Why are we subjected to 90 reporting?

[mamypoko]

If we have to do it, I vote for an online option. If Imm really needs to have a face to face it would return an alert msg.

[samran]

Agree that is a outdated relic of a law and that an ideal solution would be an ID card for foreigners. But then that would get the usual moaners going on about civil liberties or some such, so you might as well keep things the way they are, if for anything, the entertainment value of these threads.

[ubonjoe]

Just what we need another topic complaining about 90 day reporting. Do a search and you will find hundreds of them.

It is required by the immigration act of 1979 that is probably not going to change any time soon. So all you can do is live with it.

[garyk]

Went to Chiang Mai yesterday for my yearly retirement visa. Wow, it has grown in the last few years. Now by 6:00 there was a line. By 8:00 really to late, line of around 100 or more. Amazing to see so many foreigners. I could not believe it.

I keep a home in my home country just in case I get tired of things here. Great place to play and have fun. But that is it for me.

People that gripe here are people without an exit strategy IMO. All of there eggs in one basket so to speak. I see nothing wrong with the rules. If I don't like it I leave. But I tell you now. The expat pop. is growing by leaps and bounds here.

Edited August 29, 2013 by garyk

[Soutpeel]

Agree that is a outdated relic of a law and that an ideal solution would be an ID card for foreigners. But then that would get the usual moaners going on about civil liberties or some such, so you might as well keep things the way they are, if for anything, the entertainment value of these threads.

people from the western countries, say "aliens" dont have to do this sort of thing in their countries, so why should they have to do it in Thailand ?...let me respond this way, Thailand is pretty slack with its long term visa vetting and issuing, and just about anyone can get a long term visa, in western countires the vetting process and issue procedures are a lot more robust when it comes to staying long term in a country, ie they are more selective on who they let stay...

So would TV poster's prefer they do away with a 90 day report in preference for more robust visa issue/extension checks on the understanding that under the new checks/criteria, some of you may not qualify to live in Thailand anymore ?

I would be careful what you wish for...

for me personally, dont see what the big deal is turning up at the local plods every 90 days and handing over a bit of paper, it hardly a major inconvienience...

[Nooky2]

Some great thinking there. I agree with most of what you write. The only response I would or could think of, is that

there is so much bad foreigners of all the kind and sorts possible coming here. And all of us normal guys had to suffer of course

because of their presence here!!....

Glegolo

I think we are all considered bad foreigners.

[givenall]

Some great thinking there. I agree with most of what you write. The only response I would or could think of, is that

there is so much bad foreigners of all the kind and sorts possible coming here. And all of us normal guys had to suffer of course

because of their presence here!!....

Glegolo

Do you really think bad foreigner or criminal will tell the truth. They do everything they can to get away, and lying about there about is the easiest thing to do

[OJAS]

@ Sustento Reply to Post No 5

I'm not speaking for America,but the UK allows Spouses into the Country on 2 year and 3 months Settlement Visas,and they never have to check in to the UKBA,Home Office,or Police,for the whole term,of residence,which in general leads on to permanent residence into the UK,whereby the nearest they will ever get to a Check in,is when they pick up their Citizenship Certificate,and later on British Passport Application Interview!

In answer to your question,providing the Immigration conditions are complied with,it's pretty straight forward,for most applicants to obtain a UK Visa.

IMHO excessive check ins,are xenophobic nonsense,!

Edit for spelling error!

You have surely got to be joking about the "straightforwardness" of obtaining UK visas! To enable her to accompany me on a 12-day trip back to the UK in 2009, my Thai wife had to fill out a lengthy form which required her to provide totally meaningless and irrelevant information relating to her parents' and daughters' full names and dates and places of birth, which the British powers-that-be seem to regard as essentially desperately vital for reasons which completely escape me! In addition, I had to provide a lengthy letter which basically guaranteed that I would be responsible for all the expenses she incurred while in the UK!!

The 90-day reporting and annual extension of stay processes for me here are pieces of cake by comparison .

[jrtmedic]

@ Sustento Reply to Post No 5

I'm not speaking for America,but the UK allows Spouses into the Country on 2 year and 3 months Settlement Visas,and they never have to check in to the UKBA,Home Office,or Police,for the whole term,of residence,which in general leads on to permanent residence into the UK,whereby the nearest they will ever get to a Check in,is when they pick up their Citizenship Certificate,and later on British Passport Application Interview!

In answer to your question,providing the Immigration conditions are complied with,it's pretty straight forward,for most applicants to obtain a UK Visa.

IMHO excessive check ins,are xenophobic nonsense,!

Edit for spelling error!

You have surely got to be joking about the "straightforwardness" of obtaining UK visas! To enable her to accompany me on a 12-day trip back to the UK in 2009, my Thai wife had to fill out a lengthy form which required her to provide totally meaningless and irrelevant information relating to her parents' and daughters' full names and dates and places of birth, which the British powers-that-be seem to regard as essentially desperately vital for reasons which completely escape me! In addition, I had to provide a lengthy letter which basically guaranteed that I would be responsible for all the expenses she incurred while in the UK!!

