Immigration Promenada One Stop Service 2016-2017

[edwarda909]

 I am at immigration office 3:15 PM in Chang Mai and it is closed, there's nothing on the website it says why, there's nothing posted to say when they will be open, the phone number given nobody responds to. Is closing at 3 o'clock in normal thing now a days. <deleted>  

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, edwarda909 said:

 I am at immigration office 3:15 PM in Chang Mai and it is closed, there's nothing on the website it says why, there's nothing posted to say when they will be open, the phone number given nobody responds to. Is closing at 3 o'clock in normal thing now a days. <deleted>  

 

  Closed for the New Year until tomorrow (4th) Its been well advertised

[Thailand]

1 minute ago, sanemax said:

 

  Closed for the New Year until tomorrow (4th) Its been well advertised

 

[edwarda909]

Just now, Thailand said:

 

 

[edwarda909]

Just now, edwarda909 said:

 

 Been well advertised? I must've missed my issue of Chiang Mai News. Well advertised or not, it would be considered if they had posted on their window at the office that they would be opening tomorrow on the fourth. Reading from post from months ago, people are saying they have to get there at 5 AM to get a number. Is that still the case? What is the waiting time like nowadays, if anybody could tell me would be greatly appreciated

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, edwarda909 said:

ago, people are saying they have to get there at 5 AM to get a number. Is that still the case? What is the waiting time like nowadays, if anybody could tell me would be greatly appreciated

 

    Its not too busy now a days , I usually go in the afternoon and not too much waiting .

  Tomorrow will be extremely busy due to the holidays, go another day if you can, if you must go tomorrow, geb there early

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, edwarda909 said:

 Been well advertised? I must've missed my issue of Chiang Mai News. Well advertised or not, it would be considered if they had posted on their window at the office that they would be opening tomorrow on the fourth. Reading from post from months ago, people are saying they have to get there at 5 AM to get a number. Is that still the case? What is the waiting time like nowadays, if anybody could tell me would be greatly appreciated

 

Yes, it has been well publicized that today has been an extra gov't holiday and since Imm is a gov't office, it's safe to assume they'd be closed.

 

As for arriving at 5 am -- depends on what service you need.  Marriage, retirement, education extension yes probably.  Other services, no.  If you were clueless about today being a gov't holiday, then you probably need a tourist visa extension and arrival at 9 am should be just fine.

[JimGant]

Ah, NancyL, I fear you'll not like wearing a burqa. But, hey, try one out at Chiang Mai Immigration -- see if they recognize your walking and inspection pattern......

[evenstevens]

10 hours ago, NancyL said:

 

That's absolutely correct.  No need for reporting or queueing.  In fact, most of the application process is done by post, it seems.   Foreigners can own a primary residence -- house AND land in their own name.  They can either import a car duty free or purchase one tax & duty free during their first six months.  You can volunteer without the need for a work permit and work at a paying job up so many hours per month, depending on your age.

 

But, you have to maintain a bank balance in the country at all times -- none of this bit about just having it "season" for a few months ahead of annual "renewal".  AND you have to show monthly income from abroad.  Plus, you have to have medical insurance cover.  So, the financial requirements are higher than Thailand's and it doesn't look like there is room to "play games" like applicants can in Thailand.  Plus, if you apply for the MM2H visa in the two states in Borneo, where we looked, the financial requirements are a little higher AND you need several local references.  Interestingly, those two states even restrict that ability of people from western Malaysia to come work there.

 

All-in-all it's a very well thought-out program, intended for people who plan ahead and aren't living on the edge financially.  You don't have to be rich to utilize this visa program, but certainly not someone who is just scraping by.  It appears as if you're treated with respect by the people in gov't tasked with enforcement of the program, too.   

 yes from    reliable sources, it is indeed a  nice package, which is suited to aliens who can.and  prefer a retirement etc etc  in Malaysia

as for your respect bit  from Malaysia gov,t ( last line of your post)

Thailand  Govt  has always  afforded  E/S  full respect with my self funded retirement package in their country,( coming up 16yrs),

sure the Promenada Immgr Dept  services should be improved, but western tactics of the past couple of years,has  ,  has not aided, that needed  cause at all

but never heard  of anyone not getting that stamp,if all criteria is met

its a  Santana good evening to all

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NancyL]

Is it respectful to expect applicants to show up at 3 am to get a queue ticket?  To wait in the dark, with the mosquitoes?  In a place where the toilets aren't even unlocked until 6 am?  And then to sit around for hours on hard chairs listening to queue numbers being called by people who can barely pronounce English numerals using a cheap karaoke speaker system, afraid to move for fear their queue number will be called?  

