Immigration- Residence Letter

[Lancelot]

Latest Letter of Residence (LoR) experience as of Nov 11: arrived at 0830 and the place was already packed. A thai girl who has a friend at Immigration accompanied me, hoping we could get the LoR sooner. No way!

A nice student took my application, but she was terrified of making a mistake. Presented all of my documents but there is no Moo number on the very correct looking rental contract. We call the Landlord- the building does not have one. OK. What is the street name? Its printed on the contract but she has to have it verified by the Landlord. There was no argument and I even wore long pants and a white shirt (polite maak!) Just a young student afraid of her shadow and needs to be reassured about each and every detail. Yeah, I understand enough Thai to know that she was asking basic questions like the street name, even when its written AND printed on the contract.

While she was at it, she made me get new photos. My face was "too big" on the 4 x 6 cm pics I submitted... Those very same pics worked at Pattaya Immigration for two retirement extensions, one reentry permit and two residence letters. But this ain't Pattaya and they do it their way here Again, no arguments, just a student in a minor position scared to death of making a mistake. I'm surprise she didn't reject the Lease for something like: Incorrect font" or some other no common sense reason.

The wait is one week, can pick up in the afternoon on the 18th. There is a sign outside the small Residence Letter building saying "Free Service" Gawd, I would hope so

[kjhbigv]

It won't be free! Personally I found the process quite painless and easy. There is always a wait of a few days......you seen how many they do?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[anto]

Get a yellow house book if you will be here long term .It saves all that red tape .

[Mario2008]

flame and reply removed.

[true blue]

must admit last time i went for letter for 5year d/l it was pretty painless,they did it in the building at the side of imm,only can say in defence of young thai,if they get address wrong on letter,the next place your going to use it for will reject the letter,(thai correctness),as i found to my dismay one time,then your running back and foreward to get rectified.

[falang1969]

It won't be free! Personally I found the process quite painless and easy. There is always a wait of a few days......you seen how many they do?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

And, better than paying the UK Consulate in Chiang Mai (if you are from the UK) 2800bht for the same thing!

[kcore]

Pretty much the same experience two weeks ago however, my docs were in order and pics were ok as well. It took a week and though no money was called for, I promptly paid the man 500 bht. Why? Because I want them to maintain interest in this service as we all know what has transpired in the last few months. I don't want to pay the embassy rate which is 3 times 500. I would advise all to make a small donation for this service!

[anto]

Pretty much the same experience two weeks ago however, my docs were in order and pics were ok as well. It took a week and though no money was called for, I promptly paid the man 500 bht. Why? Because I want them to maintain interest in this service as we all know what has transpired in the last few months. I don't want to pay the embassy rate which is 3 times 500. I would advise all to make a small donation for this service!

They are well paid by the state already .Most Thais like a Government job ,as its for life with a good pension .Giving B500 only rewards illegality .

[Chicog]

Pretty much the same experience two weeks ago however, my docs were in order and pics were ok as well. It took a week and though no money was called for, I promptly paid the man 500 bht. Why? Because I want them to maintain interest in this service as we all know what has transpired in the last few months. I don't want to pay the embassy rate which is 3 times 500. I would advise all to make a small donation for this service!

Which guarantees that they will no longer do their job properly for a farang without receiving a backhander.

Nice One.

[anselpixel]

Anyone who's been here for any time knows it's only "supposed" to be free.

It's 500 baht per copy every time I've ever had one done.

Once, a student mistakenly handed me my letter without charging, and her superiors sent her out into the parking lot to collect.

She was very embarrassed.

[Lancelot]

Why pay 500 baht for a letter that one must wait 7 days to receive? Yeah, I may have to pay 500 baht but I will make them ask me. If I could receive it the same day, sure, I would pay up. But 7 days?

The seller of the bike implied I was lying, told me that it only takes two hours to receive the letter. I said, hey, you are the big man, lets go to Immigration tomorrow, you can tell them it only takes two hours, I want to see this

[Lancelot]

Pretty much the same experience two weeks ago however, my docs were in order and pics were ok as well. It took a week and though no money was called for, I promptly paid the man 500 bht. Why? Because I want them to maintain interest in this service as we all know what has transpired in the last few months. I don't want to pay the embassy rate which is 3 times 500. I would advise all to make a small donation for this service!

My docs were in order as well, but I guess a Lease Contract written in Thai was information overload for the student. Her speaking to the Landlord went like this: " OK so the street is the same as printed on the contract?" "OK so the tambon is xxxx, same as printed on the contract?" "OK, so the amphur is muang Chiang mai? Oh yes, that is printed on the contract as well!" (Gushing Smile) It was like a comedy skit- except she was serious...

