My experience at the Udon Thani immigration office (TM30)

[jackdd]

Today i made a visa run to Laos, and after my return to Thailand i took my GF to go to the Udon Thani immigration office to submit a TM30.

Actually the Udon Thani immigration office doesn't want one for the same place if you ever stayed there before, i asked about this when we filed a TM30 for the first time.

But because we will move to Chiang Mai soon and from reading here i know that the immigration office there is a pain in the ass, i wanted to keep my record 100% legal.

 

So we showed up with exactly the same stuff as the last time when we successfully submitted it, the rental contract and a copy of the owner's id card and my GF (she is renting the house in her name)

We went in the office, i took a TM30 form from the stack and told my GF to complete the form. Before doing this a younger IO at the 90 day report counter (saw him for the first time today, before there was always somebody a bit older) called us, and asked what we are doing here.

So we informed him that we plan to submit a TM30, because i just came back to Thailand. He asked where i stay, i said at her house, same as before to which he replied that a TM30 is not necessary if we she ever submitted one for me at this place.

I said that we know that it's not necessary here in Udon, but because we move to Chiang Mai, i want to have my record updated so everything is legal in the computer and we don't have a problem there.

To which he replied that the rules are the same in every immigration office and it's only required when staying at a place the first time.

I explained that i know at least of the Chonburi immigration office who doesn't agree with his view, and my GF asked him politely to just update our record with today's date.

He repeated again that this is not necessary. So i asked him if he could tell us his name, if we should experience a problem in Chiang Mai we would tell them to call him.

 

After asking for his name his temper changed (we never got his name)

He said if we really want to do a new TM30 he can do it, but he will need documents. He told us several documents of which he needs copies, 2 copies of each (the last TM30 was filed just with the rental contract and my GFs id card, they took the copies themself in the immigration office). I was like: Ok, here are the documents, you just need to take the copies. This seemed to make him even more angry. He said he can not take the copies there, we have to go to a copy shop. I told him that i came here many times and they always take the copies in the immigration office, he just "mai dai".

When we were just about to leave he told my GF she will have to submit everything within 24 hours or she will be fined.

 

So at first he tells us that we don't have to submit a new TM30 when i come back to Thailand, and this is the law in all immigration offices. Then we ask for his name (and somehow insist that he does his job), and then he suddenly tells us if we don't file a TM30 within 24 hours my GF will be fined, and tries to annoy us by making us go to a copy shop to take copies which they could just take right there.

This was actually my first bad experience at an immigration office in Thailand, and now i can somehow understand people who complain about immigration offices a bit more.

Edited March 21, 2019 by jackdd

[ExpatDraco]

I wouldn't have asked for his name. Lose face liability there. I would just let Chiang Mai call Udon Thani in case of issues and be done with it. :)

 

 

[jackdd]

4 minutes ago, ExpatDraco said:

I wouldn't have asked for his name. Lose face liability there. I would just let Chiang Mai call Udon Thani in case of issues and be done with it. ????

 

 

This would probably not work. It looks like the Udon Thani immigration just doesn't want a new TM30 because they are too lazy to process it (the 5 minutes could be spent on facebook instead). But they are aware of the laws (threatening my GF to fine her). If Chiang Mai calls Udon Thani they would never confirm that they don't follow the law so the IO in CM would just tell us "you had to submit a TM30, that's the law". If we had a name of a specific IO who told us this, it would be way more diffcult for them.

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, jackdd said:

If Chiang Mai calls Udon Thani they would never confirm that they don't follow the law so the IO in CM would just tell us "you had to submit a TM30, that's the law".

The will not call them. All they will care about is the one you will be doing there.

[stanleycoin]

Some times,  it's better to not poke the fire. 

 

 

[Spidey]

25 minutes ago, jackdd said:

I explained that i know at least of the Chonburi immigration office who doesn't agree with his view, and my GF asked him politely to just update our record with today's date.

Chonburi Immigration (Jomtien) does agree with his view. I spoke to a senior official there last June, on returning from the UK. Same address, no need to notify. I have since made several 90 day reports and extended my retirement visa, no problems. Their only stioulation is that you are on a long term visa (marriage/retirement).

[ExpatDraco]

This would probably not work. It looks like the Udon Thani immigration just doesn't want a new TM30 because they are too lazy to process it (the 5 minutes could be spent on facebook instead). But they are aware of the laws (threatening my GF to fine her). If Chiang Mai calls Udon Thani they would never confirm that they don't follow the law so the IO in CM would just tell us "you had to submit a TM30, that's the law". If we had a name of a specific IO who told us this, it would be way more diffcult for them.

I meant with my 'I am done' statement that I would just pay the fine in Chiang Mai if any... ;-)

[jackdd]

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The will not call them. All they will care about is the one you will be doing there.

It might of course happen that they just don't care about it.

