Immigration Promenada One Stop Service 2016-2017

[heybruce]

I didn't notice that 90 day procedures topic.  Thanks for pointing it out.

 

For years my school gave me the documentation I needed to get a visa.  I did border runs and avoided Immigration because I don't trust them (I was one of those burned in the CMU Language Institute fiasco some years back and I got the impression Immigration was looking for reasons to boot people out of Thailand). 

 

I'll look at the 90 day topic but may stick with border runs.  I always get the multiple entry visa, I've seen people at the border who didn't have it and they were very unhappy about the consequences.

 

Regarding the TM-30, isn't that the responsibility of my landlord?  I rent, I don't own, and I've never bothered with it before.  I saw no mention of it in the 90 day report procedures topic.

[EricTh]

Just now, heybruce said:

(I was one of those burned in the CMU Language Institute fiasco some years back and I got the impression Immigration was looking for reasons to boot people out of Thailand). 

 

 

 

Could you please create a new thread on that CMU fiasco? 

 

[scottiejohn]

2 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Could you please create a new thread on that CMU fiasco?

I suggest it is not relevant now and if you are that interested in such 'history' just use the search function on this site and find out all about it!

Personally I would not bother.

[scottiejohn]

2 hours ago, heybruce said:

Regarding the TM-30, isn't that the responsibility of my landlord?  I rent, I don't own, and I've never bothered with it before.  I saw no mention of it in the 90 day report procedures topic.

TM30's are a 'minefield'. 

We don't know your residential/visiting circumstances so difficult to comment, especially as the Prom Immigration/rules advice change on an apparent whim.

Re TM30 reporting is it a condo? in which case your TM30 may be done for you, if an 'absent landlord' probably no chance - your problem. Wife/GF read the post(s) etc.

Some info on your In/Out length of stay/Residence status would help if you want advice from the forum.

[scorecard]

On 4/2/2017 at 9:55 AM, evenstevens said:

Its  not  the Hospitality Industry they are working in

 

spare this thought for a moment,  Put yourself in their shoes, would you be happy, to be putting up with the likes of u, all day everyday, 8 hours a day,expecting to give  a smile to everyone

to be honest they could look at E/S   like a  Vampire, as long as they give my stamp in my passport,and i ,am on my way

just my view , they are no different to other  countrys  immgr officers that i have visited, perhaps better, (smile or no smile,) Sydney officers are far from a happy bunch

and   Aussie Centrelink Officers  are the most miserable bunch of all, that i have encountered

a nice good morning to all

 

Nobody is expecting over the top commercial customer service at Immigration and I do agree there are immigration folks in other countries who are simply rude, and I agree Australia would get a high ranking for rude, abrupt, unhelpful and even abusive at times. 

 

Most people in most jobs, any country, have to put up with cranky customers from time to time, and many folks all over the world work under a lot more pressure and are pushed continuously for more output.

 

These guys have the good fortune to not have to do menial labor and as mentioned their benefits are not too bad. 

 

'... put up with the likes of you... naah I don't buy that one.

 

 

[opalred]

you want to push someones button

you get a mark on your record  in any country

so smile and be polite 

i think nancy l would have clocked up a few marks by now

[Sparkles]

24 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Nobody is expecting over the top commercial customer service at Immigration and I do agree there are immigration folks in other countries who are simply rude, and I agree Australia would get a high ranking for rude, abrupt, unhelpful and even abusive at times. 

 

Most people in most jobs, any country, have to put up with cranky customers from time to time, and many folks all over the world work under a lot more pressure and are pushed continuously for more output.

 

These guys have the good fortune to not have to do menial labor and as mentioned their benefits are not too bad. 

 

'... put up with the likes of you... naah I don't buy that one.

 

 

One reason some people are "cranky" is because of the absurd requirements we must abide by.Take the TM 30 ,5 years ago when I last left the country on my return I had never  heard of a TM30, neither had my wife ,who obviously  owns our house and we like to think we abide by the laws as we know them.

 

Well  we arrived back late Friday night from an overseas holiday and proceeded to Promenada to process the TM 30 this morning .We got a 1,600 baht fine as expected.I didnt make a great deal of it with the officer as she has heard it all before.

 

Of course  a recent Thai driving licence renewal, yellow book,Thai ID card,90 day reports all carrying my 9 year old address carries no weightt

The TM 30 is just a revenue raiser.a rule dragged out of the vaults.It has nothing to do, as the officer said, with terrorism or security,just a pedantic requirement

 

A fellow "customer", a lady who has lived here for 23 years at the same address was in awe of the rule ,she had just taken her first a trip out of the country and has been at the same address since she originally  arrived.Not being a Thai Visa user she simply did not know,she does now.

