doctormann

The problem seems to arise when the intermediary bank that Wise pays into registers the payment as local, rather than international. This is unacceptable to Immigration so the payee gets involved in a paper chase, trying to prove that the payments were international. This may not be a problem with all banks but it certainly does happen. Many reports of difficulties have been reported on this forum. Which bank do you use? I am with TTB - used to be TMB until they merged with Thanachart. Not the best but all I could get at the time (2004) as others that I tried wanted a work permit and as a retiree I didn't have one, of course!!

I took a look on the First Direct website - clearly say UK residents only so maybe not possible to do any longer.

It becomes an issue when the documents take two months to get to me. This is partially caused by the postal service in my area being absolutely appalling. We see the postie maybe once a month, if we are lucky, and items arrive that are often months old. OK, in the current case I should have plenty of time to return the documents BUT I have known registered mail to the UK to take several weeks - usually gets stuck in the Heathrow Langley sorting office. EMS at least ensures that the item gets on the first available flight out of Suvarnabhumi, whereas registered mail can wait around for a while, until the mail container is sufficiently full to warrant dispatch. Registered mail is not guaranteed to be any faster than unregistered - but at least you can track it.

I cant' see UK Gov ever being so logical and sensible. Bureaucracy rules!!

No idea. I've never really considered Wise - seems to give problems with proving that transfers are international.

Interesting - but is it possible to do this without being a UK resident?

Depends on what balance you keep in the account. If you are relatively wealthy it costs you nothing. I'm not, so I have to pay a 40 quid a month fee, which I am not happy about. Additionally, every transfer of funds into my Thai bank costs 15 quid. Transfers from the on-shore account are free - but the account will soon be closed. Going back to 2004, when I moved out here, Barclays told me that I needed an international account in order to make transfers to Thailand. I suspect that they lied as I have never needed to use it and have just transferred from the on-shore account with zero issues. I seriously considered closing the international account but couldn't get a straight answer from Barclays as to if I actually needed it. Maybe, seeing what has happened now, it's a good job that I kept it open.

Well, just to put the icing on the cake, UK International Pensions now want a life certificate from me! Ah well, been there and done that before. Of course, as per usual, the documents were sent out by snail mail so they will need to be returned by EMS to stand a chance of arriving on time. Why they cannot set up a secure email system just defeats me. How hard can it be!

I've just been checking with the UK gov International Pensions site on how to change my banking details. Can't do it by email - as usual - so it's either by 'phone or by snail mail. I can imagine just how frustrating a phone call is likely to be - but I will try it, once the UK wakes up - so I'll probably do it via EMS, which should work. My occupational pension provider's web site is also unhelpful as there is no option there to change banking details. At least, they do reply to emails so I've asked them what I need to do. Probably will require snail mail again but we'll see. Crossy, did you have to provide proof of address as far as using your parents' address was concerned - like a Council Tax bill or something like that? When my Barclaycard account got closed it wasn't enough to just give an address - you actually needed proof that you lived there and a Council Tax bill seemed to be the only thing that was acceptable.

Just a heads up for those with Barclays on-shore accounts who do not have a UK address. I just received a notification that my Barclays current account and savings account will be closed on 30 August 2023 as I no longer have a registered UK address. Wonderful service after 60 years of customer loyalty - NOT!! Barclaycard pulled the same stunt some years ago and my credit cards got cancelled so I have been expecting this for some time. This is going to cause big problems for those people who do not have alternative banking arrangements - how are their pensions going to get paid now! Fortunately, in my case, I do have a Barclays International account which, apparently, is not affected by the new rules so, presumably, I can get my pensions paid into that account. This will probably be a PITA to arrange but should, at least be doable. We'll see.

I had both eyes done at Jomtien, last year. I don't know if the 'special offer' is still running but it would be worthwhile finding out. I have been very pleased with the result.

Update: I think that I have sorted it. Looks like a Brave Shields / Cookie problem. I lowered the shields for the Immigration site - perhaps they don't like not being able to track me - and deleted the saved cookie. Logged back on, saved a new cookie and now it seems to work OK.

I'm having a strange thing happening with the online TM47 report. I have a laptop PC running Linux Mint 19.3 and a desktop running Linux Mint 20.3. Both machines run the Brave browser. On the laptop I have no issues with the online method - it works flawlessly. On the desktop logging onto the site in the usual way - email address and password - seems a bit slow but gets there eventually and says 'success'. However, when I then try to either check my report status or initiate a new report, a red box pops up that says 'unauthorized access'. Very odd - if I'm not authorized then why can I login in the first place? The only difference between the machines is the version of the OS but I don't see that this should make any difference. Using Firefox both machines give no problems. Any thoughts?

Air temperature vs ground temperature, maybe?

Depends on what you need. You'll have to ask.

If you are on the Dark Side then you could try here: http://www.visakhaotalo.com/en/Home/Index I have used them for a few years with no issues.

Just a suggestion. Install a VPN on your phone - you can then appear to be in Thailand when trying to install the app.

+1 for InvadeIT - been using them for years and Thomas Skyum is very helpful with queries.

Using on Linux?

Thanks. I'll put on the list to consider.

My HP OfficeJet Pro seems to have died after 5 years of faithful service so it looks like replacement time. Any recommendations for a fully compatible printer or printer/scanner that will work with Linux Mint 19.3? I guess that I need another HP model, using HPLIP. I can upgrade to Mint 20 or 20.1 if necessary. Thanks.

How about considering Libre Office <https://www.libreoffice.org> Same functionality as MS Office and absolutely free.

No, everything done as outpatient.

Certainly can! 'Special'? I don't know - there may be other options but GiffGaff works for me and for many others. I got into the situation where my UK bank (Barclays) would only send OTP by SMS to a UK mobile number, hence the requirement for a UK SIM. I have been using GiffGaff now for many years without any problems. I recommend that you try it as the cost is minimal.

You could get a UK SIM from GiffGaff - https://www.giffgaff.com/ This works in Thailand. Minimal cost - just need to put a small credit on the SIM and then make the occasional SMS or phone call to keep it active.