Immigration Promenada One Stop Service v2

[delboy]

The last day of the online appointments was not that long ago. My friend tried to get an appointment for the 6th November and failed, when he tried again for the 9th, the queue system had been discontinued.

[NancyL]

The last day of the online appointments was not that long ago. My friend tried to get an appointment for the 6th November and failed, when he tried again for the 9th, the queue system had been discontinued.

That's right. Yet, after November 9th they continued to hold firm on not passing out more than 20 tickets per day. As I said everything "came to a head" a few weeks after that when they had several days in a row of turning away people in droves. Some people had queued up early and been turned away three or four times. THAT got 'em writing emails to their consuls and embassies!

[LivinLOS]

They were sticking to 20 tickets per day long after the appointments booked via the on-line system were gone.

Perhaps your forgetting that the appointments went for 100 days after the system was 'gone' ?? Late Oct I had an appointment and I am sure there were others still after me..

So the appointments only just stopped last month some point surely ??

Edited December 2, 2015 by LivinLOS

[Konini]

if you want wait 10 days and get it for free. I believe a couple of years agothey suspended the certificate of residencey service and you went to your local representive being a US citizen that cost 50 dollars I think I will pay 500b

About 4 weeks ago a friend was picking up a (free but he really waited for it) CoR and he said that he'd been told by someone at Prom Imm that was his last free one and in future all CoR have to be <finger flick towards GT4>

Obviously this can't be correct because they are free of charge and not something that has to go through an agency.

Has anyone been for a residence certificate in the last few days? It would be great to clear it up.

[LivinLOS]

Oh! I forgot to add a recent detail. As most people know, there is an Immigration Department station just inside the transit zone at the airport to provide re-entry visas for those in a rush to take a surprise international journey. The airport was absolutely packed with people going abroad. The Immigration Station with its "One Stop Service" sign was absolutely unmanned.

Just go to the empty counter.. And one of the immigration officers will come from one of the manned desks.. Done it many times.

Its usually not staffed, until someone needs it.

[LivinLOS]

The result? Basically excellent and efficient service (although figuring out somedetailscan be bothersome) from all --- EXCEPT one: The Department of Immigration. I can not complain about individual officers whom I have found efficient and far too often harried by foreigners who are not adequately prepared to deal with paperwork. And there is certainly that everywhere in Thailand. But it is clear that the leadership and organization of this department is appalling and has been for some time. One does not have to read revealing stories about problems to the South. And when I mention experiences to my Thai friends, they agree.

Copied from my long winded post about address reporting.

also so wanted to sneak a photo, because behind the counter was 7 ladies in pink shirts.. Chief lady in black middle back, and 2 or 3 helpers.. and not one of them were servicing customers.. 3 groups of 2 were having a natter, one was playing with her phone, the chubby khatoey one had her hands behind her head looking at the ceiling.. Honestly not a single one was actively working or processing either paperwork or people.. And the roomful of people were just sitting there waiting for the privilege of being seen.

[NancyL]

They were sticking to 20 tickets per day long after the appointments booked via the on-line system were gone.

Perhaps your forgetting that the appointments went for 100 days after the system was 'gone' ?? Late Oct I had an appointment and I am sure there were others still after me..

So the appointments only just stopped last month some point surely ??

The last day of the online appointments was not that long ago. My friend tried to get an appointment for the 6th November and failed, when he tried again for the 9th, the queue system had been discontinued.

That's right. Yet, after November 9th they continued to hold firm on not passing out more than 20 tickets per day. As I said everything "came to a head" a few weeks after that when they had several days in a row of turning away people in droves. Some people had queued up early and been turned away three or four times. THAT got 'em writing emails to their consuls and embassies!

[Caspersfriend]

Good to see there are some signs of problems being addressed.