 

 

[EricTh]

Just now, Sparkles said:

 

The TM 30 is just a revenue raiser.a rule dragged out of the vaults.It has nothing to do, as the officer said, with terrorism or security,just a pedantic requirement

 

 

 

 

You might want to follow in NancyL footsteps and consider Malaysia.

[opalred]

hello hello something amiss

i have yellow book    id card never asked for

go out country for holidays 4times ayear

just go 90days after return

i think a lot of people sit in there condos bored

then the 90day outing becomes a grumpy outing

because they had to leave there comfort zone

 

[EricTh]

On 4/2/2017 at 7:11 PM, Sparkles said:

Dear oh me, the hardship, 8 hours a day, Monday to Friday ,weekends off, annual leave ,no work on public holidays, of which there are many,pension and probably a few other "fringe benefits" as well

 

 I think a lot of moderately, educated Thais,capable of speaking basic English and doing a simple clerical process, would kill for a job like that ,well the ones I know anyway.

 

Being pleasant costs nothing, no requirement to "fake" a smile

 

 

 

Yes, I would kill for a job like this.

I would give a smile to everyone if I had this job. 

Please hire me even though I am a foreigner.

 

 

[opalred]

i lived in Malaysia for a few years 

and there visa problem was 10times worse than here

if you are not a Muslim they will give you a hard time

[evenstevens]

34 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

 

 

Well  we arrived back late Friday night from an overseas holiday and proceeded to Promenada to process the TM 30 this morning .We got a 1,600 baht fine as expected.I didnt make a great deal of it with the officer as she has heard it all before.

 

 

 

 

 thats the way, now your house is in order, E/S did   the same a few months ago, (paid a 1600 baht fine) Sparks,  their a lot of  Shifty Farungs  in C/Mai  now adays,and the fair dinkum expats are paying for it

   BTW  did you get a smile???

its Another Draw good evening to all

[worgeordie]

53 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

One reason some people are "cranky" is because of the absurd requirements we must abide by.Take the TM 30 ,5 years ago when I last left the country on my return I had never  heard of a TM30, neither had my wife ,who obviously  owns our house and we like to think we abide by the laws as we know them.

 

Well  we arrived back late Friday night from an overseas holiday and proceeded to Promenada to process the TM 30 this morning .We got a 1,600 baht fine as expected.I didnt make a great deal of it with the officer as she has heard it all before.

 

Of course  a recent Thai driving licence renewal, yellow book,Thai ID card,90 day reports all carrying my 9 year old address carries no weightt

The TM 30 is just a revenue raiser.a rule dragged out of the vaults.It has nothing to do, as the officer said, with terrorism or security,just a pedantic requirement

 

A fellow "customer", a lady who has lived here for 23 years at the same address was in awe of the rule ,she had just taken her first a trip out of the country and has been at the same address since she originally  arrived.Not being a Thai Visa user she simply did not know,she does now.

 

 

So you arrived late Friday,when Promenada ,was closed, Sat,Sun also closed,so you went to report at the first opportunity,

on Monday, AND they still find you 1.600 THB ?, how were you supposed to report before Monday ?,thats a bit harsh.

 

regards worgeordie

 

[EricTh]

25 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

So you arrived late Friday,when Promenada ,was closed, Sat,Sun also closed,so you went to report at the first opportunity,

on Monday, AND they still find you 1.600 THB ?, how were you supposed to report before Monday ?,thats a bit harsh.

 

regards worgeordie

 

 

Is the late penalty counted per day or a one time charge?

 

 

[heybruce]

3 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

TM30's are a 'minefield'. 

We don't know your residential/visiting circumstances so difficult to comment, especially as the Prom Immigration/rules advice change on an apparent whim.

Re TM30 reporting is it a condo? in which case your TM30 may be done for you, if an 'absent landlord' probably no chance - your problem. Wife/GF read the post(s) etc.

Some info on your In/Out length of stay/Residence status would help if you want advice from the forum.

I've been in Thailand eleven years, I've been renting the same condo for about six years.  I've never had to deal with a TM30, I'm pretty sure the woman who is managing the condo for the owner took care of it at one time, but I don't know if it is a recurring need.

 

Based on what I've read about TM30's, maybe I should keep doing border runs.  I've never had a problem with them.

[heybruce]

5 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Could you please create a new thread on that CMU fiasco? 

 

There was a long discussion of the subject several years ago, when it was unfolding.  However I can't find it, it's possible that the TV search feature doesn't go back that many years.

 

As already noted, it's not relevant to this topic. 

[evenstevens]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

So you arrived late Friday,when Promenada ,was closed, Sat,Sun also closed,so you went to report at the first opportunity,

on Monday, AND they still find you 1.600 THB ?, how were you supposed to report before Monday ?,thats a bit harsh.