The 90-day reporting and annual extension of stay processes for me here are pieces of cake by comparison .

Agreed the "process" is a nightmare !

Similar pantomime performance is required of any Thai seeking a "Western" visa!

[54321]

You could go with that, and we could all go home.

The op is making a valid point and simply questioning the reason for the 90 day report.

Could always just go with the .... its their country and if we want to live here as guests, then we follow their laws and whatever hoops they want us jump. We are all free to go back to our own countries.

[Kerryd]

I love all the people that travel to/live in a FOREIGN country, and then BITCH about that country's laws and WHINE that they aren't that same as where they came from. If life is so much F*ING better where you came from, feel FREE to GTFO and go back. What's stopping you ?

Reporting once every 90 days ? If that is too f*ing difficult for you, the problem isn't with the law, it's with YOU.

My frikken cancer-ridden 77 year old father made his last 90 day report 2 months before he died. He could barely get out of bed, and his g/f had to help him in/out of the taxi and in/out of Immigration, yet he still did it.

But then again, it appears some of you lead such rich, fulfilling lives that having to lose out on a couple hours of "pub" time once every 3 months would be like the end of the world for you. I'll bet you don't bitch anywhere near as much when it comes time to renew you passport (that last ditch "ticket to freedom") or whatever paperwork your government decides you need to do in order to continue collecting your benefits.

Don't worry about Thailand though. I sure the Kingdom will somehow manage to survive without your presence. I know you think it will all collapse without your individual contribution, but I can assure you, there are more than enough people here that are willing to do the 90 reporting (or whatever else is required for them to continue living here) to make up for whatever few baht they will lose from your departure.

Have a nice trip home.

[yimlitnoy]

Truthfully, I just don't understand why foreigners who are residing in the country, supporting a family or supporting the local community with their retirement funds -- why are we singled out?

In comparison, in America, in the State of Georgia, a convicted Sexual Offender must report to the state every 90 days after that individual has been paroled. So -- you and I and countless other honest, financially solvent, foreigners who add a significant amount of support to the local communities that we reside in, are comparatively equal to a Sex Offender from the State of Georgia in the United States.

Think about that?

Unfortunately, immigration is probably not even reading this... The right of foreigners in Thailand is not much more than those sexual convicts above.

[PattayaPhom]

Thailand has some of the easiest immigration laws. At least the OP is allowed here, how many Thais are refused visas to the US etc.

[BangkokHank]

Since the authorities don't ask for any proof of address, the whole exercise is meaningless. And if all they wanted was our address, they could just as well let us report it by internet. Heck, if I could do it by internet, I wouldn't mind reporting my address every day.

But after 18 years of living in Thailand, one thing that I've learned is that when something doesn't make sense, it's usually about the money. The whole point of this exercise is NOT to get your address, which they can get in more efficient ways if they wanted to. The point of the exercise is to create an unnecessary, inconvenient, troublesome hoop for foreigners to jump through - so that we can be FINED for not jumping through the hoop. That's it. Plain and simple. It's solely about the money that they can make from fining people for not reporting their address. Otherwise they would let us report our address online - or they would set up an office for that purpose in the center of Bangkok where most foreigners live rather than as far away as possible from where most of us live.

So no, it's not your address they're after. It's your money.

[BangkokHank]

My frikken cancer-ridden 77 year old father made his last 90 day report 2 months before he died. He could barely get out of bed, and his g/f had to help him in/out of the taxi and in/out of Immigration, yet he still did it.

With all due respect, your father should have done his 90-day report by mail.

[Time Traveller]

Thailand has some of the easiest immigration laws. At least the OP is allowed here, how many Thais are refused visas to the US etc.

Look again, USA has about 1 million new immigrants each year. Thailand with it's "easiest immigration laws" probably only has a few hundred immigrants processed each year. (you are not an immigrant if you have to report to immigration every 90 days and then beg every year for them to extend your right to stay). Facts prove that immigration to USA is much easier than immigration to Thailand. Numbers don't lie, people do.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Time Traveller

[ubonjoe]

My frikken cancer-ridden 77 year old father made his last 90 day report 2 months before he died. He could barely get out of bed, and his g/f had to help him in/out of the taxi and in/out of Immigration, yet he still did it. 

With all due respect, your father should have done his 90-day report by mail.

Or had his GF do it for him. You can have somebody do them for you.

My wife has done most of mine.

[IMA_FARANG]

Simple answer.

Because in Thailand YOU are an alien whether you like it or not.

The Thai law says that aliens (you) living in Thailand for more than 90 days must report their address to immigration. every 90 days.

Since you are an alien .... you got it.

The fact that you think this law makes no sense, or even if the law really does not make sense, that has no bearing on the matter.

