wump Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 So I go there at 7:50am, be the third in line and fill out all the forms properly. "Where is the business card from your hotel?" says the feminine looking guy at the front desk. "No have" I reply and tell him I know the address, it's on the internet. He gives me some new form to fill out (something about how long I stay there and a list of the aliens staying at the place... I stay in a hotel by the way). I hand him back the form and he still asks for the business card. I explain to him that a business card is not a proof of address and that just anyone can walk into reception and get the card. And anyway, why did I just fill out the form if he needed the card anyway? No can do, I need to go back all the way to central Pattaya to pick up some freaking business card and lose my queue number. Now this is just chicanery... if I hadn't already filled in my address in the application I would've just walked to some random hotel nearby and pick up some business card. I would understand if he wanted a rental contract but this is just plain stupid. So be warned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenKong Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Maybe you should be thankful you are applying in Jomtien and that the officer you saw was lenient. Other offices and officers often seem to ask for receipts from hotels, precisely because a calling card proves nothing as you point out. Jomtien is widely considered to be the most helpful and flexible of all Thai immigration offices in tourist areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wump Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 Yes, I would have nothing to complain if he wanted my actual rental contract (which I actually did bring with me when I went back). I was just upset because he sent me on this useless exercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMGImInPattaya Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 My experience has been that when missing some piece of documentation and have to go fetch it, one doesn't loose their place in line. Often the officer even says outright to skip the que and come back directly to them when the missing documents have been obtained. I agree...can't fault Jomtien when I read the horror stories posted about other immigration offices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manarak Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 the funny thing is, every time I needed a residence certificate, they never asked for the rental contract !! LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 they seem to be focusing on this. Went a few weeks ago with a friend to extend his visa. They asked for the tambien baan book for his girlfriends condo where he was staying....in Bangkok! No have. Big problem. Luckily, I was there and they took down my information for proof of where he was staying. A copy of my DL. Ridiculous.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fosseway Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Yes, I would have nothing to complain if he wanted my actual rental contract (which I actually did bring with me when I went back). I was just upset because he sent me on this useless exercise. I thought you stayed in a hotel, why did you bring your rental contract back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langsuan Man Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 the funny thing is, every time I needed a residence certificate, they never asked for the rental contract !! LOL. No LOL needed, the difference is that you pay for a Residence Certificate, so the requirements are "less strict" Money talks, BS walks in this country, something some people have a hard time understanding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wump Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 Yes, I would have nothing to complain if he wanted my actual rental contract (which I actually did bring with me when I went back). I was just upset because he sent me on this useless exercise. I thought you stayed in a hotel, why did you bring your rental contract back? You can stay in hotels and pay by the month... this way you get an actual rental contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quandow Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 I have been dealing a lot with Jomtien immigration after having just moved back from Mexico. I've needed my visa replaced due to a stolen passport, letters of residency, etc. I have found them MOST accommodating for any and all requests. If they ask you for the hotel's business card, it's not because they want to screw with you, these are rules handed down to them and they are required to comply. Just get the card and count your blessings they've simplified SO many things. When I originally got here in 2006, it was a NIGHTMARE. MUCH better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 (edited) You got there too early! Better a little later when this guy has lost interest and the helpful students/ trainees are handling things. He aims to mess 10 people about each day and then sit and snigger for the rest of the day. The business card does prove you are dealing with an official hotel and give all the details, along with some paperwork. Edited April 30, 2016 by jacko45k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guderian Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Jomtien Immigration may not be perfect but they're as good as you're going to get in Thailand so you should just put up with their occasional quirks. It certainly beats Chiang Mai Immigration where somebody said they had to start queuing for a retirement extension at 3:00 AM as they only hand out 30 numbers a day for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little mary sunshine Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Five years dealing with Jomtien Immigration, Always helpful and so efficient especially the Last year or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wump Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 I was just trying to warn people to bring the business card next time so they don't make a useless trip like me. Other than that, I just pointed out that there is no logic in the requirement whatsoever. What post #11 said might be true as the girl who was checking my copies and handing me the the queue number didn't ask for the business card, only the guy did when I handed back the visa form. I have no other complaints about Jomtien immigration, in fact getting through the queue is a breeze now compared to 2 years ago or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 (edited) they seem to be focusing on this. Went a few weeks ago with a friend to extend his visa. They asked for the tambien baan book for his girlfriends condo where he was staying....in Bangkok! No have. Big problem. Luckily, I was there and they took down my information for proof of where he was staying. A copy of my DL. Ridiculous.... You can't extend a visa. If he was staying in Bangkok, for an extension of stay (not an extension of a visa), at least the annual ones, he would need to do the extension in Bangkok, not