 

regards worgeordie

 

the fine for   1600 baht, is   for,   not  for having a  tm30 , notification receipt  with the Immgr Dept, now  that  Sparkles has, its plain sailing

are your lights switched on , sweet dreams to all

Edited April 3, 2017 by evenstevens

[worgeordie]

43 minutes ago, evenstevens said:

the fine for   1600 baht, is   for,   not  for having a  tm30 , notification receipt  with the Immgr Dept, now  that  Sparkles has, its plain sailing

are your lights switched on , sweet dreams to all

If you read Sparkles post he said he had not been out of Thailand for 5 years,

and as TM30 ,s were not around then ,how could he have one,but returning

to Thailand he did obtain one as soon as was possible.a TM30 is only required

by immigration when you return to Thailand..

 

It seems he got the wrong officer,my wife reported 2 of her tenants,after they

had already been in Thailand for three weeks,as they never notified her of their

leaving and returning, So she reported them at the Airport office,and never had

to pay any fine.

 

But if my thinking is wrong ,I bow to the great Immigration,and visa expert ,the one and only E/S,

who must have learnt so much, working with his super duper agents, 

regards worgeordie

[worgeordie]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

 

Is the late penalty counted per day or a one time charge?

 

 

One time charge   1,600 THB.

regards worgeordie

[Thailand]

8 hours ago, worgeordie said:

If you read Sparkles post he said he had not been out of Thailand for 5 years,

and as TM30 ,s were not around then ,how could he have one,but returning

to Thailand he did obtain one as soon as was possible.a TM30 is only required

by immigration when you return to Thailand..

 

It seems he got the wrong officer,my wife reported 2 of her tenants,after they

had already been in Thailand for three weeks,as they never notified her of their

leaving and returning, So she reported them at the Airport office,and never had

to pay any fine.

 

But if my thinking is wrong ,I bow to the great Immigration,and visa expert ,the one and only E/S,

who must have learnt so much, working with his super duper agents, 

regards worgeordie

Just a guess, I would think that Sparkles will have put the date he initially occupied his residence instead of the day he returned home being the weekend then the officer will have noted that the TM30 had not been filed in the interim hence the fine.

But not a problem, his wife has to pay not him.

[Sparkles]

1 hour ago, Thailand said:

Just a guess, I would think that Sparkles will have put the date he initially occupied his residence instead of the day he returned home being the weekend then the officer will have noted that the TM30 had not been filed in the interim hence the fine.

But not a problem, his wife has to pay not him.

No all our dates were correct.She just flicked back in my passport to the last time my re entry stamp was used and that was 5 years ago and then asked me why we didnt report 5 years ago.Obvious answer was because we did not know the TM 30 existed then ,she knew that too.The officer barely glanced at the TM 30 form given to her, completed by my wife, whose accountancy background makes her very good with any paperwork,she was too busy writing out the fine form/receipt

 

Apologies for being cynical but this is just a revenue raiser.Being a Monday it was busy and the fines kept rolling in as we waited for otyhers to go through.

 

Nothing to do with combating terrorism,crime ,bad guys out blah ,blah blah its about creating income for a faltering economy.I actually noticed a glimmer of sympathy from the officer when i said that I dont live under a bridge, my Thai driving licence ,Thai ID card, yellow book,90 day reports would tell you that if they would just set up a central file.

 

I paid the fine, not my wife, she is frankly embarrassed that we,as foreigners, are targeted to create income while so many Thais don't even pay a satang of tax.

We move on.

 

 

[balo]

I wonder what they do with all the 1600 baht fines they collect ? It's probably divided and added to their salary at the end of the month . 

 

 

[balo]

I did my report at Jomtien immigration recently and I knew I had changed my address twice since last time 90 days ago because I have been travelling between CM and Pattaya.  

The lady looks at her computer  and ask about my address in CM  and I told her I moved to a new place in Pattaya. I give her the address, and no questions asked , I did my report in 5 minutes ,  nothing about TM30 ever mentioned. 

 

So this is just the staff at CM decided to have a nice payday at the end of the month . 

 

 

 

 

[scorecard]

1 minute ago, balo said:

I wonder what they do with all the 1600 baht fines they collect ? It's probably divided and added to their salary at the end of the month . 

 

 

 

Do you have any reason to say that, or just more unsubstantiated stuff, which no doubt will now be quoted by other posters as fact.

 

Do you believe that the fines are just set up for one reason - to make money for the staff?

 

Did you even consider that Thailand, like all countries, needs to have policies and rules and regulations to keep some control on who comes in and out and fines to keep the visa etc., up to date?  

[hml367]

11 hours ago, worgeordie said:

If you read Sparkles post he said he had not been out of Thailand for 5 years,

and as TM30 ,s were not around then ,how could he have one,but returning

to Thailand he did obtain one as soon as was possible.a TM30 is only required

by immigration when you return to Thailand..

