For extension - acceptable proof of residence

[Genericnic]

Hi all. 

 

I did a forum search and didn't find what I need to know. What documentation is currently required at Cm Immigration for proof of residence for extension of stay? Phone bill? 3BB bill? TM30 computer screen printout from the condo where I live? As we know, it can be like hitting a moving target so the more current your knowledge the better.

 

Thanks.

 

David

 

Edited November 19, 2016 by Genericnic

[mamborobert]

I went yesterday to extend my OA retirement.  Had with me the original lease agreement and my last receipt for rent, water, electricity, and internet.  NO TM30 that I am aware of.

 

In the end they asked for zero zilch zip nil nada nothing......

 

The only thing that I can think of is that they were happy that I had my full address on my statutory declaration (showing income and seal by embassy).  That was the only document provided besides passport photocopies and photographs.

 

Was not asked to fill in new foreigners personal particulars form either despite sign on desk saying this was required for new visa applications (perhpas becuase it is an extension???).  Have not filled in one of those before either.

 

As always, regrettably, your mileage may vary.

 

Edited November 19, 2016 by mamborobert

[lkn]

Are you talking about a 30 day extension?

 

I have done half a dozen of these, never have they asked for proof of address.

 

Most people doing 30 day extensions would be tourists, so it would be illogical to expect them to have utility bills.

 

[Genericnic]

29 minutes ago, lkn said:

Are you talking about a 30 day extension?

 

I have done half a dozen of these, never have they asked for proof of address.

 

Most people doing 30 day extensions would be tourists, so it would be illogical to expect them to have utility bills.

 

Ah, sorry. Retirement. thought I had put that in but missed it.

 

David

 

[Lizard2010]

3 hours ago, mamborobert said:

I went yesterday to extend my OA retirement.  Had with me the original lease agreement and my last receipt for rent, water, electricity, and internet.  NO TM30 that I am aware of.

 

In the end they asked for zero zilch zip nil nada nothing......

 

The only thing that I can think of is that they were happy that I had my full address on my statutory declaration (showing income and seal by embassy).  That was the only document provided besides passport photocopies and photographs.

 

Was not asked to fill in new foreigners personal particulars form either despite sign on desk saying this was required for new visa applications (perhpas becuase it is an extension???).  Have not filled in one of those before either.

 

As always, regrettably, your mileage may vary.

 

I heard that there was a few changes at immigration

Maybe they have been told not to ask for too much information

They may have  also listened to our concerns at the long stay seminar

Will be interesting to hear from more people as time goes on

With the busy season starting as last year many more people going for their visa Extensions

 

[NancyL]

Recently, I was told by Sargent "Nicky", the officer who usually processes retirement extensions at Promenada that they normally don't ask for proof of a TM30 for repeat retirement visa extensions, if you haven't moved.  Something like a lease agreement, utility bills, blue book, etc is good enough. They do want a TM30 for your first extension application.  The situation is different at the Imm  office near the Airport for Marriage Extension applications.  Those have to go to Bangkok for review and a TM30 is needed.

 

But, as they say, YMMV and Nicky doesn't handle 100% of the retirement extension applications at Promenada.

 

Incidentally, he reminds everyone you can apply up to 45 days before expiration of your extension and not "lose days" because your new extension is dated for 12 months after the expiration of your previous.  Don't wait until the last minute to apply.

 

Also, he said most days if you're in the queue by 8 am, you should receive a queue ticket for that day.  No need to arrive at zero-dark-stupid and yet another reason to start the process 45 days in advance.  This is exactly what I did with my application this year and low-and-behold I received a queue ticket and I didn't join the queue until 8:45 am, after the document checking process had started!  

[evenstevens]

perhaps only a few days ago  on the  Central Thailand Forum, you posted that a arrival  time of 3.AM was required  at  Promenada Immgr Dept etc etc

may E/S ask, 

has there been a overnite  major  change, (so to speak) at the Immgr Dept  , in securing a better service etc etc  ,as your above post suggests,

 

its a Midnight Oil , very good morning to all

[elektrified]

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

Recently, I was told by Sargent "Nicky", the officer who usually processes retirement extensions at Promenada that they normally don't ask for proof of a TM30 for repeat retirement visa extensions, if you haven't moved.  Something like a lease agreement, utility bills, blue book, etc is good enough. They do want a TM30 for your first extension application.  The situation is different at the Imm  office near the Airport for Marriage Extension applications.  Those have to go to Bangkok for review and a TM30 is needed.

 

But, as they say, YMMV and Nicky doesn't handle 100% of the retirement extension applications at Promenada.

 

Incidentally, he reminds everyone you can apply up to 45 days before expiration of your extension and not "lose days" because your new extension is dated for 12 months after the expiration of your previous.  Don't wait until the last minute to apply.

 

Also, he said most days if you're in the queue by 8 am, you should receive a queue ticket for that day.  No need to arrive at zero-dark-stupid and yet another reason to start the process 45 days in advance.  This is exactly what I did with my application this year and low-and-behold I received a queue ticket and I didn't join the queue until 8:45 am, after the document checking process had started!  

Been saying this for years. I never arrive before 8:45. Absolutely no need.

 

If there were more people like Khun Nicky in the government, it would be a very efficient system. The man deserves a raise. Get on his good side, (be polite, have all of your papers in order, neatly type-written, with proper photocopies), chat with him a little in Thai, drop off a gift around the holidays for him, bring the family by to say Hello........you will breeze through the system. He's a good guy.

Edited November 20, 2016 by elektrified

[NancyL]

6 hours ago, evenstevens said:

perhaps only a few days ago  on the  Central Thailand Forum, you posted that a arrival  time of 3.AM was required  at  Promenada Immgr Dept etc etc

may E/S ask, 

has there been a overnite  major  change, (so to speak) at the Immgr Dept  , in securing a better service etc etc  ,as your above post suggests,

 

its a Midnight Oil , very good morning to all

 

E/S, could you please include a link to the post?  I don't ever recall posting to the "Central Thailand Forum".

 

I have posted comments in the "Thai visas, residency and work permits" forum recommending that newcomer retirees obtain O-A visas in their home countries because of difficulties in executing visa conversions or applications in Chiang Mai province and I have noted that 3 am arrival for queueing is common.

 

You must not forget that I'm suggesting people arrive at 8:30 am only if they're starting 45 days before expiration of their PREVIOUS retirement extension, they haven't moved, they have all their documents in order, etc.  In other words -- they know what they're doing.  I'd never suggest 8:30 am arrival for a newbie or someone, even a veteran, who had waited until a week or so before expiration to apply.

 

And yes, there does seem to be somewhat of an "overnight" change in attitude at Immigration Promenada, brought on in some part by the "Long Stay Challenges" meeting last month at the Empress Hotel and the keen interest shown by H.E. the Minister of Tourism.  She returned to Chiang Mai a few days later and called a private meeting where she got the key Immigration players who hadn't been present during the Empress Hotel meeting to sit down with her and some selected folks from the Empress meeting and she put forth some of the questions raised at the Empress Hotel meeting.  How long the "changes" last and if they're consistent remains to be seen.

 

That's why customer feedback from this forum is important.  She'd like to know.

 

[evenstevens]

sorry unable to post link, as E/S is dumb, as they come, on the finer arts of working a computer

but if you go to your activity file, it was last weds ,threads name,was New  Uttaradit Immgr Dept Office Report,, its there just took a bow peep

its a a Kinks  early evening to all

[hml367]

Here you go, NancyL:

 

 

 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

12 hours ago, NancyL said:

Recently, I was told by Sargent "Nicky", the officer who usually processes retirement extensions at Promenada that they normally don't ask for proof of a TM30 for repeat retirement visa extensions, if you haven't moved.  Something like a lease agreement, utility bills, blue book, etc is good enough. They do want a TM30 for your first extension application.  The situation is different at the Imm  office near the Airport for Marriage Extension applications.  Those have to go to Bangkok for review and a TM30 is needed.

 

But, as they say, YMMV and Nicky doesn't handle 100% of the retirement extension applications at Promenada.

 

Incidentally, he reminds everyone you can apply up to 45 days before expiration of your extension and not "lose days" because your new extension is dated for 12 months after the expiration of your previous.  Don't wait until the last minute to apply.

