Lots of interesting information and thoughts ........... for which Thank You ........... but does no-one have an Agent they would recommend ?
Lots of interesting information and thoughts ........... for which Thank You ........... but does no-one have an Agent they would recommend ?
In the end it depends on your level of laziness. If you are a like myself, the sort of person who would make a Sloth look like it has ADHD, who avoids contact with any govt department as much as humanely possible and has the cash. Use an agent. I have spent a total of 8 minutes in immigration obtaining and renewing my yearly visas. I do mine in Pattaya because I have a good agent. While there I spend a few days sampling the culinary delights of the American/Brit ex pat communities, whilst admiring S.A's cerulean waters on pattaya's sandy shores before taking myself back to Cow mansion and the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.
Reading this thread reminded me that my wife turns 50 at the end of the month so we both now can get a retirement visa via an agent.....but we'll probably just stay here.
A Brit resturaunt owner I know here uses a Maha Sarakham based agent every year for his marriage visa. The agent takes care of everything including the 400k in the bank. Brit and missus show up once at immigration office to sign various forms and walk away with visa.
This agent operates in several Isaan provinces. Not sure about Korat but next I see the Brit will get agent contact number.
Cost is 17k baht.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,"
Bit expensive just for a phone number norts
Its not often that I completely agree with Mr Stumpy but his posts 8,19,23'25'and 27 are in my opinion probably the best advice he has given on here.
However I think he has failed to understand the common man's concerns and fears. I think Wasp is probably a little reticent about throwing himself off the cliff into the unknown that is moving to Thailand.
If you have the full support of your wife and have full confidence in her ability and willingness to help you, which may require standing up to the authority of the Immigration Officer/s, then it may be not so daunting, you're a lucky man in this regard Stumpy.
I have made many mistakes with Visa over the past 24 years both in Thailand (for me) and in Australia (for my wife) but was able to work through it all and come out the other end alive, maybe a little scarred but I survived.
I just recently did my annual extension and needed it to be expedited as I wanted to return to Australia. I asked the guy at the Buriram Office if he could make it happen more quickly and his reply was that he didn't have the "power". My wife called the big off ice Khon Kaen and it happened plus it didn't require any exchange of cash.
So if wasp was living in Buriram and i was back there I would willing help him out.
It isn't a matter of 'standing up' to immigration officers.
That was not what your wife did.
Not at all.
People who walk in with that attitude have shot themselves in the foot before they've even started.
Know it all Sybille, what a cock!
Go to bed, Josephine.
You're clearly arseholed and stalking, yet again.
It's quite simple, really.
If one has all the requirements in place, the time isn't an issue, do it yourself or hire a cheap agent for a few k to do the waiting, photocopying, talking with the officers, smoothing out any demands etc. Of course not every office makes things run smoothly, some create issues and hiccups so one does hire an agent to make it run smoothly.
If one doesn't, hire a more expensive agent and they should be able to get the job done.
Personally, I'd get all the requirements in place and go there myself. If it's clear that a cheap agent will make things run smoother and easier, do that. An IO there might even give you the contact details of a favourite agent that they like. Or be like Prags and lose your shiz over 500 baht that then takes days, weeks and stacks of new obscure documents to clear up.
God bless ya Ootai. Sometimes I get lucky.
IMHO I think you need to use an agent if you do not meet all the requirements. I have a few Aussie long time friends here that use agents because they cannot meet all the requirements and the agents "Make that happen". The downside or risk is if you get called on it in some outside chance you get pulled over or tagged like Tax says he has.
If you spend the time and get established doing it yourself you are far better off. I think Wasp may be a little spun up and anxious about all he reads and the horror stories but he needs to keep in mind that many that have issues either didn't do it right or were idiots with shitty attitudes at immigration. I have witnessed many of those asshats in my time here.
Cyrille, I'm sorry if you misunderstand my use of "standing up to" as she didn't angrily argue with them but didn't put up with demands regarding the paperwork we submitted over the counter. In the end they consulted with their "Boss" and agreed that we were right and they would therefore accept what we presented. The disputed documents were Marriage Certificates and whether they had to be originals or whether certified copies would suffice. We told them we didn't have the original that had been certified by the Foreign Affairs Ministry as it had been kept by the Amphur when we registered our marriage. We also told them that to get the TM22 (I think that's the right number) we must have presented the original.
It is my belief that it is not that any Immigration has issues with the paperwork submitted but rather they don't want to get into trouble from their Bosses.
Looks like you got lucky twice Stumpy as I agree again.
So, your wife explained the difficulty and the io waived the requirement.
Not really 'standing up' to the immigration officer, was it.
We were also lacking a piece of paper to do with marriage. We have the marriage cert., but an additional piece of paper that I've never even seen before was missing.
It was 26 years ago.
Anyway, the io waived the requirement.
This is something an agent might frame as a minor miracle, achieved because of their contacts, of course.
'That's the nature of progress, isn' t it. It always goes on longer than it's needed'. - JCC
Stumpy : Sorry Waspy. Can't help ya there. Never used one. Are you sure you need one?
No I'm not sure I need one but there are people saying it took them 8 Minutes and there are people saying the extreme opposite ........... that they had so much hassle I am better off handing it over to an Agent and just pay the money . I'm inclined to do that for the first application . After that I will surely be able to do an 8 minute renewal as I'm assured it can be done .
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