 

It seems he got the wrong officer,my wife reported 2 of her tenants,after they

had already been in Thailand for three weeks,as they never notified her of their

leaving and returning, So she reported them at the Airport office,and never had

to pay any fine.

 

But if my thinking is wrong ,I bow to the great Immigration,and visa expert ,the one and only E/S,

who must have learnt so much, working with his super duper agents, 

regards worgeordie

These reports have been around since before I came to live in Thailand.  They may not have had the same form numbers, but I filed with Immigration in Chiang Mai both of these reports more than 15 years ago.

 

In fact, when 90 day reporting was done at the old location in the building on the left of the parking lot, the forms were posted on the bulletin board. 

 

I think, as with many other things, the enforcement is what is new.

 

I can remember police people going around to hotels to pick up lists of foreigners staying in the hotels more than 20 years ago.

 

If anyone wants to take the time (and it requires a lot of time!) to research these reporting requirements, I think you will find that this reporting is much older than most people realize.

[evenstevens]

51 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

No all our dates were correct.She just flicked back in my passport to the last time my re entry stamp was used and that was 5 years ago and then asked me why we didnt report 5 years ago.Obvious answer was because we did not know the TM 30 existed then ,she knew that too.The officer barely glanced at the TM 30 form given to her, completed by my wife, whose accountancy background makes her very good with any paperwork,she was too busy writing out the fine form/receipt

 

Apologies for being cynical but this is just a revenue raiser.

We move on.

 

 

 no you are not cynical at all, you are on the money, the law has been in, for yonks and yonks,but only  recently  being enforced by C/mai Immgr Dept largely due  to cash in, plus keeping a tighter rein on the Shifty Farungs,  running around  C/mai

my scenario runs along your lines, E/S  has his name stamped on our land  title deeds,(for 12 yrs), which they could ,nt give a hoot

 E/S just paid  the 1600 baht   fine,  now have the tm 30 stapled in my passport,  a small price to pay,  whether right or wrong  to have  a  happy retirement here in C/mai, just my view

 a tip,   keep the fine receipt,  in your passport as well

   looking for that   bow  ,a nice morning to all

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2017 by evenstevens

[balo]

13 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Do you believe that the fines are just set up for one reason - to make money for the staff?

Yes, thats what I believe.  Corruption rules in Thailand. 

 

Because they don't follow the same practice elsewhere, espeicially not in the south unless there is a good reason .   

 

 

[balo]

All we hear from Jomtien is about fines given for overstays and bad guys out because there is a good reason for it , criminal activities , no work permits etc.  

 

The "milking cow" in Chiang Mai is the TM30 ,  1600 baht , easy money .

 

If they did the same in Jomtien we would have heard 1000's of reports about it.  

 

I am a good example of someone moving a lot between the north and the south and they did not even care to ask me about TM30 twice in the last 180 days.

 

 

 

 

   

 

[worgeordie]

1 hour ago, evenstevens said:

 no you are not cynical at all, you are on the money, the law has been in, for yonks and yonks,but only  recently  being enforced by C/mai Immgr Dept largely due  to cash in, plus keeping a tighter rein on the Shifty Farungs,  running around  C/mai

my scenario runs along your lines, E/S  has his name stamped on our land  title deeds,(for 12 yrs), which they could ,nt give a hoot

 E/S just paid  the 1600 baht   fine,  now have the tm 30 stapled in my passport,  a small price to pay,  whether right or wrong  to have  a  happy retirement here in C/mai, just my view

 a tip,   keep the fine receipt,  in your passport as well

   looking for that   bow  ,a nice morning to all

 

 

 

I thought your super duper Visa agents would have informed you about about the TM 30,

as you were paying for the service, also you seem up with rules and regulations ,but

you ended up been find 1,600 THB, so what chance do people who do not visit ThaiVisa,

or other social sites that might mention the TM 30, also the requirement to have a TM30

seems  to be enforced rigorously at CNX ,in other parts of Thailand not so much. 

 

 When I first heard about the requirement for TM30 been enforced,I told my wife to report  

all her tenants ,which she did ,no problems,no fines, now the onus is on her to check when

the tenants leave and return to Thailand, which if they do not inform her ,she will have to

end up paying the fines.

regards worgeordie

[heybruce]

After reading the above and failing to get a full understanding of the TM30 requirements, doing border runs instead of visiting immigration is looking more attractive.

 

I've been in Thailand 11 years, always rented, usually did 90 day border runs but have gone to immigration a few times (last time several years ago) and never been asked for a TM30.  I think my landlord did a TM30 for me a few years ago, but don't think she has updated it every time I left and returned to Thailand.  Some of my departures were for a few days, some for several weeks.

 

What can I expect if I go to immigration now?  What can I expect if I use a Visa agent?