It's that time of year again! This week I need to drag my wife down to our local immigration office and do my one-year visa extension based on marriage to a Thai.
You may remember last year we had one or two problems and there was a very long thread on it. This year, I hope we've learned from the mistakes and I'm busy getting all my ducks in a row.
I just need a little help with the actual application form. For some reason it always confuses me. Any advice would be welcome.
1) There is a section half-way down the first side which looks like this
arrived by (mode of transportation ______________________ from ___________________ port of arrival ______________ date ________________ month __________________ year ______________
In my case, the last actual non-B visa I got was a single entry from the Thai consulate in Birmingham. I used that visa to enter Thailand in April 2010 and was stamped in for three months. In July 2010 I applied for and eventually got a one-year extension on that visa. And that extension expires this week - so I'm hoping for another one year extension.
My question - is it still that single entry non-immigrant visa that I got in Birmingham about 15 months ago that I am extending once again? (Despite the fact that I have been in and out of the country several times in the last 15 months on a re-entry permit)
2) There is a space near the bottom of the form for the arrival / departure card TM6 number. The only number I can see on my departure card is 32613. Is that it? A five-digit number in the bottom right-hand corner of the card?
3) On the reverse side of the form there is the following section
Address in Thailand __________________________________________________ ____________
This application is written by __________________________________________________ ____
Address ____________________ road _____________________ Tambon __________________
Amphoe / Khet __________________ Changwat _________________________
My question - do you actually need to write the same address twice in the space of literally three inches?
Thanks for any help with the three questions guys.
Uhm, airplane from (where did your flight originate?) POA = Suvanabhumi? Look for stamp for date, month, year.Originally Posted by Bangkok Phil
Yes.
They want to know if a surrogate filled in the app. Cheers.
Frederick Douglass: Find out just what any people will quietly submit to
and you have found out the exact measure of injustice
and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these
will continue till they are resisted with either
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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn;
“Don’t believe them, don’t fear them, don’t ask
anything of them.”
Yes it is and it'll stay that way until you apply for new visa.
Don't forget the two letters on the arrival/ departure card.
The TM.7 form, which can be filled in with the computer, can be downloaded here. http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/tm7.doc
Note: When you use this downloaded form, don't forget to print it on one sheet. Many Immigration Offices won't accept it printed on two sheets.
Great stuff. I would have just put the numbers but I seem to remember getting slapped on the wrist one year for not including the letters.
Thanks Stamp. I always keep a nice pile at home.
Same as last year Phil, I go on the 25th. Let me know if there are any changes (TIT), I know I have the double copies of everything I needed last year. Cheers. Don,t forget the two intimate pictures and the two 6 x 4 id photo's for the application forms. Also the maps/sketches of how to get to your abode.
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If you can't say something nice about someone, shut the f*k up
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I've organised it like a military campaign this year LOL
I've got double copies of everything including all that stuff you mention above. There's a photo of my wife and I sitting on the bed, one of us sitting in the lounge, one of us outside the house in front of the address. I've even printed out a selection of photos showing us on several foreign holidays over the past years.
Famous last words I know but I can't see a single reason that the application would be rejected unless the officer really did get out of bed on the wrong side and comes out with something like "the photos need to be on one page" or something equally ridiculous. And as we know of course - that can always happen.
Bank letter and copies of last two pages of passbook (updated)?
I've always been told to base it on the last stamp into the country which for me was when I came back on a re-entry permit on the 3rd July.
"Always forgive your enemies -- Nothing annoys them so much !"
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Apologise for not being clear. I meant that by answering the question kind of visa, one has to answer the initial visa acquired.
At the rubric Arrived by....., you obviously have to answer the last entry into The Kingdom.
OK, just got back from immigration. To be honest, it was one of my more painless visa extensions (certainly nothing like last year) but there were a couple of minor hiccups that you need to know about and be aware of.
Firstly, for those who use the Samut Prakarn office, there were at least five officers on duty (as well as the big chief) and they've done away with the old system of one officer deals with visa extensions, another one deals with re-entry permits, etc, etc. Now, you take a queue ticket number and the first officer who's free deals with whatever you have come to apply for. The system works much, much better. Even though the office was relatively busy, we waited less than 15 minutes. So two thumbs up for the Samut Prakarn immigration office.
We handed over our documents - all neatly photocopied, all signed, all arranged in order. Even the immigration officer (incidentally the same guy who gave us a hard time last year as luck would have it) was moved to comment how well prepared we were.
