1-yr Extension of Stay in Jomtien.
Last month I stopped in the Jomtien immigration office to request the application form and list of requirements to get a new 1-year Extension of Stay on my Non-O (Retirement) visa. This is the first time I did it myself. I'm happy to report the process was surprisingly painless. The new Jomtien Immigration office seemed super efficient. Yesterday I arrived at the Immigration office at about 9:10am. It was less than 5 minutes to go through the line to get your number in the queue. There were only 8 people in front of me in the retirement queue. It took about 40 minutes until my number was called. Then it took about 10 more minutes at the window with the immigration officer. He was super focused on what he was doing. But he made some copies for me (bank book) without giving me any grief about not having already copied them. When I asked, he did tell me that it's ok for me to make my own copies of the bank book, and that I can sign the bottom of all the copies at home, to save a little time at the window next time (he doesn't need to witness me signing them).
Today, I arrived at 2:05 and walked to the pick-up window. The girl took my number, found my passport, and confirmed the new date "Good until Dec 2024!" She said with a smile. What a huge improvement from the times I had been in that office before. Done in 2 minutes. 😉👍
Here's a list of what I had brought with me, in order:
Extension of Stay application form.
Copies of Passport data page, last entry stamp, last visa (Non-O), last 1yr extension stamp.
Copy of TM30 and most recent 90-Day Report
Official 1 Year Bank statement
Bank certification Letter (dated the day of the application)
Bank Book (updated the morning of the application)
Condo Rental Contract
Condo Owner's papers (ID, House book? - it was about 6 pages)
Hand drawn map (wasn't on requirements list, but I had a copy from last year, so I included it just in case).
They did give me a form telling me to come back at the end of Feb (90days) with "This form, a copy of passport, copy of updated bank book." to verify the 800k is still there.
Fingers crossed it continues to be this easy in the future.
😊🙏