Esso49

1 minute ago, AGareth2 said:

do they accept Google maps?

They do for an extension based on marriage.

1 minute ago, wayned said:

Does this "jumped up" consular offical work for the Ambassador?  If the Ambassodor supports him then the Ambassador is responsible, the buck stops there!

I agree that the Ambassador would have overall responsibility but it is the consular official who originated this shitstorm originally so hence must be held primarily responsible.  And it is a She , not a him !

3 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

How can you possibly assert that the embassy can no longer afford to produce the letters when they charge a substantial 50 pounds per letter and it probably it takes no more than a hour or two to do so!

An hour or 2 to do what is basically a standard letter.   Lets break it down in terms of cost.  The letter arrives at their post room.   So say 5 minutes to open it and put it in the correct tray for review by the Thai staff delegated to do the standard letter.  Another 5 mins for a Thai assistant to put it on the desk of the person responsible.  That Thai responsible then looks at the paperwork, primarily checking the credit or debit card details are in order before processing the card payment.  Let's say that takes 30 mins. Access the software on computer, type in the figures from the submitted documentation , print off to get approved/signed off by a consular official. Lets say 10 minutes in total and possibly a further 5 minutes for the consular official to read and sign.  Thai helper takes it to PO to send EMS.

So overall about 1 hour of a Thais work  Even assuming the Thai assistant earns 35,000 baht per month, which I doubt, then lets say with the overhead burden, tax, social etc that equates to a real charge out cost of say 100,000 per month.  Given their averaged working time is less than 150 hours per month  at the embassy this 1 hours work has a charge out cost of  670 baht.  !0 mins of the consular officials time who would be earning 40 to 60 k GBP per year plus an overseas uplift , together with O/H etc ( this computes to 89 GBP per hour ) would possibly have a further real cost  in the region of 622 Baht for 10 mins.  Total is thus 1292 Baht + 40 Baht for EMS = 1332 Baht.   The certification of income letter is charged to us at 50 GBP + 2 GBP for postage. So at 42 to the pound = 2184 Baht .  Effect net margin per letter is thus 852 Baht.    Assuming that they actually do only provide 3000 of these letters  ( I doubt that very much and suspect far higher, because there are over 620 people in Udon Thani province alone who gain their marriage extensions based on income according to my information.  That is extensions due to marriage not retirement, which the latter will increase the figure yet further ) then this equates to 2,556,000 Baht profit on this service per year.

Again once they release the actual figures requested via the FOI act we will have a true representation of the "profit" generated by the British Embassy in support of their citizens.

8 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

There will be no more announcements from the British Embassy. The announcement is posted in the link below which leads you to the official UK government website. The British Embassy could not comply with what the Thai authorities were asking which was to verify the income of British nationals which they cannot do. BE staff were not alone in the negotiations. Representatives from other Embassy's involved in issuing pension/income letters attended the exact same meetings. None of them could categorically verify there citizens income statements the way Thailand requires. Sarah Perth was 100% correct when she made the statement regarding other Embassy's being unable to verify the required information. At the end of the negotiations the BE felt it prudent to give as much notice as possible to it's citizens in order for them to make other arrangements as per the link below.
How and when other Embassy's decide to notify there citizens of future arrangements with regard to being able to reside in Thailand, is a matter for them to decide.   

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-embassy-bangkok-to-stop-certification-of-income-letters

I suspect that this post was on a par with the level of BS that this post identifies. Once the exact information is revealed as the FCO s obliged to reveal under the FOI act I would expect to see resignations if what has been implied, and countered by other countries own Embassy statements,are proven to be sound evidence to the contrary that the BE has knowingly misled.

3 minutes ago, Jesse123 said:

The email I received from Sarah Peth (Deputy Consul and Head of Operations) states that the only way to get an extension to stay is to have the required funds in the bank seasoned as required. No mention of the income route which is on the web site. The Embassy have washed their hands of the issue - she did refer me to the Embassy statement which still gives the false impression proof of income is an acceptable way of obtaining an extension.

"

I am sorry to learn that you are unhappy with the announcement that we intend to withdraw from providing a Pension letter in Thailand from 1 January 2019.  I appreciate the difficulties that can accompany such a change in services.

 

Our British Embassy in Bangkok currently issues a pension letter as a supporting document for British nationals applying for a Thai retirement or marriage visa application.  The Thai authorities have confirmed that they want the British Embassy to verify the income of British nationals which they are unable to do.  They/We would refer such requests to the issuing authority.   Therefore, the current letter does not fulfil the Thai authorities requirements so we need to stop issuing it so it is not misinterpreted as verification.

 

When withdrawing a service we do look at what other options are available to the customer to assist them in meeting the requirements of the receiving authority.  There is an alternative for customers to demonstrate that they meet the financial requirement for their retirement or marriage visa by holding a Thai bank account showing the minimum funds needed.   

 

To assist customers, our Embassy in Bangkok has published details on their website of the change in service and what option is available to customers and what those requirements are.  Further details can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-embassy-bangkok-to-stop-certification-of-income-letters"

 

why repeat something that has been posted many times before  in other threads - don't you read them ?

Go to jail,  do not pass go,  do not collect 200 pounds !!

1 minute ago, djdubuque said:

This was only hypothetical, but if I did have the 100M, I would live in Thailand and take my Thai girl anywhere she wanted to go.  I have been to more than 60 counties for work so I would only be going to help my girl understand the way the other parts of the world live.  As she only recently has gone outside Thailand with me.

Excellent post and good luck. 

12 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

No I had not thought of it, but why not buy a Thai school and ship it home.   lol (that means it is meant to be a joke)...............Oh no, you'd get sh....ty teachers.

There is enough rubbish in the oceans already without buying a Thai school and ship it.  But because you married a Thai and consequently have Thai children, does not necessarily mean you wish to bring them up in some floating rubbish dump does it ? ????

1 hour ago, TSF said:

LOL, that's what I was thinking too. Who the hell would want to be an alien and doing 90-day reports when they could be cruising the Med or Caribbean in a yacht.

Have you thought fo a second a person married to a Thai and having Thai school children would find it quite difficult to provide schooling to their children in the Caribbean ? 

1 minute ago, wgdanson said:

To add to what you say, yes the BE will accept pdfs of bank statements. I did my Income Letter from them and DID NOT print out a single sheet, filled in their forms with a pdf editor. They must be 'relaxed' about pension statements because I never sent them any (I don't get them), simply bank statements which say where the payment has come from DWP or whatever, both from my UK and Thai banks. £20k in the bank for next year, no worries then !  

 

Sorry just remembered I had to print out the Credit Card sheet because I needed to sign that one.

if you scan in your signature you don't even need to sign it in ink, just add a copy of the scan signature to the .pdf and they accept it ! absurdity at its best.

2 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

The BE accepts original UK banks statements as well as downloaded/printed versions of the same statements or a mixture of both. I have no idea if they are similarly relaxed on pension statements and other stuff offered up by applicants.

To answer that question regarding pension statements.  In days of old you would provide them with originals and copies.  You still can if you wish I undertsand.  However, their preferred method of receiving these items now is via email as an attachment to your application for a Certificate of Income Letter. So yes they relaxed the requirement themselves for witnessing original documents.

1 minute ago, Maestro said:

The Pension Service, part of the Department for Works and Pensions, sends me annually this form CF(N)1175 to my address in Switzerland, where I currently reside, but from your post it appears that they do not send it to recipients of a pension in Thailand.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=10bAk8z6cXUzkeDoBg-C8Z9YOqZeeSGVi

You get no pension increase if living in Thailand so there is no requirement for them to send the letter.

8 minutes ago, robblok said:

I don't often agree with you.. but this is sheer brilliance and well thought of.  Maybe he should also get a long whip for when she slows down during the work ????

Ehm a thought but if she likes leather she may just enjoy it too much ????

3 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

What did Udon Thani Imm advise?

I was the only the second person to raise the issue with them at that time. Prior to Friday they had heard nothing about the issue from their Chiefs.  Now you have to remember that in my experience the IO working here in Udon are some of the most helpful and nicest people I have encountered in any immigration office.

Given that they said they would enquire and seek guidance and let me know on my next visit as to what they have been advised. That will be in January for my next 90 day report.

However, a personal opinion of the 2nd in charge there was that something must be provisioned for the future, given that the majority of extensions based on marriage in Udon are approved based solely on income, and he would not like to see families potentially disadvantaged because they do not have access to a large amount of money to show in a bank( his words not mine). 

2 minutes ago, robertson468 said:

A few days ago I renewed my Visa at Koh Samui Immigration and took the opportunity to discuss the change in proof of income and said that I understand that if married to a Thai I only needed to prove 40,000 baht income per month in Thailand, or if not married to a Thai, 65,000 baht monthly income.  They said the ONLY proof of income from now on is either 400,000 baht in the Bank for those married to a Thai, or 650,000 baht for those not married to a Thai.  I have asked our, about to be appointed, Hon Consul to take this up as a matter of urgency and issue clarification.  Alternatively, I am thinking of writing to the Foreign Office, who give direction to Embassies, as I believe the implementation of this new rule has been done in a very autocratic way and those residing in Thailand have not been given the chance to prepare for the new requirement.  To say that such a rule is changed within three months is rediculous, but if the BE said for instance it will change in 12 months time, or even a bit longer, at least gives individuals the opportunity to get their finances in order.  They have after all been issuing these letter for many, many years, so what is the big rush now?  Sorry to say, but without being advised by the BE of the background to this, it is a very autocratic way to go about business and does not help the Britis living long term in Thailand.  Very unsatifactory indeed!

Different to what Udon Thani immigration officer advised when I discussed it with them on Friday after getting my latest 1 year extension stamp.

Most importantly don't believe 10% of what people post or advise you to do. ????  The best experience is your own so come for a holiday and ask questions when you are here.  Then compare the answers with what you see and hear yourself.

9 minutes ago, yang123 said:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-office/about/complaints-procedure

 

This has a section for complaints about Consular Services ...

Done, many thanks. 

On 10/13/2018 at 5:17 PM, maprao said:

Yes and he gets this forum translated. This us how all the "loopholes" are closed.

 

To the op. Place 400k in a bank and let it "season "

And next week he will take the British Embassy to task after reading those translations.  He loves his British pals here and don't like to see them upset  ????????????

1 hour ago, topt said:

I always thought 3 x 18 was 54 - or it was when I used to play darts..........

discount for cash ????