However, as we all know - there is always something missing.
The officer asked my wife to update the marriage certificate because it is now 7 years old. He explained that many farang-Thai couples get divorced but they never cancel the marriage certificate and the husband continues to use it. So this was a case of my wife having to go into the 'town hall' and getting a peice of paper to say that the marriage certificate was still genuine and a signature on it from a town hall official. It sounds like a nightmare to get - but my wife was the only person in the office and it took literally five minutes and cost 40 baht. But it's important to point out that at Samut Prakarn, the immigration office and the town hall are literally next door to each other. I'm not sure some of you guys will have that sort of convenience wherever you do your visa extension.
After we had finished with the immigration officer, we sat down with the big chief for that 'final check' of the documents. The big chief at SP is a lovely lady and she speaks very decent English. She told us that all our documents were fine but she needed to see an ATM slip showing the bank account balance for today (the same day as the actual visa extension application) This was despite me having the bank letter (which I got yesterday) and all the relevent pages of the bank book neatly photocopied.
I looked at the big chief in horror and mockingly beat my head on the desk. At least this made her laugh. She told us it was a 'new rule' (aren't they all) and she apologised and gave us directions to the nearest ATM. I reminded the big chief that you can't order an ATM balance slip without actually withdrawing money, which would mean that the ATM slip and the letter from the bank would show different amount balances. The big chief said it didn't matter. "Just take out a hundred baht or something" she said.
So off we went to the nearest ATM and withdrew 100 baht. When I got back to the immigration office and gave the big chief the ATM receipt / balance slip, I jokingly pointed out that there had been a 10 baht service charge. At least she saw the funny side.
So as you can see from above - two new rules that I think very few people know about. I have certainly never been asked for either the marriage certificate update or an ATM slip before.
So here's a final checklist of all the documentation that got us through (including the two new things that were certainly not our fault) All documents were provided twice.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
TM 7 Application form (filled in with photograph attached)
Copy of bank book account number page.
Copy of bank book pages showing transactions from the last TWO months (to show that 400K has been maintained for that period)
Original bank letter showing the account holder's name, account number and current balance (immigration keep this original document)
Copy of the original bank letter mentioned above.
ATM slip showing the account balance on THAT VERY DAY. (note that the amount does NOT have to be the same as the bank letter because you'll need to withdraw 100 baht in order to get the slip)
Copy of wife's ID card
Copy of house registration
Map of house location
Original marriage certificate (officer will just look at this and give it back)
Copy of marriage certificate
An original document (issued by the town hall or 'sala klang') to state that your marriage certificate is still genuine (and this apparently you now need to do every year)
Copy of above document
Copy of passport photo page
Copy of arrival / departure card
Copies of all passport pages that relate directly to your visa extension
PHOTOGRAPHS (and the officer liked what we presented here)
1) A photo of you and your wife standing where the house address number is clearly visible.
2) A photo of you and your wife sitting on the sofa in the lounge
3) A photo of you and your wife sitting on the bed in your bedroom
4) A photo of you and your wife standing in front of the house or in a position where part of the house is visible
5) A photo of you and your wife standing next to your wardrobe with you pointing at the clothes (I kid you not - the officer thought that was great)
6) A photo of you and your wife standing next to HER wardrobe with you both pointing at HER clothes.
Interestingly, I had also printed out several photos of us on various foreign holidays over the past five or six years. The officer dismissed them with a single wave of his hand. That was me trying to be far too clever.
Anyway, hope some of that helps.
---Update---
To add a final amusing anecdote, when we returned from the ATM machine with the slip showing the current balance, the first officer who dealt with our paperwork asked my wife why we had come back. My wife told him that the big chief wanted to see an ATM slip dated today. He promptly laughed out loud and the gist of his reply was " the bank letter was dated yesterday. What more proof of finances do you need?"
Dare I say yet again another classic case of the left hand doesn't know what the right........oh never mind.
Last edited by Bangkok Phil; 19th July 2011 at 13:14.
I think we'd all want to see the pics, just for future reference you understand...
Yeah right. I'm waaaay too embarrassed to put those pics on here.
C'mon, a pic of you and the missus pointing at a wardrobe is just what we need to liven up a boring Tuesday.
Update Phil - went to get mine today, had everything on the list. Walked in at 8.35 and walked out stamped and a re-entry stamp at 9.35. You know Thai admins hate you being prepared so they did make me go and get a copy of the middle pages of my work permit. I only had the first page and my last renewal, but one hour turnaround was impressive.
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