TB Immigration Infobrief No. 038/21: 90 days notification at the end of the year extension period
Reporter: Eddie
Last week I went to make a 90-day notification in my new place of residence in the west of Thailand. I thought it would be a piece of cake as usual.
To my horror, the officer told me I had a big problem. He mentioned “overstay” and showed me on his computer screen that my visa had expired in April. I said how can it? I got another year extension in Trat in March and showed him the stamp in the passport. He then said that only the situation on the computer was leading for him and that I should solve the problem with Trat and gave me back the passport. What started as a nice day was ruined by this situation.
When I got home, I told the story to my girlfriend and she started working with an employee of Trat immigration by telephone and Line. It was finally on Friday at 4 o'clock in the afternoon that Trat indicated that I had failed to close the old year extension period with a 90 day notification. So Trat suggested I pay a 2000 baht fine at the immigration office where I live now.
I was completely unaware of this rule. Namely, that the last 90 days notification takes place on the day that the annual extension period ends. At least that's how the story was explained by Trat immigration [and later confirmed by the office where I now live] to my girlfriend. Can someone from another province confirm this?
In my passport there was also a note stapled with a 90-day notice at the beginning of April, which I overlooked. Because with the last report in February there was probably a note with a report in May, which they replaced with the April report.
Early on Monday, my girlfriend and I went to the immigration office. I let my girlfriend do the talking. I just nod yes during the conversation as if I speak Thai. Trat's explanation has been retold. The same officer I spoke to alone on Friday now has a very gentle tone. “Yes, it is covid time and we are all having such a hard time” is the purport of his argument. Finally closed the door of the immigration office with relief, after we agreed to the proposal of the officer
Reaction RonnyLatYa
1. Not executing a 90-day notification can never lead to “Overstay”. You can only obtain “Overstay” if you exceed the period of stay. With a 90-day notification you can only be “too late” and that can lead to a fine. It is not possible that you would have automatically lost the annual extension because you did not report for 90 days, because they are separate from each other.
2. You don't have to report 90 days at the end of your stay period. That is not prescribed anywhere. You only need to make a 90-day notification for every 90 days of uninterrupted stay in Thailand.
Notification of staying in the Kingdom over 90 days – สำนักงานตรวจคนเข้าเมือง – Immigration Bureau
3. This also counts as 90 days notification only for the first application for an annual extension. Afterwards it will continue as usual if you stay in Thailand, or it will expire if you leave Thailand and start counting again from day 1 the moment you re-enter Thailand.
4. What some immigration offices sometimes do is to immediately draw up a new 90-day notification with every annual extension. You don't actually have to do anything yourself because they use the address that you must provide as proof when applying for your annual extension. That's actually to your advantage if they do, because you're there anyway and then you might not have to return especially for it a few weeks later.
5. What I understand is that the end date of your 90 days has been changed from May to April, so it is not necessary at all. At least they could have warned you about it. Probably that's why his ′′ gentle ′′ tone afterwards when he discovered, or someone explained it to him, that he was completely wrong. He probably made a mistake and should have entered a new start date for your 90-day notification in April and no new end date. It seems to me rather that you have paid for his mistakes than.
6. I also don't understand why your new place of residence in the west hasn't handled this, let alone confirmed that you need to make a 90 day notification at the end of each year renewal.
It seems to me that you have not reported the new address (TM27/TM28/TM30) to your new immigration office, because then they would have noticed that something is wrong. If you have not made a new change of address, then if you report late you must do this in the place of residence known to immigration and that will have been the address in Trat.
Notification of staying in the Kingdom over 90 days – สำนักงานตรวจคนเข้าเมือง – Immigration Bureau
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My visa extension expired on May 25 and I extended it in April, also with me it was not 90 days in the last 90 days prior to that, but only until May 25.
I learned to check everything carefully and noticed this, the answer to my comment was also: new rule.
This was in Chiang Mai so it seems that this is applied in several places, so check the note that you receive with the 90-day notification. Joe
In your case, they just gave you a new 90 day notice that started with your new year renewal. It does not matter that the previous period is less than 90 days. That is something completely different and happens more often as I have already explained.
It would be different if you had to renew in April and they gave you a new note with a new date and then you had to come back specifically on May 25, a few weeks later, just to report that again.
Doesn't make any sense and I don't think so.
Well, I applied for the 90 days interval at the immigration office in Hua Hin two weeks ago and have to come again in August.
Today I got the extension of my visa for one year and this has not changed the ninety days report.
That is how it should normally go according to the regulations in force.
If you do not leave Thailand, the count will continue and the notification must be made every 90 days (within a certain notification period).
This is how it is also used in Kanchanaburi. The disadvantage is of course that you may be able to return to immigration a few weeks later if that 90-day reporting period does not fall just within the application period of your annual extension.
But there are several immigration offices that reset the counter to 1 with each annual renewal. You will then automatically receive a new 90-day notification in addition to your annual extension.
And actually that is a good thing and one should look at this on the positive side (I know difficult for some TB readers 😉 ) when your immigration office does this, because it is only to the benefit of the reporter. After all, he can complete his extension and notification in one go.
That is an advantage if your immigration office handles both matters in the same building or space. In Hua hin, however, your 90-day report is done in a branch (in the Blúport Shopping Mall) and many other things are done in the main office, 16 km outside the city center. So you have to go twice anyway.
But before that, things are handled faster. I was helped within five minutes with the stamping and with the extension of my visa about fifteen minutes, from filling out your papers to receiving your new extension maybe 30 minutes.
It is not because you can perform the 90-day notification in Blu Port that you cannot do this in the head office.
It is rather the case that where the 90-day notification occurs (Blu Port) you cannot request an annual extension.
By the way, it will go faster everywhere at the moment…