Do I tell the Immigration Officer what I want?

[PeCeDe]

I'm going to Poipet, Cambodia next week to enact my third entry of a 3 entry tourist visa, I'm interested to know if when I hand my passport to the IO do I tell him/her what I want or let them work it out for themselves? As I suspect many on this forum are in the same boat as me i.e. my passport has a regular plethora of Visas and exit / entry stamps, I don't want them getting confused and giving me a 30 day Visa exempt instead of the 60 day entry stamp I require. The reason I'm asking is because some Countries Officials get snarky when you tell them what you want, as if I'm trying to tell them how to do their job, which in essence is exactly what I am doing.

[ripstanley]

Hand over the passport and say nothing. Before you leave the counter check what stamp you have been given. If it is incorrect then you point out the mistake

[naboo]

Hand the passport over open on the page with the visa you want to use.

[PeCeDe]

Thanks Rip and Naboo, I'll just hand over the passport and tell the IO I want to use the third entry of my TR3... Then check the stamp he/she gives me, before leaving the counter.

[sotsira]

Thanks Rip and Naboo, I'll just hand over the passport and tell the IO I want to use the third entry of my TR3... Then check the stamp he/she gives me, before leaving the counter.

I always have the arrival/departure card slotted in to the page where the visa is placed.

This way the IO will open your passport at that page and see everything that is needed

for the correct stamp to be made.

Been doing this for years and never had to say a word to the IO using this method.

[Maestro]

Don't tell the immigration officer; give it to him in writing by putting the visa number in the corresponding field on the arrival card.

[professor21]

with a US passport do you get 30 days and Cambodia is a cheap option to get a renewal of a tourist visa, thanks?

[PeCeDe]

Thanks Rip and Naboo, I'll just hand over the passport and tell the IO I want to use the third entry of my TR3... Then check the stamp he/she gives me, before leaving the counter.

I always have the arrival/departure card slotted in to the page where the visa is placed.

This way the IO will open your passport at that page and see everything that is needed

for the correct stamp to be made.

Been doing this for years and never had to say a word to the IO using this method.

Good idea, thanks.

[Maestro]

Thanks Rip and Naboo, I'll just hand over the passport and tell the IO I want to use the third entry of my TR3... Then check the stamp he/she gives me, before leaving the counter.

I always have the arrival/departure card slotted in to the page where the visa is placed.

This way the IO will open your passport at that page and see everything that is needed

for the correct stamp to be made.

Been doing this for years and never had to say a word to the IO using this method.

I don't know how they do it at Aranyaphrathet, but at Bangkok airport the officer pulls the arrival card out of the passport without opening it, then he opens the passport at the ID page, puts it on some kind of reader, looks up at the computer screen. Next he takes the arrival card and compares the information I wrote on it with the passport, leafs through the pages to find the visa, types something on the keyboard, puts the arrival stamp somewhere in the passport, and returns the passport to me.

[swampdonkey]

Just make sure you put the visa number on the arrival card .

And check the admitted to date before you leave .

[professor21]

if he asks then of course tell him 3 months

[torpedo1970]

No need to say anything as long as yo write visa number on arrival card.

[Lee4Life]

Thanks Rip and Naboo, I'll just hand over the passport and tell the IO I want to use the third entry of my TR3... Then check the stamp he/she gives me, before leaving the counter.

Neither Rip nor Naboo suggested that you tell the immigration Officer anything. I have been here seven years and never had to tell them how to do their job. As long as you write down the correct visa number on the entry form and your paper work is in order they will just do it, if they need to know anything they will ask you.

On a side note, I always put a couple of those small plastic paper clips on the pages of my passport, one on the page that has my last exit stamp on it and another on the page that has my current Thai visa. I began doing this after an immigration officer got upset after being unable to find my visa or last exit stamp and tossed the passport on the counter in front of me and said angrily... "you find them!"

As suggested...always check the stamp before you get too far away.

[PeCeDe]

Thanks Rip and Naboo, I'll just hand over the passport and tell the IO I want to use the third entry of my TR3... Then check the stamp he/she gives me, before leaving the counter.

Neither Rip nor Naboo suggested that you tell the immigration Officer anything. I have been here seven years and never had to tell them how to do their job. As long as you write down the correct visa number on the entry form and your paper work is in order they will just do it, if they need to know anything they will ask you.

On a side note, I always put a couple of those small plastic paper clips on the pages of my passport, one on the page that has my last exit stamp on it and another on the page that has my current Thai visa. I began doing this after an immigration officer got upset after being unable to find my visa or last exit stamp and tossed the passport on the counter in front of me and said angrily... "you find them!"

As suggested...always check the stamp before you get too far away.

555, I can just picture the IO saying, "you find it!".

The place I've had the most trouble is the US... I hate it when they call you derisively, "Sir" and angrily looking down at you pull out your deliberately inserted documents that I put there so they can find the right page, I always thought they were upset I was trying to tell them how to do their job, which of course I was. Technically they should be able to wade through all the Visas, entrances, exits, and extensions etc., but... In the end all I want is the correct stamp as expeditiously as possible without being hauled off into the IO's "Operating theater!"

[sitti]

Just don't forget to say Thank you at the end.

Edited June 23, 2015 by sitti

[PeCeDe]

Just don't forget to say Thank you at the end.

Yes, I always do, because they are giving me the "gift, or privilege" of staying in their Country. The fact it's a privilege, is what annoys me so intensely about all the bad behaviour I see from my fellow Countrymen here in Thailand, but that's another topic.

[Mario2008]

1 unhelpful post removed.

[LawrenceN]

Thanks Rip and Naboo, I'll just hand over the passport and tell the IO I want to use the third entry of my TR3... Then check the stamp he/she gives me, before leaving the counter.

I always have the arrival/departure card slotted in to the page where the visa is placed.

This way the IO will open your passport at that page and see everything that is needed

for the correct stamp to be made.

Been doing this for years and never had to say a word to the IO using this method.

That's a good idea. The arrival card also asks for visa number. If you fill that in, they'll go looking for it in your passport.

[how241]

Hand over the passport and say nothing. Before you leave the counter check what stamp you have been given. If it is incorrect then you point out the mistake

+1...Good idea...

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post.

[Langsuan Man]

Immigration could just make it easier for themselves if they would just issue and use a large USED or EXPIRED stamps for visas that have been used or expired, that way the IO would only have to look for pages that did not have the stamp

The only time I ever had a delay in getting a visa was the one time I asked the Consulate in New York if they could stamp my passport visa pages that were no longer valid with some type of stamp to make it easier for the IO in Bangkok. Took 4 extra days for them to respond with the answer that no they didn't have such a stamp that they could use. Ended up having to stop at the consulate on my way to JFK airport, no mean feat if you have ever experienced New York city traffic in the AM

In their defense they did go through the passport and put a thin line through the expired visas