Under consideration for retirement extension

[KhunG]

I will do my best to "color inside the lines" from now on..

Please don't.  Some of us appreciate when you stray.

[urleft]

I hope we can get ground truth for this issue and find out exactly what is happening. 

I have some hear-say, unconfirmed immigration talk based on guys trying to get their visas (yes extension is the right term). 


1.  It seems KCI is the starting point, this supposedly is a Nation Wide effort against scammers to include false income. 

2. There is a specialized team assembled checking the KCI area based out of Buriram. 

3.  The criteria is evolving, expect changes. 


However, as I have stated this is all hearsay so far and not confirmed.  Hopefully more Expats will report their immigration interactions so the issue can be bounded.  But I think (yes this is not a fact) that Thailand has a issue and is starting to deal with it at KCI, expect changes.  As I previously mentioned changes have already happened since the coup with a new form acknowledging penalties and an updated stay form.  More changes may be on the way. 

Hopefully people post their experiences without being flamed on this issue.   The first step in problem solving is to define the problem, and as yet we do not have that problem defined. 

I am getting some back-channel input as some do not want the hassle from posting and have provided input to me as I seem to be a ready target.

[Tod Daniels]

Okay, first off, know that I'm not throwing stones, I'm asking questions.

Why would a back water immigrations office (which KCI most definitely is) be the trial balloon for a nation wide effort against scammers? In Surin province foreigners are THIN on the ground (compared to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, heck even compared to Udon). In your neck 'o the woods the majority of illegals are Cambodians, NOT white people!! Even in Buriram you guys ain't exactly thick as ticks on a hound-dog's back.

I mean it just doesn't make sense. It's right up there with Richard Barrow (the crazy blogger) writing about 90 day reporting getting tougher because Samut Prakan requires certain things no where else does..

I'm still standing by my original premise that this is just a tactic to squeeze foreigners for tea money. There is NO official rule about this new policy, but KCI seems to be an entity unto itself..

I was just at Chaengwattana (easily the busiest immigrations office in the entire country by a wide margin) with two foreigners. One from Oz and one from the US. Now BOTH of them were using the letter provided by their embassies to meet the financial requirements to extend their stay another year based on being old.. NEITHER of them were questioned in the least by immigrations and the letters were taken at face value as "real".. Whether they were actually backed up with income from their country wasn't my concern, that's on those guys.. But both their yearly extensions sailed thru and were issued on the spot..

Again, I am NOT saying what urleft relates isn't true, but this "back channel" stuff is just conjecture.. Call 'em up, talk to 'em, see what they say. Christ I live in Bangkok so if I can do that, anyone who lives up there can too.. 

I am hoping on the 17th of this month with the "Thai Licensing Facilitation Act" comin' into effect that it can be used to bring all immigrations offices into line, accepting the same documentation and doing things the same way. Of course that's once I find someone to "push that rope" with them!! We'll see, but it's the most promising piece of legislation I've seen next to the recently published changes to the corruption laws here..

[Jackie-boy]

I spoke to a friend of mine that recently changed over from an extension based on retirement to a marriage extension.He was told by KCI that he would receive a house visit  and they phoned to set a date.
A small group of immigration officials arrived at his house at about 11am on the arranged day and after making themselves at home by putting their feet up on his sofa they then asked his wife for 2000 baht for diesel.They sort of half hinted to his wife that if the 2000 baht was not given freely then his visa application may have problems.
Why should my friend pay for the diesel for a visit he never asked for ?? , I think it is fairly obvious to most that the 2000 baht was to pay for a jolly-up and a free meal out for the Local immigration officers.I guess their new rules for retirement extension are just another way for the KCI officers to have free day out at the expense of some of the local ex-pats.
Tod's post is on the money IMO .

[buckwhelk]

Perhaps if enough people complained, then something can be done. Hotline is 1155 or you send a complaint / enquiry using this link http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=comment

[Jackie-boy]

Perhaps if enough people complained, then something can be done. Hotline is 1155 or you send a complaint / enquiry using this link http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=comment

I think you will find that most people wont complain because of the fear of any comebacks. As we all know, we are here as only guest's 

Has anyone else had a visit for KCI and been asked to pay for diesel

[urleft]

I have heard that is it very common for the marriage visa visit. 

