Immigration

Boy have we had some rain this last week. Rainy season hit with a vengeance so much so that Mr John didn't move from the house on Saturday of course that may have had more to do with the fact that the semi-finals of the Super 15 were on rather than the wet weather.

buy Twister here

I'm clearly getting my fitness back because I no longer feel dizzy when dangling my head at the floor during yoga. That's not to say that the Torturer isn't trying to turn me into some sort of human pretzel. Seriously, it's like playing a game of Twister without the mat.  On Monday, she introduced these weird black straps but frankly, I'm just not going there!


But back to today's topic. Immigration. DON'T GET ME STARTED ,,,,, seriously, what is it with me and Immigration? Mr John had got his visa extension whilst I was still in Australia. With the existing visa running out on the 20 something of April and Songkran starting on the 13th we thought we'd best get mine sorted before time got away from us.

Off we go on the morning we're going to Koh Chang with Leon we've left him having a lie in. I've remembered we needed our marriage certificate and have duly taken a copy of it, along with a copy of my passport let's not even go down the track of breaching Crown copyright by photocopying this document because here, you need copies of everything. So at 08:55 we're at the office, quick in and out - no worries. Yeah, right.

I've forgotten to bring a passport sized photo with me. Honestly, this is a school boy error and I should have known better. I can't blame Immigration for that one. Firstly, there's very little English spoken at the office itself. I find this amazing as surely the majority of people who need to go to Immigration are non-Thai's? Anyway, we've also got Mr John's passport which was completed by this same office the previous week. Easy, right? Wrong, so wrong.

In a nutshell, what we needed was

1. Copy of my passport
2. Copy of our marriage certificate
3. Letter from Mr John's school about Mr Johns' terms of employment
4. Copy of Mr John's contract with the school not sure how this is different to 3?
5. Passport sized photo
6. Immigration application form
7. Copy of Mr John's passport
8. Copy of Mr John's work permit
9. Fee of 1900 baht

As you can imagine, only the school had certain documents so our morning included a trip to see the new Administrator who, bless her, was doing her best in a job she'd been given very little training in. It also included a trip back to the house for the photo. 

By this point, Mr John was starting to get a little hot under the collar vague threats of leaving the job if I'm not allowed to stay resulting in me suggesting that he wait outside whilst I continue jumping through the hoops. I figure it's never a good idea to upset anyone who has the power to get you deported. 

By 11:00 we were all finished and I had a lovely 12 month extension stamp in my passport. All I have to do now, is go through the same trauma next year. I think it might be best though if we go at the same time. I'm pretty sure it wasn't this hard last year!

Just to make things lovely and interesting, today we have to go back and do our 90 day report. Yes, this is just to let them know we are still here. I am not really sure what it achieves. Surely if Mr John had left the school, their administration would have cancelled everything? This reporting does not include having to pay any sort of fee though I best not say that too loudly as someone somewhere is bound to think that's a good idea. Still, we continue to do the right thing. But knowing me, you best all keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck.