Refusal of extension of stay resulting from home visit.

[losername]

Following my application for extension of stay based on retirement, my application is currently "under consideration" for two weeks pending a home visit.  Two questions.  Firstly, what exactly are they looking for when Thai Immigration visit my humble abode?  Secondly, have there been any incidents recorded where the application was refused based on the home visit and what reasons were most often given?  Many thanks.

[ubonjoe]

The home visit is just to confirm that is where you live. As long as you are there when they do it there should not be any problem.

Never heard of anybody having their retirement extension application being denied after a house visit.

[losername]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

The home visit is just to confirm that is where you live. As long as you are there when they do it there should not be any problem.

Never heard of anybody having their retirement extension application being denied after a house visit.

That's all good to hear.  Thank you Ubonjoe.

[OJAS]

14 hours ago, losername said:

That's all good to hear.  Thank you Ubonjoe.

Which office are we talking about here? Retirement extensions should, in theory, be issued for the full 12 months on the spot - although, at worst, you might need to leave your passport at the office overnight for stamping purposes. That said, I do gather that there are 1 or 2 rogue offices who put retirement extension applications under consideration for 30 days as a matter of routine - Kap Choeng being 1 such office, I believe.

Edited March 20, 2017 by OJAS

[tutsiwarrior]

yeah...I was wonderin' about that meself as home inspections are only required for marriage extensions with the associated 30 day delay...are some offices now requiring the same for retirement extensions??? one of the advantages of the retirement extension is that the extension is issued on the spot when all documentation is in hand...

 

'and after a summary review the offenders were then taken to the place of execution and...'

 

not a bad idea...I'm gonna call Prayuth up tomorrow...

 

 

Edited March 20, 2017 by tutsiwarrior

[khwaibah]

7 hours ago, OJAS said:

Which office are we talking about here? Retirement extensions should, in theory, be issued for the full 12 months on the spot - although, at worst, you might need to leave your passport at the office overnight for stamping purposes. That said, I do gather that there are 1 or 2 rogue offices who put retirement extension applications under consideration for 30 days as a matter of routine - Kap Choeng being 1 such office, I believe.

 

That was stopped at Surin Immigration ever since Buriram Immigration was split off for its own, and that has been about 9 months now. It was not just two rogue officers but the complete office doing this. Surin Immigration was called Kap Choeng Immigration. There has been no report out of SI of this practice being reinstated. Saying that, TIT. 

 

[Colabamumbai]

I also was under the impression that home visits were for extensions based on marriage.

[LoZth]

I've been here six years, I'm on a retirement visa/extension, I'm not married.

 

I had a visit, my first, from three Immigration officers just over three months ago.

After they showed me their ID etc, they took photos of me outside then after I'd taken photos of them I asked them if they wanted to see my passport, they said no, not necessary they told me that they were only interested in seeing me at that address and that was where I lived as per their information at Sriracha Imm office.

 

There was no hassle, they were very polite and it was all done in a very cordial manner.

I've read some stories of problems some people have at different Imm offices round the country but I've never had any problems at all at the Sriracha office.

 

(there is a guy there that if it's busy with non Thai Asians will fast track farangs through. we all agree, he's a diamond geezer 555)

 

[Khun Paul]

There was a situation at Udon Thani where apparently due to Imm office understaffing ( so they said ) the retirement visa was held up for one month , pending clarification and stamping , you got a month stamp in your passport but would be unable to travel outside the kingdom eetc. This was speeded up by payment of a One (1) Thousand baht which speeded things up to immediately..

This was seen as a scam and unless you were intending to travel  in the next 30 days did nothing to enthuse foreigners using that particular office , noir was it good for relations between Foreigners and the IO's.

 

That thankfully has now been discontinued never hopefully to re-emerge, this was I think due in part to the major infractions at other offices in the vicinity where fraudulent visas had been granted for spurious reasons.  Mainly marriage if my memory serves me correctly.

Following extensive re-staffing and officer movement to other provinces the office has returned to being normal in its help[fullness and assistance.

[novo58]

My last extension of stay ( based on retirement) at Udon Thani office was placed under review for 30 days ( even thou I was applying 28 days EARLY) ....so in effect 60 days of under review as they took it from the date is was due not the date I applied for it. There was an opportunity to " speed it up ' for a consideration which I declined.

 

I am due to get my next extension in May . Will be interesting to see how things go this time .

