How long is an income statement valid?

[true blue]

the proplem with your posting is you cause a storm of controversy,with you some what over the top castigation of practices at immigration,and proved by your banning it did not help staff to be enamoured with the job at hand,and also as been commented on, It pushes people in to agents offices,with the scary stories about this paperwork or that paperwork,most people can comply quite easy,Not the ilk you meet obviously..

[Bill97]

What Nancy just does not get is the fact that confronting and degrading immigration is counter productive or She does not give she it.

[hml367]

What Nancy just does not get is the fact that confronting and degrading immigration is counter productive or She does not give she it.

yes and yes.

The bigger problem, in my opinion, is the reason the answer is yes to the second point.

[NancyL]

the proplem with your posting is you cause a storm of controversy,with you some what over the top castigation of practices at immigration,and proved by your banning it did not help staff to be enamoured with the job at hand,and also as been commented on, It pushes people in to agents offices,with the scary stories about this paperwork or that paperwork,most people can comply quite easy,Not the ilk you meet obviously..

TrueBlue, hml367, Bill97, Mamborobert and others -- what you don't get is that you're not going to be the ones to encounter difficulties at CM Immigration and you're not the ones they're targeting as easy prey to push toward the agents.

The "ilk I meet obviously" fall into two categories and it's nice to see you have so much goodwill and charity toward them. Not people like yourself who have been here long enough to have a few retirement extensions in their passports and know the difference between a TM7 and a TM47.

Ilk Number One. Newly arrived retirees. People perhaps lured here by the many media accounts of how Chiang Mai is such a great place for retirement. Some of this publicity is fueled by funds from various Thai gov't and business groups, like TAT, MFA, Province of CM, Min. of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce, etc. Too bad they can't get the Immigration Police on board. And it doesn't help when these folks research their upcoming retirement on ThaiVisa.com and read in the visa subforum about how easy it is to arrive with no visa or simply a tourist visa and "convert" it into a retirement visa in Thailand.

Can you really blame them for being confused? We see it here on our very own Chiang Mai forum where some long-time posters still don't get the terminology correct and persist referring to their annual trip to Imm. Prom. as "renewing their retirement visa" (which expired a long time ago) or talk about going to buy a "re-entry visa" before a trip.

But what are these newly arrived retirees finding these days? Absolutely no help from CM Immigration -- in fact they make every effort to confuse the new arrivals when they finally get to talk with an officer after waiting in a queue since 4 am. And when the new arrivals go to see a visa agent, they're quoted fees in excess of 15,000 baht -- when they could have applied for an O-A visa (good for two years if used properly) in their home countries for less than 8000 baht.

Ilk Number Two. The frail, infirm and those with memory problems. The second "Ilk" that I hear from are those who have been here for a time, but have "aged in place" and are finding it increasingly more difficult to deal with anything beyond the tasks of daily living. It really threw them for a loop when Imm. moved to Prom. last year (so far from home!) and they find it difficult to go to an unfamiliar place at an ungodly hour to take care of Imm. business. Yes, frankly, this group should save up their baht and go see the scoundrels next door to Imm. and I've been known to recommend this option to some. But it isn't right that they should have to pay an extra 3000 baht for a service that elderly, frail retirees in other provinces have provided by Imm. officers who respect the elderly and help them fill out the forms, according to accounts from expats in other provinces posted on the Visa subforum.

I don't think my "degrading" or "slagging" immigration has had anything to do the decline in services or the push toward sending customers toward agents. I've been at Imm. for about 45 minutes since early Dec, one visit to get a re-entry permit. I was polite, took care of my business and left. No "degrading" or "slagging" on my part when I applied for a re-entry permit. I doubt they read ThaiVisa and see posts like this which you would label as "degrading" or "slagging".

Yes, I agree that my posts and advice I've given some may have "pushed" some people into using agents and even the one next to Imm., but I hope that it's also encouraged some to get their retirement visas in order prior to retiring to Thailand and to submitting their 90-day reports via post or on-line.

