sleepy99

9 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

last week

I see, yep normally it should have arrived already. Something strange is going on.

2 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

My money is late too but it is not an issue for me, I am not at all concerned about it, if it is not here by Thursday I may do some checking.

When did you sent yours to Bangkok Bank?

3 hours ago, Jim7777 said:

Uhhm the 400K Baht is one of the options for marriage visa extensions but that wasn’t his rule that’s been a rule for several years before he was ever the Immigration Chief he had absolutely nothing to do with that.  All that happened under his tenure was that they did away with income affidavits and changed the procedures of HOW you actually verify your income or 400K or 800K in a Thai bank account.  The actual rules didn’t really change that much and the monthly income requirement or the 400K or 800K income rules didn’t change at all as far as the minimum monthly income requirement or money in the bank.  

 

The biggest change was the procedures for verifying the 800K option for retirement visa extensions.  Bottom line the actual financial requirements never actually changed under the previous Immigration Chief and they have always been the same for several years before he took over he didn’t make that rule as you say.  All they did was actually start making us prove our income or money saved in a Thai bank account for real instead of using an Embassy letter.  And “pigs” really, have a little more respect for Law Enforcement then that.  And understand that this isn’t your home country.  

They did not get rid of the income affidavit at all, only 4 embassies chose to stop issuing them.

All other embassies still issue them as usual, after they've seen your pension letters or other proof of income. And IM still accepts them for extension as usual.

Only those from those 4 embassies were left out in the cold to fend for themselves, so TH IM had to give them this monthly transfer option to help expats from these 4 embassies. 

 Wonder what procedures are in place now with the new regulations.

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Then he should think about why he didn't think about that before he got old.

That's like stopping work maybe when you are 65 and then you think: From what should I live now?

There was enough time to do some planning...

That's not answering the question, no need to stomp on the fact that they haven't got one yet, just yes or no. What options are there for Expats over 80, which are probably in the thousands that resides here.

Any Thai health insurance that accepts retirees over 80 years old? What would happen to the retiree older than 80 that can’t signup for health insurance due to age?

4 minutes ago, kokesaat said:

I asked an immigration officer in Iron about this.......as applies to me.  I came here in 1996 at age 46 and am on the same Non-O visa.  After some conversation with another official, she said I qualify.

I understand that what she says today and what actually happens in I renew later in the year may not be the same.  In the meantime, I know of 2 other udonites ho qualify.  One renews in March

Thanks for sharing, good to know they do honor the clause in practice as well. I wasn't sure if it was just a remnant that got carried along with each new order or not, but not recognized.

30 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

 

From a pragmatic point of view, how would he prove that?

 

His older passports would be gone for sure one would imagine?

 

And immigration cannot even keep records on a retiree for more than 12 months. I have to submit reams of the exactly the same documents year after year.

He has never left the country since 1995, if I do remember correctly I've seen some times on the extension stamps, they put the number of times he has done an extension. Other than that, I'm sure it's traceable.

To clarify my friend situation on what type of Visa he has been on since 1995, he has always been on a retirement Visa since he applied for it back then, not a marriage Visa. They got married after he already was on a retirement Visa, and he just kept extending his retirement Visa for the past 24 years, hence he would qualify for 200k in the bank, based on what is written.

2 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Doesn't mean he came here before 1998. Since he's not a real life case, I hope this hypothetical 87 year old does go to jail, and draws worldwide attention to immigration's latest mean-spirited policies. 

You are nuts to think that this is hypothetical, in my area alone there are at least 10 expats that I personally know whom are older than 80 years old, most of them have been here for almost 20 years. My american friend in this case is the oldest guy I know of and I've just met with him yesterday.

You must be sick to wish something like this to him.

12 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

If he is 87 and in poor health.....One option would be to forget the visa altogether and ride out the rest of his days visa free....

If he ever gets caught, that means detention and deportation, at his age, not a risk he should take.

Besides, on paper, he would fully qualify to extend based on 200K in the bank because of being here on retirement prior to 1998.

All that is left is, do they recognized and really allow this or not since it's stated on paper in clause 6? because sometimes it might be different in practice. This topic is for asking if someone could share some insights. 

Back to the topic's subject matter, does anyone knows an example of some one who has successfully used the 200K method for people that qualify for retiring here pre 1998.

As mentioned earlier in my original post. I don't see much discussed about here regarding this. I do understand that most people on this forum came here post 1998, but someone might know about it and could share some insights.

6 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

How is that even supposed to work? Who entered Thailand before Oct. 1998, staying here on retirement extensions since then, would be at least 70 (born in 1948), not 60 or 55! Except, of course, if retirement extensions were granted to 40-year olds back then... 

I believe it is addressing the age they were when they acquired the retirement visa before 1998.

Regardless, in his case he's over 60 years of age as stated in clause (a), which is the clause he falls into. So the only remaining question now is, do they recognized and really allow this or not?


 

5 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

He's done for.