Jomtien. Allowing you to supply an address to use was quite accommodating. Why is it ridiculous for immigrations to want something substantive to prove where a foreigner is residing. It can't be a total surprise since there have been so many threads on TV dealing with the issue of proof of address. I have to agree with several others above who feel Jomtien is easy to deal with. Some of the officers must have the patience of saints for dealing with all the know-it-all and arrogant farang day after day and not reacting to it. I would guess that the few farang who do have problems probably advertise their attitude and get it returned in equal measure. Edited April 30, 2016 by Suradit69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmcc6 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Chiangmai immigration is a nightmare. The staff are very nice and helpful however they do not have enough people to handle the load. Queuing at 4 am is common plus perhaps a half day gone before you get back passports or receipts. I pay a service a total of 3900 baht to do my one rear extension for retirement visa. I fill out all the doc's and she goes in at 4 am or whatever and gets the Que numbers for me and several others they apply for. I meet her at immigration at 10.30 for the photo and go home. How these agents get to do this is beyond me. But for an extra 2000 baht it is well worth it. Some agents charge around 8000 baht for the same service. Do they pay immigration a slice or what? Are we being used in some sort of scam? I am not complaining but very curious as to how the system works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flago007 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Went last week for 30 day extension on visa.gave them rental contract .with correct forms .photocopies .in and out in 15 minutes.so so easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 they seem to be focusing on this. Went a few weeks ago with a friend to extend his visa. They asked for the tambien baan book for his girlfriends condo where he was staying....in Bangkok! No have. Big problem. Luckily, I was there and they took down my information for proof of where he was staying. A copy of my DL. Ridiculous.... You can't extend a visa. If he was staying in Bangkok, for an extension of stay (not an extension of a visa), at least the annual ones, he would need to do the extension in Bangkok, not Jomtien. Allowing you to supply an address to use was quite accommodating. Why is it ridiculous for immigrations to want something substantive to prove where a foreigner is residing. It can't be a total surprise since there have been so many threads on TV dealing with the issue of proof of address. I have to agree with several others above who feel Jomtien is easy to deal with. Some of the officers must have the patience of saints for dealing with all the know-it-all and arrogant farang day after day and not reacting to it. I would guess that the few farang who do have problems probably advertise their attitude and get it returned in equal measure. It was the visa exemption on arrival. He was only here for 33 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fosseway Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Yes, I would have nothing to complain if he wanted my actual rental contract (which I actually did bring with me when I went back). I was just upset because he sent me on this useless exercise. I thought you stayed in a hotel, why did you bring your rental contract back? You can stay in hotels and pay by the month... this way you get an actual rental contract. I see, I was not aware that hotels issued rental contracts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyrobot Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 I always carry the business card from where I stay whether it be my condo or hotel when I travel around . If you in an accident and taken to hospital at least they can determine where you live. Not to carry one is not a good idea what if you loose your wallet? How can they return if they don't know where you live? Believe it or not not all Thais are dishonest and do return lost items. As for the immigration guy consider yourself lucky. As other posters have stated some immigration offices are much more demanding on paperwork. At least you know for next time, get over it and enjoy your stay here ,just think of it as an adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Only one thing to say about your post Mr OP. This is Thailand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgordo38 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 (edited) Jomtien Immigration may not be perfect but they're as good as you're going to get in Thailand so you should just put up with their occasional quirks. It certainly beats Chiang Mai Immigration where somebody said they had to start queuing for a retirement extension at 3:00 AM as they only hand out 30 numbers a day for that!u have an "agent" in Chiang Mai you just bypass all the waitees. Makes one laugh when immigration says the agents must wait in line to for queue numbers. I imagine the reason they only give out 30 numbers is the fact that they must reserve more time for the ever expanding agent network. Edited April 30, 2016 by elgordo38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMGImInPattaya Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Chiangmai immigration is a nightmare. The staff are very nice and helpful however they do not have enough people to handle the load. Queuing at 4 am is common plus perhaps a half day gone before you get back passports or receipts. I pay a service a total of 3900 baht to do my one rear extension for retirement visa. I fill out all the doc's and she goes in at 4 am or whatever and gets the Que numbers for me and several others they apply for. I meet her at immigration at 10.30 for the photo and go home. How these agents get to do this is beyond me. But for an extra 2000 baht it is well worth it. Some agents charge around 8000 baht for the same service. Do they pay immigration a slice or what? Are we being used in some sort of scam? I am not complaining but very curious as to how the system works. As the annual visa extension fee is only 1900 baht, and people are playing agents 3900-8000 baht for them, I think it's pretty easy to figure out how these agents do what they do ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgroper2 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 they seem to be focusing on this. Went a few weeks ago with a friend to extend his visa. They asked for the tambien baan book for his girlfriends condo where he was staying....in Bangkok! No have. Big problem. Luckily, I was there and they took down my information for proof of where he was staying. A copy of my DL. Ridiculous.... You can't extend a visa. If he was staying in Bangkok, for an extension of stay (not an extension of a visa), at least the annual ones, he would need to do the extension in Bangkok, not Jomtien. Allowing you to supply an address to use was quite accommodating. Why is it ridiculous for immigrations to want something substantive to prove where a foreigner is residing. It