Retirement visa extended at Soi Suan Pluu (Bangkok)

[rickfarang]

There have been some pretty scary stories about visas and in particular retirement visa extensions on the web recently. I thought I would post this to bring those who are nearing their extension date up to date. I visited Soi Suan Pluu in August to ask what I would need to extend, and here is what happed when I showed up with those documents:

 

I renewed my retired guy's visa in Bangkok yesterday (Oct 12th).

 

I prepared and presented the following documents:

 

1. The application form with photograph.

 

2. My passport, along with a photocopy of the relevant pages (see note 1).

 

3. A letter from my bank, including the bank's stamp stating that I have 800,000 baht in my bank account (see note 2), the bankbook for that account, and a photocopy of that bankbook.

 

4. A letter from my bank, including the bank's stamp describing deposits from outside of Thailand into another of my bank accounts, the bankbook for that account, and a photocopy of that bankbook (note3).

 

After paying the 1900 baht fee, I received a 1 year extension to my retired guy's visa (marked "NON-RE" in this passport).

 

Of note are the facts that I live in Udon Thani, though this was not mentioned (nobody told me to go to Nong Khai), and that in spite of reports of people being asked to draw maps to their homes, and my having observed this activity when I visited Soi Suan Pluu in Bangkok in August, no mention of a map was made to me.

 

Note 1: Near the end of the process, the immigration officer sent me across the street to make a copy of one passport page that was needed and not included in the documents that I originally handed to her.

 

Note 2: There was a little discussion between the immigration officer and who was apparently her manager about my 800,000 deposit. This may have been because it was a fixed deposit account, or because the bankbook was not updated since the initial deposit 11 months ago. In any case, she did not mention this to me, and it was not a problem.

 

Note 3: I was not asked for copies of the passport for the account that had transfers from outside the country, but I thought it was a good idea, and these copies were accepted. Perhaps I should have held onto them until requested.

 

One other observation: Though I didn't have to go to Nong Khai, I began to wonder if it would have been better to do so. I arrived at Soi Suan Pluu at about 10:00 AM on a Friday morning. Including the lunch break, I sat there for over 4 hours before my number was called. A better approach would be to do as others have, and get there when the doors open.

 

Personally, I hope that next year, more people take care of their business at their local immigration offices, so I won't have to wait in line in Bangkok for so long!

 

A polite encounter, a simple process, no hoops to jump through.

 

[Flashermac]

Last time I renewed my visa at Soi Suan Plu, it took FOUR AND A HALF HOURS. I used to just zip through in no more than half an hour. I told a colleague and he said it took him five hours. A friend just did a visa there in four hours.

 

Is there some kind of slow down in effect at Soi Suan Plu? I couldn't believe it when every Immigration officer left for lunch at the same time. They didn't take lunch in shifts.

 

 

 

 

[dddave]

I accompanied a friend to Suan Plu several months ago while he renewed his retirement visa.

 

One of the secrets of simplifying the process is to GO FIRST to one of the copy shops across the street. These people know the system well and will check all your documents for errors and omissions, make the necessary copies and put them in the proper order: all this for about B100, a true bargain.