 

For starters, just look at the official website for the Malaysia My Second Home website:  http://www.mm2h.gov.my/index.php/en/  You're treated with respect by the Malaysian gov't from the moment you first start to research how to get a "retirement visa" for their country.

 

I defy you to come up with anything similar from an official Thai government website that is as good at explaining how to get a "retirement visa" for Thailand.  

 

The closest I could find is the website for obtaining a Thai Elite visa:  http://www.thailandelite.com/index.php   Pretty nifty if you want lots of spa treatments and golf outings in your retirement, I guess.  I don't know about you, but most retirees I know would rather be able to purchase a car at a reasonable price and own their home AND land.  Too bad the Thai gov't doesn't have similarly slick websites explaining how retirees can come here legally.

 

And yes, I have known of newbies who have been denied"retirement visas" by Chiang Mai immigration because they made the mistake of coming here with 30 day visa exempt status and then tried to obtain information from CM Imm about how to convert this to a 90-day O visa, only to be given wrong or incomplete information.  It was really good for Imm. when they had two offices because they could send these poor souls back and forth from one office to the other for something or the other.  This was all an attempt to drive them to using a visa agent for their conversion to an O visa and eventual retirement extensions.  There's a reason visa agents charge up to 15,000 baht or more for a visa conversion, you know.

[EricTh]

13 hours ago, NancyL said:

 

 

But, you have to maintain a bank balance in the country at all times -- none of this bit about just having it "season" for a few months ahead of annual "renewal".  AND you have to show monthly income from abroad.  Plus, you have to have medical insurance cover.  So, the financial requirements are higher than Thailand's 

 

It seems that Thailand is copying Malaysia's 10 year visa program of medical insurance and higher requirement for their new 10 year visa program.

 

Even Thailand's new 10 year visa program won't allow retirees to own land and house. The most you can own is a condo with all its disadvantages.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by xng

[roo860]

 
It seems that Thailand is copying Malaysia's 10 year visa program of medical insurance and higher requirement for their new 10 year visa program.
 
Even Thailand's new 10 year visa program won't allow retirees to own land and house. The most you can own is a condo with all its disadvantages.
 
 

Disadvantages?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[EricTh]

10 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Disadvantages?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app
 

 

 

 

Some of the disadvantages are

 

1. Condo space is smaller than a house.

 

2. There is no garden in a condo

 

3. You can't cook with gas

 

4. Your neighbours (up, down, side) can be quite noisy when they play their music loudly and when the adjoining walls are thin. I hear toilet flushing at 2 am every time my neighbour upstairs come home drunk. That woke me up in the middle of the night.

 

5. Technically , you can't own any pets in a condo.

 

6. There's not enough space to dry your clothes using the sun. For most condos, we have to share the washing machine downstairs and waiting time can be quite long.

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by xng

[roo860]

 

Some of the disadvantages are

 

1. Condo space is smaller than a house.

 

2. There is no garden in a condo

 

3. You can't cook with gas

 

4. Your neighbours (up, down, side) can be quite noisy when they play their music loudly and when the adjoining walls are thin. I hear toilet flushing at 2 am every time my neighbour upstairs come home drunk. That woke me up in the middle of the night.

 

5. Technically , you can't own any pets in a condo.

 

6. There's not enough space to dry your clothes using the sun. For most condos, we have to share the washing machine downstairs and waiting time can be quite long.

 

It's all down to your personal priorities. We have.

2 balconies, can dry washing.

No pets, suits me.

10th floor, not overlooked.

No neighbour problem (are owners).

Two big window boxes.

Own washing machine.

65sq metres suits us

I bought it 12 yrs ago and am still well happy with it.

