Miraculous Day at Chaeng Wattana

[DogNo1]

I received a new extension of stay at Chaeng Wattana today. Acting on advice that I have read on this forum, I arrived just at the end of the lunch hour and got my queue number at 13:04.  There were only eight people in front of me so I was sitting in front of the immigration officer by 13:40.  She worked quickly, filled in three forms for me to sign and made a copy of a passport page that I was missing without comment.  Soon I was at the second desk and after turning over my passport and papers for the second officer to check, I asked if I had time to get a cup of coffee.  "Sure," she said.  "Thirty minutes."  When I got back at 14:30, the passport was ready.  The whole process took me only an hour and a half.  Perhaps I was just lucky but the immigration officers did seem to be exerting themselves to provide speedy service.  I'm very grateful. What a pleasant change from my past experiences there!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Glad to hear it was a good, positive experience.

 

Did any of the Immigration folks at CW hit you up to fill out their much derided Personal Information Form? (The one that asks, among other things, about your social media accounts, where you hang out, etc etc).

 

In my last visit there some months back, it was just the standard, normal disclosure forms -- nothing snooping into my personal affairs.

 

[Fairynuff]

You may well have just struck lucky. There's usually a massive backlog of people from the morning session that take up the afternoon slots

[hawker9000]

I probably wouldn't have picked that time-of-day, but I too have had good experiences at CW.

[IMA_FARANG]

 

See my other post from yesterday 30 March .

The same day you were apparently there I was given a 60 day extension to my tourist visa based on a medical extension for a rehabilitation after surgery on my left arm to repair a broken bone in that arm caused by a fall.

I am now here until May 27th on a medical hold.

So such good things sometimes do happen at CW immigration.

 

My question is now will I be required to do a 90 day report as the 60 day extension for medical rehab will take me over 90 days in Thailand?

 

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by IMA_FARANG
Added a coment

[franck1972]

1h30 that's quite fair indeed.
Sometimes you get lucky if you don't go with the flow.
My fastest 30 days extension was on a wednesday, got it within 26 mn, yes, 26 mn between queue ticket and getting passport back.

[jrward42]

I do my 90 day at Imperial World Lad Prao. I have only seen two other Westerners there in the years I have gone, yet there is a dedicated desk. It used to take 10-12 minutes, but now it's about 15 thanks to the personal info form (most of which I leave blank). It is a weird place but really quick. Only have to do CW once a year thankfully.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, IMA_FARANG said:

 

See my other post from yesterday 30 March .

The same day you were apparently there I was given a 60 day extension to my tourist visa based on a medical extension for a rehabilitation after surgery on my left arm to repair a broken bone in that arm caused by a fall.

I am now here until May 27th on a medical hold.

So such good things sometimes do happen at CW immigration.

 

My question is now will I be required to do a 90 day report as the 60 day extension for medical rehab will take me over 90 days in Thailand?

 

 

Yes. Over 90 days in Thailand, for any reason,  you must do a report.

Edited April 1, 2017 by sometimewoodworker

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, IMA_FARANG said:

My question is now will I be required to do a 90 day report as the 60 day extension for medical rehab will take me over 90 days in Thailand?

You will not need to do a 90 day report. The 60 day extension application is considered as a report since it is your first one.

[DogNo1]

I wasn't asked to fill out any forms revealing personal information.  I'm not sure what was on the forms that the officer filled out for me but I did notice that one form acknowledged that I understood the penalties for overstay.  The first officer did check the details of my application very carefully.  My thanks to Joe for recommending Acrobat DC which is easier to work with than Acrobat IX Pro.  Copy and Paste didn't work on the new re-entry form though.  I'm not sure why.  Anyway I've now got the documents saved on the Document Cloud so it will be easy to access them next year.

 

Regarding the posters who do their ninety-day reports in person- Why would you do that when preparing the forms at home to mail in takes a maximum of thirty minutes and the only trip you need to make is to your local post office?

 

Incidentally, I learned that you can obtain a re-entry permit at an airport at any time.  This is good for me since my departing flights leave at such an early hour.  