I would have gone to the US Consulate and paid 1,550 baht but with their appointment system, it was about the same wait.

I don't care what the "Any one who has been here long" brigade says, 7 days to print out a document saying that Khun Somchai's ID number is xxx and he arrived in Thailand on xx date and his visa is valid until xxx is beyond the pale. Entering the info takes maybe two minutes, printing two copies takes maybe two minutes, and stamping the docs takes maybe 10 seconds?

Naa, highly technical work like that could take months, if not years Yeah, I have not been here long enough to understand that .

I like living in Chiang Mai but the Immigration office here is one of the minuses. I disliked living in Pattaya, but, in fairness, their Immigration office was far superior to Chiang Mai.

Oh well, walking is good for my waste line

[Lancelot]

must admit last time i went for letter for 5year d/l it was pretty painless,they did it in the building at the side of imm,only can say in defence of young thai,if they get address wrong on letter,the next place your going to use it for will reject the letter,(thai correctness),as i found to my dismay one time,then your running back and foreward to get rectified.

The address is correct. It is printed at the top of the contract. It was written in Thai, the student was Thai, the Landlord is thai.

Why would the next office (Chiang Mai DLT) reject the letter for correctness? Ah,Khun Lance we know you do not live at 1X address; you really live at 2X address!

Man, give me a break

[true blue]

must admit last time i went for letter for 5year d/l it was pretty painless,they did it in the building at the side of imm,only can say in defence of young thai,if they get address wrong on letter,the next place your going to use it for will reject the letter,(thai correctness),as i found to my dismay one time,then your running back and foreward to get rectified.

The address is correct. It is printed at the top of the contract. It was written in Thai, the student was Thai, the Landlord is thai.

Why would the next office (Chiang Mai DLT) reject the letter for correctness? Ah,Khun Lance we know you do not live at 1X address; you really live at 2X address!

Man, give me a break

well it happened to me the guy in immigration gave me the letter,but when i took it to renew my driving licence,they would not, as letter had a number or something different than last time i applied,so i had to go back and get the letter re adjusted after much huffing and puffing,bloke did it. then i had take back to d/l office,and she seemed to be happy with it,this time.i certinally did not get a break thats for sure.

[alfieconn]

Latest Letter of Residence (LoR) experience as of Nov 11: arrived at 0830 and the place was already packed. A thai girl who has a friend at Immigration accompanied me, hoping we could get the LoR sooner. No way!

Strange I was there yesterday at 8.30am and the area around the "Letter of Residence" office wasn't packed, unless you were somewhere different to me as you did say "place" which to me implies a waiting room or an office.

For the record, got there at 8.10am as the office opens at 8.30am (second in the queue), done and dusted by 8.40am thats how packed it was.

[Lancelot]

What I saw was a lot of people grouped around the little building issuing Residence Letters, some with que tickets and others without.

OK, so it took you 10 minutes after the office opened?

Then why is there a seven day wait?

[Lancelot]

must admit last time i went for letter for 5year d/l it was pretty painless,they did it in the building at the side of imm,only can say in defence of young thai,if they get address wrong on letter,the next place your going to use it for will reject the letter,(thai correctness),as i found to my dismay one time,then your running back and foreward to get rectified.

The address is correct. It is printed at the top of the contract. It was written in Thai, the student was Thai, the Landlord is thai.

Why would the next office (Chiang Mai DLT) reject the letter for correctness? Ah,Khun Lance we know you do not live at 1X address; you really live at 2X address!

Man, give me a break

well it happened to me the guy in immigration gave me the letter,but when i took it to renew my driving licence,they would not, as letter had a number or something different than last time i applied,so i had to go back and get the letter re adjusted after much huffing and puffing,bloke did it. then i had take back to d/l office,and she seemed to be happy with it,this time.i certinally did not get a break thats for sure.

OK. But by the same reasoning, maybe the address changed. Sounds like the officer at the DLT was being over zealous. But for me, I will take the Residence letter to the DLT office to register the bike in my name, so I don't see it as being an issue. Its not like I am buying it from myself, meaning that my address will be totally different from the sellers address (in the green book), so what is there to match up?

The student taking the application wasn't up tp the task. She was nice enough, just could not look at a contract, written in Thai and read an address clearly written in Thai with out being reassured. Some times making a common sense decision is part of the job, besides the automatic "can not"

Edited November 12, 2013 by Lancelot

[alfieconn]

What I saw was a lot of people grouped around the little building issuing Residence Letters, some with que tickets and others without.

