essexman

9 hours ago, thoengthaied said:

If in Jomtien, Dr. Chanya has a clinic conveniently close to the Hanuman statue, and will do it for 200 baht.

I will try there tomorrow.  Lawyer quoted me 1.500 baht.

Thanks for the answers, I will get it witnessed by my local lawyer.  I was told that it can be witnessed at the immigration office.  On a side note, can I ask the safest way to send the form back to the UK?  I've heard registered post is very expensive, so I may go the EMS route.

1 hour ago, Pattaya57 said:

Sorry to interrupt but what is a life certificate?

Once you start claiming your UK state pension it's a form they send out that you have to fill in and send it back to the UK.  It's to prove you are still alive.  What I'm seeing is no one is sure if they will get the form or not.  

Am I right in thinking you just show the witness your passport.  You don't have to send a copy of the passport with the life certificate?

I'm sure this is on the forum somewhere, but I can't find it.

Would someone be kind enough to guide me through the Life Certificate form which arrived today.

A couple of things I'm not sure about.

Proof of identity.  Do I copy my passport on a separate sheet of paper and get the witness to sign that?  Or do they just sign the declaration.

I live in Jomtien, any pointers to who i can get to sign and stamp the form?

Any help will be appreciated.

That's it.  Well done.  Like you I found the whole process a pain.  Going to immigration for 2 x proof of address, 2 x medical certificate.  Now this online test that has to be printed out, then half a day at the centre.  Luckily it only has to be done every five years. 

I had a pass certificate that I saved on a memory stick and took to a print shop.

17 hours ago, ujayujay said:

Direct Asia is cheaper than any other!

Agree.  Used them for the past 6 years.  Cheaper than Rooja and simple to do online.

14 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I'd leave it until about 8 months before expiry (October 2023) - the new passport starts from the new date of issue, so you'd want to minimise the months lost.  Surely by October 2023 HMPO will have got their act together!!

Things must have changed then.  I renewed my passport which had six months left via Trendy house in Bangkok four years ago.  The new passport arrived with ten years and six months to expiry date, no loss of time?

I went to Samed in February.  I would say that near enough all the hotels/resorts are close to the beaches.  

We stayed in a hotel called Avata, right opposite the beach, however you need to be fit as there is a hill to negotiate. 

The island is small and really dependent on good weather as there is not much to see apart from the beaches.

I started getting my state pension August 20021.  i have it paid into a Thailand bank account.  I never received my first payment when it was due.  Turned out to be an error their end.  It was then that I was informed that my state pension actually comes from America?  All UK pensions are handled by Citi Bank.  So because of this it now takes 9 working days from the initial payment to get my pension into my bank account.  It goes from the USA to the UK to Thailand.   So i have to watch out for bank holidays in 3 countries to see if the payment will be delayed.

Well, I'm in the same position as the original poster.  I was 66 mid July.  I had to ring the DWP to inform them of a change of address last week, the 29th of July.  While I was on the phone I thought I would enquire regarding my first pension payment.  I was told the first payment had been paid the day before (28th) and it was a payment of two weeks pension.  Then four weeks later I would start to get my full pension paid exactly every four weeks.

However regarding my first payment I was informed that all pension payments come from America?  It is paid by Citibank and would reach my UK bank after five working days.  Now i knew this because I have a friend who is two days older than me and sure enough his first payment went in to his bank five working days after it was due.

Now, like the original post my payment will come directly into my Thai bank account.  Because of this, you have to add a further four working days, so nine working days in total.  

So, Almer, if your pension was due on the 4th of August it's highley unlikely you will get your first pension payment until the 17th of August.

After that you should get it every four weeks.

It does sound ridiculous that in 2021 it takes nearly two weeks to get your pension payment.  Of course that's not taking into account the many bank holiday days they have in Thailand that will add extra days to the nine.

I registered yesterday with the expatvac, recieved an email that took me to the registration process.  This included two photos of my passport, date of birth and address.  Once submitted I received another email stating I was now regstered and to check my emails frequently.

Regarding the original post?

I can't see how you could look up everybody who's registered.  If you can, well I'm not going to worry about it.  I haven't given any bank details and to be honest, the way things are going here, the vaccine is far more important to me than any negative reports surrounding the roll out.

Can reccomened anything by this guy:

https://www.amazon.com/Trevor-Whitehead/e/B01N5NNZ3E

23 hours ago, steve187 said:

new pension phone number is 08007317898, expect to lose 30+ minutes of you life, use skype its a free call, just a connection charge, as normal 0044 8007317898, my start date was after you, i already have my first payment ( see my post above)

I have recently applied for my State Pension as I am 66 in July.  Without browsing all the posts I can tell you that you can apply on the phone from Thailand.  The number I called was 009441218777.  I had saved the online form and filled out all the relevant questions.  This is advisable as you can then answer the questions as they come at you.  I spoke to a very nice woman who was friendly and helpful.  I would say it was done and dusted in about 15 minutes.  A few days later a I received a text from the DWP telling me that my State Pension had been processed and I will recieve a letter at somepoint telling me everything I need to know.  I am having it paid into my Thai Bank account.  

Word of advice.  Make sure you have all the answers to the questions in front of you before you ring.  My friend tried to apply on the phone without all the information and when he couldn't answer one of the questions he was told to fill out the form and send it in.  Don't be put off by the 26 pages of questions, a lot don't apply to you and a lot they don't ask.

Any questions I am happy to advice.

Just photo copy everything.  I remember thinking I had everything covered but I still forgot something.  My old license needed photocopying.  Luckily there was a place outside.  Get there early and be prepared for a long ardious morning.  If you're really unlucky you'll still be there in the afternoon.

However, it may not be so busy do to the current situation.

I can't read anywhere what the Icon is?  I had a new icon appear this week, it is called Business Suite.  Turns out its the old Facebook Manger app.

Can't help you with Australia post.  However I am getting my monthly pension payment slip sent over from the UK, although it is taking approximately two more weeks to arrive than normal.  So you may be like me and your post is delayed. 

My wife was successful last night.  Far easier on a computer apparently.  

Looks like we have nearly another six weeks of this uncertainty, I can't believe that a big concern like the Nation cannot get a definitive answer to who exactly will be affected by this mandatory health insurance?  Many people are voicing there opinion, and to be honest I can see both sides of the debate.  However, like hundreds, maybe thousands of others who read this forum, we need something from an official source.

After reading about this on Tuesday morning, and after reading hundreds of posts on two threads I've come to the conclusion that no one is 100% sure if they are affected or not by this Compulsory health insurance.  Many people have different perceptions of what has been written, what has been said, and who it affects.  From day one I found it hard to believe that this new rule would only affect a small minorty of people over the age of 50.  I'm on an extension, but until this new requirement comes into affect in July, I'm not counting my chickens.  Not until I hear news from an official source and not from a forum/newspaper.

On 5/15/2019 at 1:08 PM, Jingthing said:

So which is it? O-A visas only or also extension of O and O-A?

 

 

 

First 15 seconds this guy mentions that extensions of stay are included?

43 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Sorry but It's myopic or naive to believe that the mandatory health insurance won't be applied to (almost?) everybody who's over 50 & is on a long term (1 year) visa  

My thoughts exactly.  I'm sure when this was formulated, they meant were thinking of all long stay over 50s.  Not just a small group of O-A visa holders.