TEN-HUT! No Waiting at Immigration at Promenada, September 26!

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Eliminate Long Delays at Immigration Promenada, 26/9

CM Governor Suriya Prasatbandit addresses Japanese residents at a meeting in 2014.

For additional information, contact
Nancy Lindley, CEC President

For several years, the Japanese long-stay community has enjoyed the special privilege of Immigration officials coming once a month to a meeting of their Chiang Mai Long-stay Life Club (CLL) to take care of immigration business. They've done this in several venues, most recently the Grandview Hotel.

However, this practice was discontinued once Immigration moved to Promenada for several reasons. Immigration says they want to process at least forty "items" per sessions and some months the workload was less than this and also they state that they now need to take a photo in the office using the camera on their computer for visa extensions and re-entry permits.

Local consular officials at the start of the Chiang Mai International Health Conference, Sept. 4.

Currently, the various foreign consuls in Chiang Mai are engaged in discussions about conditions at Immigration Promenada based on feedback they're receiving from their nationals. They've had several opportunities to network with government officials at events like the recent Long-Stay Conference and have had meetings with Promenada management. Also, the CEC Expat Ambassadors who took the weekend tours in August and attended the conference had a chance to meet CLL members.

Our days of waiting this at Immigration Promenada are over!

All this explains why CEC members have been invited to join in a rather hasty reviving of of the special privilege that Immigration extended to the Japanese long-stay community. Only now the scenario is a little different:

Apparently, everyone has to go out to Promenada for a mug shot. (It's not clear if that's the case for a 90 day report.) So, rather than having the event in a swank hotel ballroom, it will be at Immigration Promenada on Saturday afternoon, 26 September, 1 pm..

Here's what you need to do to participate:

Services offered:
* 90-day reports
* re-entry permits
* extension of retirement visas
* extensions of tourist visas
These are the only four services offered.

Processing fee: 200 baht per "item" (service), so if you obtain an extension of your retirement visa and then a re-entry permit, your processing fee is 400 baht. Processing fee is due at the time of document check and submission, 1 - 3 pm, September 22 at the CLL office and there is no receipt for this fee.

Standard government fees will be paid at the time of your interview at Immigration: 1900 baht for visa extensions, 1000 baht for single re-entry permit, 3800 baht for multiple re-entry permit. No gov't fee for 90 day report.

When you come to Immigration at 1 pm on Saturday, September 26, you'll present your passport and find that they've already reviewed your documents. Processing will be quick and you'll receive a re-entry permit soon after your visa extension. Your total time at Immigration should be short.

You must come to the CLL office on Tuesday, 22 September, between 1 - 3 pm for document check and submission. That's because the Japanese submit all documents in advance to Immigration! Bring all forms, copies, photos, etc. If you don't have copies, they have a copy machine -- 2 ฿ each. If you don't have a photo, you can go to Kad Suan Kaew basement photo shop, close to their office. !00 baht, for 4 - 4 cm x 6 cm photos.

Here is a download for the forms: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=download

For a Visa Extension, use TM 7
For a Re-entry Permit, use TM 8
For a 90- day Report, use a special Chiang Mai version of TM 47

Don't worry, I'll be at the CLL office on Tuesday afternoon and we'll have plenty of forms. The key thing is for you to bring photos and copies of your passport pages if you don't want to pay them for copies. And your consulate/embassy documents or bank letters if you're planning to do a retirement visa extension.

You can do a retirement extension up to 45 days in advance in Chiang Mai. To do this, you'll need to bring either an Income Letter from your Consulate/Embassy that will be less than 30 days old on 26 Sept. demonstrating income greater than 65,000 baht per month or a letter from your Thai bank that you have a bank account(s) balance greater than 800,000 baht. The letter should be less than 7 days old on 26 Sept. Also, you'll need copies of your bank book to demonstrate the funds have been in the bank for at least 90 days.

There will be a couple of "visa gurus" at the CLL office on Tuesday afternoon to answer your questions.

Yeah, I know it's in Japanese, but study it long enough and it begins to make sense. Or just read the written instructions on how to find Srithana II condo.

If you want to go to Immigration Promenada on Saturday afternoon, 26 September, your documents MUST be submitted in advance.

Please come to Japanese Long-stay Life Club, 1 - 3 pm, Tuesday, 22 September at Srithana II Condo,
just off Huay Kaew Road.

It's on the same side as the Shell petrol station, first soi on the left, walking from Shell Oil, toward the mountain. At the end of the soi.

The office is on the ground floor of the condo, just right of the main entrance.

I'll be there to help.