How so? 200K in the bank should qualify him. Which he will have in time 3 months prior to his next extension. Again, please note that he has been here on a retirement visa since before 1998.

Unless there is some reason why this would not work, which is why I started this topic to ask.

4 minutes ago, elviajero said:

How much is his monthly pension? And is it transferred to his bank in Thailand every month?

As far as I know, it's not transferred to Thailand monthly, I suspect that whatever pension he's on does not pay out monthly. Hence them having to resort to the money in the bank method.

According to the latest police order on No.6 which I don't see much discussed about here.

It says:



I have a American friend that has lived here since 1995, consecutively on his retirement Visa. for the past 24 years he has used the US embassy income letter, his latest extension was around October 2018, just in time before they stop issuing the letter, so he's good for now.

However, this means that this year will be the first time in his 24 years here that he has to use a different method of extension. He's 87 years old and can hardly walk anymore, international travel for him will be basically near impossible, plus he has nothing to go back to in the US.

At the moment he's living a good life with his Thai wife of over 2 decades that is taking care of him. He has a good pension, but a lot of it goes directly to his medical bills, so from what I've learned, they would be able to deposit the 200K right in time before his next extension but 800k might be a stretch due to his medical bills, so according to the rules stated above, 200K 3 months prior would qualify him for an extension since he has been here before 1998, however, he wants to be sure that this rule is really allowed and will work. having to leave the country is not an option for him, if they insist it has to be 800K he might have to sell some of his property to cover it in time, and even that could be a stretch.

Are you or do you know anyone that has been here before 1998? did they really allow 200K instead of 800K?

 

7 minutes ago, farangx said:

You worry too much and rather unwarranted.  The 800K is the easiest of them all. For me it has always been application on the day takes under an hour depending on IO workload, and then collection the next afternoon.

 

Perhaps this will give you some peace of mind, though not recommended.  A few months back when I did my usual extension, because of my dates miscalculation I could only apply for the extension the day before my extension expires.  On top of that I only realize that morning that my 90 day reporting was 3 days overdue.  How's that for a triple witching hour?.  I am just a retiree that wakes up at 2pm and the brain starts working after 6pm, it has to be a walk in the park. ????

 

Sounds like my worst night mare.. 

1 minute ago, skatewash said:

30 days in advance is the general maximum countrywide as I understand it but some immigration offices (Phuket is one) will do them up to 45 days early.  Phuket didn't ask me why I was doing it 45 days early, but some will ask for a reason (like planned travel or something like that).

Certainly 30 days is early enough.  Two weeks is probably early enough.  I don't understand why someone would go with only a few days remaining, though.  Maybe they enjoy the suspense?  ???? 

Suspense is the last thing I want at my age.

8 minutes ago, CGW said:

I have been doing my "visa" in Udon Thani for the past five years using 800k in the bank, it has never taken any longer than 30 minutes.

The bank book and letter have to have exactly the same amounts stated, preferably dated for the same day, I use Siam commercial bank, before this last year there software never updated the bank book if their had been no transactions and the end amount was the same, this was a problem one year and had to return to bank and take out 100 Baht, last year the software had been changed and updated the book regardless to the the days date, so no need to do anything apart from check.

Good luck.

"The bank book and letter have to have exactly the same amounts stated"

So that probably means, take out or put in a 100 THB first so the bank book can be updated, and has the latest balance for the day, then ask for the bank letter with the same amount as the bank book? I guess that's the only way it can have the same exact balance.

Wish you could tell wich SCB branch you are using, as I've tried to open a SCB account at a branch on Taharn Road before and it was difficult so I tried another bank.

and not to mention the house I've build that's not even in my name, but I've paid for the whole thing. Sigh.

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

At some imm offices you can apply 45 days prior. As per bkk and some larger cities perhap chiang mai etc. Others are 30. But you dont need anything more than week or 2 as safe guard. Keep in mind the 3 month period for funds in bank is prior to date you apply. Not the date of your current extension

Noted, thanks for the comfort, at least I can get some sleep. I wished that IM would look in to more accompanying factors as well, the fact that I've been here for so long, but each visit over the years feels more and more depressed to me.

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You would never be deported for needing more paperwork. You can apply for extension 30 days before your "until date". Slow some buffer if there is something else they want. Chill...after this extension using money in bank you will find it very easy ongoing. 

I was told that I can apply 45 days before my VISA expires? Not sure if that's true or not, but I always went to IM 30 days in advance with my previous extensions, and using the Affidavit method.

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Imm at many offices insist on "activity" on the day of application. Just deposit 100baht. I always now do bank letter and activity on the day of app. In past have had letter couple of days prior. Some members will post ..not necessary. Depends in office. Required CW.

Thank you for the tip, hope they would at least show some sympathy for me being an old fart and being here for more than 10++ years already. I just feel like even though I have well much more than the required funds both savings and income, the paper work and sometimes by the book stuff might give me a hard time, with my age I can't handle deportation, let alone any type of international flight.