notrub

On 2/13/2019 at 3:59 PM, KneeDeep said:

 

Since I don't work with the networks, I cannot know the answer to your question.

 

Just go to the orange machines outside 7/11 or Family Mart and top up 12 baht as many times as it takes to move the SIM validity to a year.

Then at least your SIM will still be alive when you return.

Is it that I can extend the life of a pay as you go for a year by just topping up multiple times at 12 baht each?  I have always just got a 1 or 200 baht top up which expires before i use them.  So, if I put 12 baht 12 times in one go I can get a year's service for 144 baht?  

In the Buriram immigration office there is a note posted that proof of income letters from various embassies are no longer acceptable.  I did not read past UK and US but there were a few more. I actually have an income and cash enough to meet their requirements and it is just figuring out how to present it to them in a way that they like to see it.  In Buriram one officer said he wanted to see the money on my account and that he wanted me to spend it, every month.  I have invested 3 or 4,000,000 in property here over the last few years and have a truck and just bought a new car in Thailand.  Not to mention all the junk like a/c units, tv's, fridges, fans and on and on, that has been money spent in Thailand.  I don't understand why this investment in the country counts for nothing when renewing my visa and having such a heavy look at my monthly spend.

They have never asked me to show where the monthly deposit comes from.  It is legal income but they have never asked.  Is that just a quirk of my local office and should I be prepared to provide proof of the source of the deposits in the future?

I have been refused a visa in the past because the bank letter stated that I had 1,430,862 baht on deposit and my bank book update was 1,430,826, both dated the same day.  I am prepared to jump through all the hoops that they want me to, I just would like them to be the same ones as posted on their official web site without little added 'extras' that the local office deems worthwhile.  (not talking about money, just rules).

So the balance sheet Edited Monday at 06:29 AM by elviajero is very useful post but I cannot imagine my local office making any sense of it.  It seems like the easiest way will be to put 1,000,000 in the bank and top it up when spending causes it to drop to 800,050.  Also to put in a lump sum to cover larger spends for a car or something.  Always keeping that account active and with a balance in excess of 800,000.

It is difficult here sometimes but don't forget that the government in the UK has announced that migrant workers will not be given work permits if the are to earn less than £30,000 a year.  How many nurses will qualify for that?  How empty of professional workers the hospitals will be.

Does the money on deposit need to be in a THB bank account?  I have a Euro account at BKK bank.  The amount, in Euros, far exceeds the 800,000 or 1,250,000, THB liquidity requirement.  Does the money have to be in my THB account in Thailand?  Also, are we expected, in Buriram, to actually spend 65,000 per month?  If yes, on what?  Do we have to prove spending beyond simply withdrawing this amount every month? 

Buriram immigration are pretty easy to deal with and now that I know what a TM 8 is I will get one from there long b4 departure.  I am about to renew my UK passport and the officer at this office said that when I get my new passport I can just bring it in with the old one and he will transfer my existing retirement visa over to the new one.  We'll see how that goes.  Thanks very much for all the useful information.

Yes, I have a hard won retirement visa.  My third as the earlier two were annulled on exit.  I have never ever heard a reference to a TM8 before and it is exactly what I was looking for.  Thank you very very much from a person who has spent many hours of stress about visa compliance in Thailand..  It could be worse.  In the UK they deport 90 year old grannies to countries they had not been to for 89 years.  I will take a moment to comment generally how there is little to grumble about in Thailand and learning the rules makes life easy peasy  (as Liam Fox might say).  thanks again.  B 

I am an expert at losing my retirement visa on leaving the country and now know I must ask for a re-entry permit at the airport.  I have never done this and could you explain simply and exactly  what must be done and by whom for this temporary suspension (?) of a retirement visa and what happens on re-entry please.  A friend was actually told at the immigration office not to worry about leaving the country and just go back in to the office and they would look after it.  Also he was told at the AP immigration information counter on departure just to go and all would be well.  In fact his retirement visa was annulled without a re-entry stamp or registration (or something)  on exit and he had no visa to come back in with.  He is off to Buriram immigration tomorrow to sort this out.  I think he will have to go through a long reapplication process including changing his 30 day airport visa to an 'o' type, if he can.  I am about to go through this process of exiting and coming back and do not know what to do.  If someone could also post a picture of what this (elusive) re-entry stamp/permit looks like that would be great.  Thank you.

I got a letter from the UK embassy confirming my income using a tax return and bank statement.  At the immigration in Buriram they wanted to see money going in monthly and being spent not just a letter   So I transferred 70 k baht per month for the 3 months before my visa was due for renewal and it worked just fine.  Next time I will take a printout of that day's currency exchange to make it a tiny bit easier.   They are pretty friendly and helpful at the new immigration office and honest too. Thanks very much again to Ubonjoe for the information about UK income verification letter.  That was super easy too (I nearly fell off my chair as it was such a surprise and so atypical of the usual services rendered by them)..  What a relief to get that over with.

I have a retirement visa and I have been reporting to the new Buriram immigration office.  I seem to have lost the little scrap of paper given to me on my last report.  Is this important?  As in, that I cannot find it and must apologise a lot and be really sorry?  Or, can I just go in, explain that I lost it and can I have another please?  Can I find information about me within the Immigration department Buriram on line?  If yes does anybody have the site details please?   BTW the new Buriram office is very friendly and pretty helpful about many things.  Thanks in advance for any help.

I got confused as the subject of a 'visa letter' from BKK morphed into credit card use and guarantees.  I have had letters from BKK bank confirming my deposit and mostly found them to be unhelpful about this.  No matter how many smiles come with the service.  I have a Kbank debit card and a BKK card too.  Both are visa (not that union one)  and have been registered for internet use.  They seem to work OK.