Please email or call if you plan to participate. I will try to co-ordinate group transport from Le Méridien Chiang Mai after the CEC General Meeting.

Nancy Lindley

In the future....
If there appears to be sufficient interest, we'll look at having the document inspection and submission done during Breakfast Club at River Market and consider if it would be better to go to Promenada on a different Saturday than the General Meeting each month.

©2015 Chiang Mai Expat Club | Chiang Mai Expats Club, c/o Pat Corey, P.O. Box 166, Phrasing Post Office, A. Muang, Chiang Mai 50205, Thailand

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[NancyL]

Please note that is for members of Chiang Mai Expats Club.

If all goes well with our first event on Saturday, 26 September, we hope to turn it into a monthly event at Immigration Promenada in conjunction with the Japanese Chiangmai Longstay Life Club.

One essential element of the program is that all participants MUST submit their documentation several days in advance. For this month, the date/time of submission is Tuesday, 22 September, 1 - 3 pm at the CLL office. In the future, we'll look for a more convenient place/time to check and submit documents -- maybe during the CEC Breakfast Club at River Market restaurant.

[northernjohn]

It will certainly speed things along at immigration not having to check all the paper work and correct mistakes. I imagine there will be those who don't like the idea of having to go two places. Also I was wondering if they will sign the passport on the spot so you can get it back right away.

[Tywais]

E-mail and phone numbers removed from OP as per forum rules on privacy.

[Thailand]

How many people has this the potential to remove from the weekday queues?

Basically how many expat club members would be likely to use the service?

[NancyL]

It will certainly speed things along at immigration not having to check all the paper work and correct mistakes. I imagine there will be those who don't like the idea of having to go two places. Also I was wondering if they will sign the passport on the spot so you can get it back right away.

Yes, they say they are going to sign the passport on the spot. We'll see. This is the first time that the Japanese have gone to Promenada also. They're going out at 11 am on the 26th and CEC is going out at 1 pm. They claim the CLL members will be all processed and gone by the time the CEC members arrive.

[NancyL]

E-mail and phone numbers removed from OP as per forum rules on privacy.

You can send me a PM if you have a question you don't want to post for everyone to see. Or visit www.ChiangMaiExpatsClub.com to find the phone number and email address for the club.

[NancyL]

How many people has this the potential to remove from the weekday queues?

Basically how many expat club members would be likely to use the service?

Good question.

Immigration said they wouldn't do it unless there were at least 40 "items" each time. They consider an "item" to be one application. So if someone applies for a retirement visa and then a re-entry permit, that's considered two "items".

Apparently, CLL wasn't delivering 40 items each month at their hotel meetings with their old program, although a couple of their board members went back and looked at their records (impressively detailed) and thought they could build a case that "on average, over the course of the year" they delivered "almost" 40 items, if you counted 90 day reports. Of course, now they're educating their members on how to mail-in 90 day reports.

Now that Imm. is refusing to come to their meetings, that means that probably another 15-30 Japanese people could be joining the queue each month. I doubt even the Japanese will use this new system for 90 day reports once they discover how easy it is to do reporting by post.

So this new program has the potential to keep those Japanese people doing extensions and re-entry permits from joining the queue and possibly could move another 20 - 30 English speaking people out of the queues also.

Right now, it's looking like 5 or 6 CEC members will go out on Saturday, which is pretty good start considering the short notice.

[Beanster]

200 Baht fee per item, no receipt provided. I love Thailand!!! Let me charge you extra for a job we are meant to be doing in the first place, but we'll keep the money hush hush!

[jonwilly]

Thank You Nancy, for being a Positive influence on the board, just waiting for the usual wingers to kick up.

john

[MESmith]

CEC membership goes exponential

Got my extension last week, but this is good news

[MESmith]

200 Baht fee per item, no receipt provided. I love Thailand!!! Let me charge you extra for a job we are meant to be doing in the first place, but we'll keep the money hush hush!

Better than the fees offered by the "agents" next door

[NancyL]

Thank You Nancy, for being a Positive influence on the board, just waiting for the usual wingers to kick up.

john

I think the fellow in the post above yours did!

I guess everyone expected the government employees would show up on a Saturday and work for free.

When will people figure out that if Immigration has to write a receipt that means the funds have to be sent to Bangkok?

Edit: I'm tempted to whamp up an official-looking CEC receipt since we collect the 200 baht processing fee at the time the documents are inspected and collected. There, would everyone be happy? You've got your bloomin' receipt.

[CMNightRider]

Thanks Nancy for helping solve this problem.

[Oscar2]

200 Baht fee per item, no receipt provided. I love Thailand!!! Let me charge you extra for a job we are meant to be doing in the first place, but we'll keep the money hush hush!

so what, it's cheap. DON'T Go if you don't like it.