 

Also, he said most days if you're in the queue by 8 am, you should receive a queue ticket for that day.  No need to arrive at zero-dark-stupid and yet another reason to start the process 45 days in advance.  This is exactly what I did with my application this year and low-and-behold I received a queue ticket and I didn't join the queue until 8:45 am, after the document checking process had started!  

Nancy, what number did you get?  Did you notice what time they ran out of numbers or put the no more extension sign up?  A friend says he did a 90 the other afternoon at 14:30 and was out in five minutes, but there was a pretty big crowd.  My annual is coming up...plotting my strategy.  Thanks!

[NancyL]

13 hours ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

Nancy, what number did you get?  Did you notice what time they ran out of numbers or put the no more extension sign up?  A friend says he did a 90 the other afternoon at 14:30 and was out in five minutes, but there was a pretty big crowd.  My annual is coming up...plotting my strategy.  Thanks!

I applied for my extension back in January, so it's not very relevant for today.  

 

But, when I talked with Sgt. Nicky a couple weeks ago he showed me his clipboard where he keeps his log sheets of daily activity.  They have a "quota" of 25 queue tickets, and most days they don't distribute that many.  They continued to distribute queue tickets into the morning, after the 8:30 line-up, if people arrived and asked and the tickets were still available.  He claimed that if more than 25 people arrived they "worked them in" and had the worksheets for a couple days that substantiated that, but two days after we talked, I learned that 30 people had been in the morning queue and 5 were told to come back the next day.  Oh well, so much for taking care of everyone who shows up at 8:30 am.  

 

As I said, YMMV.

 

I'd suggest going there 44 day before expiration of your visa extension at 8:30 am, like I did and see what happens.  Bring something to entertain yourself and be prepared to settle in for the day.

[NancyL]

15 hours ago, hml367 said:

Here you go, NancyL:

 

 

 

 

That's what I thought E/S was writing about.  It's not in the Central Thailand forum.  I stand by what I said.  Why is it that there is money available for new Imm. offices in place like Uttaradit to save their foreign residents the rigors of a six hour round trip to Nan while those of us in Chiang Mai regularly endure 12 hour "processing" times in Chiang Mai for visa extensions with the excuse that there is no money from Bangkok for more staff? 

 

Even with the "nice" improvements outlined by Sgt. Nicky, it's still at least a 3 - 4 hour process and more likely a 6 - 12 hour process to obtain a retirement extension in Chiang Mai.

 

It all could be streamlined if they simply had a functional on-line reservation queue system.

[hml367]

5 minutes ago, NancyL said:

5 minutes ago, NancyL said:

 

That's what I thought E/S was writing about.  It's not in the Central Thailand forum.  I stand by what I said.  Why is it that there is money available for new Imm. offices in place like Uttaradit to save their foreign residents the rigors of a six hour round trip to Nan while those of us in Chiang Mai regularly endure 12 hour "processing" times in Chiang Mai for visa extensions with the excuse that there is no money from Bangkok for more staff? 

 

Even with the "nice" improvements outlined by Sgt. Nicky, it's still at least a 3 - 4 hour process and more likely a 6 - 12 hour process to obtain a retirement extension in Chiang Mai.

 

It all could be streamlined if they simply had a functional on-line reservation queue system.

That's what I thought E/S was writing about.  It's not in the Central Thailand forum.  I stand by what I said.  Why is it that there is money available for new Imm. offices in place like Uttaradit to save their foreign residents the rigors of a six hour round trip to Nan while those of us in Chiang Mai regularly endure 12 hour "processing" times in Chiang Mai for visa extensions with the excuse that there is no money from Bangkok for more staff? 

 

Even with the "nice" improvements outlined by Sgt. Nicky, it's still at least a 3 - 4 hour process and more likely a 6 - 12 hour process to obtain a retirement extension in Chiang Mai.

 

It all could be streamlined if they simply had a functional on-line reservation queue system.

 

This is where that post is from:   Forum Home  Thailand Local Forums  Central Thailand Forum  New Uttaradit Immigration Office Report

 

That would be like saying this topic is not in the Chiang Mai Local Forum.

 

 

Forum Home

[NancyL]

When I replied to it, I found it in the  "Thai visas, residency and work permits"  forum.  I don't go trolling around forums for other parts of the country. The post obviously has been moved by the mods after I replied.

