Pattaya Immigration Office - THANK YOU

[mogy]

The people at the Chonburi Immigration office in Jomtien are fantastic! From the volunteers to the government workers they all work together to provide great service. The place runs really smooth and efficient. This one of the perks for living in Pattaya or within Chonburi proper... I often read about the bad service and lack of understanding expats experience at other immigration offices but since I have only used the immigration office in Jomtien I can not relate..

I been waiting a long time to give the people in that office a big shout out!!!

Ok carry on...

Yes, they are all generally very polite and accommodating. With the exception of the family visa section who don't appear to have a correct side of the bed for arising from in the morning time. Not sure if any others have similar experiences.

[montereyjp]

Hi all,

I know the following has been asked before but I've been out of Thailand for two years, only returning for several holidays from my work in Qatar. I have still kept my rented apartment all this time though and will be living full time again in Pattaya on 3rd July

My question is this and specific to Jomtien Immigration office only:

If I arrive on a 60 day Tourist visa and wish to convert to a retirement visa (I have the required funds in the bank for over 2 years) what paperwork do I need and how many copies etc?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I will answer this one...

Make sure you have your passport size pictures.....I always carry a few, have at least two...

Go to the bank where you keep the 800k or plus baht and tell them you need the letter for your retirement visa... They will know what you are talking about... While waiting for said letter make sure they update your passbook with any internet transaction ect...SCB charges 200 baht for this letter...

Have a copy of your rental lease agreement or something proving you live somewhere in Chonburi...

And of course have your passport..

When you get to immigration front door...do not go in...instead look to your left as you face the door and you will see an open office... You can see through it as the back is open to the condo parking lot behind it... In the office you will see two young ladies manning copy machines.. Hand all of the above over to one of them and say in a sing sing voice retirement visa... They will know what to make copies of and how many... Pay the 20 or so baht or more for a tip as these girls just saved you 1000's of baht that a visa company would charge you for the same service... Now take all to the office and say again in your sing song voice retirement visa.. They will hand you the correct form.. Fill our said form and walk back over to the help desk where they will check to make sure you have all that is needed... Then they give you a que number... When it is your turn, be nice polite, and patience while they check everything again.. If all good as it should they will ask for fee which was 1900 for my extension...and let them keep the hundred as they will appreciate it.. They will hand you a llamented number.... Bring that with you the next day to pickup your passport with the new visa inside..

See it's not that hard of complicated... At least not at the Chonburi Immigration office..

[semaj1957]

Hi all,

I know the following has been asked before but I've been out of Thailand for two years, only returning for several holidays from my work in Qatar. I have still kept my rented apartment all this time though and will be living full time again in Pattaya on 3rd July

My question is this and specific to Jomtien Immigration office only:

If I arrive on a 60 day Tourist visa and wish to convert to a retirement visa (I have the required funds in the bank for over 2 years) what paperwork do I need and how many copies etc?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi Phatcharanan

I was in Qatar before I moved here. I miss MX in the dunes and the track at Losail! I originally came in on 3 x 60 day visas and extended each by 30 days. I was advised that a 60 day visa cannot be converted to a Non immigrant visa. So my advice is to come on on a 30 day visa on arrival (or is it a 30 day visa exemption, i never know!) if you are a citizen of a qualifying country. As a West Ham supporter, I gues you are a UK national?? in which case you qualify.

[semaj1957]

Hi all,

I know the following has been asked before but I've been out of Thailand for two years, only returning for several holidays from my work in Qatar. I have still kept my rented apartment all this time though and will be living full time again in Pattaya on 3rd July

My question is this and specific to Jomtien Immigration office only:

If I arrive on a 60 day Tourist visa and wish to convert to a retirement visa (I have the required funds in the bank for over 2 years) what paperwork do I need and how many copies etc?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I will answer this one...

Make sure you have your passport size pictures.....I always carry a few, have at least two...

Go to the bank where you keep the 800k or plus baht and tell them you need the letter for your retirement visa... They will know what you are talking about... While waiting for said letter make sure they update your passbook with any internet transaction ect...SCB charges 200 baht for this letter...

Have a copy of your rental lease agreement or something proving you live somewhere in Chonburi...

And of course have your passport..

When you get to immigration front door...do not go in...instead look to your left as you face the door and you will see an open office... You can see through it as the back is open to the condo parking lot behind it... In the office you will see two young ladies manning copy machines.. Hand all of the above over to one of them and say in a sing sing voice retirement visa... They will know what to make copies of and how many... Pay the 20 or so baht or more for a tip as these girls just saved you 1000's of baht that a visa company would charge you for the same service... Now take all to the office and say again in your sing song voice retirement visa.. They will hand you the correct form.. Fill our said form and walk back over to the help desk where they will check to make sure you have all that is needed... Then they give you a que number... When it is your turn, be nice polite, and patience while they check everything again.. If all good as it should they will ask for fee which was 1900 for my extension...and let them keep the hundred as they will appreciate it.. They will hand you a llamented number.... Bring that with you the next day to pickup your passport with the new visa inside..

