get a visa is very stressfull for someone that needs to leave for work overseas. She said if I was not back to pick it up on that specific day, it would be void.

Every year its the same, and that is why I went early this year, to try to avoid the conflict of me needing to wait for the visa, and needing to leave for work. And of course, last week I get notice of a job and need to leave, and had the pleasure of trying to expedite the process and pick it up within a week. To do this, requires trips to the head office on canal road, main office by the airport, printing of emails of proof of reason, a letter written in Thai asking for the visa in advance and photo copies of passport and stamps. And then to have to deal with the offices when their reaction is like you just asked them to stop the world from spinning. Complete gong show. You would think, they would have some sort of standard procedure to expedite visa in emergencies, but, they don't.

A bit off topic but needed to vent a bit as you can see.

End rant.

They didn't understand how banks worked when I applied for my marriage visa last week. Luckily, my wife patiently explained it to them and they made a big show about how clever they were. Muppets!

The lady that dealt with us is the one with the bob hair-cut who has recently been transferred from the Phuket office.

Also, make sure you take both marriage documents unless you like sitting in waiting rooms. We were number 7 and got seen at 11.30ish. Number 12 was mid afternoon.

[raybal5]

I had the displeasure of attending the Chiang Mai Immigration Office today. After observing procedures from 10 am until 4 pm I noted that after being "processed" people were getting their passports handed back about every 5 to 10 minutes. I finally got my officer approval at 4pm, paid my money and got the picture taken, and was told to wait. After 30 minutes I realised that not one single person had been called to get their passport back. Waiting, waiting, waiting. At 5:00pm I and a growing number of others began to ask why we had to wait so long. Not a single passport returned. By 5:45 pm the crowd had lost its patience were asking any staff member who came close to the counter what was going on. One of the staff finally told us that the manager was the only person able to countersign officer visa approvals and they had gone to a meeting.

This is a total disgrace. The manager is a buffalo with such a huge ego that they cannot allow a second person to sign in their absence. Not only is this poor customer service, it an abuse of power and lack of planning. How dare they absent themselves from the office during service hours if they are so stupidly arrogant as to not delegate countersigning authority. The manager's abuse of power and lack of accountability causes stress for staff and customers alike. I have since learned that this is a common occurrence. When will Thai bureaucrats be told that their overly inflated egos have no place in this environment. What if they got sick or couldn't go to work? Do they expect everyone to wait for them? Disgusting

[raybal5]

Went for a 90 day AND re-entry permit 2 weeks ago.

Arrived 12.20 out at 1.15.....that's correct over the lunch period, one diligent immigration officer processed both applications on his lunch break. Just had to wait 15 mins to get the passport back.

Can't argue with that type of service, it shows some of the officers are willing to go the extra mile

Yesterday at CM Immigration my application was processed and accepted and paid for but I was forced to wait from 4pm until 6:15pm to get my passport back. After 4pm NOBODY got their passport back. By 5:30pm many people waiting started getting angry and asking any staff member who showed their face what was going on, why the wait. The staff finally admitted that only the manager could countersign the approvals and she had gone to a meeting. I have since found out that this is a common thing. The Manager of CM Immigration is disgustingly stupid if she thinks it is ok to make people wait for her for so long. Why is she too scared to delegate that authority when she is away at meetings? Thai ego and face have no place in the operations of the Immigration office. I hope her Bangkok bosses can wake up to what an idiot she is and terminate her or demote her. This person is giving Thailand a bad name.

[mesquite]

Why would the manager or anyone else at immigration care how long you and all the other foreigners had to wait? The bosses at Bangkok don't care either, BTW.

Edited January 29, 2015 by mesquite

[Sparkles]

Why would the manager or anyone else at immigration care how long you and all the other foreigners had to wait? The bosses at Bangkok don't care either, BTW.

Sad but true. Perhaps they could introduce an " express signature fee"

[daoyai]

Did 90 day rpt. today, took 90 minutes, ..... shameful.

[uptheos]

Why would the manager or anyone else at immigration care how long you and all the other foreigners had to wait? The bosses at Bangkok don't care either, BTW.

Sad but true. Perhaps they could introduce an " express signature fee"

It's a strange phenomena that signatures can be directly linked to speed depending on baht.

[evenstevens]

or a small cough,from those despicable visa agents though a great system me thinks

[Mapguy]

Annual visit to date for extension and re-entry with an appointment. Elapsed time was a little less than an hour and a half. Parking for 30 bhat at gas station with room for lots of cars. No wait. Ushered into the back room for the usual 10-minute interview. Then things slowed down before being called back for a photograph and, finally the returned passport.

The most notable change was the rapidity with which the re-entry permit was issued. "One-stop" with submission of application, approval, stamp and payment all carried out at the front counter. Another photograph!

A noticeable irritant was people showing up at the counter really not knowing what they were doing and some loud conversation among some of those waiting. The place was packed but cleared noticeably over the hour and a half. Five or six people looking for extensions were told (at about 11) to return after lunch.

The officer's answer about moving to Promenada was "Maybe next month."

The mix of people, of course, from several countries, everywhere but from Africa and South America. It is still to wonder that farang (easy to identify) do not realize that tee shirts and shorts in Thailand are for sports, children, laborers or wearing around the house --- not for doing business. But the staff were also dressed casually today. There were only a couple of uniforms (senior ranks) in sight with some sort of Immigration polo shirt most popular.

[naboo]

It is still to wonder that farang (easy to identify) do not realize that tee shirts and shorts in Thailand are for sports, children, laborers or wearing around the house --- not for doing business. But the staff were also dressed casually today. There were only a couple of uniforms (senior ranks) in sight with some sort of Immigration polo shirt most popular.

The world would be a much happier place if everyone wore trousers and those immigration officers stuck their medals back on.

You do come out with some "out of the box thinking" Mapguy.

[johnmcc6]

When I go to immigration I put my car into the car wash accross the street. Inside out clean...great job...140 baht for 4 door d max. Depending on customers average time one hour or little less.

[circusman]

I now use online reporting so I can't complain about c.m. immigration.

[northernjohn]

I now use online reporting so I can't complain about c.m. immigration.

What a good little boy you are. Thank you for the information. I have lost sleep for many nights wondering how you did it.

By the way what ever possessed you to think this was just for complaining. Many had a nice experience.

Edited June 25, 2015 by northernjohn