[smotherb]

11 hours ago, OJAS said:

Which office are we talking about here? Retirement extensions should, in theory, be issued for the full 12 months on the spot - although, at worst, you might need to leave your passport at the office overnight for stamping purposes. That said, I do gather that there are 1 or 2 rogue offices who put retirement extension applications under consideration for 30 days as a matter of routine - Kap Choeng being 1 such office, I believe.

Interesting statement about putting retirement extensions under consideration for 30 days. Yesterday I did my eleventh retirement extension. I was told I should come in 45 days in advance in case any of my paperwork was incomplete. I was also told that since I was an American my US Embassy income letter was no good and that I needed to show B800k in a bank for the extension--in fact I was made to write, sign, and leave with immigration  a letter to that effect. When I asked to see the immigration rules on that I was told they were still being processed and that was the new rule.

[Thaidream]

What office are you speaking about?  I have never heard about home visits for retirement or elimination of the income declaration option.

[12DrinkMore]

1 hour ago, smotherb said:

I was also told that since I was an American my US Embassy income letter was no good and that I needed to show B800k

 

Looks like the old "self-certification trick" has been discovered.

 

Wonder how widespread this will be.

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, 12DrinkMore said:

 

Looks like the old "self-certification trick" has been discovered.

 

Wonder how widespread this will be.

That is unconfirmed and was only stated by one immigration officer.  I suggest you read @smotherb topic about it before you get excited about it.

[Thaidream]

I just read the topic- It was at Hat Yai and from the description of events- it appears the IO's were not correct on much of anything- informing that the Extension should be filed prior to 45 days when in actuality 45 days is the earliest it can be processed. As far as the statutory declaration- Chaengwattana has made no changes. However, when I go I always have backup documents to prove my declaration is correct. They have never asked for it and have only asked for proof of address which I easily provided. The extension always provided the same day of application.

If there was a major change- that office would know aboit it and it would be reported already as there are many applicants daily.

IMHO some of these Immigration Regions make up their own rules- Samui with its Medical; other offices with home visits and under consideration stamps of 30 days for retirement extensions and now Hat Yai. Hat Yai couldn't produce the written reg because it down't exist.

[mrfaroukh]

Never heard of home visit. They just want to know if you have enough money to take care of yourself for a year. On the other hand there are many who get their visa by paying some agent and they actually doesn't have a 800 000 Baht in the bank or 65000 Baht a month retirement and therefore they may want to know how this person live.

[Thaidream]

Some offices in the past have requested back up proof if they doubt the letter from the Embassy such as ATM slips/copies of bank statement or showing an ATM card. Very easy to provide but I personally have never been asked but I normally carry proof  with me.

It should be noted that the Statutory Declaration at the Embassy is done under penalty of ;aw which means if you lie - you could be prosecuted for a felony.

[kingstonkid]

I have been here 6 years and never had an issue with my retirement extension.  At most it has taken an hour to get it processed in PT.  No home visit and the letter that you sign for Canadian Embassy has t have proof of income which i also attach to my extension request.

[Fleafreethree]

I think a lot of this is just make-work bullshit by underemployed government officials in over-staffed offices. They don't care about you, they care about being seen to be efficient and on the case (much like the largely pointless road blocks organized by the police). Just smile and offer them a glass of water and some cake and everything will be peachy.

[OJAS]

6 hours ago, khwaibah said:

 

That was stopped at Surin Immigration ever since Buriram Immigration was split off for its own, and that has been about 9 months now. It was not just two rogue officers but the complete office doing this. Surin Immigration was called Kap Choeng Immigration. There has been no report out of SI of this practice being reinstated. Saying that, TIT. 

 

 

4 hours ago, Khun Paul said:

There was a situation at Udon Thani where apparently due to Imm office understaffing ( so they said ) the retirement visa was held up for one month , pending clarification and stamping , you got a month stamp in your passport but would be unable to travel outside the kingdom eetc. This was speeded up by payment of a One (1) Thousand baht which speeded things up to immediately..

This was seen as a scam and unless you were intending to travel  in the next 30 days did nothing to enthuse foreigners using that particular office , noir was it good for relations between Foreigners and the IO's.

 

That thankfully has now been discontinued never hopefully to re-emerge, this was I think due in part to the major infractions at other offices in the vicinity where fraudulent visas had been granted for spurious reasons.  Mainly marriage if my memory serves me correctly.

Following extensive re-staffing and officer movement to other provinces the office has returned to being normal in its help[fullness and assistance.

