TerraplaneGuy

My gf just got a new Thai passport using a black & white photo. In some countries like the U.S. you need a color photo for your passport. How about entry, has anyone heard of a problem of a Thai national not being allowed into the U.S. or any other country because their photo was b&w?

Thanks! Once I find out the documents required by the my office, what would the procedure be for me to start filing TM30s online myself? Would I upload the docs to the TM30 website and then report on the site whenever I return from abroad? My recollection is that they changed the rules a couple years ago so you don't have to report if you're returning to the same residence address. But I'll need a copy of a TM30 registration each year when I apply for my retirement extension of stay.

Taxes: how many people here actually pay taxes on foreign income anyway? There doesn’t seem to be any enforcement that I've heard of. Even though the bank reports it, how would the government know whether remitted money is taxable income or other money (eg savings from earlier years)? And they have no way of knowing whether it was earned within the past 12 months, which up to now is the only kind of taxable foreign remittance. There’s a proposal to change that but it’s not yet law.

So that costs something like $3,000 or more in lost income since you could probably earn at least 3% more in another kind of investment than in a bank account.

Is the requirement really to have $100k CASH in a bank account? Are T-bills, other bonds etc. not allowed?

It's interesting. The difference between the LTR and the OA process you describe is that with the OA you don't apply for an extension of stay until the term of the visa (one year) is about to expire. They are called "extensions of stay", not "permissions to stay". And they take effect after the full term of the visa. Whereas with the LTR, there is an outright contradiction in that the visa term is ten years but you only get "permission to stay" for 5 and then have to apply when that expires for another 5 year "permission". So you're applying while the proclaimed term of the visa still has 5 years to run. It makes no sense. If they wanted it to be similar to the OA process (and avoid contradicting themselves), they would have called the LTR a 5 year visa and said you can apply for a 5 year "extension of stay" when it expires. But they decided to invent a new mystical process and I do believe it's so they could hype the LTR as "10 years" when in fact it's not. The problem of course is that governments change, policies change, and there's no way to know for sure what might be required in 5 years when it's time for a new "permission". Just look at how often Immigration (and various regional offices) change the rules for "extensions of stay" under OA visas. Let's keep our fingers crossed with the LTR 🙂

OK thanks. It’s just so weird that they have created a new thing called a “stay permit” which is exactly what a visa is supposed to be. So it’s like a visa within a visa. They obviously wanted to attract people by advertising a “10 year visa” but couldn’t really commit to it. It’s like some gimmicky iPhone promotion at MBK. The 5 year “stay permit” is all you can fully rely on. But hey, it’s still a lot better than a 1 year OA. I’m probably gonna go for it.

Ok but so what exactly is the difference between the required paperwork when you first apply and when you do the 5 year extension? You say you don’t need to get anything from someone else? But don’t you have to get fresh evidence of income from your pension provider or whatever? Isn’t the whole purpose to get updated documents?

This to me is a huge advantage. My concern is that the recent announcement of proposed changes to the tax law on foreign income (which would tax it even if not brought into Thailand) might end up changing this LTR treatment too. Hope not ...

I see. To me it’s still kind of funny because a visa is itself a permission and shouldn’t need to be extended during its term. Imagine if a one year visa (like O or OA) only gave you “permission” for 6 months and you had to apply again in 6 months just to complete a year. The bottom line to me is, how many years can I really count on with confidence? If I have to apply for a second permission, I know they always have discretion to deny me. So for me, this is effectively a 5 year visa. Not saying it’s not worthwhile.

Pardon the ignorance but does this system for filing your own TM30 apply only to people who own their own condos or are married to a Thai land/condo owner? I've lived in Thailand a long time but always rented and my TM30s have always been registered by my landlords (or hotel owners). I wouldn't mind having control over the process but is it possible if you're just renting? My concern about TM30s normally arises once a year when I extend my stay (retirement, OA) and depending on the Immigration office, they may require a copy. Sorry if this is explained somewhere within this thread but it's so long it's hard to tell.

It seems to me that this is a great visa - and I may get one - but it's really just a 5 year visa. If you have to re-submit all qualifications to stay in the country after 5 years, how is it different from a situation where your visa expires and you are applying for a new visa? Does it say on it that it's valid for 10 years? If not it seems to me there's some hype in their marketing.

But think about it: in a given month, there are a certain number of people who have to extend their retirement stays, because they are expiring. So say there are 100 in August. They will not reduce their workload by making you come there twice. If they want to spread them out, just 10 each day, they can accept your package the first time you come and do some the next day or whenever. It seems they made Neilly come back just to take the package upstairs which they already had downstairs.

I know it's kind of pointless to ask "why" ... but if she was prepared to accept all your docs and give you that slip, why couldn't she just give your package to the people upstairs and let them process it without you having to return?

Yes I should have asked that. Too late now. But it’s hard to understand why a TM30 would be required for in-person but not mail, in the same circumstances (first report after a re-entry) …?