I arrived at CW yesterday morning at 10.40 am with 40 people ahead of me in the queue for my Certificate of Residence for car license. I had brought with me utility bills and rental agreement together with the application form. I presented the application form at 11-40 am but was told I had to have certain pages of the passport copied. ( I thought all passport copies were on file from previous visits) The friendly lady said I could come and see her on resumption at 1pm with the copies so I would not have to queue again.

I queued at 12.40 pm outside the door with maybe 20 people ahead of me. By the time I passed through the door there were maybe 45 ahead of me. Why can't they introduce a rope barrier either side of the door to prevent people cutting in? To me it seems an obvious answer. The cost cannot be a consideration.

She did not ask to see utility bills or rental agreement. But...I thought I would get the certificate within a few minutes but was told it would be sent to my address within 3 weeks. I can see the reason for this.

She asked for 200 baht to cover postage costs which I agreed to considering I have seen reports varying from zero to 500 baht.

postage tamadar is 3 baht, did you get a receipt ? it would not be anything like 200 by EMS. I got one of these certs at samut prakan while doing an extension, no wait and no charge, however I was told they are only valid for 6 months. Looks like you were involved in corruption.

Edited July 16, 201610 yr by thai3

postage tamadar is 3 baht, did you get a receipt ? it would not be anything like 200 by EMS. I got one of these certs at samut prakan while doing an extension, no wait and no charge, however I was told they are only valid for 6 months. Looks like you were involved in corruption.

Not sure what the 3 baht is for you wrote about.

The 200 baht is a service charge for the certificate and sending it by EMS. It is not corruption. Been the same for many years at CW.

Certificates of residency normally are only valid for 30 days.

Not much point queuing up for the afternoon reopening anyway, vast majority of people have ticket numbers already and like the officer said to you, you could just go straight to her desk - common practice when they send you away to get stuff.

There's no reason I can see why a 3 week wait is necessary, guess it's due to busyness but I got one on the same day at another office, it's not a massive document and doesn't require a huge amount of processing.

Edited July 16, 201610 yr by rwdrwdrwd

200 baht for postage a normal letter cost 3 baht last time I sent one

200 baht for postage a normal letter cost 3 baht last time I sent one

They send it by EMS (about 40 baht) as was mentioned in the OP. I guess you could insist on them sending it by normal post if you wanted to.

3 weeks ago I went to Pathumthani immigration to get a Letter of residence for my driving license.

I was told that it was 500baht (no receipt), which I had no problem paying and received the letter 15 minutes later.

I now have a Thai driving license.

Edited July 16, 201610 yr by Rayk

"Why can't they introduce a rope barrier either side of the door to prevent people cutting in?"

Did you see these people cutting in, if so, why did you not approach them and demand they go to

the end of the queue?

200 baht for postage a normal letter cost 3 baht last time I sent one

They send it by EMS (about 40 baht) as was mentioned in the OP. I guess you could insist on them sending it by normal post if you wanted to.

So they overcharge by 160 baht. They can actually do it while you wait as they did for me, no money in that though

Many grumpy and meticulous farangs just invent many problems from 200 Baht fee.They can not be happy anywhere.Just moan about everything!!!

200 baht for postage a normal letter cost 3 baht last time I sent one

They send it by EMS (about 40 baht) as was mentioned in the OP. I guess you could insist on them sending it by normal post if you wanted to.

So they overcharge by 160 baht. They can actually do it while you wait as they did for me, no money in that though

Not sure when or where you go your certificate of residency but CW has not done them while you wait for several years.

As I wrote before it is a service charge for the certificate and EMS postage.

postage tamadar is 3 baht, did you get a receipt ? it would not be anything like 200 by EMS. I got one of these certs at samut prakan while doing an extension, no wait and no charge, however I was told they are only valid for 6 months. Looks like you were involved in corruption.

Not sure what the 3 baht is for you wrote about.

The 200 baht is a service charge for the certificate and sending it by EMS. It is not corruption. Been the same for many years at CW.

Certificates of residency normally are only valid for 30 days.

when i went to get my five year licence this year, i went to get another residence certificate.

They informed me that i should use my old one which was a year old. i informed them i no longer possessed it

They then issued me with a print out written in thai (this was not a certificate with my photo) and informed me i should always use this in the future ?

It was excepted for my licence renewal

Issued while i waited, a pleasant experience and no charge. ( i did pay 500 baht originally)

To be honest they have always been very helpful at Kapchoeng immigration

At Patong about 3 months back they did me a C of R on the spot , but told me it would cost 1,000 baht.

When I stated I wasnt happy about the price , they suggested I ride to Phuket Town , where , "It can be cheaper."

The Director of Phuket Immigration appeared in the Phuket Gazette about a year ago , and stated categorically that the is no fee for a Certificate of Residence.

"I can categorically say that there is no fee for this service", chief of the Phuket Immigration Office Col Sunchai Chokkajaykij told the Gazette.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phuket-Immigration-denies-allegations-foreigners-pay-services/37149

I had a one year separate car and m/bike licence which was in its last few days so I asked the hotel I was staying in for three days to give me a letter to say I was staying there,which they did.

I then went to the hospital and got a med certificate, which I took to immigration who cleared the paperwork which I then took to the licence department and a very helpful gent in there issued me with two licences, car and bike, paid 270 baht for both.

An altogether very pleasant experience,no problems and no hassle.

Listening to other posters here I guess I was lucky.

Maybe I should have applied for a Thai passport !!!

You never know luck might have prevailed as far as that.