New immigration centre and app for foreigners

[webfact]

New immigration centre and app for foreigners

 

 

HUA HIN: --  The Immigration Police Bureau on Tuesday introduced a one-stop-service centre in Hua Hin in which foreigners check the status of applications via a new app.

 

Pol commander Lt General Nutthorn Prawsunthorn said the app could be downloaded to smartphones, providing convenience and time saving and delivering transparency.

 

“When a foreigner applies for a service, he scans the app’s QR code, through which he can check whether it is his queue time. The applicant then can run errands while waiting for his application to be processed,” Nutthorn said.

 

 

“When the app said the queue was near, he then goes back to the centre to continue the process.”

 

The centre provides four kinds of services - visa extensions, re-entry permits, 90-day notifications and resident notifications. 

 

The app has an evaluation function so foreigners can send reviews on it to the bureau.

 

The centre is located at a centrally located shopping mall in Hua Hin.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30314703

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-05-09

[SneekyPete]

Wishful thinking I suppose, but I shall put it out there nonetheless:

If proper registration, verification and security measures were put in place, most (maybe all) of these services could be provided and conducted using today's technology, completely negating the need to physically go to the centres. Many of us are familiar and confident with online banking along with a slew of other financial transactions.

 

Maybe this is a first step toward that reality?

 

Ya... I know. TIT. What have I been smoking...?

**sigh**

[gk10002000]

11 hours ago, SneekyPete said:

Wishful thinking I suppose, but I shall put it out there nonetheless:

If proper registration, verification and security measures were put in place, most (maybe all) of these services could be provided and conducted using today's technology, completely negating the need to physically go to the centres. Many of us are familiar and confident with online banking along with a slew of other financial transactions.

 

Maybe this is a first step toward that reality?

 

Ya... I know. TIT. What have I been smoking...?

**sigh**

I wonder how many people apply for the services but are not really there in person?  Just wondering.  And wondering if the Thais will or do care if you are or are not there in person at some point for visual identification?

[Rhys]

....well good on them, but give them some time to corrupt it.

[maoro2013]

Well 90 day online reporting was meant to be in place a couple of years ago, but still does not work, at least for Buriram office, so I guess others as well. I don't think there is any real effort made to get this working. It is a pain to drive 65 kilometres every 90 days, in fact worse for me because I need to do my daughter's reporting as well which does not coincide with my dates. I was told I could do the report for my daughter without her being present.

[TerryLH]

" I was told I could do the report for my daughter without her being present."

 

Many people report by mail.

[Krataiboy]

Looks like utter chaos in the photo, with lots of people standing around with nowhere to sit. Still, most of them seem to be taking it with cheerful good grace.

 

I  thank my lucky stars I live in Petchaburi province, which boasts what must be the least busy and most civilised immigration office in the Kingdom.

[clifric]

It is not mentioned in the topic or comments but I assume this 'bureau' is an off-shoot of the official offices by the Palace.

In the Bangkok Post it mentions it is in BluePort and that doesn't open until mid-morning, so I will just drive over there from Pranburi to arrive at 0830 as usual

[mwbrown]

On 5/10/2017 at 2:48 PM, Krataiboy said:

Looks like utter chaos in the photo, with lots of people standing around with nowhere to sit. Still, most of them seem to be taking it with cheerful good grace.

 

I  thank my lucky stars I live in Petchaburi province, which boasts what must be the least busy and most civilised immigration office in the Kingdom.

 

This was right after all of the speeches finished, everybody who came for the grand opening event piled into the room to check things out.  There is no way that this will be business as usual.  In fact it should be less crowded than ever due to the smartphone queueing system.

[the guest]

On 2017-05-10 at 3:57 AM, maoro2013 said:

Well 90 day online reporting was meant to be in place a couple of years ago, but still does not work, at least for Buriram office, so I guess others as well. I don't think there is any real effort made to get this working. It is a pain to drive 65 kilometres every 90 days, in fact worse for me because I need to do my daughter's reporting as well which does not coincide with my dates. I was told I could do the report for my daughter without her being present.

 

Quote "It is a pain to drive 65 kilometres", you must be joking. If you can't drive 65 kilometers every 3 months, then there is something wrong with you.

[maoro2013]

14 hours ago, the guest said:

 

Quote "It is a pain to drive 65 kilometres", you must be joking. If you can't drive 65 kilometers every 3 months, then there is something wrong with you.

65 kilometres each way and as mentioned I need to do it twice within each three month period. Furthermore it is a very short visit to the immigration office. This is to report our address. Having a Yellow Book you really wonder at the need for this reporting at all, as the address is already officially registered.

[GroveHillWanderer]

On 2017-5-11 at 5:34 PM, mwbrown said:

 

This was right after all of the speeches finished, everybody who came for the grand opening event piled into the room to check things out.  There is no way that this will be business as usual.  In fact it should be less crowded than ever due to the smartphone queueing system.

True, that was right after the opening ceremony. I've been past it twice on subsequent days and not seen more than ten people inside. When I did my 90-day report last week there were only two people ahead of me in the 90-day queue and it took less than 10 minutes from walking in to walking out. 

[YetAnother]

we do the 90 day by mail and have done so for years; works just fine

[RocketDog]

On 05/10/2017 at 0:48 AM, Krataiboy said:

Looks like utter chaos in the photo, with lots of people standing around with nowhere to sit. Still, most of them seem to be taking it with cheerful good grace.

 

I  thank my lucky stars I live in Petchaburi province, which boasts what must be the least busy and most civilised immigration office in the Kingdom.

Yes. I too use the Phetchaburi office. They are pleasant, efficient, and fast. I am impressed. We'll see how my retirement extension application goes.