can't be a total surprise since there have been so many threads on TV dealing with the issue of proof of address. I have to agree with several others above who feel Jomtien is easy to deal with. Some of the officers must have the patience of saints for dealing with all the know-it-all and arrogant farang day after day and not reacting to it. I would guess that the few farang who do have problems probably advertise their attitude and get it returned in equal measure. You have a visa to stay here, you want to stay longer, ie. make longer your stay, which is to extend, therefore, you make longer, extend, you visa because you cant stay here without the visa, which you have made longer, extended, . Obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fosseway Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 they seem to be focusing on this. Went a few weeks ago with a friend to extend his visa. They asked for the tambien baan book for his girlfriends condo where he was staying....in Bangkok! No have. Big problem. Luckily, I was there and they took down my information for proof of where he was staying. A copy of my DL. Ridiculous.... You can't extend a visa. If he was staying in Bangkok, for an extension of stay (not an extension of a visa), at least the annual ones, he would need to do the extension in Bangkok, not Jomtien. Allowing you to supply an address to use was quite accommodating. Why is it ridiculous for immigrations to want something substantive to prove where a foreigner is residing. It can't be a total surprise since there have been so many threads on TV dealing with the issue of proof of address. I have to agree with several others above who feel Jomtien is easy to deal with. Some of the officers must have the patience of saints for dealing with all the know-it-all and arrogant farang day after day and not reacting to it. I would guess that the few farang who do have problems probably advertise their attitude and get it returned in equal measure. You have a visa to stay here, you want to stay longer, ie. make longer your stay, which is to extend, therefore, you make longer, extend, you visa because you cant stay here without the visa, which you have made longer, extended, . Obvious. Thank you for making this Crystal clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmcc6 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Chiangmai immigration is a nightmare. The staff are very nice and helpful however they do not have enough people to handle the load. Queuing at 4 am is common plus perhaps a half day gone before you get back passports or receipts. I pay a service a total of 3900 baht to do my one rear extension for retirement visa. I fill out all the doc's and she goes in at 4 am or whatever and gets the Que numbers for me and several others they apply for. I meet her at immigration at 10.30 for the photo and go home. How these agents get to do this is beyond me. But for an extra 2000 baht it is well worth it. Some agents charge around 8000 baht for the same service. Do they pay immigration a slice or what? Are we being used in some sort of scam? I am not complaining but very curious as to how the system works. As the annual visa extension fee is only 1900 baht, and people are playing agents 3900-8000 baht for them, I think it's pretty easy to figure out how these agents do what they do ? Of course the agent does it for the money. The question was do the agents pay immigration staff for getting in first or do they just stand in like like the rest of us and get a Que number. So again, do they pay immigration a slice? Do the agents pay to have an immigration officer for their use only? If the agent has a dozen clients it would take up just as much time if the dozen showed up in person. I often see people complain about agents seeming to get special treatment. Do they? I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemorechang Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 (edited) Chiangmai immigration is a nightmare. The staff are very nice and helpful however they do not have enough people to handle the load. Queuing at 4 am is common plus perhaps a half day gone before you get back passports or receipts. I pay a service a total of 3900 baht to do my one rear extension for retirement visa. I fill out all the doc's and she goes in at 4 am or whatever and gets the Que numbers for me and several others they apply for. I meet her at immigration at 10.30 for the photo and go home. How these agents get to do this is beyond me. But for an extra 2000 baht it is well worth it. Some agents charge around 8000 baht for the same service. Do they pay immigration a slice or what? Are we being used in some sort of scam? I am not complaining but very curious as to how the system works. As the annual visa extension fee is only 1900 baht, and people are playing agents 3900-8000 baht for them, I think it's pretty easy to figure out how these agents do what they do ? Of course the agent does it for the money. The question was do the agents pay immigration staff for getting in first or do they just stand in like like the rest of us and get a Que number. So again, do they pay immigration a slice? Do the agents pay to have an immigration officer for their use only? If the agent has a dozen clients it would take up just as much time if the dozen showed up in person. I often see people complain about agents seeming to get special treatment. Do they? I don't know. Seen agents walk in with wads of passports in the past, straight pass all us waiting Thai and one Foreign agent as well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Edited April 30, 2016 by onemorechang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiggo Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 You should always allow for 2 visits there anyway....then nothing can go wrong, I have just done my retirement visa and exit/re entry visa with no problems and helpful staff, even if I had to go back to the bank for a statement.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mki8 Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 As you are stating you stay in a hotel, you may think you know the address as (i assume) you write it in English, Just think how many times foreigners may get the address wrong or even wrong hotel, The hotel business card is the easiest solution f them to be sure address is accurate. It does not matter if you yourself are on the ball, others not so sharp cause such issues But I do agree about get the students, as they may be more likely to just look up the address ab confirm it's accurate. It's always better take too many documents than not enough, regardless what is required, that way the grumpy guy can throw some back at you and tell you not need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wump Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 No, you can just google the hotel name and it is right there on the results page in Thai script. This is the first time they ever wanted to see some "proof" for a TR visa extension. Had I known then of course I would have brought more stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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