[hml367]

The problem, NancyL, is your methods which you think will work here to correct things.

Saan,

In my opinion and experience, the best results are to ask Immigration beforehand what they will accept. Unless you are quite far away or have some other reason you cannot go to Immigration, you can call them. I would also suggest writing down the name of who you talk to, even though it ultimately depends on the person you are working with at Immigration.

Edited June 15, 2016 by hml367

[NancyL]

The problem, NancyL, is your methods which you think will work here to correct things.

Saan,

In my opinion and experience, the best results are to ask Immigration beforehand what they will accept. Unless you are quite far away or have some other reason you cannot go to Immigration, you can call them. I would also suggest writing down the name of who you talk to, even though it ultimately depends on the person you are working with at Immigration.

My goodness, hml367 do you actually interact with CM Immigration? Have you actually tried to ask them for information -- for assistance? This is where the people of my previous post "Ilk No. 1" become so frustrated. They CAN'T ask anyone knowledgeable at Immigration for assistance. They have to wait in a queue starting at 4am and then they're dealt with brusquely if they don't have all their documents together correctly. If they go to the office during business hours, they have to talk with college interns and if the interns don't know the answer, they go into the office, ask an imm. officer and then come back and relay the answer to the retiree. I'm sure it will carry much weight to get the name of the intern who tells someone how long an Income Statement is valid.

And what is it about "my methods" which you find objectionable -- telling people that they'd better get their visa in order before they start their retirement in Chiang Mai, advocating on-line and mail-in reporting for 90-day reports or questioning why it is that the service levels in Chiang Mai are so out-of-line with those of other provinces? And note -- I'm way beyond posing this question directly to CM Immigration.

[JLCrab]

So what is the nearest 'friendly' IMM office to Chiang Mai? Maybe people should start renting small studio apartments there and obtaining all the proper documents to do their various extensions at that office even though they maintain their principal living residence in CNX.

[mesquite]

So what is the nearest 'friendly' IMM office to Chiang Mai? Maybe people should start renting small studio apartments there and obtaining all the proper documents to do their various extensions at that office even though they maintain their principal living residence in CNX.

I have considered this, but a cost/benefit analysis shows that for me the best alternative is to use a visa service. It's just a matter of which one, so now I've decided to try a different one each year.

[NancyL]

So what is the nearest 'friendly' IMM office to Chiang Mai? Maybe people should start renting small studio apartments there and obtaining all the proper documents to do their various extensions at that office even though they maintain their principal living residence in CNX.

I have considered this, but a cost/benefit analysis shows that for me the best alternative is to use a visa service. It's just a matter of which one, so now I've decided to try a different one each year.

That should be interesting.

I know some people who have maintained ties in their home country and make it a point to return "home" at least every two years where they apply for a new O-A "retirement" visa and NEVER have to set foot in CM Immigration. Can do 90 day reports online or via post and purchase re-entry permit at the airport for the second year of "life" of their O-A visa.

[evenstevens]

And what is it about "my methods" which you find objectionable -- telling people that they'd better get their visa in order before they start their retirement in Chiang Mai, advocating on-line and mail-in reporting for 90-day reports or questioning why it is that the service levels in Chiang Mai are so out-of-line with those of other provinces? And note -- I'm way beyond posing this question directly to CM Immigration.

your methods were well documented on this forum , by yourself ,and J.M.O. were in vigilante mode (so to speak)

it would be very kind of you, to share your new pursuits of dealing with the immgr dept,as posted above

its a bonnie raitt/ jackson browne, good evening to all

[true blue]

find it near enough impossible to comprehend,that there is so many intellectual challenged,And infirmed expats in chiang mai,be very interesting to no were they are, and why there here,as there is very little or non safety nets here or less you had oddles of the folding stuff,and that then bears the question why here if your loaded.just come to die.