[BritTim]

3 minutes ago, DogNo1 said:

Incidentally, I learned that you can obtain a re-entry permit at an airport at any time.  This is good for me since my departing flights leave at such an early hour.  

If leaving from Suvarnabhumi, be careful! While the service used to be 24-hour, the office moved and is now closed from 24:00-6:00.

It is still 24 hours at Don Muang.

[DogNo1]

Thanks, Tim.  My flight leaves at 6:05 from Suvarnabhumi and I now understand that I must get my re-entry permit before the day of my departure.  

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, DogNo1 said:

Thanks, Tim.  My flight leaves at 6:05 from Suvarnabhumi and I now understand that I must get my re-entry permit before the day of my departure.  

Yes. To get the re-entry permit at the airport, you need to be checked in for a flight leaving within some hours (at a guess, 24 hours). If you do online check in, and are at the airport at, say, 22:00 the day before, you could quickly and easily get the re-entry permit done then. If not convenient to return home, there are reasonably priced hotel options within reach of the airport.

[DogNo1]

I was told at Chaeng Wattana that you don't need to be checked in for a flight to get a re-entry permit. The immigration officer could be mistaken, of course.  Before I go back out to Chaeng Wattana, I'd like make sure that I need to make the trip there.  Joe, could you please tell us whether it is possible to get the re-entry permit without being checked in for a flight?

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, DogNo1 said:

I was told at Chaeng Wattana that you don't need to be checked in for a flight to get a re-entry permit. The immigration officer could be mistaken, of course.  Before I go back out to Chaeng Wattana, I'd like make sure that I need to make the trip there.  Joe, could you please tell us whether it is possible to get the re-entry permit without being checked in for a flight?

You can get a re-entry permit without being checked in for a flight, but not at the airport. Sure, if more convenient, do it at CW where no flight check in, or even booked flight, is necessary. I only noted the airport option and its conditions.

[buick]

OP - it sounds like this extension was a 12 month extension, is that right ? (you mention 90 day reports).  i'll be doing my first extension (retirement) next month and was wondering what the queue situation might be like.  i was told that you go to area L by the folks who did my conversion (exempt entry to non imm O) at area C.  it that where you went ?

 

i have had alot of experience at extending exempt entries and tourist visas (area J and K).  never a good idea to go after lunch (traffic can be a real problem in late afternoon around CW).  the absolute worst time to go.  but, this time of year is alot better than nov/dec/jan/feb.  i always try to arrive around 9am. to make sure i'm done by noon.  in slow months, i'm out the door by 10.  but during high season, i barely get it done before the lunch break.  one time, i handed it in before lunch but had to wait until after lunch to get it back. 

[DogNo1]

Yes, it was a twelve-month extension.  I'm not sure what the area is called but you will be directed there when you pick up your queue number.  I suggest that you have all of your paperwork done before you go, including signed copies of all of the pages in your passport.    You can download the new versions of the application forms from Thaivisa.  Just Google something like "retirement extension" and you should be able to find a download link.  Take two copies of your passport pages if you plan to apply for your re-entry permit on the same day.  As soon as you receive your passport with the extension stamped in it, get a re-entry queue number and duck downstairs to get a copy of of the page where the new extension is stamped.

In past years, I went to CW between 9:00 and 10:00 AM and had to wait until 2:00 or so until I got my passport back.  I noticed that a lot of people holding queue numbers didn't show up after lunch so on the 31st, I went in at 12:45 and was first in the queue line when the doors opened and then got my passport back at 2:30.  You shouldn't have any trouble with transportation if you get to the taxi queue by around 3:00.  I don't have the patience to get both the extension and the re-entry permit on the same day so I get my re-entry permit on a different day or at the airport.  I like to leave CW before 3:30 to get back into town at a decent time.  Good luck getting your extension.

[BobTH]

On 4/1/2017 at 6:21 PM, BritTim said:

If leaving from Suvarnabhumi, be careful! While the service used to be 24-hour, the office moved and is now closed from 24:00-6:00.

It is still 24 hours at Don Muang.

I am pretty sure it is now open 24 hours again for re-entry permits at Suvarnabhumi.

 

Edited April 3, 2017 by BobTH