TM30 reporting rule on foreigners eased

Property owners will no longer be required to report the presence of foreign tenants in their properties as often as they do now, starting from Tuesday.

Section 38 of the Immigration Act requires that property or hotel owners who take in foreigners as guests notify officials within 24 hours.

The Immigration Bureau has changed the reporting frequency to only when they arrive. They do not need to file the reports again if the guests leave the premises only temporarily and then return, or when they have multiple-entry visas or re-entry permits.

The bureau called the amendment "a move to end duplication".

Landlords are still required to report the arrivals of tenants within 24 hours or face a fine up to 10,000 baht.

The change followed complaints from operators about the need to repeatedly file reports on their foreign guests every time they arrive at their properties, and foreigners who were unable to get services at immigration offices without being able to prove that TM30s had been filed on their behalf.

Landlords include Thai and foreigners who own properties in Thailand, hotel managers and other accommodation operators.

They are required to file the reports at www.immigration.go.th website, or submit them in person or by mail to the immigration offices in their provinces, or the Immigration Division 1 Office at Government Complex on Chaeng Watthana Road in the case of Bangkok.