007 RED

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

....  However, if you got a Non O from Hull, this might well be a one-year multiple entry visa. If so, as an alternative to applying for a one-year extension, you could do border bounces every 90 days to get fresh permissions to stay. Any of those new permissions to stay could be extended in the future, with the same financial proof, if you decided this was preferable.

Sorry to correct you Tim, but the Thai Consulate in Hull are only able to issue single entry Non-O visas.  Multi-entry Non-O can only be issued by the Thai Embassy in London.

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/non-immigrant-visas.php

I suspect like quite a few other TV members, I am considering Plan B (money in the bank) in order to qualify for my retirement extension late next year.  To achieve this, I decided that I would open a separate account with Bangkok Bank specifically for ‘holding’ the necessary funds for the required ‘seasoning’.

When I went to the bank last week to create the new account, I was advised that I must provide either a letter from my Embassy or from Immigration certifying my address.  For some unknown reason they would not accept my yellow book or pink card both of which have my address in/on them.  Why they should need this letter, when I already have two other accounts with them, is beyond me.

So, this afternoon I went to my local immigration office (Nakhon Pathom) armed with the completed application form, 2 photos, copy of my passport photo page, copies of all my previous Thai Immigration stamps and departure card, plus copies of my yellow book and pink card and my wife’s house book and ID card – all just in case.

I arrived at the office at just gone 12:30 (lunch time).  There were 2 IO’s at their desks but no one else in the waiting area.  As I prepared to sit down in the waiting area one of the IO’s beckoned me forward.  I handed him the application form together with the bundle of copies, my passport and yellow book. 

He studied the application form and sifted through the papers with a stern look on his face.  He then said with a smile, you forgot to copy your TM30 (notification alien stay at residence) receipt.  He then proceeded to make a copy of the TM30 receipt on his desktop scanner/copier instead of sending me out to the copy shop in the car park.

Because of the time I arrived (lunch time), the clerk who does the typing was not available.  The IO apologised that I would have to wait until she returns, which was not a problem.  As no one else was waiting to be served I had a nice chat with the IOs about certain Embassies withdrawing their letters confirming income.  After about 10 minutes the clerk returned and within a few minutes she had produced the letter which the IO checked and then took to the senior (who had also just returned) to be signed.

Great service.  I was in and out in just over 30 minutes and the letter was FREE ???? .....

FYI... The British Embassy will charge 50 GBP for their equivalent letter and you have to make an appointment which currently has a waiting list into February.

OP…. I would confirm what several other TV members have already advised you.   The stamp in your passport indicates that you were denied entry, and this is very different from being deported.

Several members have also suggested that you obtain a new passport.  Doing so will have little, or no, effect on you obtaining a visa as Embassies/Consulates are only interested in the fact that you have supply the correct documentation to support your application and the fee.

FYI – Embassies/Consulates currently do not have access to the Immigration System.

Please bear in mind that getting a new passport will not ‘wipe your slate clean’ with Thai Immigration.  When you next enter the Kingdom and the Immigration Officer places the photo page of your new passport onto the scanner on his/her desk, the Immigration Computer System will, within a couple of seconds, link your new and previous passport together and the Immigration Officer will then have access to your complete entry/exit history.

It should also be remembered that even obtaining a visa prior to arrival does not guarantee that you will be allowed to enter the Kingdom.  The decision to admit you, or deny your entry, is at the discretion of the Immigration Officer.

Just now, Dmaxdan said:

I believe it is called a Carpenter Bee. 

Many thanks.... just looked it up on google and your 100% correct... hence the hole in the bamboo that its cutting.

6 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

A Bee, got them on my garden, quite noisy too. Not dangerous as far as I know.

Thanks.... I suspected it may be a BEE, but never seen one that is black and as large.  Any idea what specific variety it may be.

Hope someone can help me identify this and let me know if it is dangerous.  I first noticed it yesterday 'attached' to a bamboo pole in the garden.  As soon as I approached it flew off and hovered close by and as soon as I backed away it returned to the bamboo pole.  This morning it was still there and has now cut a hole into the pole.

To give you some idea of scale the pole is approximately 2cm diameter, so its fairly big.

49 minutes ago, Dave411 said:

I have checked appointments for  both affirmations and certified copies. I’ll check every day for the next few weeks, and hopefully an appointment day will open on the day that I need.

