Apply early for one-year permits – Immigration

PHUKET: Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen, the Deputy Inspector of the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO), yesterday urged foreigners seeking extensions to one-year permits-to-stay to apply at least a month before their current permits expire. “We need to receive applications about a month before the current permit expires to give us enough time to check the documents [submitted with applications],” Capt Krissarat told the Gazette. “The government is currently very strict [on foreigners] because of the terrorist situation around the world. The PPIO has to ensure that foreigners are in the system, and documents must be verified as accurate and reliable.” He noted, “In fact, we can finish checking [an applicant’s] documents in 15 minutes, but if there is a problem with any of them, the documents need to be verified by officers in other government departments.”