[bangmai]

Could someone please verify that you would still need to go to Prom on the 26th for a 90 day report? Are they now doing digi-photos for 90s?

[Konini]

Well done Nancy, and pay no heed to any Negative Nelly's.

If, once this has been done a couple of times to settle down, neither the CEC or CLL are able to get enough 'services', perhaps immigration would consider doing a joint morning or afternoon instead of an all day thing.

[MESmith]

Well done Nancy, and pay no heed to any Negative Nelly's.

If, once this has been done a couple of times to settle down, neither the CEC or CLL are able to get enough 'services', perhaps immigration would consider doing a joint morning or afternoon instead of an all day thing.

Or open it up to TV members. Strictly by appointment only, or there'll be folk queueing up at 5 am!

[Thailand]

Thanks Nancy for helping solve this problem.

Admirable but shouldn't the problem be solved by immigration actually providing a service that matches the number of persons needing to utilise those services in an efficient and timely manner?

Utopia perhaps but it does seem to happen in nearly every other province other than Chiangmai.

[Bill97]

Great, I will be joining CEC if this continues.

[FolkGuitar]

In Japan, people submit their paperwork and passport, including a self-addressed stamped postcard.(for annual renewals) in the morning of one day. Just drop off the paperwork, having it checked for completion. 10 minutes on line at most, 3-4 days later you receive this postcard telling you to pick up your passport and renewal stamp at a certain time and day. Another 20-30 minutes waiting, 5 minutes with the Official, and out the door. No huge crowds of people waiting around all day.

[NancyL]

Could someone please verify that you would still need to go to Prom on the 26th for a 90 day report? Are they now doing digi-photos for 90s?

I'm unclear about this. If you're a CEC member, and able to use this service, please come to the CLL office between 1 - 2 pm on Tuesday, with your passport and we can ask the CLL visa guru about this.

It looks like we'll have enough CEC people to have a good showing, so rather than pay 200 baht to file a 90-day report, you might be money ahead to simply file your 90 day report by mail -- unless you're past the deadline or otherwise can't do it by post.

[NancyL]

Well done Nancy, and pay no heed to any Negative Nelly's.

If, once this has been done a couple of times to settle down, neither the CEC or CLL are able to get enough 'services', perhaps immigration would consider doing a joint morning or afternoon instead of an all day thing.

It's not an "all day thing" CLL is coming to Immigration at 11 am on Saturday and CEC is coming at 1 pm. They're telling us the CLL people will be gone by the time the CEC people arrive and since this is Thailand, I imagine the Imm. officials would have eaten lunch, too.

[NancyL]

Well done Nancy, and pay no heed to any Negative Nelly's.

If, once this has been done a couple of times to settle down, neither the CEC or CLL are able to get enough 'services', perhaps immigration would consider doing a joint morning or afternoon instead of an all day thing.

Or open it up to TV members. Strictly by appointment only, or there'll be folk queueing up at 5 am!

I think you're overlooking a key feature of this program. The participants submit their paperwork in advance and someone within CEC or CLL screens the documents for accuracy and all the documents are submitted together to Immigration ahead of their work session.

So if TV visa members are to set up a similar session, someone would have to organize the advance sessions and take on the task of screening documents.

[CMNightRider]

Thanks Nancy for helping solve this problem.

Admirable but shouldn't the problem be solved by immigration actually providing a service that matches the number of persons needing to utilise those services in an efficient and timely manner?

Utopia perhaps but it does seem to happen in nearly every other province other than Chiangmai.

I agree with you 100%. Without this forum where we could shine a light on this on going problem, and the CM expat club trying to find a solution to this dilemma, we would be forced to report to immigration at zero dark thirty or use a visa agent. I'm sure Nancy is the driving force behind trying to find a solution to this problem that should have never existed in the first place.

A few years ago, I tried to question how difficult it was becoming at CM immigration to do our one year retirement extensions and at times the 90 day nonsensical reporting requirement. There were several regular posters that said, immigration is doing their best, and reported how they were smiling and so friendly, while expats were jammed into a small room for hours, trying to figure out how to do what is required of them.

I remember more than one poster saying they actually enjoyed the long waits in that room because it gave them an opportunity to met so many interesting people. Some of these posts almost made me want to vomit.

Well, fast forward to today where immigration services hit rock bottom, and all of a sudden people start asking what on earth is going on. Although, I couldn't help notice a couple of apologists still agreeing that it must be some unknown person in Bangkok, that is causing this or rambling on about some sort of conspiracy theory.