 

Has anyone tried just showing up at the embassy to arrange an appointment?

FYI.... The Embassy appointment system diary only ever shows 2 months ahead.

Regarding 'turning up at the door'... Sorry but no chance.... The receptionist in the 'fortified pill box' at the entrance has a list of people who have made appointments and will not allow you to enter if your name is not on the list and even if your name is on the list and you arrive more than 30 minutes before your allocated time you will have to wait outside.

What was it TM recently said.... something to the tune that the Government are here to help you!

Good luck.

1 hour ago, Pattaya46 said:

This could just confirm this other theory that the May's meeting was just one of normal periodic meetings, with nothing really important, and that during this meeting TI just ask embassies to be a bit more suspicious when issuing letters.

If I remember correctly, the BE representative who gave a radio interview shortly after the BE made their announcement clearly indicate that the meeting with TI was a specific meeting to discuss TI’s concerns regarding income letters.  If that was the case, it would have been regarded as a formal meeting and a member of the BE delegation would/should have been tasked with taking notes or minutes of that meeting.  That would be standard procedure.

With regard to your second quote from an earlier post:

T.I. to embassies : " We would appreciate you have a closer look at the incomes of your nationals when issuing a document about revenues ".

Embassies to T.I. : " We will do everything what is legally possible, if you eventually encounter a falsifier, please let us know, he will be sentenced accordingly "

American, Australian, British embassy : " We will not issue a document anymore ".

You omitted one very important word which preceded that post, namely.... Speculation

7 minutes ago, KhunFred said:

Sounds a bit like someone has a problem with Brits. I get along with them just fine.All the embassies should be working together to dig expats out of this hole, they've dug for us.

If your indicating that that I have a problem with Brits your 'barking' totally up the wrong tree as I happen to be a Brit and in 1992 spent some time working in the BE in BKK.

1 hour ago, thailand49 said:

There is so much written can get confusing?  You say the Law, from what I've seen and read on Thai Immigration there is no law stating anything about an income affidavit. There was something written about how this method came about (maybe someone can clarify) then just became standard practice but it wasn't by the Thai Immigration?

In the current Police Order 327/2557 (Criteria and Consideration of an Alien’s Application for a Temporary Stay in the Kingdom) covering the extension of stay for marriage or retirement there is no mention of any requirement for an Embassy letter confirming the income of the applicant, and as far as I have been able to research there has not been any such requirement for a letter in the previous 3 Police Orders which have covered that past 15 years.

However, There is a set of Police Orders (date unknown, but still current) that covers the situations where an individual wants to convert their tourist visa to a NON-O based on either marriage or retirement.  As well as the so called ‘money in the bank route’ the requirements also indicate the alternative of income per month as follows:

Retirement:  “A guarantee letter from the local or overseas Embassy or Consulate, proving the monthly pension of the Applicant not less than Baht 65,000 per month (together with reference documents showing the source of said monthly pension)”

Marriage:  “A guarantee letter from the local or overseas Embassy or Consulate, proving the monthly income of the Applicant not less than Baht 40,000* per month”

Obviously someone wanting to convert their tourist visa to a NON-O will have some difficulty in having money ‘seeded’ in the bank for the stipulated period, so no doubt the Embassy letter was introduced by TI to overcome this problem.

It should also be noted that they have used the word ‘proving’ within the text.

It is my belief that IOs originally faced with a mountain of documents (pension slips, bank statements etc), in a variety of languages, which applicants submitted in an attempt to prove their income became an overwhelming and time consuming task.  As a result, they (IOs) at some time in the past decided unofficially to adopted the Embassy letter requirement for converting a tourist visa to a NON-O visa to the extension of stay as it involved virtually no checking on their part.  The letter has since become a case of ‘custom and practice’, rather than written instructions.

As a side issue, looking at the archive versions of The British Embassy website concerning notarial services, they actually stated the income letter was for obtaining a visa, and they only changed the text to include extension of stay after their announcement to withdraw the letter.

4 minutes ago, evadgib said:

That's pretty much what I meant but TBH I thought HMG had farmed it out to whatdotheyknow so that all govt requests are in one basket. My own most recent requests appeared there during a search but I have others that pre-date wdtk that I've never bothered looking for & will presumably be archived by the appropriate dept.

