How to get a Certificate of Residence at Koh Samui Immigration?
A residence certificate is an official document issued by the Immigration bureau stating that you live in
Thailand. It’s a necessary document if you want to buy a vehicle in Thailand, get a Thai driver’s license, open a Thai bank account, change the province of your car, and so on.
If you’re a resident of Samui, you’ll need to get your Residence Certificate at the Immigration Office in Maenam Soi 1. In front of the building on the right-hand side of the immigration office, you’ll find a photo and copy center if you need to do a photocopy or print out something.
Samui Immigration Office: 333 Moo. 1 Meanam Soi 1, Tambon Mae Nam, Ko Samui District, Surat Thani 84330 Tel. 077 423 440 Google Mape: https://goo.gl/maps/XxScod8mCX37vUFN7
Getting a residence certificate at Samui immigration is very simple if you have all the required documents. Otherwise, you will be asked to come back again once you have everything in hand.
Here are the documents that you need for a certificate of residence at Samui Immigration:
Original Passport
Copy of Passport
** Copy of Section 38 Report
2 inches Photo (x1)
** Section 38 is basically a report from House owners, heads of household, landlords, or managers of hotels who accommodate foreign nationals who stay in Thailand. It can only be printed out of the screenshot from the application on the phone or website screenshot. (Read more about Immigration Section 38)
When you apply for the Residence Certificate, keep in mind that you may not get the certificate on the same day. Samui immigration will usually give you a small piece of paper with a written date on it and ask you to come back to collect it on that date. It also depends on how many people are at immigration in that period. If you are lucky you may get in on the same day.
Note that many government offices such as Land Transport Department don’t accept copies of the Residence Certificate, only originals are acceptable. Therefore, it is always best to check each office for what kind of document they want: just copy if fine or it must be an original.