Having a senior person permanently at Prom to sign-off would be an improvement. But, there is always a but, the day I went back in August there was a such a person on site; don't know about the morning but certainly the whole afternoon while I was there. I had the first afternoon appointment but still had to wait nearly two hours after for my passport to be returned. The senior person appeared considerably underemployed [possibly why they don't have one full time] and yet they still let the processed retirements build up into a stack before signing them off in one go. It's that sort of attitude that does get some 'customers' frustrated to the extent that they speak out. As the description implies - One Stop Service

The uni girls at the front are there to give information, not check paperwork, and shouldn't be given such a responsibility anyway. If funds are really such a problem [?] then upping the visa extension fee by just 100 Baht would enable some trained checkers to be incorporated in the system. Not 3000 Baht upwards for a visa agent to do it; 90% of the time I suggest it's all very straightforward clerical work and would speed up the ability of I/O's to process more in a day with less frustration.

.

[stephenterry]

The very fact that there are signs that problems are being addressed is absolutely not good enough - there shouldn't be any service problems in the first place. Only CNX has these 'problems' that are not replicated anywhere else in Thailand - so why here?

What is so different? And why? I can imagine the queues that will form after the lengthy King's birthday holiday (which runs from 7th to 10th). Friday 11th and Monday 14th are days to avoid visiting Imm - if possible. The following week, I'm going for my 90 day report on 16th, and I will post my experience on here.

Chins up, fellows.

[bangmai]

Are you saying Immigration will be closed for four days?

[stephenterry]

Yes

[bangmai]

Does the online system do confirmations on Holidays?

[Tywais]

Are you saying Immigration will be closed for four days?

It is not. Monday the 7th is a substitution day for HM's birthday which is Saturday the 5th. Thursday the 10th is constitution day and also a public holiday. So only 2 working days. I posted a topic covering this here - Upcoming public holidays

[Amplish]

Thought I add my experience going for my retirement extension on 2 december. I arrived at 5 am, when there were 7 seats occupied, the first 3 by agents (or at least their bags) and the remainder with people representing themselves. Had a nice chat with some of the other people who came early, complaining about the need to get up this early as us foreigners are wont to do. The queue started to fill up seriously around 7 am and by 8:30 when the female immigration stepped out to start checking paperwork and handing out queue cards I counted 33 people in the queue. This would indicate that it should be safe to come around 6:30-7:00 and still get served, except during weeks with a lot of holidays (like next week).

I was expecting to receive queue number 9 when the lady told me that I needed to bring my Thai wife to sign a letter an also bring a recent copy of my marriage certificate. Apparently the first time you change from Non-O visa to a retirement visa that is a requirement. It takes a lot of time to get a new copy of my marriage registration and a bit expensive as it has to come from Europe (I cannot get it on-line), then it needs to be certified to be a true copy by the embassy in Bangkok and get translated into Thai. I was told last year that I would have to submit a new certificate every year to extend my marriage visa and that was the main reason for me to switch over to a retirement visa (that and the fact you can get the retirement extension the same day). It was the first time I heard about this requirement, so either I am a lousy reader of various threads on the subject (very likely) or switching visa is not often done and this isn't frequently mentioned.

Anyway, I was turned away but decided to return home, pick up my wife and copies of last years' marriage certificate. On my return after some discussion with the girls outside and pointing out that I couldn't possibly get a new copy of the marriage certificate before my visa expires in 9 days time they told me to have a talk with the retirement officer inside. After my wife's charm offensive she relented and told us to come back at 15:30 to get processed without a queue number.

While waiting from 14:30 onwards I noticed that 2 staff were processing retirement extensions taking 15-20 minutes for each application, they didn't seem to be over-stretched walking around, going out for a while, basically waiting for when they told the next 2 applicants to be present. I got to talk with the last 2 people in the queue that morning who had received number 30. So that day including me at least 32 people were served, probably more as I counted 33 including me. There even was another guy that just walked in around 15:00 and got processed without a queue card number. It seemed a quiet day, except for the tourist visa extensions that also had an incredible long queue in the morning. If one has all the paperwork in order it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to process everything, meaning that with 2 staff they could easily do double than 30 a day if necessary, or process everyone by 12:00...

Individual staff are normally very nice and polite, except for the guy that was manning the re-entry desk that day. Management and planning obviously is a mess, not to speak about the silly 90-day reporting or the unavailability of longer extension periods, foreign retirees clearly are not a priority for Thai politics. In the end I got my retirement extension, still a bit surprised by that, though I have to provide them with an updated marriage certificate for which I have mobilized my elderly sister back in Europe. No need for GT4, didn't even notice if their 'office' was open.