Whatdotheyknow is not in any form of partnership with the FCO or any other UK Government body.  They are totally independent and were set up shortly after the FOI Act was introduced to enable individuals anonymous access to information without revealing their personal details (email address, IP location etc) to the Government body.

3 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Tried it Mr J Bond. lol. Thanks.

 

The member stated he had a successful reply and I'm sure, without going back, he stated it was from the FCO

FYI..... If you submit a request via Whatdotheyknow, they in turn forward it to the relevant government body (in this case the FCO) on your behalf.  The FCO then reply to Whatdotheyknow who in turn post the FCO response.  As you will see from my request there is a PDF letter attached from the FCO.

I seem to recall that the poster who indicated that he had received a response from the FCO indicated that they answered 2 of his 3 questions.  One of the requests (awaiting a response) askes 3 questions.  Maybe coincidence.

2 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Nothing there either under successful applications.

Try the link I've posted above in post 2620.

11 minutes ago, evadgib said:

FoI releases are published on https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/ at the time they become available to whoever asked for them.

HTH

Not quite correct.  Only requests that have been made via the Whatdotheyknow website are published by Whatdotheyknow.  If the request was sent directly to the FCO Whatdotheyknow  won't know about it.

FYI..... As of a couple of minutes ago there were 5 FOI requests posted on the Whatdotheyknow website which relate to BE Embassy Bangkok.  2 of those have been responded to by the FCO (one being from me - refused) and the other 3 are awaiting a response.  Take a look:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/fco?utf8=✓&query=bangkok&request_date_after=2018%2F10%2F08&request_date_before=2018%2F11%2F13&commit=Search

33 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

I'm still missing out on why they didn't just say that it would take 3 1/2 days to provide the information (free of charge) under the FOI act?

Dick.... Agreed .... It's because of the complications within the FIO legislation.  As mentioned, the so called 'Appropriate limit' for central government bodies is set at £600, whereas other public bodies (e.g. schools, hospitals, local authorities etc.) is set at £400 (equivalent to approximately 2 1/4 days). 

Mad... I agree.

2 minutes ago, bigginhill said:

so by doing as their reply suggests and reducing the time frame it may enter within the lime limit 

Correct and I've already submitted a modified request but I'm not going to hold my breath as there are other 'get out of jail cards' that they can use to refuse my request like it may harm international relations.

2 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

We always appreciate posters desperately trying to explain why the brit. govt. are not prepared to answer questions (they would prefer were not asked.....) - without paying 600 sterling.

 

FOI?? Only if you can afford it apparently!

Dick.... Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not defending the government's action... I was the one making the initial request.  As I said, they are not asking for any payment... FOI is free.

49 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

They told him it would take 3 1/2 days and they wanted 600 pounds?  Am I missing something?

FYI…. The FCO is not asking for a payment of £600 to provide the information.

Under the provisions of the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 there is an exemption (Section 12) which allows the public body to refuse the request if locating, retrieving and documenting the requested information exceeds what is known as the ‘Appropriate Limit’.

In the case of central government bodies (e.g. FCO) the ‘Appropriate Limit’ is set at £600.  The Act also defines a standard hourly rate of £25 and a standard working day of 7 hours. Thus £600 equates to 3.5 man-day.  

Therefore if locating the requested information is going to take longer than 3.5 man-days it can be refused, which is what the FCO has done.

FYAI… One of the 2 requests was mine… the other is an identical request which another TV member copied (including a typo) and submitted a couple of days later – for details go back to post 1087.

27 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

Can you outline the steps how to do it? I have accounts in all major banks in the US (Ally, BofA, Chase, CaptialOne, Welsfargo, HSBC, Citi, First national, and a few credit unions)

No problem.  My three UK pensions are paid into an HSBC account in the UK.  Bangkok Bank has a branch in London, so as and when I require funds I go on line to HSBC and transfer the amount I want (GBP) to BB London who in turn transfer the GBP to my Foreign Savings Account at BB HQ in BKK.  The funds are normally available next day because of time difference. 

BB make a nominal charge for the transfer and I get their TT rate when I convert the GBP to THB.  The bank book provides an audit trail of overseas fund arriving in Thailand if needed.  Has worked well for me for the past 10 years.

FYI…. BB is able to offer the same arrangement via their New York Branch https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch