Immigration office

Visa questions, companies, work permits, employment, insurance, banking and finance, and legal issues.
lomuamart
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Post by lomuamart »

I think that fft100 may have hit the nail on the head when he mentions that the paper attached to his passport was to confirm that he was staying at his g'f's house and she filled the form in.
The closest I could get to the bottom of this a while ago is that there was a law years ago (and it's probably still in effect) that a hotel/guesthouse or landlord had to notify the police within 24 hours if an "alien" was staying at their premises.
Thus the fine for not reporting should actually be levied on the Thai landlord/owner or the hotel/guesthouse, not the foreigner, but HH are treating it differently to the rest of the country. I'm not sure what happens if the foreigner owns their own home.
Perhaps a call to Soi Suan Plu might help to clarify matters? I'm off on another jolly visa run to Penang tomorrow, so won't have the chance to do it myself. I'll be away for about a week.
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Post by fft100 »

Do the Police actually issue letters confirming residency ?

2 years ago when we first went down to the police station they directed us the imm. office (at the time in the same building).

Every time (ok, 3 times now - once a year) at imm. my girlfriend has to fill in the form saying when i arrived and the address etc etc

However, with a 5 year driving license, and no need for the letter again, then thats for me !

I have 1 year visas. first time, non imm 'B', and now a Non Imm 'O'. have to get a new one in hull in a few months time.

Question, if the house was in my name (land is already in girlfriends name and i am thinking of taking the house out of the company) and therefore i could be in the Tabian Bann as well, could i have done something different ?
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I wonder

Post by Chas »

Could it be that on a retirement visa you dont have to report and on other kinds of visas you do? ( This might be in the mind of the person enforcing the 24 hour thing in Hua Hin at any rate.)

Has anyone brought this up to the "chief of station" at the Singkon HH Immigration Office?

And just who are we dealing with here. . .the "smiler" in "90 day" or others at the desks outside in the main office?

As I say, when I went in, all she did ( the smiler) was stamp a new 90 day right under the old one on the back of the 90 day"receipt" stapled in the very back of my passport. (US)

Previous 90 day expired on June 1st.
I arrived in Bangkok on May 31st. I went in June 2rd ( Monday) new stamp is for Aug 30th. So I didnt have to fill out a new 90 day application.

Earlier in this thread, Nereus ( I think) mentioned that a 90 day neednt be done until I have been here for 90 days so in that light, perhaps she shouldnt have stamped it on my return?

What would have happened had I just appeared on schedule in August when I had actually been here 90 days?

I am still very concerned here and following this thread with great interest because I have another trip planned for late August, early Sept and the more I know the better prepared I will be. I have screwed up my visa once in the past and I really dont want to go there again.

Has anyone actually been fined here in HH by this office?

Do people in Bangkok on these visas (O,AO) have to do the 24 hour thing? I have only heard about it happening here. . .but then I don't have my ear to the ground in these matters and rely on HHAD for most of my info.
lomuamart
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Post by lomuamart »

I'm afraid I don't really have the time to look into things today, but here's a link that I've just come across:
http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en ... =alienstay

Now that seems fairly clear, in as much as someone like myself who stays here, but rents a property, is under no obligation to do the 24 hour thing - my Thai owner is. This is likewise for those staying in hotels, guesthouses etc.
It also appears to cover fft100's point, in as much as his g/f as head of household has to do the notification.
If you own your own home, then the onus is on you.
That's my reading of it. Anyone else got any other interpretations?
PS, I wonder where the internet notification is. If there is one, that would be a huge plus point!!
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Post by Wanderlust »