OK, so it took you 10 minutes after the office opened?

Then why is there a seven day wait?

Sorry, paperwork handed in and checked by the nice lady, back in 7 days !

[Sparkles]

Anyone who's been here for any time knows it's only "supposed" to be free.

It's 500 baht per copy every time I've ever had one done.

Once, a student mistakenly handed me my letter without charging, and her superiors sent her out into the parking lot to collect.

She was very embarrassed.

There may have been a charge but there isn't now.I picked up my Residence Letter this afternoon from the cubicle, aka office, at the rear, after the now standard 7 day wait.They had quite a pile

of completed letters awaiting collection. I see no reason to tip them anything as a previous poster suggested and I don't tip at banks.post offices or 7/11's either, reserve that custom for restaurants where the rates of pay are abysmal.

[Lancelot]

Anyone who's been here for any time knows it's only "supposed" to be free.

It's 500 baht per copy every time I've ever had one done.

Once, a student mistakenly handed me my letter without charging, and her superiors sent her out into the parking lot to collect.

She was very embarrassed.

There may have been a charge but there isn't now.I picked up my Residence Letter this afternoon from the cubicle, aka office, at the rear, after the now standard 7 day wait.They had quite a pile

of completed letters awaiting collection. I see no reason to tip them anything as a previous poster suggested and I don't tip at banks.post offices or 7/11's either, reserve that custom for restaurants where the rates of pay are abysmal.

If there is no charge, then cool, I don't mind waiting seven days

FWIW, there is a small sign posted saying "Free Service"

[kjhbigv]

So is it free or not?

I have been there and paid 500bht before and at other times, like last week, the GF was handed an envelope into which she put 100bht.

So, is the official line is that they are free?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[onthedarkside]

Officially it's free.

[Lancelot]

If I would have received the letter the same day, then yeah I would have accepted the 500 baht, er, um tea charge.

If its free, then I'll put up with a seven day wait.

If I could have made a same day online appointment with the US embassy, then I would have paid their rip off rates of 1,550 baht for a letter processed immediately. But the quickest appointment would have been about seven days anyway, so I went the Thai Immigration route

Funny how if you go to your embassy no photos are required and no lease contract to document your address

[Lancelot]

Picked up my Residence Letter today- FREE, no charge

Then went to Nong Hoi DLT to change the name in the Green Book. Staff told me I could pick the book tomorrow afternoon

[Sparkles]

So is it free or not?

I have been there and paid 500bht before and at other times, like last week, the GF was handed an envelope into which she put 100bht.

So, is the official line is that they are free?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The sign says its free so why would there be any confusion ????

Your GF was handed an envelope ??? Giving them money just encourages scamming.

[Dante99]

So is it free or not?

I have been there and paid 500bht before and at other times, like last week, the GF was handed an envelope into which she put 100bht.

So, is the official line is that they are free?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The sign says its free so why would there be any confusion ????

Your GF was handed an envelope ??? Giving them money just encourages scamming.

Hmm. The police officer has your address and passport information and you are going to refuse to give him the donation he requests and then he will ..and you will be ..... but you will not be scammed.

[Mapguy]

Unofficially, onthedarkside, it is also free. Except, of course, to say thank you.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Mapguy

[Lancelot]

So is it free or not?

I have been there and paid 500bht before and at other times, like last week, the GF was handed an envelope into which she put 100bht.

So, is the official line is that they are free?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The sign says its free so why would there be any confusion ????

Your GF was handed an envelope ??? Giving them money just encourages scamming.

Hmm. The police officer has your address and passport information and you are going to refuse to give him the donation he requests and then he will ..and you will be ..... but you will not be scammed.

Naa, I would defend the cops on this one; I don't see harassment over a free service...

[Sparkles]

So is it free or not?

I have been there and paid 500bht before and at other times, like last week, the GF was handed an envelope into which she put 100bht.

So, is the official line is that they are free?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The sign says its free so why would there be any confusion ????

Your GF was handed an envelope ??? Giving them money just encourages scamming.

Hmm. The police officer has your address and passport information and you are going to refuse to give him the donation he requests and then he will ..and you will be ..... but you will not be scammed.

Naa, I would defend the cops on this one; I don't see harassment over a free service...

Well maybe the given envelope was to put the brand new residence letter in Went to the bank today ,excellent,polite ,speedy service but didn't tip there either

[Lancelot]

I was not handed an envelope and the people in the office the same time as me were not either