Ubon Ratchathani Immigration on the move

[JamesH]

Went to do my annual renewal at Sirindhon today and was informed that the Immigration Office is moving to Ubon on 1st July. Reason given was that there are to many Immigration Officers who do not have a car and find it difficult to get to Sirindhon. They do not know the address of the new office yet but they say it is inside Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University. I have attached is a pic of a poster that they have displayed everywhere in the office. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of Thai than I can explain more.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

There was a earlier post that said sometme in June. At  least they have a date now.

From what I understand both offices will be open after the new one is opened.

[carlyai]

It's as jamesH and ubonjoe says.

Think it also says that you will still be able to do the 90 day report at the old place.

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[elwood]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There was a earlier post that said sometme in June. At  least they have a date now.

From what I understand both offices will be open after the new one is opened.

That's what I thought Joe.

 

I read it as the 90 days report and house reporting will move  to Rajabhat University - in the area next to the conference room, opening 1st July.

 

 

[AliasJohn]

What about annual extension or visa renewal. Is that still at the Sirindhon office?

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[carlyai]

That's what I thought Joe.
 
I read it as the 90 days report and house reporting will move  to Rajabhat University - in the area next to the conference room, opening 1st July.
 
 

Yes Sorry, I think you are correct, I read it as the 90 day could be still done at the old place although transferring the office to the new place.


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[elwood]

14 minutes ago, carlyai said:

Yes Sorry, I think you are correct, I read it as the 90 day could be still done at the old place although transferring the office to the new place.


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Actually, I think it is even money on who is correct!

No worries - all will no doubt soon be revealed.

[ubonjoe]

My understanding is that the office here in the city will be a sub office of the office in Sirindhorn and both offices will be open.

To me the sign on the door is not very clear. The first line is ambiguous. Does it mean extensions will be done or does it mean the services mentioned in the 2nd line for those on extensions?

I am inclined to think the sub office will only be for 90 day reports and TM30 reports of a foreigner staying at a residence.

[jayceenik]

Thanks to the OP for posting this info about Sirindhorn.

And thanks too to the other BM who had posted earlier about the move in another thread.

TGF and I moved to Ubon from Pattaya a while back and I did my first Ubon TM47 and she her TM30 at Sirindhorn on April 25.

Better to do it in Ubon in the future.

[Sydebolle]

What a story. The officers have problems to get to work, some 100 kilometres away from the provincial capital? Nobody ever thought about their "customers" living on the other side of Ubol Ratchathani? 

Same disaster in Korat (Nakorn Ratchasima); try to get there by using public transport = Mission Impossible in the making again ! 

 

[ubonrthai]

Khun Pran at immigration says you will be able to do visa extensions at the new office.

[FrankyFreedom]

Hi All,

 

I rode into Thailand on my mountain bike from Paske, Laos, and am currently staying on the periphery of Ubon city.  I made the assumption (you know what they say about assumptions) that the immigration office (to do an extension on the one-month visa-on-arrival) would be somewhere within the main city area, but it now appears that it is currently all the way out in Sindihorn, which would be a real pain the rear-end for me to get out there on the bike to do the extension. If the extension can be processed within one day that would AT LEAST be better, so feel free to let me know about this. I have 17 days left on my one-month visa-on-arrival, but now I am growing concerned about this immigration office location issue, and need to decide whether it might just be better to return to Laos at the end of the first month, as it seems (from the informaiton provided on this thread) that the new immigration office won't be operational until July 1st, 2017 and my current one-month expires on June 11th, 2017.

 

If anyone can confirm for me that the new office will NOT be  operational before June 11th that would be very helpful in enabling me to decide whether or not to bail out after only one month, instead of doing the extension. I have read that a one month extension is 1,900 baht (which is ~ $55 USD) and so instead of spending that money it might be best (based also on the immigration office issue) to simply return to Thailand and come in again in a few months.

 

Any feedback/advice is much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, FrankyFreedom said:

Hi All,

 

I rode into Thailand on my mountain bike from Paske, Laos, and am currently staying on the periphery of Ubon city.  I made the assumption (you know what they say about assumptions) that the immigration office (to do an extension on the one-month visa-on-arrival) would be somewhere within the main city area, but it now appears that it is currently all the way out in Sindihorn, which would be a real pain the rear-end for me to get out there on the bike to do the extension. If the extension can be processed within one day that would AT LEAST be better, so feel free to let me know about this. I have 17 days left on my one-month visa-on-arrival, but now I am growing concerned about this immigration office location issue, and need to decide whether it might just be better to return to Laos at the end of the first month, as it seems (from the informaiton provided on this thread) that the new immigration office won't be operational until July 1st, 2017 and my current one-month expires on June 11th, 2017.

 

If anyone can confirm for me that the new office will NOT be  operational before June 11th that would be very helpful in enabling me to decide whether or not to bail out after only one month, instead of doing the extension. I have read that a one month extension is 1,900 baht (which is ~ $55 USD) and so instead of spending that money it might be best (based also on the immigration office issue) to simply return to Thailand and come in again in a few months.

 

Any feedback/advice is much appreciated.

 

Thanks

You probably rode by the immigration office in Sirindhorn on your way from the crossing in Chong Mek

The new office certainly will not be open before July 1st.

You might want to base your decision on getting another 30 day visa exempt entry (it is not a visa on arrival) on the fact that you can only do 2 of them at a land border crossing per calendar year.

The extension is done while you wait. It will probably take less than hour to get it.

There are buses and vans that you can take to Sirindhorn from the main bus station in Ubon.

For location see: Address and Google Map location of immigration offices 

[FrankyFreedom]

Hi UbonJoe,

 

Sorry. Just saw your response. I thought that the forum would email me when there were any responses, so please let me know if there is a way to set that up in settings. Thanks for your valuable, detailed (yet perfectly concise) response, as well as pre-emptively considering additional issues which I may have had. Yes, I did indeed pass the current immigration office on the way into Ubon from the border. It did strike me as interesting at the time as to how large the building was, and I assumed that there was ALSO an office in Ubon, based on the general "out of the way" location. As a person who gets around SOLELY on the bicycle I can TOTALLY understand why they are moving the office back to the main city. Unfortunately, for me this is a bit of a problem as I will am not big on taking public transport and will likely to sit this visa extension (at the Sindihorn office) out. However, this may actually ultimately work out postively in the end, as I am now thinking that it would be good to simply ride he bike up to Mukdahan (~ 200 km - which I can do in a 2-3 day run - with one overnight rest stop in between). I was originally planning on going back into Pakse and then making my way up to Savannaket after this first visa-exempt entry. Yes, I AM aware of the 2-entry limit, as the Thai immigration officer at the border was commendably professional  in accurately explaining the current visa status AND clearly indicating on the entry stamp that it is the "first of two". I also asked him if I could exter more than once if I went to Savannaket and applied for the proper 2-month tourist visa, which he affirmed to be correct. I DON'T want to cut things so close and enter a SECOND time on the visa-exempt stamp, and have also been thinking about riding up to Mukdahan, entering Laos, crossing over into Vietnam for three months (Vietnam tourist visa) then back through Laos for a month, and then re-enter Thailand with the proper 2-month tourist visa from the consulate in Savannaket. So, the bottom line is that it it most likely that I will shoot up to Mukdahan to extend the current stamp for another month AND explore that town before crossing back into Laos. The nice thing is that Mukdahan is DIRECTLY on the border with Laos, and that saves me the GRUELING 100 km trip from the border (as is the case with the Pakse-Ubon circuit). I can always come back down (with the benefit of knowing the nature of the route in advance) from Mukdahan back to Ubon in the future, knowing that the new immigration office will be operational by then. Sorry for being so wordy in this response, but my hope is that this detail will help people into the future who may have similar questions on this issue.

 

Finally, as for extending my current "visa exempt stamp" in Mukdahan, do you think I will have any problems with that? And do you think/know if getting the extension will be similar (same-day and 1,900 baht) as it would be for extending the visa in Ubon? Thanks in advance for any additional feedback. For now, it looks like I will be doing the run up to Mukdahan and trying to extend the visa there, with the alternative contingency plan of exiting into Savannaket if there are any problems.

 

FF

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, FrankyFreedom said:

Finally, as for extending my current "visa exempt stamp" in Mukdahan, do you think I will have any problems with that? And do you think/know if getting the extension will be similar (same-day and 1,900 baht) as it would be for extending the visa in Ubon? Thanks in advance for any additional feedback. For now, it looks like I will be doing the run up to Mukdahan and trying to extend the visa there, with the alternative contingency plan of exiting into Savannaket if there are any problems.

It will be the same at the Immigration office in Mukdahan. The office is located close to the entrance for the Friendship Bridge to Savannakhet. 

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[FrankyFreedom]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It will be the same at the Immigration office in Mukdahan. The office is located close to the entrance for the Friendship Bridge to Savannakhet. 

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Thanks UbonJoe. That is all the information I need EXCEPT for confirmation on the price of the extension of the "visa exempt stamp". I have read that it is 1,900 baht. Can you confirm that this is true. Thanks in advance, and I won't have any additional questions after this.

 

FF

[AliasJohn]

Hi Franky Freedom. Not sure of your current situation however I am going to immigration for 90 day report tomorrow (monday). If you like a lift to immigration and back let me know.
Regards John

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[ubonjoe]

13 hours ago, FrankyFreedom said:

I have read that it is 1,900 baht. Can you confirm that this is true.

Yes that is correct.

[FrankyFreedom]

@UbonJoe - Thanks for confirming the 1,900 extension cost.

