Transcript of the above video:

As title of this video suggests, we are discussing online Immigration Services which we have discussed in prior videos. There are some pilot programs going on this. I thought of making this video because I was reading a recent article in the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Pattaya Expats recommend changes to Immigration and driving license rules. There is a lot of information in there. I really urge folks who are watching this video, go check out that article, read it in detail. I am going to quote a small excerpt which doesn't necessarily get to the full thrust of that article but for purposes of this video, I think it provides some insight. 

Quoting directly: "A scheme to allow online registration and online payment for some Visa extensions of stay or renewals was currently being piloted in the Bangkok area with results and recommendations expected later in the year." Yeah, they started piloting this I think in quarter four of '22. They are doing certain Tourist Visa extensions and things here in Bangkok; it may be possible to deal with that online. Now as we have seen with other online platforms associated with Thai Immigration, it takes a little while to work out the bugs so don't presume we are going to see online Immigration ubiquitous in Thailand in the near future although it wouldn't surprise me if we saw it between now and 2025. Exactly when we see that being rolled out for any practical purposes between now and then is kind of hard to decipher.

A big question I have had from a lot of folks is they have said "well do you think I'm going to be able to do my Retirement Visa renewal online or my Business Visa renewal online?" Doubtful, I suspect the Non-Immigrant Visa unit are still going to remain in their "analog" format. At the very least, I think you are at least going to have to continue to see an Immigration Officer in person for Non-Immigrant type visas because they provide a certain level of long status. Again I don't see it being outside the realm of possibility that by 2025, if tourists coming into Thailand want to go on their phone and renew their own Tourist Visa online, I can see that being a very distinct possibility. For a Non-Immigrant Visa, I mean for example Business Visas that have work authorization attached to them, those are phone book cases of paperwork that we have to file every year associated with Thai Immigration. They have got to see all kinds of corporate documentation, tax documentation, salary tax payment, payroll documentation, Social Security documentation; all kinds of stuff is associated with a Thai Business Visa application. Meanwhile for example Thai Retirement Visas, you have got to show documentation pertaining to financial requirements. I suspect Immigration is going to want to see that stuff in person but I can definitely see where Immigration would want to sort of clear out all the people that are dealing with things like TM30, 90-day reporting and even Tourist Visa Extension because they are sitting there saying "wow we are just overcrowded in this Immigration Office. It would be really nice if we didn't have to deal with all that stuff. Those folks can deal with those things online and we can concentrate on dealing with Non-Immigrant visas when come in and we start working at Thai Immigration”. I can definitely see that being the paradigm that they have moving forward and by 2030, it wouldn't shock me to see a system that looks precisely like that.