[hml367]

NancyL,

This is all just getting away from the question, which, I believe, if there had been a change requiring a different time to show up at Chiang Mai Immigration.

 

DELETED  I saw that post also as it was in the daily newsletter from ThaiVisa or recent posts.

 

The question still is what time should people show up at Chiang Mai Immigration.

[moe666]

5 hours ago, hml367 said:

NancyL,

This is all just getting away from the question, which, I believe, if there had been a change requiring a different time to show up at Chiang Mai Immigration.

 

  I saw that post also as it was in the daily newsletter from ThaiVisa or recent posts.

 

The question still is what time should people show up at Chiang Mai Immigration.

I think you show up at the time that works for you, early or late?

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Show up after 6, and you got a good chance of a wasted trtip....but previously, people arriving after 5 were gambling.  Maybe just a slight lull...are the neighboring offices functional?  Seems like that could factor in.

[EricTh]

On 11/20/2016 at 8:22 AM, NancyL said:

Recently, I was told by Sargent "Nicky", the officer who usually processes retirement extensions at Promenada that they normally don't ask for proof of a TM30 for repeat retirement visa extensions, if you haven't moved.  Something like a lease agreement, utility bills, blue book, etc is good e

 

Who is Nicky? There is only one guy officer at Promenada downstairs.

All the others are ladies.

 

Do we need TM30 for 90 days reporting? I just went out of Thailand and came back but he said I need to reregister for another TM30, is what he said true?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lizard2010]

14 hours ago, xng said:

 

Who is Nicky? There is only one guy officer at Promenada downstairs.

All the others are ladies.

 

Do we need TM30 for 90 days reporting? I just went out of Thailand and came back but he said I need to reregister for another TM30, is what he said true?

 

 

If you have kept up to date

At this stage you do not need to have A TM30

There posts about the Tm30  Please read

Read the Chiang Mai forum like most of us DO

 

 

 

 

 

[NancyL]

You're suppose to obtain a new TM30 when you return to Thailand from overseas.  But, if you file a 90 day report at Promenada, there's a very good chance they're not going to ask for evidence of one.  If you file a 90 day report at the old office near the airport, there's a good chance they'll take the time to look up to see if the TM30 in "the system" matches the the departure card number listed on your 90 day application form, which it won't since you need to file a new TM30 form to update the departure cards info on the TM30 in their system.

 

Also, you won't be able to file a 90 day report on-line for the same reason -- you now have a new departure card number that doesn't agree with the TM30 in their system.

 

At some point you really need to get a proper TM30 on file, but whether the lack of one keeps you from filing a 90 day report is a question of where you file.

[NancyL]

15 hours ago, xng said:

 

Who is Nicky? There is only one guy officer at Promenada downstairs.

All the others are ladies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are at least three male officers that I've seen working at Imm. Prom.  Sgt "Nicky" is the one who normally does retirement extensions.  He had done them at the old office near the airport previously.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Not having a tm30 never prevented me from doing an online 90 day report in the past.  I paid the fine and did it due to my extension coming up..retirement.  But now, it looks like I could have skipped it, but things change.  Maybe the close proximity of the investigations office made the marriage extension folks fair game...the signs were large and clear about that.

[Lizard2010]

On 21/11/2016 at 10:17 AM, hml367 said:

NancyL,

This is all just getting away from the question, which, I believe, if there had been a change requiring a different time to show up at Chiang Mai Immigration.

 

DELETED  I saw that post also as it was in the daily newsletter from ThaiVisa or recent posts.

 

The question still is what time should people show up at Chiang Mai Immigration.

After viewing the Forum Pinned posts over the last 2 years

Especially the last 12 months

With the Immigration Promenada One Stop Service 2016

Over the the next 5 months there will be a 50/50 chance that you will get a number on any given day

If only 25 or 30 numbers are given out

if you have read any of the posts that have been deleted and replaced with the new pinned post

You will will know that this is a quiet time For Visa Extensions

If you go early Am After midnight you will probably get a number

But if you go at 8 30 there is a 50/50 chance you will have to come back the next day

This has been my observation

IMHO