Emergency Visa Extension

Bangkok Life Update / COVID-19 Update #8

Previous post HERE https://michaeldesrosiers.blogspot.com/2020/03/covid-19-update-7-state-of-emergency.html

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As my visa got closer and closer to expiring, I began growing more and more anxious. Normally, applying for a new visa is as easy as crossing the border to Cambodia or Laos, spending half a morning submitting some paperwork, and spending the rest of the day sipping Angkor Beer or Beer Lao on a balcony overlooking the river.

Unfortunately for me (and for thousands of stranded expats and tourists), the COVID-19 pandemic has really thrown a wrench in all of our plans. Laos closed their borders and suspended all visas the day before the date of which my ticket was booked. All neighboring countries have now done the same.

The US Embassy was of great help during this time. A few weeks ago, the embassy began issuing documents requesting the Thai government to issue emergency visas to tourists and residents who are stuck due to disrupted travel plans from the pandemic. I just had to send an email to American Citizen Services, and a State Department official replied with an attached document the next day. They are sending these documents out via email to any citizen who requests one.

As the date of my visa expiry drew closer, news began coming in from all over Thailand of increasingly strict and byzantine regulations causing stress and frustration to foreigners trying to apply for their visa extensions. Some provinces were listing such strange requirements as supplying photographs of your home, kitchen, and bedroom; submitting a map of your home; and even bringing your landlord in for, what the Immigration Department called "an interrogation".

Here's my experience from today:

4:00 - Up and at 'em! The Immigration Office is always packed at the best of times, and during an emergency, I had heard lots of stories of long queues. I decided to arrive early.

Government Complex shrine... long before the sunrise

5:30 - I arrived at the Government Complex. There was already the beginnings of a queue outside the doors. Red tape had been placed in one-meter intervals to keep people at a social distance from one another. A uniformed officer passed out queue tickets. I got number 71.

sections of seating were closed off to preserve social distancing

6:00 - They opened the doors and began letting people in to the Government Complex. We had to wait at the entrance for mandatory temperature checks. No fever! Officers check to make sure everyone is wearing a mask. It's illegal to go outside without a mask in certain provinces now. It is mandatory to wear them in public. We check in and are given application forms appropriate to our individual situations.

inside the cavernous Government Complex

7:15 - The doors open, and I collect my next queue ticket, this time the queue number is for my actual appointment. I got queue 57 in the line of people on Non-Immigrant visas looking to get an emergency extension due to COVID-19. The officer told me to come back in one hour, as they are limiting the number of people in the actual office. I think that's great.

I arrived at the government complex early this morning, fearing the worst, but hoping for the best. Whilst waiting for my queue number (the queue ticket had a QR code that you can scan with your phone to check the current number), I went to the building's underground 7-11 shop to grab a bottle of water and a can of coffee. It had been an early morning, and I was feeling stressed, nervous, and tired.

with an official letter from the US Embassy

9:15 - I sat around for a while, trying very hard to keep my distance from everyone else. Eventually, my queue number crept closer and closer, and when there were about 10 people ahead of me, I made my way back inside the Immigration Department office. When my number was called, I handed over all of my paperwork to the not-overly-friendly but efficient officer who took a look at it across a desk from where I was told to sit. She had me sign many, may copies of my passport as well as affix my signature to various stamped documents. I also had to sign an acknowledgment that I understood the penalties for a visa overstay. I then paid the 1,900 baht fee, and returned to the waiting area. Around 15 minutes later, my name was called to come pick up my passport. Fortunately, my extension application had been approved! I was just so worried that I had forgotten some document or missed some requirement. I'm so relieved that all went well. Hopefully by the 1st of May things will be better in the world and it will be easier for me to travel in order to apply for a new visa.

a message from the Thai government for all of the stressed-out foreigners at Immigration

By 11:00 I had my stamped passport in hand. I was exhausted. I think it's the early morning, two weeks of anxiety, and stressful situation, but I had a really bad headache. I'm quarantining myself at a hotel for two weeks after visiting the Immigration Office, so I returned to Pradiphat Road (my new, temporary home), and took a rest.

All in all, a really successful day. I was very impressed and pleased with the efficiency and effectiveness of the Thai Immigration Department. Although it would have been nice to have been granted an automatic visa extension as many other countries have done for their stranded foreigners, I have to praise the Thai government for their good handling of the situation. They took good care of me this morning, and I'm very pleased that it's all taken care of now.

More news to follow as the situation develops!