Bangkok Immigration - A good story on TV for a change

[oncearugge]

the op could have switched instantly to extension based on marriage only 400k

wbrroobaa01

Not unless he was accompanied by his wife and just happened to have the additional required paperwork+photos conveniently to hand.

[canarysun]

It is always refreshing to read about someone's happy day at Immigration. As you say dress neat and clean, talk politely, have your papers in order and smile.

Good luck next visit.

Yes i totally agree about dressing smartly ( nice shirt and shorts ) I once was in Jomtien Immigration and spotted a farang strolling in dressed in swimming shorts,t shirt ( wet ) and a beach towel draped over his shoulder,shades in the hair and sand all over his flip flops...........

There is no need for long trousers ( i quite like to show off my legs viewers...) but shorts and a clean shirt does seem to help things along......

F.J

[BobTH]

It is always refreshing to read about someone's happy day at Immigration. As you say dress neat and clean, talk politely, have your papers in order and smile.

Good luck next visit.

Yes i totally agree about dressing smartly ( nice shirt and shorts ) I once was in Jomtien Immigration and spotted a farang strolling in dressed in swimming shorts,t shirt ( wet ) and a beach towel draped over his shoulder,shades in the hair and sand all over his flip flops...........

There is no need for long trousers ( i quite like to show off my legs viewers...) but shorts and a clean shirt does seem to help things along......

F.J

Please excuse me OP, this is rather off topic I know but in reply to some of the tread replies, I wanted to post this photo of the new sign and dress code at the Division 1 office in Bangkok. I realize that Mr. cararysun is not using this office and I am not sure if it is a sign of things to come at other offices or not but I copied the photo from a previous and recent thread on the THAI VISA Forum. Personally I think a nice pair of dress shorts, shirt and also nice sandals should be allowed since us foreigners seem to sweat more than the locals, at least I do. I did however wear long pants a nice polo shirt and shoes on my last visit to the Division 1 office in September for my extension.

[sangtip2]

I have been here 30 years and never had a problem with or been treated unfairly by immigration. Have your paper work correct and give the immigration officers their due respect and you will not have a problem.

[OJAS]

It appears he may have been granted a 60 day extension to visit spouse - although this normally requires the spouse be present it might account for the phone call. It would have been good to advise what paperwork was wrong/missing as am sure there are others of us who will make the same mistake and it might prevent some from doing so.

Visa is for entry and stay of a short period of time - extensions allow stay for a longer period to those already here. As mentioned you can not enter using an extension (re-entry permit required).

You are of course absolutely correct in that immigration told me to come back with my wife on a given date and they would issue me with a 60 day extension to visit spouse - A once only deal and something that I was unaware of beforehand. For that reason I was very grateful for the advice they gave and it could have quite easily been dismissed out of hand if I had ended up talking to the wrong person.

The mistake I made, for those that wish to know, occurred a couple of months ago when I allowed my 800K to drop a fraction below that for just a couple of days before it was topped up. My own stupid mistake and one not to be repeated. Lesson learned. When the 800K in the bank 3 month period is up I can then start the retirement visa process again.

I want to re-state that I originally made the post so that those who were not looking forward to their first trip to immigration might gain a bit of confidence in the fact that it is not as bad as we are sometimes led to believe. That was all.

Any comments of how dumb I must be etc will fall on deaf ears as I don't consider trying to be helpful to others a dumb thing to do.

Thanks.

I actually enjoyed reading your post, especially the detail about how you accepted personal responsibility for the "error/mistake/failure".

That something many expats should learn to do instead of desperately attempting to blame others for their self inflicted misfortunes.

I do, however, hope that he literally means what he says when he states that he will, in due course, "start the retirement visa process again"! AFAIK he simply cannot apply afresh for a retirement extension on the back of a 60-day extension to visit his wife. He will therefore need first to obtain a fresh non-O visa from a Thai embassy or consulate in an adjoining country - or, alternatively, a non-O visa conversion at Chaengwattana (which would probably be more practical in his case).

Edited October 18, 2015 by OJAS

[lopburi3]

As long as he remains on extensions of stay he can extend for retirement.

[connda]

Bangkok Immigration - A good story on TV for a change

Only to be offset when the focus changes to Chiang Mai.