If you read yesterday’s post, you might remember I said that I’d be renewing my visa today. It’s something every expat has to do at one time or another, and some have to do it more often than others. I get my visa, a non-immigrant or media visa, renewed once a year. It’s really pretty hassle-free but it’s time consuming and if you go in the wrong frame of mind, it’s getting the visa is an irritant. The thing to remember though is that as a foreigner, it’s a privilege to be able to live in the country.
You first need to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get the necessary paperwork to obtain your visa. This take time – you need to provide samples of your work, go through and interview process, and wait. This is my third year with a media visa. The first year it took just around three weeks to receive three envelopes. One is for your press card, another for your visa extension, and the last is for your work permit.
I get to the “One Stop Visa and Work Permit Center” and stand in line. I’m given a few papers and told to fill them out. I quickly do so and turn them back in. “Good, good, good,” the lady says. That positive attitude lasts for a few minutes – until I get in line to apply for my work permit renewal. “Oh, these photos are too small,” the woman tells me. “You can get larger ones made downstairs.” Ok, I think, no problem. I fill out a few more papers and figure I’m down the home stretch. Wrong.
“Sir, do you have your medical certificate?” she asks. “Medical certificate? What medical certificate? I didn’t have to provide one the last time” I state, emphatically. “Sorry, you must have or no work permit.”
So I take the lift from the 16th floor to the ground floor, jump into a taxi and go to the Mayo Hospital. It only takes a few minutes to get there and a few minutes later, I’m in line to see the doctor. He asks me to lay down, he taps on my stomach 2 or 3 times, and asks me how I feel. “Ok, I guess” I say. I really didn’t want to tell him, “Hey Doc, if you really want to know, I feel like shit.” He hands me my medical certificate and says, “Next.”
I pay the bill, 320 baht ($9.75), jump into a passing taxi, and go back to One Stop Visa. I stop at the end of the hall and make the requested copies of my passport and old work permit.
I hand in my medical certificate and the copies and I’m directed to the interview room. The police sergeant tells me, “this is wrong, you get more time, hold on.” Seems she wanted to give me an extra three months to stay in the country. It’s my lucky day. Finally, at around 3 PM, I’m given my new work permit and my updated passport.
When I first came in to the building, I noticed a sandwich shop so I decided to get a quick bite. My wife calls, our son’s agent called, they’ve got a tryout for a commercial. Traffic is brutal and it takes me an hour to get home. The house is empty and it’s around 5. It almost took a whole day to get everything taken care of. Well, almost everything. Tomorrow I need to get my press card. This is a 5 minute gig but it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to the place.
So I burned away the day today and hopefully tomorrow I’ll be home by 10 or 11 and have plenty of time to get some work done. If all goes well I’ll be in the Philippines in about two weeks. Tomorrow I’ll make my picks for the week and spend some time working on the site.
Until later…
Posted by fareastphotos 