We've gone a bit off topic.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[NancyL]

Yes, we've gone off topic, but we looked at rental condos in Sabah state, Malaysia and found that "the standard", at least what was shown to us was at least two bedrooms, two baths, most were three bedrooms, two and a half bath, with space of 90 sq. meters to 150 sq. meters.  Frankly, I don't know what we'd do with all that extra space.  

 

Also, the norm is to have a separate outside area for washer, dryer, a sink, counter and drying area.  In fact, in most buildings it was forbidden to show your laundry from the balcony.  They had to be in these special rooms, which technically were outside, but not really visible.  Amazingly, the kitchens were set up with ovens and gas cook-tops.  Maybe had something to do with regulations about having exhaust hoods that actually sent the fumes to the outside.  The space was utilized better, with more storage.  And every building had a nice swimming pool and fitness center.  On a price per square meter, it was entirely competitive with CM.  What we didn't see were 55  sq. meter units of new construction being sold as one-bedroom units, jury-rigged with partisans and faux walls to create the impression of a bedroom.

 

Oh, and everyone seems to think that pets that never leave the condo (i.e. cats) are OK.  So much for No. 1, 3, 5 and 6 of xng's post.  And something tells me that No. 4 won't be a problem.  Never has been here, either.  As for No. 2 -- well, after owning and operating a greenhouse/nursery business in the U.S., the last thing Hubby and I want is a "garden".  Every time we look at a plant, all we can see are the problems it has, its past and future.  

[EricTh]

7 hours ago, NancyL said:

 

 

I've created a new thread below , so moderator please delete the off-topic posts here.

 

 

Edited January 4, 2017 by xng

[evenstevens]

22 hours ago, NancyL said:

Is it respectful to expect applicants to show up at 3 am to get a queue ticket?  To wait in the dark, with the mosquitoes?  In a place where the toilets aren't even unlocked until 6 am?

 

 

 

but in all fairness,   its not Cmai.s Immgr Dept,s  responsibilty ,or a onus placed on them, to  look after applicants that turn up ,at 3.AM to carry out their business with them

if the applicants.want to beat  other applicants,by  a 3.AM start,  they should( I.M.O ) except what ever comes their way, good or bad

besides if all aplicants saunter in at a time  which is  suitable to them,instead of trying to gain pole position,E/S feels that the 3.am queue,would not be there,or at least be a daylight job, perhaps putting it another way, respect should start with the applicants,  in not trying to outsmart each other,to gain a pole postion  at Cmai Immgr Dept

its  a Micheal  Jackson   good evening to all

[NancyL]

25 minutes ago, evenstevens said:

 

but in all fairness,   its not Cmai.s Immgr Dept,s  responsibilty ,or a onus placed on them, to  look after applicants that turn up ,at 3.AM to carry out their business with them

if the applicants.want to beat  other applicants,by  a 3.AM start,  they should( I.M.O ) except what ever comes their way, good or bad

besides if all aplicants saunter in at a time  which is  suitable to them,instead of trying to gain pole position,E/S feels that the 3.am queue,would not be there,or at least be a daylight job, perhaps putting it another way, respect should start with the applicants,  in not trying to outsmart each other,to gain a pole postion  at Cmai Immgr Dept

its  a Micheal  Jackson   good evening to all

Heh? What do you mean it is their choice to show up at 3 am?

 

If the applicants wait until 6 am, when the lights come on and the toilets are unlocked, many times they're likely to find that they're No. 26 or No. 27 in the queue only to be told, "Sorry, only 25 queue tickets today"  Of course, they have the option of visiting G4T in the second floor and laying down a few thousand baht and getting their retirement extension that day, no problem.  Hmm, how is it G4T can do this for them?

 

Don't say if they're too cheap to pay a few thousand every year they shouldn't be here.  Some people just don't want to fuel the corruption machine, you know.

 

There isn't this artificial throttling of queue tickets in other provinces, incidentally.  

 

Ever heard of TIT?  Well, how about TIC?

 

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

Heh? What do you mean it is their choice to show up at 3 am?

 

If the applicants wait until 6 am, when the lights come on and the toilets are unlocked, many times they're likely to find that they're No. 26 or No. 27 in the queue only to be told, "Sorry, only 25 queue tickets today"  

 

 

 

Frankly, I find this 25 per day a bit ridiculous because I've been through the process.

