Extending 'permission to stay' at Kap Cheong

nomad97 said:
Lets put a few things in perspective. Before I retired in 2002 I was clocking some 48 long-haul International flights each year. I had been doing this for the previous 4 years too. Before then, maybe 10 to 12 long-haul flights each year for the previous 12 years or more. In short, I have had my full fill of International flights and, for one reason at least, I came to Thailand to find the easy, peaceful life away from the hussle and bussle of International airports and the jet-set scene. Now Immigration may have a few quirks and foilables when it comes to extending one's permission to stay but I can say in all honesty I have never once been turned away through lack of documentation or sent into Kap Cheown for additional photcopies. I have usually been in and out of Immigration within the hour for the past 11 years with virtually no trouble at all. All it takes to achieve an easy extension of stay is a little bit of reading on the internet, and this forum probably provides all the information you need, a little bit of preparation and a willingness to go the extra mile in the preparation of your documentation. I have never seen the need for International travel once a year, plus 3 or 4 border runs each year, plus all the assoicated expense, as necessary to legally stay in Thailand. Follow the simple guide lines that have already been published in this forum and you should find it relatively quick, easy and cheap to extend your stay without the need to ever leave Thailand. :D
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Thanks Nomad.. You nailed it.. Ditto for me as well.. I have never had a problem at KCI..
 
Voodoo said:
Totally agree Nomad.. For those that find the rules that offensive to them.. Leave.. But don't expect them to change what they're doing... Deal with the fact that we, as expats, are just not that important to them..
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It is not the rules that are offensive, it is the mis-application of them that is offensive.
 
CO-CO said:
It is not the rules that are offensive, it is the mis-application of them that is offensive.
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I don't agree - I don't think I have ever been the victim of a mis-application of the rules. The rules are there even if you have to do a bit of digging to find out exactly what those rules are. I am going to go out on a limb and say one reason things are difficult for the many is because of the small minority of people who f**k it up for the rest. They turn up in their less than smart clothes, tattoos a plenty on show, no paperwork prepared, no photocopies, no idea of what is required, a big attitude problem and still expect an extension of stay. All too often English is not their first language either. When the desk officer points out that the necessary documentation is not there they, or their wives/girlfriends, start a major argument that the Immigration staff don't know diddly squat. I been there and seen it happen all too often. One girl was arguing the toss with the IO for over 30 minutes that she didn't see why a village wedding didn't qualify her 'husband' for an extension of stay based on marriage. I am sure we have all sat there in the queue and thought the same, "What planet do these guys (and girls) come from?" I would never have the patience to be an Immigration Officer. I could never accept the amount of nonsense they have to deal with each and every day of the working week.
 
I do my Immi. stuff in Nonthaburi province. Not a big office. When I am there most people seem to be from Cambodia and Burma ans Laos.
Farang is in the minority.
I experience the proceedings as very civil. Have never seen silly arguments or silly behaviour in the office.
I do my 90days and my extension of stay in the same room, so I have experienced the place quite a few times.

Its not quick quick, but thats because there are relatively few IOs to serve the lot. A 90day can taje 5 minutes or it can take 1 hour, depends on the queue.
The 90day IO of the day also do other tasks, so it can take time.

Am not impressed with the IOs or the office or the service they offer, but have never seen any silliness or stupidity there.
Same same before when I did my Immi things in Bangkok. Not quick, but straight, no silliness.

I have all my papers and copies in order when I do my things.
After having done the extension of stay I do the 1 year multiple entry thing. Which requires a copy of my 2 minutes old extension of stay stamp.
When I have all my docs in order, the IO does the photocopying needed for multiple entry for me, free.
Not a big thing, but improves the throughput.

By and large, fairly comfortable with this.
 
melvin said:
I do my Immi. stuff in Nonthaburi province. Not a big office. When I am there most people seem to be from Cambodia and Burma ans Laos.
Farang is in the minority.
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Try Bangkok IMMI 1 ! Farang is the minority there as well. Indians and Africans outnumber Caucasian/Farangs 8 to 2 at least.

As NM said trying to prove a village wedding is admissible, is really laughable. In my case a KR 2 was hopeless as the flowery KR 3 was required as well. I had left it back in Aust.
So what chance would those wits have.?
 
Well it's here, "E" day for me. Off to KCI after a quick call in at the bank to get my letter. I have got every possible hiccup covered.....I think.
 
nomad97 said:
I don't agree - I don't think I have ever been the victim of a mis-application of the rules. The rules are there even if you have to do a bit of digging to find out exactly what those rules are. I am going to go out on a limb and say one reason things are difficult for the many is because of the small minority of people who f**k it up for the rest. They turn up in their less than smart clothes, tattoos a plenty on show, no paperwork prepared, no photocopies, no idea of what is required, a big attitude problem and still expect an extension of stay. All too often English is not their first language either. When the desk officer points out that the necessary documentation is not there they, or their wives/girlfriends, start a major argument that the Immigration staff don't know diddly squat. I been there and seen it happen all too often. One girl was arguing the toss with the IO for over 30 minutes that she didn't see why a village wedding didn't qualify her 'husband' for an extension of stay based on marriage. I am sure we have all sat there in the queue and thought the same, "What planet do these guys (and girls) come from?" I would never have the patience to be an Immigration Officer. I could never accept the amount of nonsense they have to deal with each and every day of the working week.
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Agree Nomad.. and I think that most of us have been in that Que..
 
