Is CW Immigration 1 busy these days? Arrive after lunch for 1 year Non-O visa renewal sensible?

[neek]

I'm British, 45, been here 12 years on back to back non-O visas, so I've been to Chaeng Watthana plenty of times.  My 1 year Non-O visa expires in 8 days (15 May 2021, Saturday next week).  Thinking of going tomorrow but won't have the required photos, bank letter etc until late morning.  Is the visa renewal queue (L?) any quieter these days than, say a year or two ago?

 

The queues can be horrendous, maybe slightly more controlled since Covid, but usually if we aren't super early we'll get queue number 60 or so and not get seen until after lunch.  I would think that arriving and picking up a ticket later in the day would guarantee a wasted trip.  They seem to have a limited number of tickets, also, so maybe they just wouldn't have any for us if we do turn up.

 

Next plan would be to try for early Monday morning but that'll be just 5 days or so before it expires.  I haven't applied for renewal so close to the expiry date before, so not sure what to expect.  We normally have the paperwork perfect, so we don't expect any problems in the application.

 

Should we try to go asap tomorrow or chill out and go Mon/Tues next week?

[DrJack54]

Even with your long winded OP, you need explain what your doing. 12 years?

My guess is that you had previously a non O based on retirement and have been obtaining extensions of your permission of stay since then.

If indeed it's extension based on retirement you can make appointment. Highly recommended.

You need to state your situation. 

Edit: sorry just re read your post. Your 45 so must be extension based on marriage?

Edited May 6, 2021 by DrJack54

[mtls2005]

Go get a queue number early (or send the wife to do that), then go do your paperwork, then return for your queue.

 

Photos can be done in CW.

 

Most banks (except SCB) have branches there.

 

Or go next week.

 

Not sure I'm understanding the issue here? What have you done the last 12 years?

 

 

 

 

[cpillow]

From my experience last week, there was a huge queue at 8am and a big fuss around. I left around 10am and was completely dead already so I guess you can skip the early morning and go a bit later if you don't want to stress out. Much easier if you have copies of everything beforehand, twice, just in case.

[neek]

14 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Even with your long winded OP, you need explain what your doing. 12 years?

My guess is that you had previously a non O based on retirement and have been obtaining extensions of your permission of stay since then.

If indeed it's extension based on retirement you can make appointment. Highly recommended.

You need to state your situation. 

Edit: sorry just re read your post. Your 45 so must be extension based on marriage?

 

Sorry, it's a Non-O based on marriage to a Thai Wife, not retirement. I didn't realise the retirement situation would be so different.  I said I'd been here 12 years on back to back visas and am renewing a 1 year visa, I thought that much was pretty clear :)  My concern is that if we arrive later than very early in the morning we're going to get a queue number so high we won't actually get seen on that day so the whole trip is a waste of a day.

[neek]

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Go get a queue number early (or send the wife to do that), then go do your paperwork, then return for your queue.

 

Photos can be done in CW.

 

Most banks (except SCB) have branches there.

 

Or go next week.

 

Not sure I'm understanding the issue here? What have you done the last 12 years?

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks mtls2005, yes we know the usual drill (get queue number early, paperwork, photos etc).  The question was specifically about whether it's worth turning up late in the day, is the queue situation going to mean we aren't going to be seen that day i.e. it'll get to 4pm or whenever the desks close and our number won't have come up.  Last time I went was around this time last year, and based on that experience I wouldn't want to be arriving after about 11am, but if queues are lower right now what with Covid going on maybe the queue isn't so bad.

[neek]

2 hours ago, cpillow said:

From my experience last week, there was a huge queue at 8am and a big fuss around. I left around 10am and was completely dead already so I guess you can skip the early morning and go a bit later if you don't want to stress out. Much easier if you have copies of everything beforehand, twice, just in case.

 

What was dead already by 10am?  The queues of people outside the office, or the queue of people waiting at counter L?  I know the messy queue at the office doors at 8am quite well, but that results in many people having counter L queue numbers, and the higher numbers won't get processed until much later in the day.  Based on past experience you have to get there ASAP in the morning, preferably 30 minutes before the office actually opens, to get in the queue outside the office doors and get a number that'll get you seen before lunchtime.

 

One piece of advice I read on another thread is that the bank letter stating your balance can be from the day (or up to 7 days?) before.  You only have to update your bank book on the day, which is possible so long as there is a branch in the building (sorry SCB customers!).  For years, I've been arriving early to get a queue number only to have to wait until the bank opens to get my letter printed, which I now hear has been a complete waste of time.

[mtls2005]

14 minutes ago, neek said:

The question was specifically about whether it's worth turning up late in the day, is the queue situation going to mean we aren't going to be seen that day i.e. it'll get to 4pm or whenever the desks close and our number won't have come up. 

 

Who can predict this? A fortune-teller perhaps.

 

Given the holidays this week, expect a bit of crowding. Still not clear why you can't go early and get a ticket, then assemble your paperwork. Is it some sort of secret?

 

15 hours ago, neek said:

Next plan would be to try for early Monday morning

 

I've lost track if Monday (Royal Ploughing Ceremony) is a holiday (on again/off again) which affects Immigration? The topic here says it is a government holiday but banks are open, so...

 

 

[neek]

13 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Still not clear why you can't go early and get a ticket, then assemble your paperwork. Is it some sort of secret?

 

I've lost track if Monday (Royal Ploughing Ceremony) is a holiday (on again/off again) which affects Immigration? The topic here says it is a government holiday but banks are open, so...

 

 

As stated in the OP, "Thinking of going tomorrow but won't have the required photos, bank letter etc until late morning."  My point was that I wouldn't be able to be there 8am, and asked whether arriving midday would mean we wouldn't be processed that day.  Thanks for the mention about Monday, it does seem that immigration will be closed Monday.

 

I do appreciate the replies, but no-one's commented on the original question.  I'm guessing that the initial rush of people in the morning lead to a rapid influx of queue ticket numbers, but new people arrive later in the day at a lesser rate, so even though a ticket obtained at 8am may not be processed until after lunch, a ticket obtained just after lunch may still be processed on that day.  The time right now is 2:30pm so not really worth going today any more, we'll have to make it Tuesday, and are thinking of turning up around lunchtime to see if my hunch is correct.

[mtls2005]

25 minutes ago, neek said:

My point was that I wouldn't be able to be there 8am

 

So send your wife to queue, while you assemble your paperwork?

 

Or just go when you can go.

 

How does asking what might happen change your approach?

 

 

[neek]

5 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

How does asking what might happen change your approach?

As stated in the OP, if arriving so late that the queue ticket means we wouldn't processed that day, we wouldn't bother going at all.

Sorry if my questions aren't clear enough, I'll stop asking ????

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, neek said:

As stated in the OP, if arriving so late that the queue ticket means we wouldn't processed that day, we wouldn't bother going at all.

They stop issuing queue numbers at 3:30 and work until all the numbers have been called.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, neek said:

My concern is that if we arrive later than very early in the morning we're going to get a queue number so high we won't actually get seen on that day so the whole trip is a waste of a day.

If they give you a queue ticket (3.15pm at the latest?) you will get seen that day. 

 

Advertised Immigration office closing hours does not mean that extension processing stops then also.

 

Funny how they speed things up when it gets near to home time!

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Liverpool Lou