 

What they do are just checking whether you have the right documents and there're no interviews at all.  It takes only max of 10 minutes per person as everything is essentially quite bureaucratic and technical (passport pages, bank pages etc). It's not like every case is different. So that works out to be like 2 hours work per day. What happened to the rest of the 6 hours?

 

Of course, the big boss must sign the visa but that's shouldn't take long. The handing out of final passport should also be very fast at 2 minutes per person.

Edited January 4, 2017 by xng

[NancyL]

Last year I learned a new phrase from my English friends that would seem to apply to CM Immigration.  Something about "working to rule".  It certainly is what they do whenever anyone in any immigration capacity who has any contact with me does, including at an airport does when they have any contact with me.  They check multiple screens on their computer, look at my passport many times, carefully check the work they've done, etc.   I'm not being paranoid.  They don't do this with Hubby when he goes thru the Immigration checkpoints ahead of me.  (He uses a visa agent for his annual extension.)

 

I think this is what they're doing with all of the retirees in the early morning queue.  To  push them to use visa agents.  

[Thailand]

6 hours ago, NancyL said:

Last year I learned a new phrase from my English friends that would seem to apply to CM Immigration.  Something about "working to rule".  It certainly is what they do whenever anyone in any immigration capacity who has any contact with me does, including at an airport does when they have any contact with me.  They check multiple screens on their computer, look at my passport many times, carefully check the work they've done, etc.   I'm not being paranoid.  They don't do this with Hubby when he goes thru the Immigration checkpoints ahead of me.  (He uses a visa agent for his annual extension.)

 

I think this is what they're doing with all of the retirees in the early morning queue.  To  push them to use visa agents.  

G4T was heaving yesterday so looks like it's working. 

 

Even queues for TM30 but moving along, just 20 minutes. The cars were parking in the street there were so many people there.

But apparently you can just roll up later in the day to do your business!

[Lizard2010]

7 hours ago, NancyL said:

Last year I learned a new phrase from my English friends that would seem to apply to CM Immigration.  Something about "working to rule".  It certainly is what they do whenever anyone in any immigration capacity who has any contact with me does, including at an airport does when they have any contact with me.  They check multiple screens on their computer, look at my passport many times, carefully check the work they've done, etc.   I'm not being paranoid.  They don't do this with Hubby when he goes thru the Immigration checkpoints ahead of me.  (He uses a visa agent for his annual extension.)

 

I think this is what they're doing with all of the retirees in the early morning queue.  To  push them to use visa agents.  

You realise this is a form of harrasment

Your Human Rights have been abused

Good on you Chiang Mai Immigration

Thailand Immigration should be ashamed of themselves for this

You have just made themselves look stupid

You would think  they would treat you with respect

i think the respect has gone from Thailand

It is stuff you all now

IMHO

[jonesthepost]

I agree with Evenstevens. by turning up in the  middle of the night plays in immigration hands. And they are quite happy to let it go on, but  if retirees  turn  up at opening time  the onus would be on  the immigration  to  make the situation work better as retirees have turn up on time. So by turning up in the early hours the situation will never change

[EricTh]

8 hours ago, NancyL said:

 

 

I think this is what they're doing with all of the retirees in the early morning queue.  To  push them to use visa agents.  

 

When I went there, she was quite 'mechanical' and didn't bother to say 'satwatdee ka' when I said 'satwatdee'. She didn't have any computers in front of her. She just looked at what documents I had and highlighted the bank book pages of the money, then stamped the passport when the documents required are there.

 

I failed to see why they need 8 hours to process 25 people.  It takes around 10 minutes per person if there aren't any questions asked. Anyway, questions shouldn't be asked at this time but at the front counter.

[Lizard2010]

3 minutes ago, jonesthepost said:

I agree with Evenstevens. by turning up in the  middle of the night plays in immigration hands. And they are quite happy to let it go on, but  if retirees  turn  up at opening time  the onus would be on  the immigration  to  make the situation work better as retirees have turn up on time. So by turning up in the early hours the situation will never change

I am sorry to say this

But Chiang Mai Immigration Boss

Does what he wants

I believe that Bangkok Immigration should have a

Code of Conduct that all Immigration Offices

Have to abide by just like any place you work

Chiang Mai Immigration Boss does what he wants

No matter what we do

We have do do what they want

 

[sanemax]

I did previously go to the Prominada at 6 AM and there were only a handful of people in the queue at opening time .