I have that letter from the embassy link you sent to me and I hope that will be solution when I make the monthly deposits too.  Thanks again for that link. 

I spent the last 30 odd years living and working in France.  In that country there is no monthly credit card rollover.  You use your card for convenience and every month 100% of what you charged is paid from your account.  If there is not enough in your account to pay then you get a strong letter from the bank requiring you to come in and settle your outstanding credit card balance - within a day or two. Failure to do this results in cancellation of your cards and restrictions placed on your bank account.  This control on your account can last for years (10 last I heard) and it is something nobody wants for obvious reasons.  That also means no chequebook and withdrawing money from the branch where you have your account is the only way to get cash.  You can pay money in but cheques must clear before you can withdraw the money from those cheques.  Paycheques, for example. People are very careful there.

If you want to buy something costly then you arrange a loan but you cannot borrow more than you can pay back.  All of these loans go through the central bank of Paris and they are all added up to determine your credit limit and will or will not allow you to buy that new tv or something..  Many big shops offer a 'pay 3 times'  option as a way around these restrictions and I don't know what happens if you default on that.  I suppose it goes back to the bank default and you must pay, or else.

Having lived that way for so long I am used to it and look with amazement at countries where anybody, even the unemployed, can get credit for anything,  The 20+ odd%  charges the card companies get is criminal.  I never think about my credit limit only what I actually have when I want to buy something.  

So I am a bit mystified by all the comments about use of cards here in Thailand as a guarantee for visas etc..

I am just going to transfer 70k on the 20th of every month and use that account for all my spending.  If they want to see a regular monthly deposit then that is what I will give them.  I don't mind going by the rules but they change so often it is difficult to keep track of.  For my 'O' visa application I got a letter from the bank stating that I had 1,500,120 on deposit and that had been there for 3 months.  My bankbook showed a balance of 1,500,210 and you will not be surprised that they made me go and get a new letter (and I missed the last ferry because of it).  I will be on tender hooks for the next few months waiting to see if what I am doing now is what they still want in 3 months time.  Thanks again for the letter link BTW.  A good service and hard to believe it is part of the UK government services.

Ubonjoe sent this link  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-obtain-a-pensionincome-letter-for-thai-immigration and they kindly sent me a letter showing what I had declared as income from both UK and France.  Sent some documents but just photocopies and not notarised.  Buriram immigration said OK about this letter but they also want to see some money.  They  don't want to see money sat in the bank doing nothing (say, 800k).  They want an active account that shows income but also that the money is being spent.  For me this time they will accept 3 months of deposits to my Thai bank for my upcoming renewal and seem to be happy that this money will also be spent.  If I understand this correctly that means I can show 65k at the beginning of the month, every month, going down to 10k (say) due to spending and then topped up by another deposit at the beginning of the month again.  If this is true it gets over the chicken egg problem of having to put aside enough to show 800k when it is time to renew/extend the visa again and still have spending money during the year. .  I have paid out over 1.5m in the last year building a house so my Thai 'spend' is OK for that part.  The new immigration office in Buriram is very friendly, BTW.

Ubonjoe posted this link for me to get a certificate of income from the GB embassy. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-obtain-a-pensionincome-letter-for-thai-immigration.  I wrote to them and sent along copies of tax returns and a bank statement showing monthly deposits.  They sent by return of post a letter which seems to be acceptable to Thai Immigration here in Buriram.  Not enough just to extend my retirement visa, however.  They also want to see 65k deposited every month to a Thai bank account.  A new twist and interpretation of what appears on the government immigration information website.  I can manage to do that but it would be good if they could get their rules and requirements clear so a person could jump through the hoops confident of success.  I had a visa refused because the bank wrote that I had 1,500,120 Baht in my account when my bank book showed 1,500,210 as my balance.  You know that I had to get a new letter typed up and missed my ferry because of that.

On a happier note, the people who produce the letter about pension income were really helpful and even sent the letter without payment as my card did not clear in their account.  They sent a nice letter asking for payment with the confirmation letter.  What a refreshing change that was.

I am about to go for my first retirement visa renewal and will be grateful for any comments and/or advice.  (am sure this topic is covered but cannot find it).  I got a Non 'O' visa in Suratthani and coverted it to retirement in Koh Samui.  With some difficulty.  I had 1,000,000 THB in the bank at the time.  Now I have spent some of that money building a house and have only about 500,000 in the bank now.

 have a document from the British Embassy in BKK known as a Consular Letter Confirming Pension/Income for Retirement Visa.  First, does this letter work?  It seems too easy somehow.  It shows income in Euros and GBP which, combined is more than enough for the income part.  Does this letter need to be translated?  

I have moved to Buriram Province and am now registered at the immigration office in Buriram City.  I have built a house and have mail addressed to me here but no blue or yellow book.  I had registered with the local police but now my address has changed slightly.  To 186 Moo 6 from 114 Moo 6  but the rest is the same (villiage postal code etc)  Should I re register?

Any other info I should take along?  New Photos?  Anything else?

I had such a difficult time before that I am very nervous that this renewal goes through without problems that I could avoid by being prepared.

Thank you very much  

Thanks Mr ubonjoe.  It looks the business and I wrote to them.  Will post my experience when it occurs.

Does anyone have experience with this 'administrative procedure' called declaration of income from the French embassy?   It is a self declaration and they provide a form letter stating income declared.  I have seen an example of this letter and understand that it is acceptable to the Thai immigration authorities.  I am a taxpayer and homeowner in France although I hold a UK passport.  

and citizenship.  I live in Isaan, near Buriram and imagine that I will have to go to BKK to do this in person there.  It seems straightforward enough but who knows?  Any comments or advice gratefully received.including ideas about a venue to get this done not in BKK.  Thanks Very much.