[Bill97]

In Japan, people submit their paperwork and passport, including a self-addressed stamped postcard.(for annual renewals) in the morning of one day. Just drop off the paperwork, having it checked for completion. 10 minutes on line at most, 3-4 days later you receive this postcard telling you to pick up your passport and renewal stamp at a certain time and day. Another 20-30 minutes waiting, 5 minutes with the Official, and out the door. No huge crowds of people waiting around all day.

"In Japan"

There is undoubtedly a lot of sheeat in Japan that has nothing to do with Chiang Mai.

Have a cup of coffee.

[NancyL]

In Japan, people submit their paperwork and passport, including a self-addressed stamped postcard.(for annual renewals) in the morning of one day. Just drop off the paperwork, having it checked for completion. 10 minutes on line at most, 3-4 days later you receive this postcard telling you to pick up your passport and renewal stamp at a certain time and day. Another 20-30 minutes waiting, 5 minutes with the Official, and out the door. No huge crowds of people waiting around all day.

"In Japan"

There is undoubtedly a lot of sheeat in Japan that has nothing to do with Chiang Mai.

Have a cup of coffee.

Bill97, actually this has a lot to do with Chiang Mai. This is very close to what the Japanese CLL club has set up with Immigration Promenada and invited CEC to join.

The members come to the CLL office on Tuesday, 22nd September (CLL members in the morning, CEC members in the afternoon) drop off paperwork, hnave it checked for completion AND the CLL members are leaving their passports at the same time. I said the CEC members wouldn't want to leave their passports, so we'll have a longer wait at Immigration on Saturday.

Anyway, the only difference in the program is that no one receives a postcard -- they just know to go out to Imm. Prom. The CLL members go at 11 am on Saturday, the CEC members at 1 pm on Saturday.

The CLL leadership proposed this plan to Imm. Prom. based on how they knew things were done in their own country, so Bill97 FolkGuitar's post has a lot to do with Chiang Mai.

P.S. I hope the comment about "lot of sheeat in Japan" wasn't meant to be racist. Instead let's realize that we English-speaking foreigners aren't the only ones feeling the pain of conditions at Immigration.

[FolkGuitar]

In Japan, people submit their paperwork and passport, including a self-addressed stamped postcard.(for annual renewals) in the morning of one day. Just drop off the paperwork, having it checked for completion. 10 minutes on line at most, 3-4 days later you receive this postcard telling you to pick up your passport and renewal stamp at a certain time and day. Another 20-30 minutes waiting, 5 minutes with the Official, and out the door. No huge crowds of people waiting around all day.

"In Japan"

There is undoubtedly a lot of sheeat in Japan that has nothing to do with Chiang Mai.

Have a cup of coffee.

The requirement to renew one's visa, or extension of stay is the same in both countries.

The methodology of getting it done is different. In one country you are required to sit around in a crowded space for hours, often all day. In the other country, you sit for a few minutes.

Which would you prefer?

[mesquite]

In Japan, people submit their paperwork and passport, including a self-addressed stamped postcard.(for annual renewals) in the morning of one day. Just drop off the paperwork, having it checked for completion. 10 minutes on line at most, 3-4 days later you receive this postcard telling you to pick up your passport and renewal stamp at a certain time and day. Another 20-30 minutes waiting, 5 minutes with the Official, and out the door. No huge crowds of people waiting around all day.

"In Japan"

There is undoubtedly a lot of sheeat in Japan that has nothing to do with Chiang Mai.

Have a cup of coffee.

The requirement to renew one's visa, or extension of stay is the same in both countries.

The methodology of getting it done is different. In one country you are required to sit around in a crowded space for hours, often all day. In the other country, you sit for a few minutes.

Which would you prefer?

Only in Chiang Mai.

[FolkGuitar]

In Japan, people submit their paperwork and passport, including a self-addressed stamped postcard.(for annual renewals) in the morning of one day. Just drop off the paperwork, having it checked for completion. 10 minutes on line at most, 3-4 days later you receive this postcard telling you to pick up your passport and renewal stamp at a certain time and day. Another 20-30 minutes waiting, 5 minutes with the Official, and out the door. No huge crowds of people waiting around all day.

"In Japan"

There is undoubtedly a lot of sheeat in Japan that has nothing to do with Chiang Mai.

Have a cup of coffee.

The requirement to renew one's visa, or extension of stay is the same in both countries.

The methodology of getting it done is different. In one country you are required to sit around in a crowded space for hours, often all day. In the other country, you sit for a few minutes.

Which would you prefer?

Only in Chiang Mai.

Which is where we are... and what we need to deal with.