See it's not that hard of complicated... At least not at the Chonburi Immigration office..

Good advice re the photocopying etc but err, the total fee is Baht 3,900. Baht 1,900 to convert to a non immigrant 90 day visa and Baht 2,000 for the extension of stay visa (which does say 'retirement' on it).

[Jingthing]

Extension of stay based on retirement fee is definitely 1900 not 2000.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jimbolai]

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You didn't had to wait 60 days to apply for the retirement visa?

No, they just started the retirement Visa from the date the 90 days on the non O expires, so I effectively got 15 months in one go.

Mine as well, in Jomtien the whole process was done in about 2 hours and credit given for the 60 day tourist visa. I did not leave my wallet so no need to go back.

[mxer90]

I'll add to the good efficient service at Jomtien. A few weeks ago, needed a residents cert to purchase a motobike, in and out in 30 mins.

And just this week extended my triple TR visa. I had filled in the TM7 online, printed it, got all the photocopies before hand, and photo. In and out within an hour.

[Phatcharanan]

Hi all,

I know the following has been asked before but I've been out of Thailand for two years, only returning for several holidays from my work in Qatar. I have still kept my rented apartment all this time though and will be living full time again in Pattaya on 3rd July

My question is this and specific to Jomtien Immigration office only:

If I arrive on a 60 day Tourist visa and wish to convert to a retirement visa (I have the required funds in the bank for over 2 years) what paperwork do I need and how many copies etc?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I will answer this one...

Make sure you have your passport size pictures.....I always carry a few, have at least two...

Go to the bank where you keep the 800k or plus baht and tell them you need the letter for your retirement visa... They will know what you are talking about... While waiting for said letter make sure they update your passbook with any internet transaction ect...SCB charges 200 baht for this letter...

Have a copy of your rental lease agreement or something proving you live somewhere in Chonburi...

And of course have your passport..

When you get to immigration front door...do not go in...instead look to your left as you face the door and you will see an open office... You can see through it as the back is open to the condo parking lot behind it... In the office you will see two young ladies manning copy machines.. Hand all of the above over to one of them and say in a sing sing voice retirement visa... They will know what to make copies of and how many... Pay the 20 or so baht or more for a tip as these girls just saved you 1000's of baht that a visa company would charge you for the same service... Now take all to the office and say again in your sing song voice retirement visa.. They will hand you the correct form.. Fill our said form and walk back over to the help desk where they will check to make sure you have all that is needed... Then they give you a que number... When it is your turn, be nice polite, and patience while they check everything again.. If all good as it should they will ask for fee which was 1900 for my extension...and let them keep the hundred as they will appreciate it.. They will hand you a llamented number.... Bring that with you the next day to pickup your passport with the new visa inside..

See it's not that hard of complicated... At least not at the Chonburi Immigration office..

Many thanks for taking the time out to give such a comprehensive reply.

Much appreciated.

[Phatcharanan]

Hi all,

I know the following has been asked before but I've been out of Thailand for two years, only returning for several holidays from my work in Qatar. I have still kept my rented apartment all this time though and will be living full time again in Pattaya on 3rd July

My question is this and specific to Jomtien Immigration office only:

If I arrive on a 60 day Tourist visa and wish to convert to a retirement visa (I have the required funds in the bank for over 2 years) what paperwork do I need and how many copies etc?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi Phatcharanan

I was in Qatar before I moved here. I miss MX in the dunes and the track at Losail! I originally came in on 3 x 60 day visas and extended each by 30 days. I was advised that a 60 day visa cannot be converted to a Non immigrant visa. So my advice is to come on on a 30 day visa on arrival (or is it a 30 day visa exemption, i never know!) if you are a citizen of a qualifying country. As a West Ham supporter, I gues you are a UK national?? in which case you qualify.

Yeah........West Ham so a UK citizen. :-)

The track at Losail is awesome, especially at night!

I've given up on the dunes........kept rolling the ATV's when trying ridiculous stunts on 70 degree slopes. :-(

[tropo]

Extension of stay based on retirement fee is definitely 1900 not 2000.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Conversion to a non-O visa is 2000, the extension is 1900.

