Further to my recent article on re-newing my Thai Retirement Visa, I can provide more information about what the procedure is going to be from now on. On Monday I received a phone call at 7am from Thai Immigration informing me that I will be receiving a visit within the next four hours.
This was to verify that all the information that I provided was accurate. I was also informed that I had to have the “village” leader and his deputy present ,along with photo copies of their ID etc.They were to act as a “guarrantee” that I actually do live here. We had no idea who these people were so my wife had to go out and ask around.
Eventually she located them,though the leader was in Korat but she managed to speak to the number two who agreed to help. The Immigration Officer arrived at 10am and proved to be a pleasant, well-spoken gentleman. Initially, he insisted we needed the leader,but as the interview progressed he relented and agreed to one of the prominent shopkeepers.
He wanted to know who was living in the house and he went through my financial situation in great detail. When the village number two arrived I was asked to take a photo of him and the Officer after the paperwork had been completed. My wife and myself also had a photo taken with the officer.
He informed me that checks like this will be performed after one year, three years and five years after arriving in Thailand. As I’ve been here three years, my next check will be in two years. What happens after that or what happens to people who have already been in Thailand more than five years, I don’t know.
I was informed that I could obtain my new visa in three weeks. As I stated earlier, the whole process was conducted in a friendly manner and he left one and a half hours later. For those people who find themselves in a similar situation, I would advise them to find out who their local important people are in advance.
I must stress that this is not Immigration trying to make a few baht for themselves. During the early morning call from the “boss” I was asked to give the officer a small donation towards fuel costs but I was warned not to offer anything near a thousand as the officer is not allowed to accept it.
The only real problem during the meeting was my eighteen-month old granddaughter trying to grab the officer’s gun from its holster but he saw the funny side. I hope this article will help those people who get the “call” in the future.