Why do you even imagine that any law anywhere has to make sense?

But more seriously, why do you think your opinion in the matter was ever even considered anyhow?

I know it doesn't make sense either, but that isn't all that important to the people who passed it and enforce it.

Bottom line: there is a law and you have to follow it.

Just do it, and stop complaining.

You're opinion, or my opinion, is not being asked for.

Governments everywhere in the world pass laws supposedly for the "benefit of the majority of the citizens" in their country.

Here in Thailand you are not a citizen of their country, and your opinion on the matter was never asked for, was it?

Edited August 29, 2013 by IMA_FARANG

[BangkokHank]

Simple answer.

Because in Thailand YOU are an alien whether you like it or not.

The Thai law says that aliens (you) living in Thailand for more than 90 days must report their address to immigration. every 90 days.

Since you are an alien .... you got it.

The fact that you think this law makes no sense, or even if the law really does not make sense, that has no bearing on the matter.

Why do you even imagine that any law anywhere has to make sense?

But more seriously, why do you think your opinion in the matter was ever even considered anyhow?

I know it doesn't make sense either, but that isn't all that important to the people who passed it and enforce it.

Bottom line: there is a law and you have to follow it.

Just do it, and stop complaining.

You're opinion, or my opinion, is not being asked for.

Governments everywhere in the world pass laws supposedly for the "benefit of the majority of the citizens" in their country.

Here in Thailand you are not a citizen of their country, and your opinion on the matter was never asked for, was it?

I agree of course that we have to follow the law. I don't, however, agree that we should stop complaining.

To me, a more sensible law would be: "Aliens have to report their address - with proof - once - until and unless it changes. If it changes, then the new address has to be reported within 7 days."

Now wouldn't that make more sense - and serve the same purpose with much less hassle - than reporting the SAME address, over and over, every 90 days, for ten years?

[puyaidon]

Some time in the distant past the regulation was passed and approved. When I say the distant past, that might make the regulation a relic. I have seen it here in Thailand and my country, the US, that once a rule or whatever is passed, either it is almost impossible to change or cleared off the books. One reason is that someone higher up made the rule in the past and it would be disrespectful to that person to change it according to those I have talked to. Another example is the law passed in 1973 regarding Thai spouses owning land after marrying a foreigner. How long have many people wanted to change that law? The only way the law will be changed will be if one of us gets to be close friends with the Interior Minister which is an impossible feat. He is the boss of the immigration department and if he could be convinced, maybe the law might get changed. I am not holding my breath. As many have said, if you don't like it, leave. I have been told that myself.

Edited August 29, 2013 by puyaidon

[lopburi3]

There is no law about Thai owning land. There used to be a policy to not allow registration due to the law that did not allow foreigners to own land being in conflict with Thai joint property marriage laws. That has now been solved by use of paperwork that funds used to purchase are not joint property.

[Tafia]

My frikken cancer-ridden 77 year old father made his last 90 day report 2 months before he died. He could barely get out of bed, and his g/f had to help him in/out of the taxi and in/out of Immigration, yet he still did it.

With all due respect, your father should have done his 90-day report by mail.

Or his GF could have done it for him.

[Tafia]

What are all the documents you have to produce? Here in Udon TM47 and Passport is all thats required and I've been informed the TM47 isn't necessary any longer just your address which they enter onto the computer.

[ubonjoe]

Another example is the law passed in 1973 regarding Thai spouses owning land after marrying a foreigner.  How long have many people wanted to change that law?  

That was law done away with in 1998 after 1997 constitution because was deemed to be in violation of the constitution.

Sent from my SoftwinerEvb using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile ap

[cardholder]

Thailand has some of the easiest immigration laws. At least the OP is allowed here, how many Thais are refused visas to the US etc.

Often for good reason.

[jrtmedic]

Thailand has some of the easiest immigration laws. At least the OP is allowed here, how many Thais are refused visas to the US etc.

Often for good reason.

Such as ?

[Jingthing]

Thailand has some of the easiest immigration laws. At least the OP is allowed here, how many Thais are refused visas to the US etc.

Often for good reason.

Such as ?

High rate of visa overstay.

High rate of illegal working at legal jobs.

High rate of illegal working at illegal jobs.

Is that enough info?

[OJAS]

Thailand has some of the easiest immigration laws. At least the OP is allowed here, how many Thais are refused visas to the US etc.

Often for good reason.

Many Americans and other Westerners should likewise be refused visas to Thailand for equally good reason IMHO!

[OJAS]

Thailand has some of the easiest immigration laws. At least the OP is allowed here, how many Thais are refused visas to the US etc.

Often for good reason.

Such as ?

High rate of visa overstay.

High rate of illegal working at legal jobs.

High rate of illegal working at illegal jobs.

Is that enough info?

Same can be said for farangs living in LOS!

Edited August 29, 2013 by OJAS

[Jingthing]

Same can be said for farangs living in LOS!

Depends on how you define high.