Thailand’s Immigration Bureau unveiled its online visa extension (e-extension) service on November 8.

Thailand’s Immigration Bureau unveiled its online visa extension (e-extension) service on November 8. (Photo: VNA)

Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, the national police chief, said the e-extension would improve visa services by allowing visitors to lodge their requests online.

This service includes the payment of fees and charges through an exclusive website, Thaiextension.vfsevisa.com. It will also reduce the time to process the application from one hour to three minutes.

According to the bureau, over 200,000 expats try to extend their visas each year for reasons including holidays, teaching jobs, study or family matters. The growing number of applicants has drawn concern about the time-consuming and inefficient nature of the process.

The service will be piloted first for expats living or working in Bangkok, who can file their applications online at the official website. However, they still have to show up in person at the IB office on Chaeng Wattana Road, just like the old system.

The department plans to provide this service at all of its offices nationwide in the future.

Source: VNA