mosan

Visa Extension of Stay Trip Report

I went to Phibun Mangsahan, Ubon Ratchathani today, 28 July 2011, to accomplish my annual
visa extension based on retirement.  This is my ninth trip to Phibun and each trip seems to be
more pleasant than the last.  I arrived at 1:35pm to an almost completely empty office. A female
Senior Police Sergeant Major looked up, said "hello", and reached out motioning for my
paperwork.  

My paperwork:

- Passport
- TM.47 Notify of 90 Day Stay (and receipt stapled to a page in passport)
- TM.6 Departure Card (stapled to page in passport)
- TM.7 Application for Extension
- One 2 centimeter x 6 centimeter photo
- American Embassy Income Affidavit
- 1900 Baht

Additionally, I included two copies of the following:

- Passport photo page
- Initial Entry VISA Stamp Page
- TM.6 Departure Card Front (and Back side to show initial entry stamp)
- Current Extension of Stay Stamp Page
- American Embassy Income Affidavit
- 1099R (original plus copies for proof of income—explained below)
- Retiree Account Statement (original plus copies for proof of income—explained below)

First, the immigrations officer looked through the stack, promptly wrote out a receipt for the
application fee and handed it to me.  Next she updated the computer, and had me sign one copy of
each document in my stack. She explained that only ONE copy was needed and returned the extras
to me. Then she pasted the photo on the application, had me sign the front and back, stamped my
passport and placed the paperwork on a desk.  

Shortly thereafter, a female Immigrations Police Lt. Colonel entered the offic, After spotting
my paperwork on the desk she reviewed it, initialed off on everything, and handed it back to her
subordinate.  The Senior Sergeant Major quickly handed me my passport, quoted me the date of my
next 90 day check and said "you're done".  I was amazed!  I thanked both her and the Lt. Colonel
then looked at the clock...it was 1:50pm.  

Immigrations did want to see proof of my income but they never got the chance to ask.  I read
about the rumors so I put a Form 1099R and a Retiree Account Statement in my documentation
stack.  The Form 1099R is an income tax document which shows annual distributions (payments)
from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, Individual Retirement Accounts and
Insurance Contracts.  The Retiree Account Statement shows monthly income and deductions of US
Military Retiree Pay.  The immigrations officer retained a copy of both documents as proof of my
receiving said income.