Retirement Extension of Stay - Latest in Phuket?

[exppenang]

Asking for recent reports on Retirement Extension of stay at Phuket Immigration (Main Office).

Last year had to start downstairs (long queue in hot sun) for a certificate of residency to get the process started. Items needed for this:

STEP 1

1) Copy of current rental contract (Some claim this is not needed)

2) Latest rent receipt (Some claim this is not needed)

3) Copy of passport cover page
4) Copy of departure card (TM6)

5) Copy of house book where you reside. Copy must be signed by person named on house book.

6) Copy of ID Card of person whose name is on the house book. Copy must be signed.

7) Application form for residence certificate.

With the above I proceeded through downstairs queue and eventually received a 1/3 page slip titled 'RECEIPT OF NOTIFICATION' stapled in passport.

Do I need to complete the same STEP 1 same process downstairs every year, before I go upstairs to apply for the extension itself?

STEP 2

The following copies (along with the residence cert from STEP 1 stapled in my passport) were then taken upstairs to apply for the retirement extension:

1) Copy of passport cover page

2) Copy of original visa on which the extension is based (example: Non-Immigrant O)

3) Copy of current retirement visa or extension

4) Copy of Departure Card (TM 6)

5) Copy of passport page showing latest entry stamp

6) Proof of income/savings

7) Application for extension of stay

Looking for anyone who did their extension recently at Phuket to confirm or comment.

Thank you.

[sunnyjim5]

Did mine on 02 Feb 2016.

Step one not required if you have the same address as previously registered.

Step two remains the same with the same requirements as last year.

[baggies666]

Can you still do this a month in advance?

[Eclipse]

Can you still do this a month in advance?

30 days and at a lot of offices 45 days.

[AUSSIE BOB]

Lucky you,

I did mine today at Phuket Town and as indicated by other reply, if your living arrangements have not changed and that 1/3 slip of paper is still in your passport you are right to proceed straight upstairs. Original signed and stamped letter from bank to verify your income must be within 7 days of obtaining. Photocopy of bankbook ID page, photocopy of all entries for last 12mths. This for me included copies from two books as one was full. And now they want a statement printout from the bank signed and stamped for the previous 12mths. You ask for this at the same time as getting your letter. You must ask for it as they wont just donate it. So you now provide the letter from the bank, a statement from the bank and photocopies of all pages of your bankbook, seems over the top but everybody was getting sent away for additional copies of something.

By the way, the line was very short after lunch so if you dont want to waste all morning try a Pm visit although they might ask you to return the next day to collect your updated passport.

Good luck

[flyingdoc]

Sounds laborious !

[Rhys]

What an absolute pain .... good on you for the tolerance...

[phuketrichard]

phuket is 10x better than Chiang Mai

be grateful we live here :-)

[KenKadz]

I never fail to be amazed by the lack of consistency and/or standardization between

Immigration Offices in Thailand, and Thai Embassies/Consulates around the world.

They all seem to operate by their own set of rules, regulations, and document requirements.

Which is a terrible way to operate the tourist/retirement business that is such an important

part of the Thai economy.

The current situation is a national embarrassment to Thailand, and a standing joke among

foreign nationals all over the world.

The PM says he wants to, "Bring Happy to the People".

How about bringing a little "Happy" for the foreign Retirees and Tourists who bring their

multi-millions of Baht to the country every year?

Something as simple as standardizing the visa rules and requirements among all Thai offices

would be a nice "thank you" for your money and support.

After all the PM is a career military man who knows about regulations, regulations, and

standardization, so this should be a simple task for him.