But because reading about many problems of people with the Chiang Mai immigration office, I was just worried that they check their computer when we file a TM30 there, then they see i've entered Thailand two weeks ago but nobody ever submitted a TM30 and that they then want to fine my GF because she didn't do it.

[Moonlover]

3 minutes ago, thequietman said:

IO's are lazy, incompetent, good for nothing, inconsistent, lack empathy and will do anything to not do their jobs to the letter of the law. And that's the good ones.

 

Shambles, the lot of em. ????

I would suggest that it's your own attitude that results in your experiences.

 

I've always had good service from Imm Pol, including 4 years at Udon Thani.

[Puchaiyank]

Good story...demonstrates how quickly things can go South in an Immigration office...

 

Went for my 1st 90 reporting to the Udon office...was told very sternly that I would have to renew my 1 year retirement visa in 7 months...I  just smiled and said thank you...

 

Left the country and returned twice before my multiple entry visa expired...got another 12 months upon entering the country each time...

 

Bully trying to confuse me and cause anxiety...lol

[ExpatDraco]

Chonburi Immigration (Jomtien) does agree with his view. I spoke to a senior official there last June, on returning from the UK. Same address, no need to notify. I have since made several 90 day reports and extended my retirement visa, no problems. Their only stioulation is that you are on a long term visa (marriage/retirement).

Just spoke to the older (not sure it's the same lady ofc.) TM.30 lady at Jomtien and asked if old/retired people still have to do TM.30's if they come from abroad and she said yes, everybody.

Now, this being said, I believe you also. I'm pretty sure as long as you have some TM.30 slip in your passport nobody will check the details anyway. Just not possible with their paper administration. [emoji28]

[jackdd]

9 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Chonburi Immigration (Jomtien) does agree with his view. I spoke to a senior official there last June, on returning from the UK. Same address, no need to notify. I have since made several 90 day reports and extended my retirement visa, no problems. Their only stioulation is that you are on a long term visa (marriage/retirement).

We definitely had several reports here on Thaivisa of people being fined for a missing TM30 after returning to their usual place in Chonburi. Of course also within the same immigration office different IOs handle it differently, so you were maybe lucky, or the others unlucky.

Until today i would also have said the IOs at Udon are friendly and helpful (if there had been another IO at the counter everything might have gone smooth), but this new IO did not match my previous experiences.

[Spidey]

4 minutes ago, ExpatDraco said:

Just spoke to the older (not sure it's the same lady ofc.) TM.30 lady at Jomtien and asked if old/retired people still have to do TM.30's if they come from abroad and she said yes, everybody.

Now, this being said, I believe you also. I'm pretty sure as long as you have some TM.30 slip in your passport nobody will check the details anyway. Just not possible with their paper administration.
 

Never had a TM30 slip in my passport. Never had a problem. Your address is on their computer system. If it doesn't change, no need for a TM30.

[Spidey]

4 minutes ago, jackdd said:

We definitely had several reports here on Thaivisa of people being fined for a missing TM30 after returning to their usual place in Chonburi. Of course also within the same immigration office different IOs handle it differently, so you were maybe lucky, or the others unlucky.

Until today i would also have said the IOs at Udon are friendly and helpful (if there had been another IO at the counter everything might have gone smooth), but this new IO did not match my previous experiences.

I think that was earlier last year when all IOs were having a clampdown on TM30s. Jomtien ended up having a team of 6 people, upstairs, processing TM30s with long queues. lasted a month or two and then went back to normal. That was the reason that I clarified it with a senior official last June.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Spidey

[maodun]

This same issue came up when visiting the Immigration Office in Phayao. We recently returned from Vietnam and had to submit a TM30 because we stayed overnight in Chiang Mai. We asked the IO if I made a border run to Mae Sai in 90 days (I have a non-o visa) and returned to the same residence in the same day would we have to submit a new TM30? The answer was a resounding "yes and within 24 hours." So, as usual, the interpretation of the law is up to the IO you are asking and/or the office you are using.

[mrmicbkktxl]

15 hours ago, Spidey said:

Chonburi Immigration (Jomtien) does agree with his view. I spoke to a senior official there last June, on returning from the UK. Same address, no need to notify. I have since made several 90 day reports and extended my retirement visa, no problems. Their only stioulation is that you are on a long term visa (marriage/retirement).

Great,in Sriracha I got fined because I didn't report when I came back from Europe,that was last October.In January I went to Sriracha immigration right from the airport [ KL trip]Same officer told me I don't need to do that,a few years ago I was probably punching him in the face,but after dealing with immigration officers for 20 years,i just suck it up.Good thing  is my beloved Thai wife finally agrees with me about the inconsistency,laziness  and stupidity of immigration officers. 

[jacko45k]

16 hours ago, jackdd said:

Today i made a visa run to Laos, and after my return to Thailand i took my GF to go to the Udon Thani immigration office to submit a TM30.