[northernjohn]

Thought I add my experience going for my retirement extension on 2 december. I arrived at 5 am, when there were 7 seats occupied, the first 3 by agents (or at least their bags) and the remainder with people representing themselves. Had a nice chat with some of the other people who came early, complaining about the need to get up this early as us foreigners are wont to do. The queue started to fill up seriously around 7 am and by 8:30 when the female immigration stepped out to start checking paperwork and handing out queue cards I counted 33 people in the queue. This would indicate that it should be safe to come around 6:30-7:00 and still get served, except during weeks with a lot of holidays (like next week).

I was expecting to receive queue number 9 when the lady told me that I needed to bring my Thai wife to sign a letter an also bring a recent copy of my marriage certificate. Apparently the first time you change from Non-O visa to a retirement visa that is a requirement. It takes a lot of time to get a new copy of my marriage registration and a bit expensive as it has to come from Europe (I cannot get it on-line), then it needs to be certified to be a true copy by the embassy in Bangkok and get translated into Thai. I was told last year that I would have to submit a new certificate every year to extend my marriage visa and that was the main reason for me to switch over to a retirement visa (that and the fact you can get the retirement extension the same day). It was the first time I heard about this requirement, so either I am a lousy reader of various threads on the subject (very likely) or switching visa is not often done and this isn't frequently mentioned.

Anyway, I was turned away but decided to return home, pick up my wife and copies of last years' marriage certificate. On my return after some discussion with the girls outside and pointing out that I couldn't possibly get a new copy of the marriage certificate before my visa expires in 9 days time they told me to have a talk with the retirement officer inside. After my wife's charm offensive she relented and told us to come back at 15:30 to get processed without a queue number.

While waiting from 14:30 onwards I noticed that 2 staff were processing retirement extensions taking 15-20 minutes for each application, they didn't seem to be over-stretched walking around, going out for a while, basically waiting for when they told the next 2 applicants to be present. I got to talk with the last 2 people in the queue that morning who had received number 30. So that day including me at least 32 people were served, probably more as I counted 33 including me. There even was another guy that just walked in around 15:00 and got processed without a queue card number. It seemed a quiet day, except for the tourist visa extensions that also had an incredible long queue in the morning. If one has all the paperwork in order it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to process everything, meaning that with 2 staff they could easily do double than 30 a day if necessary, or process everyone by 12:00...

Individual staff are normally very nice and polite, except for the guy that was manning the re-entry desk that day. Management and planning obviously is a mess, not to speak about the silly 90-day reporting or the unavailability of longer extension periods, foreign retirees clearly are not a priority for Thai politics. In the end I got my retirement extension, still a bit surprised by that, though I have to provide them with an updated marriage certificate for which I have mobilized my elderly sister back in Europe. No need for GT4, didn't even notice if their 'office' was open.

I wasn't going to post any more as no one had any relevant information on how many were getting the extensions in a day.

Thank you very much for the information and experience you had. You are the first person in over 700 shares to give an idea of how many people were getting their extensions in a day. We know they will give out a lot of queue numbers but how many they serve has been a mystery. Thank you once again I now have a ball park answer. I know it will change day to day. But I have an idea.

[Shantishanti]

Hi, I went today at Immigration Promenada to get a Residence Certificate (I'm French -> sorry about my English)

I first went to the information desk outside. When I said I wanted a Residence certificate, one of the 4 people accompanied me to an office, Once inside, I realised it was the G4T agency and thus 500 Baht to have it the day after. As I was not in a hurry, I told them I wanted that certificate for free. So they told me it would take 30 days and that I have to go to the immigration place, just next.

So that's what I did and there, at the main desk, in front, I've been told that they don't do Residence certificate and if I want one, I have to go the G4T agency. So I've been forced to pay 500 baht at G4T.

Now I wonder if I'm mistaken and went to the wrong place for Residence certificate : was it opposite Promenada like before ?

