Hi,

I am an American citizen. I received a one year extensionof my Non-O Retirement Visa yesterday at Chaeng Wattana Immigrations.

My paperwork consisted of:

TM 47

US ACS affidavit of income and residence

Copy of the First page of my passport, each entry stamp, current departure card, most recent visa extension and transfer stamps for the previous extension (due to passport renewal).

I arrived at 9:15am and received que number 55 with 39 ahead of me. My que number was called at 11:45. Processing time seemed much slower than in previous years. The officer was friendly and efficent. She had to complete 4 new forms that I signed. All pretty rushed given the time. These forms were acknowlegments of overetay rules and the like. The reviewing officer was also friendly and worked extra hard to get my visa done before lunch. I left at the 12 noon closing with visa.

After the lunch break I picked up a Que number for Re-entry permit. I was called to the intake quickly but then waited until after 2pm to get my passport back.

Be aware that there may be new procedures that immigrations needs to perform that will slow processing.

Cheers,

Lou

Although you mention it was rushed the 15 minutes does seem about average time for normal processing when all in order - did you actually notice anything slowing down process? 39 ahead of you is quite a bit for extensions (as many are marriage which often take a bit longer). I normally am happy to be out in an hour or so with a dozen of so ahead of me.

Thanks for the report - believe such first person reports are helpful to many.

Dunno if the OP had this happen to him, or if it contributed to the long queue...

But when I did my last extension at CW last fall (August), they had changed the procedure, at least at that point, to have a 3rd officer (a supervisor) be the final sign-off on all extensions, instead of just the normal processing officer and then one supervisor.

At the time I mentioned that here, several other posters commented on having the same thing happen at CW... At least during my visit, waiting for the final approval of the 3rd officer really slowed down the overall process.

Edited January 7, 201610 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

Yes I had the same happen in June last year - was seated in general waiting for final approval - but that did not seem to slow down the overall turnover time as officers were busy with new applicants during this time.

it is possible a many of the people ahead ofme had more complicated application.

It is harder to understandthe long wait for a re-entry permit.

Yes I had the same happen in June last year - was seated in general waiting for final approval - but that did not seem to slow down the overall turnover time as officers were busy with new applicants during this time.

FWIW, on my most recent visit to CW, I spent longer time in total just waiting for the final sign-off of the second supervisor, which as best as I could tell ended up being nothing much more than her signing, than I did for the entire earlier process of having my papers reviewed by the initial officer, me signing their papers, and then having all that reviewed and checked by the first supervisor.

In other words, adding that final sign-off by the 2nd supervisor more than doubled the time it took me from start to finish to obtain my retirement extension -- both that day that I was there last fall, and compared to the total time it typically had taken in the past when just the first officer and one supervisor were the only ones involved.

The initial supervisor finished with my paperwork, and then walked it into the other supervisor's cubicle, and AFAICT, it just sat and sat and sat there un-attended to until finally, after quite a long time, the 2nd supervisor got around to dealing with the documents on her desk.

I can't say if it slowed them down. But it certainly slowed ME down.

Edited January 7, 201610 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

Lucky you don't complain we in Chiang Mai can only dream of this kind of service. Consider yourself lucky. The Gods are truly smiling on you.

Move out to the boonies, Phitsanulok Imm, out in 20 mins, retirement extension. Lucky I guess but when you look at the amount of shoes outside the door, that does give a good idea how many might be in front of you.