On a recent visit to the Immigration Department at Suan Plu, I noticed that a new system was being tested. Namely a fingerprint scanner and photographs while you wait, both scanned into the computer and printed out on the application form.
Fingerprints are new to any application through the Immigration Department. Obviously photographs have been used for years, always a specific size and they had to be fairly up-to-date, the Officers were very strict on the photographs. By taking the photograph at the desk of the Officer receiving your application, the size is automatically taken care of as is the newness of the photo.
The shops opposite the Immigration Department always did a roaring trade in photocopies and photographs, they will be losing business with photographs once the new system goes live. The Immigration Department is due to move to a new building so these shops would be losing their business anyway as soon as the move takes place.
The whole move towards modernising the way the applications are made is heartening and in theory will speed things up.
We will keep you updated as to the progress of the new system.