[Voodoo]

Hi Jackie-Boy.. I had my visit 1 week ago about my retirement visa.. Had no such request for any money.. In fact they never went in the house.. Everything was done on the patio to the house.  They did not ask for nor receive any money from us.  My guys were in a KCI truck but they work out of Buriram.. Once of them lives close to us.. I had no problems at all except for trying to find our Pooyi Bahn.. They wanted him there and as many character references/witnesses as we could provide.. They came with a camera, a laptop, and a printer.. They did a whole lot of paperwork which all of us had to sign and went over my passport with a fine tooth comb.. They also checked the financial end of things as well.. I provided my bankbook from Bangkok Bank and statements from my account in the US.. They want to know where your money is coming from and where it's going to.. They also checked our marriage paperwork, for what reason I have no idea, since it's a retirement visa.. They showed us pictures of a number of people that they were looking for.. Most of them were middle eastern, eastern European, and east indian. These guys were very professional, straight forward, and to the point.. They gave us their personal phone numbers and we were asked to contact them if we spotted any of the people they showed us pictures of.. They're looking for phony passports and phony immigration stamps.. These guys were not your normal immigration or thai cops.. They were from their suppression unit and were dressed like our SWAT teams in the US.. The whole thing took about an hour and when they were done they politely left.. No mention of any tea or diesel money.. I guess we were lucky.. The A Team showed up at our house and they never asked for a single baht.  Again, I guess we were lucky.. We got to deal with the real pros.. The same was true when we filed the paperwork at Kapcheong.. The wife offered a bit of tea money but they firmly refused to take it.. Sorry your friend had to go through the crap he went through..

[Jackie-boy]

The A Team showed up at our house

I think my friend had the C Team turn up 

I can't see a problem with home visits as long as everything is aboveboard.I've never had a home visit but when I applied for my first marriage extension I did have to go for an interview at the local Police station with the in-laws and the local village-headman.
Also in all the years I have used KCI I've never had a problem and always found them helpful. 

[davureborn]

I spoke to a friend of mine that recently changed over from an extension based on retirement to a marriage extension.He was told by KCI that he would receive a house visit  and they phoned to set a date.
A small group of immigration officials arrived at his house at about 11am on the arranged day and after making themselves at home by putting their feet up on his sofa they then asked his wife for 2000 baht for diesel.They sort of half hinted to his wife that if the 2000 baht was not given freely then his visa application may have problems.
Why should my friend pay for the diesel for a visit he never asked for ?? , I think it is fairly obvious to most that the 2000 baht was to pay for a jolly-up and a free meal out for the Local immigration officers.I guess their new rules for retirement extension are just another way for the KCI officers to have free day out at the expense of some of the local ex-pats.
Tod's post is on the money IMO .

Nah. I paid money for diesel, fair enough, ฿400.-. Everybody got a good meal and I made sure that the village big lady, obertor and local shop owner were present to make sure no further funny business would be going on. I screwed up at Immigration when they asked me how much I paid my wife (as if she was a maid) every month, and I said 'nothing'. She just gets what she asks for, generally. I showed them the garden, talked about chickens as far as I was able, and they went away.

[urleft]

One thing that has been recommended is that you start to get a new extension as soon as you are able, I think that is 45 days beforehand. 

I have been putting it off to try to keep the 90 day reports to 3, but with on line reporting I don't really care if I have to it 5 times. 


And hopefully others like Voodoo will report their experiences as they occur as I expect to report mine in January. 

[dundeemk6]

You know what I find very weird it that I NEVER got hit for teamoney , NEVER happened in 13 years ... NEVER had any problem with my retirement extention , NEVER had the wive with me to do it ... my next extention will be before the 18th of march next year ... I must be the golden exception in LOS ... thank you Lord Boudha.

[dundeemk6]

and it all happened in KCI the last years ...

[lindsaywarden6]

I received my visit from three gentlemen from Kap Choeng Immigration yesterday at 5pm - they called to let us know one hour before and then later for directions to the house. We were in Buriram city (after golf) so had to drive back to the village near Krasang.  They were well set up with laptop, printer and camera (phone only). I believe that two were from the suppression unit. The main guy spoke good English and we chatted about golf and other things for an hour while the pooyai baan and his assistant were questioned and filled out paperwork. The main guy spoke about the farang who sit inside their homes and do not socialise - he wants to bring them out into local social circles and suggested we put up on the KCI board details of our golf group so that visitors have the opportunity to get out and meet people.  No suggestion of payment for their visit. First question was about a marriage certificate but I said we weren't married (retirement visa) though planned to do so next year (been together two years now). All business was done at a table under our house and nobody went inside. I tried to slip in a question about why they were doing this visit but the answer was extremely vague. My wife said the main guy had moved to KCI from Phuket. I explained my problem about being in Phuket when the temporary extension expired. He asked if I'd told the KCI man on my visit and I said yes then showed him my email with electronic ticketing for Nokair (he didn't look closely). Apparently they have to send the paperwork to Korat so I'm hoping it can all be settled in nine days.  Otherwise I'm without a valid visa for about four days before I get back here.  I've been reassured that they will take care of us but ... I'll believe it when it happens.  Apart from the issue of not being able to get to KCI three days before the temporary extension expires, I have been quite happy with the way we have been treated. I still don't understand why a house visit is required for a retirement extension. When we visited KCI in late June there was a comment made about having very little work to do so maybe someone has come up with a good idea to get out into the field and fill in some time!?  Or maybe as suggested above, they are looking for people who have dodgy papers.

[lindsaywarden6]

Just an addition to my comment above - I was not asked about my income. I provided an Embassy statutory declaration showing my monthly income from Australia and that has not been questioned (yet).