[ubonjoe]

Hi all,

I know the following has been asked before but I've been out of Thailand for two years, only returning for several holidays from my work in Qatar. I have still kept my rented apartment all this time though and will be living full time again in Pattaya on 3rd July

My question is this and specific to Jomtien Immigration office only:

If I arrive on a 60 day Tourist visa and wish to convert to a retirement visa (I have the required funds in the bank for over 2 years) what paperwork do I need and how many copies etc?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi Phatcharanan

I was in Qatar before I moved here. I miss MX in the dunes and the track at Losail! I originally came in on 3 x 60 day visas and extended each by 30 days. I was advised that a 60 day visa cannot be converted to a Non immigrant visa. So my advice is to come on on a 30 day visa on arrival (or is it a 30 day visa exemption, i never know!) if you are a citizen of a qualifying country. As a West Ham supporter, I gues you are a UK national?? in which case you qualify.

You were given some completely false info. You can do a change of visa status for a tourist visa entry (15 days remaining minimum) to a non immigrant visa and then an extension of stay.

A tourist visa is better than coming in on a visa exempt entry. You would only have 15 days to do it with a 30 day entry. Also unless you have a ticket out of the country within 30 days you can be denied boarding if you don't have a visa.

[khwaibah]

Hi all,

I know the following has been asked before but I've been out of Thailand for two years, only returning for several holidays from my work in Qatar. I have still kept my rented apartment all this time though and will be living full time again in Pattaya on 3rd July

My question is this and specific to Jomtien Immigration office only:

If I arrive on a 60 day Tourist visa and wish to convert to a retirement visa (I have the required funds in the bank for over 2 years) what paperwork do I need and how many copies etc?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi Phatcharanan

I was in Qatar before I moved here. I miss MX in the dunes and the track at Losail! I originally came in on 3 x 60 day visas and extended each by 30 days. I was advised that a 60 day visa cannot be converted to a Non immigrant visa. So my advice is to come on on a 30 day visa on arrival (or is it a 30 day visa exemption, i never know!) if you are a citizen of a qualifying country. As a West Ham supporter, I gues you are a UK national?? in which case you qualify.

You were given some completely false info. You can do a change of visa status for a tourist visa entry (15 days remaining minimum) to a non immigrant visa and then an extension of stay.

A tourist visa is better than coming in on a visa exempt entry. You would only have 15 days to do it with a 30 day entry. Also unless you have a ticket out of the country within 30 days you can be denied boarding if you don't have a visa.

Have known of conversion of 30 day visa exempt to a O for retirement with only 6 days remaining on the visa exempt. This is not normal but it is done now and then.

Edited May 18, 2014 by khwaibah

[ubonjoe]

You were given some completely false info. You can do a change of visa status for a tourist visa entry (15 days remaining minimum) to a non immigrant visa and then an extension of stay.

A tourist visa is better than coming in on a visa exempt entry. You would only have 15 days to do it with a 30 day entry. Also unless you have a ticket out of the country within 30 days you can be denied boarding if you don't have a visa.

Have known of conversion of 30 day visa exempt to a O for retirement with only 6 days remaining on the visa exempt. This is not normal but it is done now and then.

It is not normal and is exactly why I wrote 15 days. The 15 days is an immigration rule so I will only give that requirement.

I don't suggest even trying to do with an exempt entry. Tourist visas are easy to get and you don't have to worry about the ticket issue or the 15 day rule.

[Phatcharanan]

Final question ..... :-)

The letter from the bank confirming the required funds are in the bank for an extension based on retirement...............does the letter have to be dated the same date as the visit to immigration?

Or can it be a day before etc?

[semaj1957]

Final question ..... :-)as long as it is no more than 7 days old, it should be fine.

The letter from the bank confirming the required funds are in the bank for an extension based on retirement...............does the letter have to be dated the same date as the visit to immigration?

Or can it be a day before etc?ote]

[Phatcharanan]

Final question ..... :-)as long as it is no more than 7 days old, it should be fine.

The letter from the bank confirming the required funds are in the bank for an extension based on retirement...............does the letter have to be dated the same date as the visit to immigration?

Or can it be a day before etc?ote]

Many thanks all for your help. Appreciated.

[Nielsk]

To follow up this issue: Have a Non-Imigrant-O Visa. Went to img. office soi 5, January this year and got my Retirement visa without problems.

Gave them the required formular + paper issued by the Danish/Norweigen consulate in Jumptien verifying my staus: monthly income and what else needed.

March 31 I go and had my 90 days extension and the cleark at the desk asked me when I will leave and return. Telling him I woud leave april 28 and return nov. 1. He adviced me to fill in a formular for RE-NTRY PERMIT telling me I would avoid starting all over in Denmark going to Thai-embasy replyng for new visa and pay a higher Price. Very thougtfull. Thank You to that particular Thai man.