streetlite

New PCX comes in flat black. Very cool but is ruined by the red pin striping on the side and front panels.

Nakhon Sawan Immigration Office provides a courteous, friendly, efficient and professional atmosphere whenever I've had to do Visa, re-entry and reporting services. I usually present them with a neat package of completed t.s. form, signed passport copies, income letter from the US Embassy, picture, and yellow house book copy when applying for my Retirement renewal stamp. This time, however, I was presented with two additional steps in order to get the stamp. At the first station I was asked to sign an additional form stating that I agreed to abide by the laws of Thailand and any infraction would result in the loss of Visa and possible deportation. Never had to do that in the past. The second puzzle occurred at the last station. The woman asked me if I was traveling alone to Immigration. I told her my wife was outside waiting for me. She then requested that I go get my wife and when we were all seated at the desk she asked to see and copy my wife's ID card and also sign the notarized income affidavit letter from the Embassy. Got the renewal with no problem but I thought the "wife" thing was a little strange. Can anyone comment on this? Is this a common policy at other Immigration offices or some new policies in effect?

CDNSKI12:

Very sad commentary. If you read my post you'll see I "did not" use an agency. It was very easy to do on my own. It did not cost much either.

SLOWLYMAN:

I applied for a Tourist Visa based on advice from an agency that suggested I could do it on my own and not have the cost of using his agency. I thought that was a very considerate gesture on his part.

A fiance Visa (K1 I believe) is more involved and you will probably need an agency because of the different rules and forms necessary.

A K3 Visa is a marriage Visa and assumes you are already married to a Thai. This was what I originally called the agency for. I had been married for 2 years in Thailand. An agencies help is also necessary and takes up to a year to process. Lots of paperwork and legwork on your part plus expensive from what I gathered.

A tourist Visa is what he suggested I try on my own. It's and easy 1 form "download from the Embassy. Buy a pin code( $15 on the internet with A CREDIT VARD) to access the appointment calendar. pay the fee ($160) at the post office. Then just set up the appointment. The questions they asked my wife were just general in nature and I think it was her natural self that pulled it off. She is a very genuine, sincere person and I think the interviewer saw that. Try it.

Last week I wrote an extensive piece to Thai Visa explaining my success obtaining a US Visa for my wife. It's titled "Thank you US Embassy"

I gave step by step information. Find it. I hope it helps you.

Here are our facts:

We've been together for 7 years and married for 2 years.

We live in a small Village in Central Thailand.

My wife has a 17 year old daughter.

She is 39 years old. I am 64 years old.

We live on my pension. We are not wealthy but live reasonably comfortable.

She has never been out of the Country. I've lived here permanently for 3 years.

Here's my story:

I sort of gave up hope after reading and hearing about the horror stories of others applying for a US Visa and being rejected or taking forever to process. Also the expense involved by using an agency. So I just forgot about the whole issue until just by chance after speaking with an agency they steered my toward applying for a Tourist Visa. They said the chances weren't good but it was worth a shot.

In late April, 2012 I decided to give the application a try.

Here are the steps:

1. Download form DS-160 from the Embassy site. This is for instructional purposes and is nice to have in front of you before going online to fill out the formal application. I printed a copy and read it many many times before I attempted the real thing.

2. Go to the Embassy website again to access DS-160 and start the process. It times out quickly so save after every page. Have all information (parents names, birthdates, etc) available before you start. Also have a digital pic ready for uploading. At the beginning they will ask if you want to upload your pic to make sure it meets the standards. Do that. Fill out every line of the app honestly and completely, including the "does not apply" boxes. You will be sent an "Application Successfully Submitted" e-mail with a bar code.

3. You must now set an interview date and for this you need a PIN number to access their calendar. You can apply for a PIN number from the same site using a credit card for the $15 fee. Get your access code via e-mail and this gives you the calendar of available dates and times. In our case the month of may was booked but they had a block of 7 days available in June. We chose June 12 for a 9 AM appointment.

4. You must pay an application fee before your interview and bring the receipt along with your acceptance page (with barcode) to the interview. The fee must be paid at an approved Thai post office. My Village post office could not do it so on a visit to Pattaya we went to the post office on Soi 13/2 and they knew immediately want needed to be done. It cost 5000+ Thai Baht, the rough equivelent to $160 USD. They gave us a receipt for the interview.

5. Now the nerve racking part begins. The Embassy only requires that you bring your interview confirmation, your bar coded application confirmation, and receipt of payment for the fee. So what else do you bring having no idea what they will ask or look for?