Mate, you should have simply turned around and gone home when he said you didn't have to do a TM30.

[jesimps]

To all the smug posters on here who regularly come on here saying that they understand the immigration rules perfectly and anyone who has problems is a whinger, this thread goes to back up that any particular rule or amendment is down to not only the immigration office's location, but also to the whims of any individual officer. Depends on the day of the week, what side of bed they got out of that morning, whether they like your face or not etc. In other words, a particular officer could say one thing one day and something entirely different the next. As the OP illustrates, this can change in an instant. Problem is you don't know until you walk out of the office with a refusal.

Edited March 22, 2019 by jesimps

[ThaiBunny]

1 minute ago, jesimps said:

Depends on the day of the week, what side of bed they got out of that morning, whether they like your face or not etc. 

Time of the month?

[jesimps]

4 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

Time of the month?

Didn't want to annoy the TV PC crowd ????

[gunderhill]

16 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I would suggest that it's your own attitude that results in your experiences.

 

I've always had good service from Imm Pol, including 4 years at Udon Thani.

I would  suggest it  was  the  officer concerned, Iv'e had really bad and really good service over the years at  Hua  Hin. 

Same  person different day different attitude, I find them quite childish at times, they should  just be professional and  do their job, slamming papers  down on the desk etc etc a  few  years back, all unnecessary.  

[Spidey]

18 minutes ago, jesimps said:

To all the smug posters on here who regularly come on here saying that they understand the immigration rules perfectly and anyone who has problems is a whinger, this thread goes to back up that any particular rule or amendment is down to not only the immigration office's location, but also to the whims of any individual officer. Depends on the day of the week, what side of bed they got out of that morning, whether they like your face or not etc. In other words, a particular officer could say one thing one day and something entirely different the next. As the OP illustrates, this can change in an instant. Problem is you don't know until you walk out of the office with a refusal.

All Thais obviously like my face ( and who can blame them?) as I have never had a problem with any IO anywhere.

 

Smug Spidey.

[faraday]

Went to do my 90 day last week, & the staff on the front desk have all changed, it seems.

 

The manager who wore glasses has retired. I do wonder if the new boss is ordering them to be strict.

Or unhelpful?

 

????

 

[Spidey]

10 minutes ago, faraday said:

Went to do my 90 day last week, & the staff on the front desk have all changed, it seems.

 

The manager who wore glasses has retired. I do wonder if the new boss is ordering them to be strict.

Or unhelpful?

 

????

 

Jomtien? I noticed the same a few weeks ago. Now a lady doing the job, less smiley but I'm working on that. Didn't find her less helpful though, was actually a bit quicker than the guy usually was.

[faraday]

No sorry, I meant to say Udon Office.

[Enki]

17 hours ago, ExpatDraco said:

I wouldn't have asked for his name. Lose face liability there. I would just let Chiang Mai call Udon Thani in case of issues and be done with it. ????

 

 

He has a sign with his name in Thai and English on his chest anyway.

[jackdd]

11 minutes ago, Enki said:

He has a sign with his name in Thai and English on his chest anyway.

Here in Udon they like to wear "immigration police" polo shirts, which he did, so no name tag or rank

Edited March 22, 2019 by jackdd

[Andycoops]

17 hours ago, jackdd said:

This would probably not work. It looks like the Udon Thani immigration just doesn't want a new TM30 because they are too lazy to process it (the 5 minutes could be spent on facebook instead). But they are aware of the laws (threatening my GF to fine her). If Chiang Mai calls Udon Thani they would never confirm that they don't follow the law so the IO in CM would just tell us "you had to submit a TM30, that's the law". If we had a name of a specific IO who told us this, it would be way more diffcult for them.

Where was his badge?

In my IO office they all wear name badges.

Bad form to question his answer as losing face is a major Thai problem.

The retaliation of getting you to run around after that is just him getting his revenge.

Never tell them, oh but before I never had to do this or that because it's irrelevant to them and what they want today could well be different to what they want tomorrow. 

[jimn]

50 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Jomtien? I noticed the same a few weeks ago. Now a lady doing the job, less smiley but I'm working on that. Didn't find her less helpful though, was actually a bit quicker than the guy usually was.

Yes I agree Spidey. I did mine at Jomtien on Wednesday. I always bypass the masses queing at the front desk, who do not know what they are doing and what photocopies are required etc. I just walk straight to the front and say 90 day report please, I get a desk slip straight away. Yes inside very efficient lady took about 1 minute, I only had to wait 1 queue number. I also thought the new lady was ok but not as friendly as the guy on the desk before, who looks like he is on the overstay desk. 

[UTH001]

18 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I would suggest that it's your own attitude that results in your experiences.

 

I've always had good service from Imm Pol, including 4 years at Udon Thani.

Must admit, the staff currently at Udon Thani Immigration are very friendly, extensions etc are done quickly and efficiently. I cannot complain about anything...