[Thailand]

Hi, I went today at Immigration Promenada to get a Residence Certificate (I'm French -> sorry about my English)

I first went to the information desk outside. When I said I wanted a Residence certificate, one of the 4 people accompanied me to an office, Once inside, I realised it was the G4T agency and thus 500 Baht to have it the day after. As I was not in a hurry, I told them I wanted that certificate for free. So they told me it would take 30 days and that I have to go to the immigration place, just next.

So that's what I did and there, at the main desk, in front, I've been told that they don't do Residence certificate and if I want one, I have to go the G4T agency. So I've been forced to pay 500 baht at G4T.

Now I wonder if I'm mistaken and went to the wrong place for Residence certificate : was it opposite Promenada like before ?

I think you just contributed to the One Stop improvement fund.

[bangmai]

I got a free one in January at the building across the highway, and yes the guy was a dick.

[Trujillo]

From the CIA's Simple Sabotage Field Manual (1944) (Yes, it's real) ------- ring a bell?

Organizations and Conferences

• Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.
• Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.
• When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.” Attempt to make the committee as large as possible — never less than five.
• Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.
• Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.
• Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.
• Advocate “caution.” Be “reasonable” and urge your fellow-conferees to be “reasonable” and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.

Managers

• In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers.
• Insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products; send back for refinishing those which have the least flaw.
• To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions.
• Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.
• Multiply the procedures and clearances involved in issuing instructions, pay checks, and so on. See that three people have to approve everything where one would do.

Employees

• Work slowly.
• Contrive as many interruptions to your work as you can.
• Do your work poorly and blame it on bad tools, machinery, or equipment. Complain that these things are preventing you from doing your job right.
• Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful worker.

[TheAppletons]

A couple more firsthand accounts of retirement extensions at The Promenada Mall ("Winter is fleece season"™) can be found in this thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/875479-current-situation-in-chiang-mai-for-retirement-visa-extension/

[Sparkles]

I got a free one in January at the building across the highway, and yes the guy was a dick.

Yes many of us did but that's history, been 500 baht for a long time.

To ask you to wait a month, to get what should be free or a minimal charge, is just an insult,its a 2 minute job to insert a name and address and print off

[Lizard2010]

I got a free one in January at the building across the highway, and yes the guy was a dick.

Yes many of us did but that's history, been 500 baht for a long time.

To ask you to wait a month, to get what should be free or a minimal charge, is just an insult,its a 2 minute job to insert a name and address and print off

Is there anything in the government Regulation about this

Because this could be Offence to make you wait and charge us 500 baht

Or is this just another dig at us Falangs ?

Edited December 4, 2015 by Lizard2010

[daoyai]

This crime should be prosecuted. Maybe time for some officers to be transfered to inactive posts.

[anon467848]

I got a free one in January at the building across the highway, and yes the guy was a dick.

Yes many of us did but that's history, been 500 baht for a long time.

To ask you to wait a month, to get what should be free or a minimal charge, is just an insult,its a 2 minute job to insert a name and address and print off

Does anybody know it it's just Chiang Mai charging 500 baht. Any reports from friends in Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Bangkok?

[CMNightRider]

This crime should be prosecuted. Maybe time for some officers to be transfered to inactive posts.

I agree, it should be prosecuted but unfortunately it is business as usual in Thailand. As far as being transferred to an inactive post, this is like winning the lottery for these people. Lets think about this for a minute. I am moved to an office with no duties or responsibilities with full pay. Okay, please move me as soon as possible, lol.

[Sparkles]

I got a free one in January at the building across the highway, and yes the guy was a dick.

Yes many of us did but that's history, been 500 baht for a long time.

To ask you to wait a month, to get what should be free or a minimal charge, is just an insult,its a 2 minute job to insert a name and address and print off

Does anybody know it it's just Chiang Mai charging 500 baht. Any reports from friends in Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Bangkok?

Ive posted many times that no one I know,friends /former work colleagues, has ever beeen charged for a residency leter in those places mentioned.

If my memory serves me right it went from available free for long time. Then to next day for 500 baht or wait 7 days its free ,to now wait a month its free

or cough up 500 baht for tomorrow.Ive also posted the last one I had to obtain and picked up 3 months ago there were 31 letters in the one day pile awaiting pick up.I paid the 500 b, asked for a receipt, which was met with a smile and "no have"

Of course a yellow house book avoids this which I now have.

