LifeOverHere Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 I applied for and received my 3rd yearly extension, based on retirement, yesterday at Chaenwattana immigration in Bangkok. Everything went smoothly until the officer requested a criminal record check from my home country. I have never been asked for one before (only when applying for the original Non-Immigrant OA in my home country). I didn't have one and told her She said it is OK for this time, but for the next I must present checks from any countries that I have lived in for more than 6 months. Now how the hell do I go about getting one from each of the countries that I have lived in for over 6 months? There are atleast 8 countries that I have worked in for more than 6 months and about 6 others I have called home for extended periods. Some of the countries do not have embassies in Thailand, would I need to fly to every one of them to get the records? Has anyone else had to produce a criminal record check for their retirement extension? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsienExpat Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) How they know were you lived all over the world before? Think about it... Shows me again they try everything to throw farangs out of the country. Nice try in this case to make ones life harder. Edited July 19, 2014 by AsienExpat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) This is pretty shocking news because yes, it is hard for expats living in Thailand to get a criminal record check from previous lived in countries. Certainly that is NOT something the embassy can provide. Hopefully this is an oddball case, maybe they had some kind of specific info about the OP (sorry) ... but if this is the tip of the iceberg of a policy change, this is quite bad news. Not because many of us have criminal records, because I don't believe that, but because it will be a real problem for many people to SUPPLY this document. In answer the OP's question, NO, I have NEVER heard a report like this ... EVER. Medical forms, sometimes yes, sometimes in outlying provincial offices. But I believe this report, if true, might be a FIRST. I guess it would not be appropriate to say congratulations. Edited July 19, 2014 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario2008 Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 A criminal record check is not asked for an extension. Very strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Strange indeed. And scary. Many people if this is demanded might actually need to physically travel back to home countries just for this document. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 It is not requirement and have never heard of anybody being asked for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partington Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 This is the weirdest thing I have ever read here, and it would make getting retirement extensions a real pain, if it were true. Surely more to this story than is being presented : "It's OK this time?" Doesn't sound like a serious requirement to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocacoc Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 So far i know the USA and some other country's asks also for a criminal check. If Thailand want get rid of the criminals, this could be a proper way to go. Actually, it makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 So far i know the USA and some other country's asks also for a criminal check. If Thailand want get rid of the criminals, this could be a proper way to go. Actually, it makes sense.You are talking about OA visas from home countries. Yes required for those. This topic is not about OA visas! It is about retirement extensions in Thailand.Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partington Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 So far i know the USA and some other country's asks also for a criminal check. If Thailand want get rid of the criminals, this could be a proper way to go. Actually, it makes sense. Yes you are confusing two different issues - for O-A visas ALL countries require criminal checks. This is about people who are already in Thailand asking for their period of stay to be extended- it is nothing to do with applying for a new visa. The problem is not being a criminal, but trying to get a certificate from your home country when you are not there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Let's hope this is a weird glitch and not a policy change. At this point no grand announcement from immigration or we would have heard about it. Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeOverHere Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Alright, some more info for those of you who think my initial post didn't contain enough info. I obtained my initial Non-Immigrant OA from London and a CRB check was required. Then I have obtained 2 yearly extensions in Bangkok without any problems both times. Simply presented paperwork, checked, passed to the superviser and approved. Yesterday's experience started off the same but just before the papers were passed over to the superviser, the immigration lady asked me for a copy of my Criminal Record check. I didn't have it and asked from which country, Thailand or the UK. She passed the documents to her superviser and asked him. He said something to her in Thai and she said from every country I have lived in for more than 6 months and said it's a new requirement and to please have them for the next extension. I didn't argue or ask anymore questions, I was happy I had gotten the extension. Only today it really started to hit me and I researched it without finding any info on it being a requirement. I have had the same passport for many years and have visas from atleast 6 countries that I have lived in for more than 6 months in this passport. Maybe it's time to apply for a new passport. My main problem is not that I have anything to hide, apart from spending a single night in the monkey house (without charge) in Malawi for refusing to pay a bribe, the problem is getting police reports from all of those countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Oy. It would be even weirder if they require for every extension every year. Perhaps some red flag in the OP's passport? Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeOverHere Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Oy. It would be even weirder if they require for every extension every year. Perhaps some red flag in the OP's passport? Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app I don't think my passport had anything to do with it as she hardly looked at it. She just checked the documents and handed of over. I would think that if it was red-flagged she would have been more strict about the requirement. To me it looked like a new rule to her to as she asked for it as an after thought. But I think a new passport will be the answer, without all the visas and stamps contained in the old one, I'm sure they wouldn't even know I had lived in those countries. And getting a new CRB from the UK won't be much of an issue as I travel back atleast once a year and will do before my next extension is due. ps. None of the visas and stamps in my passport have any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryLH Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Did they have you sign anything saying that you know you have to have it next year? "This topic is not about OA visas! It is about retirement extensions in Thailand." It still makes sense. Even more so for those who didn't start with an O-A. "Yes you are confusing two different issues - for O-A visas ALL countries require criminal checks." I think you misunderstood what the poster said. I don't think they were talking about Thai Consulates. They were talking about other countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeOverHere Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Nope, didn't have to sign anything, all verbal and pleasant at that. At no point did they start demanding the Criminal Records, it was just mentioned as an after thought to see if I had them and that it would be required next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukrules Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Nope, didn't have to sign anything, all verbal and pleasant at that. At no point did they start demanding the Criminal Records, it was just mentioned as an after thought to see if I had them and that it would be required next time. It does seem a little strange for them to ask for this especially as you already provided a CRB check back in the UK when you first got your retirement visa, presumably you've lived in Thailand since that time. Requesting the same document year after year from your home country when you no longer live there sounds a little bizarre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) OK, let's all watch this. Please report on the forum about any requests for police reports from applicants for annual retirement EXTENSIONS. Hopefully, this is just a random event of no general importance. But we'll see. Also in the unfortunate scenario where this becomes a thing -- immigration really should understand that in many cases it would incredibly impractical for settled expats here to even OBTAIN such documents and might involve significant expense and travel to obtain one document. Even more so with 30 days or less notice! Edited July 19, 2014 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enuff said Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 . It must have something to do with the one night in the monkey house. Maybe they have access to a new data base that has your name on it. Getting a new PP now may only pique their interest. 'nuff said ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocacoc Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 . It must have something to do with the one night in the monkey house. Maybe they have access to a new data base that has your name on it. ~ I don't think so. If they have access to criminal databases, then only major crimes / criminals would showing up. Otherwise, there would be a lot of reports like from the op. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlastikbinLina Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 I agree with all the responses so far that question the response you got from the immigration officer as being unheard of are correct. The only time a criminal record is required is when an application is made outside Thailand for an O-A visa. By the way all the front line officers I know do not make the final decision whether you can get the extension you have applied for. It's the senior officer, usually a captain close by somewhere that the FL officers (Sergeants/Sergeant Majors) pass the application to for final approval. If ever you want to appeal a decision or question what you have been told ask to see the OIC. They can not refuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) We have been talking about a long standing and well known and consistently applied policy: No police report needed for retirement extension applications. HOWEVER, that does not mean that long standing policy can't change. As we have seen recently, LOTS of visa enforcement policies are changing impacting people not on retirement extensions. In some cases, quite significantly. So it's not exactly beyond the realm of possibility that retirement extensions could be impacted by changes as well. Anyway, let's hope not in THIS CASE, because this is just not practical for people already living in Thailand. Edited July 19, 2014 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jingthing Posted July 19, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) I for one am feeling less welcome, that's for sure. I realized from the start that we weren't really "invited" to live here ... we invite ourselves and are just tolerated of course for financial reasons ... always conditional ... My advice to anyone still considering retiring here -- RENT. Edited July 19, 2014 by Jingthing 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukrules Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I suspect this will be an isolated incident and not much will come of it. Just a hunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Some off topic posts and replies have been removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) It is not requirement and have never heard of anybody being asked for There are many things happening that we've never heard of. Now, in this case, we've heard of it. Hopefully it's a one-off and the person asking for it was either mistaken or thought the O/P was a special case. In the places I've lived you would need to apply for the police report in person and maybe supply finger prints. Clearly that would be essentially impossible for most of us. Although when I applied for my O-A I did supply the police report for the country I was living in at the time. I suppose I could tell them it's in their file for me. Edited July 23, 2014 by Suradit69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 How they know were you lived all over the world before? Think about it... Shows me again they try everything to throw farangs out of the country. Nice try in this case to make ones life harder. "They" was one officer. "Farangs" was one applicant. Hardly a concerted effort to rid the country of all farang. Let's try to remain rational. The Chicken Little Syndrome seems to be spreading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Who Sold the World Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 The consequences of the many actions being implemented now are unknown. All is in a state of flux. As the consequences become known, changes will occur. I expect the actions implemented that provide a negative monetary impact on the country will be rescinded. It seems that the regulatory enforcement changes are being modified even as they are being implemented. (Reference banned for life to banned for ten years in the overstay scenario) It is hoped that if a requirement for criminal background checks for retirement, or any other, extension is being considered, it will be rescinded once the hardship involved in providing said documentation is realized. If such a requirement is enforced consistently, a significant monetary loss will be realized by Thailand. Something they can ill afford now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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