lomu,
Thanks for the link but it isn't completely clear in the way it has been written/translated. For example, it is clear that the owner of a house who rents it out to a foreign national has to report within 24 hours, but is that within 24 hours of them moving in? Signing the contract? Or arriving in the country? That last one is almost impossible if they haven't yet rented the house! And does this have to be repeated every time they leave the country and return to the same house, still under the same contract? How are the owners of houses, hotels etc meant to keep track of the movements of the foreign national? Lets say someone comes here on an extended holiday and stays at the Hilton in a room booked and paid for a month, but during that month they decide to take a week's trip to see Angkor Wat - do the Hilton have to report on their return? How would they know they had left the country?
What does seem clear is that the regulation is for businesses only, so it is possible that because fft100's residence has a company involvement that is why he has been 'nabbed', and why others like myself who live in a house with my wife that is in her name with no business involvement have not. Maybe the way to deal with this if anyone is asked at HH immigration is to say either that you are staying with a friend, or that you thought the owner of the hotel/house/whatever has already done it and besides it is not your responsibility to report? I'll bet this doesn't happen anywhere else in Thailand though.
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Post by lomuamart »

Good points, WL.
As usual, everything's as clear as mud.
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Post by usual suspect »

Back to the OP's request...about getting there.
Yes you do a U-turn under the bridge and come back on yourself,but you need to crawling near to the kerb if its your 1st time 'cos the sign for the
imm.office comes on you pretty fast,+ its a narrow soi to get into with a
car if you leave it late.
There were direction signs all the way up this road,but I may have been busy
yakking to my Mrs,but I'm sure alot have been taken away.
After the rail-crossing you need to take the 1st right turn onto a concrete
road,and follow (slowly) right to the end almost.
At the end O the road its to the left, best to ask when you get to this point.
Good luck for when you arrive.
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getting there

Post by Chas »

When they first moved, there was a sign every 100 feet to guide you out there and a fairly large one on Petchkasem. That seems to have gone now and I flew by when I went last week and had to go around again.

The smaller signs along the way have also disappeared and the crucial right hand turn off the soi out is now marked by a small ruined billboard and an easy to miss smaller directional sign. Not flooded when I went out, but still the worst road you will travel in this area.
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Post by Norseman »

This must be a new Thailand record; After spending just ten minutes at the Immigration Office in Soi 102 I could walk out of the office with my passport stamped and a new 1 year N/O retirement visa.
Any faster?
I intend to live forever - so far so good.
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dtaai-maai
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Post by dtaai-maai »

What time did you get there? Was there nobody else in there? Were you just lucky?

Or did you arrive in a Viking longboat wearing a horned helmet, waving a battle-axe and threatening general rape and pillage...?

(Mind you, I can think of one person who works there who'd probably enjoy that last bit - sure you all know who I mean! :D )
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sandman67
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Post by sandman67 »

went there last week....as usual got lost (this time thanks to the missing signs) :guns: :guns: :guns:

Also not much fun on a bike....what the hell have they been driving up that road? Tanks? Theres some real KILLER potholes down there now. :shock:

Still, relatively painless once inside......
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dtaai-maai
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Post by dtaai-maai »

sandman67 wrote:Still, relatively painless once inside......
Only if you remember to take a ticket - they are about as far from the entrance as you could possibly get them. Not the time for a 'senior moment'... :oops:
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Post by richard »

90 day stamp today in 30 seconds
RICHARD OF LOXLEY

It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
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sandman67
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Post by sandman67 »

they are about as far from the entrance as you could possibly get them
...bit like the office itself then :idea:

spot a pattern emerging? :thumb:
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Post by Norseman »

dtaai-maai wrote:What time did you get there? Was there nobody else in there? Were you just lucky?

Or did you arrive in a Viking longboat wearing a horned helmet, waving a battle-axe and threatening general rape and pillage...?

(Mind you, I can think of one person who works there who'd probably enjoy that last bit - sure you all know who I mean! :D )
Yup, I know who you mean, and that's the one who thought my writing was so slow that she did all the paperwork for me.
She's fast I'll tell you!!
(And she's even faster when you know her boyfriend).
I intend to live forever - so far so good.
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