    I now just go in the afternoon and always get served .

The Airport office was always busy and you had to get there early , but there doesnt seem to be the volume of people these days , so, theres no need to get to the Prominada before opening times 

[Lizard2010]

7 minutes ago, sanemax said:

I did previously go to the Prominada at 6 AM and there were only a handful of people in the queue at opening time .

    I now just go in the afternoon and always get served .

The Airport office was always busy and you had to get there early , but there doesnt seem to be the volume of people these days , so, theres no need to get to the Prominada before opening times 

As i have said many times

It all depends on the time of the year

Plus it is luck of the draw

i went to immigration the other week

There was quite a few people there

So you might have been lucky

Go this week it will be a different story

 

[davehowden]

49 minutes ago, xng said:

 

When I went there, she was quite 'mechanical' and didn't bother to say 'satwatdee ka' when I said 'satwatdee'. She didn't have any computers in front of her. She just looked at what documents I had and highlighted the bank book pages of the money, then stamped the passport when the documents required are there.

 

I failed to see why they need 8 hours to process 25 people.  It takes around 10 minutes per person if there aren't any questions asked. Anyway, questions shouldn't be asked at this time but at the front counter.

 

Well they have to:

 

Talk to each other as if they have not met for weeks.

Drink coffee and eat cakes.

Shuffle through their 20 plus rubber stamps and adjust the dates.

Place carbon paper between several little pads.

Fill in a couple of large ledgers with multiple columns of duplicate information.

Get up and visit another desk to help out with a difficult question.

Eat lunch.

Visit the bathroom.

And so on and so on .......

 

 

[Sparkles]

There are some humourous comments currently running on the ongoing saga.

 

Firstly does anyone think that the staff inside the CM immigration office have concerns about how many people are milling around trying to get processed.

Of course they don't, it's not their problem.They have set working hours and no requirement, or instruction, to do any extra.

 

Secondly the idea of everone turning up at opening time, ie 8.30 am.if you want to have further chaos follow this idea and count how many times you are told "sorry no tickets come back tomorrow"

 

Thirdly Sanemax suggests go there in the afternoon.For anything more that the 90 day report that may well be a wasted trip.

 

There is no desire from the decison makers to make the situation any better,make your own mind up why ?  Years back there were 3 officers processing retirement extension at the airport branch ,now there appears to be one.Retirees are continuing to come to CM in droves. So being funneled into the hands of "agents" appears to be the answer ?

 

2 weeks ago I processed by retirement extension through G4T. I really had no choice being unable for health reasons  to get up at the crack of dawn,maybe if the house was on fire I might be capable but I took the only option.Yes i could have employed a "line sitter" but I don't trust someone I don't know with my passport.

 

One of the  young guy at G4T went through my paperwork,inc re entry visa, which were as usual 100% correct.I reminded him that we had met before as he used to do the residency letters over thre road.Draw your own conclusions. So all was done with a minimum of fuss and I actually felt guilty to be led past  a crowded room, with not a spare seat, and some people who were almost comatose,this was at 3pm

 

I see G4T as a courier service/queue jumper more than an agent except for those that are totally lost about the process.

I did ask where they might relocate, if and when, the Immigration Office was rebuilt at the airport location, that was met with a wry smile.

 

So the online 90 day reporting has now gone,the online appointment service has long gone.What might we expect next ?

A former colleague was doing his retirement extension at Jomtien the same day,he arrived at 10am and was out the door in 45 mins.

 

[Sparkles]

4 hours ago, xng said:

 

When I went there, she was quite 'mechanical' and didn't bother to say 'satwatdee ka' when I said 'satwatdee'. She didn't have any computers in front of her. She just looked at what documents I had and highlighted the bank book pages of the money, then stamped the passport when the documents required are there.

 

I failed to see why they need 8 hours to process 25 people.  It takes around 10 minutes per person if there aren't any questions asked. Anyway, questions shouldn't be asked at this time but at the front counter.

xng you are not including the people that are being processed by "agents" that's far more than 25 persons.All it requires obviously  is more staff