 

@AliasJoe - Thanks for such a nice gesture. I have sent you a PM to discuss this possibility further.

[ubonrthai]

The new sign at immigration says they open the Rajabhat office on July 3rd. Not July 1st as the original sign said.

 

[Isan Farang]

I am just checking if anyone here has used their TD book as opposed to the normal saving account book to show the 800k for the 1 year retirement extension at Sirindhorn.

 

 

 

[FrankyFreedom]

Hey folks. Last week UbonJohn was so nice to offer me a ride out to the current immigration office to extend my "visa exempt stamp". Unfortunately, at that time I was waiting for some funds to arrive and had no choice but to turn down that fine opportunity. As I explained in the above comments, my plan has been to ride my mountain bike up to Mukdahan. HOWEVER, I have been having some issues with insomnia (and other "goodies") which is making it a bit difficult to prepare mentally/physically for the 200 km ride north. The current stamp expires on June 11th - 5 days from now - and I am now making a call out to anyone who may be going out to the current immigration office. I certainly don't want to have any problems with immigration, but am in a bit of a conundrum. Now that I have a proper amount of $$$ I would be happy to buy lunch, AND you may very well enjoy a few our of company with a worldy "bum on a bike", who has a few "tales to tell", and hopefully vice versa. As I stated in my initial post, I DO NOT like public transportation.

 

If there is no response within 24 hours then I think it will be best to push off on the bike tomorrow (granted I actually get a proper amount of sleep - wishful thinking). I will check this thread for the next 24 hours to see if there is any response. Sorry to bother you all, but I am just trying to solve this rather complex issue. I sure will be glad - if I ever return to Ubon - to be able to simply extend the visa in the satellite branch in the city center. Just saying...

 

Thanks in advance, and thanks for the people who responded to my posts last week.

 

Over and out,

 

FF

[Isan Farang]

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 7:30 AM, ubonjoe said:

My understanding is that the office here in the city will be a sub office of the office in Sirindhorn and both offices will be open.

To me the sign on the door is not very clear. The first line is ambiguous. Does it mean extensions will be done or does it mean the services mentioned in the 2nd line for those on extensions?

I am inclined to think the sub office will only be for 90 day reports and TM30 reports of a foreigner staying at a residence.

I just returned from the Sirindhorn office today and the guy there told me the office in Ubon will be performing the exact same services, and the yearly extension can be done in Ubon, when they eventually open.

[AliasJohn]

Still the 3rd of July as of today the 7th. Did my annual marriage visa today and the good news is my next trip will be in Ubon at Ratchbaht University. Funny place for a immigration office but I guess they have their reasons. Here is a map. Not the main entrance opposite SK but the next one closer to Chaiyangkhun Road almost opposite the Kodack Shop.

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[AliasJohn]

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[Isan Farang]

39 minutes ago, AliasJohn said:

Still the 3rd of July as of today the 7th. Did my annual marriage visa today and the good news is my next trip will be in Ubon at Ratchbaht University. Funny place for a immigration office but I guess they have their reasons. Here is a map. Not the main entrance opposite SK but the next one closer to Chaiyangkhun Road almost opposite the Kodack Shop.

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That location suits me fine as its around 10 min from my home

[FrankyFreedom]

... I ended up heading north on my metal horse on the 7th, through "Lao Khao" country (FUN!) and touched down in Amnat Chaoren yesterday. It turns out there there is indeed a nice immigration office here near the city hall (about 3 km north of the city center). I was in and out within 20 minutes with the extension. I am still PERPLEXED as to why Ubon would have their immigration office HALFWAY between the immigration post on the border, and the first main town ~ 1 km into the interior of the country (another oddity). Obviously, I am not the only one with this question, as they are moving the office (or a satellite) into the city proper. In all of my travels in Asia the ONLY country which had its immigration offices commonly a bit out of town was Malaysia, but that is because a higher percentage of people drive cars there, I don't see much logic in having immigration offices outside of the main administration areas of any city (ESPECIALLY) a provincial capital. Ultimately, it is good to see that SOMEONE has come to their senses and decided to make immigration services more accessible into the future.

[American Legion Post TH01]

Has anybody tried to find the new office.

It would be good if you somebody could provide a GPS address.

Several of our members live here in Ubon so asking for them.

[bergen]

1 hour ago, American Legion Post TH01 said:

Has anybody tried to find the new office.

It would be good if you somebody could provide a GPS address.

Several of our members live here in Ubon so asking for them.

After reading post 25 by AliasJohn, and if you are familiar with Ubon, you should be able to tell your members the location of the new office!

[American Legion Post TH01]

1 hour ago, bergen said:

After reading post 25 by AliasJohn, and if you are familiar with Ubon, you should be able to tell your members the location of the new office!

We already have that up on our Facebook page.

Just asking for a GPS so it can be easily found on google maps.

Also thought it might be good to bring it back to the first page since is getting close to the 3rd.