 

Yep, now that my memory has been jogged, Surin/Kap Choeng and Udon Thani were the 2 rogue offices I had in mind. But given that the "under consideration" practice now appears to have been discontinued at both for retirement extensions, we may well be talking about a third office which has now adopted this practice. However until/unless the OP reports back we shall, of course, never know.

[12DrinkMore]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is unconfirmed and was only stated by one immigration officer.  I suggest you read @smotherb topic about it before you get excited about it.

 

I am past the age of getting excited much anymore, Mr Joe. 

 

Keeps the stress and blood pressure down.

[smotherb]

5 hours ago, Thaidream said:

What office are you speaking about?  I have never heard about home visits for retirement or elimination of the income declaration option.

It was Hatyai

[smotherb]

4 hours ago, 12DrinkMore said:

 

Looks like the old "self-certification trick" has been discovered.

 

Wonder how widespread this will be.

There is no trick on my part, and I resent your implication.

[smotherb]

4 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is unconfirmed and was only stated by one immigration officer.  I suggest you read @smotherb topic about it before you get excited about it.

I decided not to complain too loudly since they said they would grant the extension this time.

 

However, I do know an immigration officer and will seek his advice as to what to do.

 

Do you have any advice about how to go about checking on this, Joe?

 

The IO who spoke English did say many foreigners had complained about Americans receiving preferential treatment with their income statements.

 

I have plenty of income, my problem is, I do not want to bring B800k into Thailand--to do so I would have to sell investments, pay transfer fees and no doubt lose on exchange rate differentiation.

 

I also do not want to have to go to the bank all the time to deposit money from my monthly income. Just another straw--it is definitely not getting better to be here.

[Acharn]

9 hours ago, smotherb said:

Interesting statement about putting retirement extensions under consideration for 30 days. Yesterday I did my eleventh retirement extension. I was told I should come in 45 days in advance in case any of my paperwork was incomplete. I was also told that since I was an American my US Embassy income letter was no good and that I needed to show B800k in a bank for the extension--in fact I was made to write, sign, and leave with immigration  a letter to that effect. When I asked to see the immigration rules on that I was told they were still being processed and that was the new rule.

Would have been helpful if you had mentioned which immigration office you are dealing with. 

[smotherb]

1 minute ago, Acharn said:

Would have been helpful if you had mentioned which immigration office you are dealing with. 

I gave a long version which  included it in my post about it on the Visa forum and I also answered it here again--see post 22

[Knocker33]

On 3/21/2017 at 9:45 AM, Khun Paul said:

There was a situation at Udon Thani where apparently due to Imm office understaffing ( so they said ) the retirement visa was held up for one month , pending clarification and stamping , you got a month stamp in your passport but would be unable to travel outside the kingdom eetc. This was speeded up by payment of a One (1) Thousand baht which speeded things up to immediately..

This was seen as a scam and unless you were intending to travel  in the next 30 days did nothing to enthuse foreigners using that particular office , noir was it good for relations between Foreigners and the IO's.

 

That thankfully has now been discontinued never hopefully to re-emerge, this was I think due in part to the major infractions at other offices in the vicinity where fraudulent visas had been granted for spurious reasons.  Mainly marriage if my memory serves me correctly.

Following extensive re-staffing and officer movement to other provinces the office has returned to being normal in its help[fullness and assistance.

There was a long thread on here last year about Chumphon office making you wait 30 days for your extension. Unfortunately this is still going on at this particular office and the fee  (of course with no receipt )is 3000 bht for immediate attention.

I know of 6 long term expats who have packed up and gone to Cambodia and Vietnam because of the treatment at this office.

I have never heard anyone with a good word to say about Chumphon office.

I moved from there last year because I had enough of them messing me around

[losername]

I gave a long version which  included it in my post about it on the Visa forum and I also answered it here again--see post 22

Would have been helpful if you had mentioned which immigration office you are dealing with. 

It was Hatyai

 
I am past the age of getting excited much anymore, Mr Joe. [emoji106]
 
Keeps the stress and blood pressure down.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[losername]

Reference the above. Sorry folks. I was browsing but did not (intend to) post anything. I guess no limit to my incompetence.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[mommysboy]

On 21/03/2017 at 1:30 PM, kingstonkid said:

I have been here 6 years and never had an issue with my retirement extension.  At most it has taken an hour to get it processed in PT.  No home visit and the letter that you sign for Canadian Embassy has t have proof of income which i also attach to my extension request.

 

Regional offices can differ in their requirements.

 

Home visits regarding retirement are a head-scratcther, since it is not a family based extension.