[bangmai]

Some official in Phuket declared the practice most certainly illegal...I was thinking..tell that to turd-face.

[Lizard2010]

This crime should be prosecuted. Maybe time for some officers to be transfered to inactive posts.

I agree, it should be prosecuted but unfortunately it is business as usual in Thailand. As far as being transferred to an inactive post, this is like winning the lottery for these people. Lets think about this for a minute. I am moved to an office with no duties or responsibilities with full pay. Okay, please move me as soon as possible, lol.

Maybe to a Location You do not want to be

[moe666]

Thought I add my experience going for my retirement extension on 2 december. I arrived at 5 am, when there were 7 seats occupied, the first 3 by agents (or at least their bags) and the remainder with people representing themselves. Had a nice chat with some of the other people who came early, complaining about the need to get up this early as us foreigners are wont to do. The queue started to fill up seriously around 7 am and by 8:30 when the female immigration stepped out to start checking paperwork and handing out queue cards I counted 33 people in the queue. This would indicate that it should be safe to come around 6:30-7:00 and still get served, except during weeks with a lot of holidays (like next week).

I was expecting to receive queue number 9 when the lady told me that I needed to bring my Thai wife to sign a letter an also bring a recent copy of my marriage certificate. Apparently the first time you change from Non-O visa to a retirement visa that is a requirement. It takes a lot of time to get a new copy of my marriage registration and a bit expensive as it has to come from Europe (I cannot get it on-line), then it needs to be certified to be a true copy by the embassy in Bangkok and get translated into Thai. I was told last year that I would have to submit a new certificate every year to extend my marriage visa and that was the main reason for me to switch over to a retirement visa (that and the fact you can get the retirement extension the same day). It was the first time I heard about this requirement, so either I am a lousy reader of various threads on the subject (very likely) or switching visa is not often done and this isn't frequently mentioned.

Anyway, I was turned away but decided to return home, pick up my wife and copies of last years' marriage certificate. On my return after some discussion with the girls outside and pointing out that I couldn't possibly get a new copy of the marriage certificate before my visa expires in 9 days time they told me to have a talk with the retirement officer inside. After my wife's charm offensive she relented and told us to come back at 15:30 to get processed without a queue number.

While waiting from 14:30 onwards I noticed that 2 staff were processing retirement extensions taking 15-20 minutes for each application, they didn't seem to be over-stretched walking around, going out for a while, basically waiting for when they told the next 2 applicants to be present. I got to talk with the last 2 people in the queue that morning who had received number 30. So that day including me at least 32 people were served, probably more as I counted 33 including me. There even was another guy that just walked in around 15:00 and got processed without a queue card number. It seemed a quiet day, except for the tourist visa extensions that also had an incredible long queue in the morning. If one has all the paperwork in order it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to process everything, meaning that with 2 staff they could easily do double than 30 a day if necessary, or process everyone by 12:00...

Individual staff are normally very nice and polite, except for the guy that was manning the re-entry desk that day. Management and planning obviously is a mess, not to speak about the silly 90-day reporting or the unavailability of longer extension periods, foreign retirees clearly are not a priority for Thai politics. In the end I got my retirement extension, still a bit surprised by that, though I have to provide them with an updated marriage certificate for which I have mobilized my elderly sister back in Europe. No need for GT4, didn't even notice if their 'office' was open.

I wasn't going to post any more as no one had any relevant information on how many were getting the extensions in a day.

Thank you very much for the information and experience you had. You are the first person in over 700 shares to give an idea of how many people were getting their extensions in a day. We know they will give out a lot of queue numbers but how many they serve has been a mystery. Thank you once again I now have a ball park answer. I know it will change day to day. But I have an idea.

if you are getting a retirement extension of stay why is your wife involved

[moe666]

I got a free one in January at the building across the highway, and yes the guy was a dick.

Yes many of us did but that's history, been 500 baht for a long time.

To ask you to wait a month, to get what should be free or a minimal charge, is just an insult,its a 2 minute job to insert a name and address and print off

Go to US consulate and pay $50.00 Geez youguyswill not leave this one alone, we may be back at the consulate as it happen 2 years ago