CO-CO said:
It is not the rules that are offensive, it is the mis-application of them that is offensive.
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Hear , hear. Well written postulation.

Could you please offer an example of the mis-application of the rules by Immigration as an illustration ?

(Note: I'm not referring to any mis-application of criminal investigations.)
 
It was also the big day for me. In and out of Jomtiem in 25 minutes, pick up passport after 10am tomorrow. A little concerned when I was handed ticket No. 645, until I glanced at the overhead and saw that No. 644 was already being attended to.

The only differences from last year were:

1. Couldn't convince the first girl who checked and photocopied my papers that I should include my Embassy Statutory Declaration. "Not needed, you keep!" When I reached a serious SWMBO, she agreed that it needed to be there.

2. Was asked to sign 2 new forms. One to acknowledge the "new" penalties for overstays, the other that I agreed with the current visa regulations (I think). I decided to sign them.

Will do the Multiple Re-entry Visa tomorrow when I have the relevant Visa number to include on the form.

Then I am off to sunny Surin to see the Gorgeous Lek and cast a wary eye over the 10 new ducks!
 
AussieBill said:
2. Was asked to sign 2 new forms. One to acknowledge the "new" penalties for overstays, the other that I agreed with the current visa regulations (I think). I decided to sign them.
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Don't you find that fascinating? Being asked to sign a form that says you understand the law. We've only been required to do that in the last 3 or 4 years. Perhaps before that farangs were flouting the regulations by pronouncing "I didn't understand".

What a load of bollocks!
 
AussieBill said:
Then I am off to sunny Surin to see the Gorgeous Lek and cast a wary eye over the 10 new ducks!
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Don't forget to inform Immigration of where you are and make sure Lek informs them also. I think that the requirement to inform them of increase/decrease in waist measurement has not been brought into effect yet.
 
OK, I went, I got the "under consideration" stamp. Supposed to go back to get the full extension after they visit my house. The "UC" stamp lasts till 16 Dec.

The process was pretty easy, we got there around 1150 due to the fact that I had to get my bank letter from the bank. Good news about that was that Kasikorn Robinson have a new, young manager who knows all about the letter for immigration. On arrival we, the wife and I, were told that they would be closing for business from around 12 to 1 pm for lunch but the young lady at the front seemed to ignore this and proceeded to get me well on the way. First she gave me 3 forms, as Aussie Bill said earlier, had to fill out and sign them, they are acknowledgments that I am aware of the penalties for overstaying and the conditions of my extension. The 3rd form is all in Thai so I would recommend to bring your wife/partner with you to help with this form. The girl then asked me for my paperwork, this is where she was really surprised and also, I think, the secret to having no problems when applying. I had ALL the correct paperwork. She said to my wife that it is not often in her experience that people have all the paperwork. She then took us outside and around to the Suppression Unit, I had the jitters for a while as I thought I may have been being led to a cell.

On entering the unit we were warmly greeted by all the officers in the office and told to sit down and have a coffee on them. They were all friendly and seemed to be genuinely happy. I gave them a map to my home, made a coffee, could not find a donation jar anywhere and I really had a good look. The guy dealing with me gave me a slip of paper to keep in my passport and told me they would call before they visited and that was that.

We went back to the foyer area and the young lady was still there waiting to help us some more. She put all my documents together and told us that the Immi Officers would process us after 1 pm and we had to go across the road and get a complete set of the documents copied. By then after we had done that, it was about 1240 so we waited. Promptly at 1 pm an IO called us into the office and 30 minutes later I walked out with my new stamp.

There were not a lot of people coming and going and when I was there 2 more Farangs arrived. My advice from my experience and I hark back to Nomad's advice........MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL YOUR PAPERWORK and take our wife. They have 2 guys who do the processing who can appear a little gruff and loud but my wife was laughing at their antics the whole time we were there.

NO medical certificate was asked for. I had one though, 50 baht from Ruamphet Hospital

Hope this settles a few nerves. It may be a different story if the place is very busy, I was fortunate and went on a fairly quiet day.
 
Thanks Wombat for the post op report. Please clarify one point. You had all the correct paperwork but how many copies do they require? I usually take the original set plus 2 additional copies. One of the copies is handed to Immigration and the second set I keep for myself.
 
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