This is what we did:

1. We only wanted a 2 month Visa so I wrote a personal letter to the Embassy staff indicating as such and the fact that I wasn't sure if I would last a full 2 months in America. Told them how long we were together (7 years), how long we've been married (2 years) , where we lived (remote Village), my retirement status, etc. A letter with candor and some light hearted sentiments. I also had my brother and a friend send a letter to my wife via e-mail. I wrote the text, e-mailed to them and they in turn sent it back to her. I tried to make it easy for them. So, 3 letters.

2. We had many pictures together throughout relationship. My wife selected about 10 pictures and put them in a small flip book (4x6). Pics were of us, 17 year old daughter, our house, our pets, etc..

3. Our marriage certificates.

4 Her passport. my passport, her housebook, my yellow book.

Day of the Interview:

1. Went to Bangkok the day before (Monday) and stayed within walking distance of the Embassy.

2. Indicating that you must arrive 1/2 hour before your appointment we arrived an hour before the appointment only to fine the queue line almost a block long. The Embassy wasn't even open at that point. So get there early.

3. I was Not allowed to go into the Embassy waiting room with her. I was allowed to sit in an outside area but elected to return to the hotel.

4. Around 11 AM my wife calls me and says she is walking back to the hotel.

5. She said there were about 20 others waiting for interviews when she arrived. Eventually she was called to her station (she commented on how cute the young American interviewer was . Asked her basic question in Thai, where she lived, how long we lived here, about her daughter (17 yrs. old), where she was staying in America (she said New York even though we drilled New Jersey for a week prior), etc. She had a small photo album with her which he never asked to see. What they kept were her passport, marriage certificate, and the three letters written by my brother, a friend and myself.

She saw that some of the other women were handed back there passports after their interview. So we didn't know what to expect. We came back to the Village on Wednesday and on Saturday, in the mail, was her marriage certificate, letters and passport with a 10 year VISA stamp.

My wife stated how polite and helpful the Embassy staff was toward her. She speaks very little English and when they recognized this the interviewer switched to Thai.

Richard Smith

Where is the website?

Nakhon Sawan Immigration:

US passport.

Application

Embassy letter stating monthly income (minimum 65000TB). No need to prove at the Embassy.

Passport pages.

Pictures

Proof of residency.

Spent 2 hours at the bank for a letter I did not need. Numerous copies of bank deposits I did not need

In and out in 15 minutes.

What a great Immigration office in Nakhon Sawan. No hassles. Thank you.

Interesting. My wife bought the 1/4 acres when married to her Thai husband, since divorced. His name is in the blue book and cannot be removed. Her name has changed to my last name upon marriage and I have a yellow book listing my address. Can the previous husband claim the house upon the death of my wife?

Would be happy to give you some pointers on the cooking side of things as i'm a fully trained chef and worked in an Italian restaurant for over 5 years as well as many other styles of food, if you are interested pm me it won't cost you anything and would be willing to help you out a bit as i'm not particularly busy at the moment. ( btw i'm in Chiang Mai so it would have to be by skype or something)

Jeremy...any tips on proper dough making....flour types, yeast, oil, salt, etc? [email protected]

Retirement extension and Marriage Extension

My question concerns the Income Verification letter from the Embassy for retirement Visa. Every year I must travel to the US Immigration Office, after making an appointment, write down an amount of income, pay $50 and get it stamped. At the Thai Immigration office I trhen have to supplement the letter with all the bank book copies and letters. Surely the bank book says it all. Why the need for the letter from our Embassy?

Food Court, Big C, near the Heineken taps. 11 to 2

I had to upgrade from Gold to Platinum for ASN programming to get the entire NFL game schedule. Or downgrade to Silver to get the ASN network. Just a few games are being programed on True Sports 3.

I have my balls and body powdered every night when I go to bed. Worth whatever pension I donate to Thai society.

I am in a small Village in Nakhon Sawan Province. We have 20 new computers in the school but no Internet access. How do we get to the internet?

Dirk,

I am a retired High School principal from the USA. Classroom teacher for 10 years, Special education. I have taught all subjects in grades K-12.

My English skills, spoken and written, are excellent.

I would base a daily curriculum around his homework or current study area.

My fee per day would be 1000 baht.

I live in the Chonburi area. Contact me if you are interested.

Thank you.

Just finished a conversion from A-O to Retirement Visa at Jomtien. Had a letter of income verification from the US Embassy in Bangkok, filled out the application with an online from so everything was neatly typed in place, had my house lease and TrueMove bill, copies of passport pages and a passport size photo. Entered Immigration at 2PM on a Wednesday. It was crowded but I managed to get Barry's attention and before he would issue me a ticket he went through all my paperwork. He complimented me on how neat and organized it all was but informed me that I still needed a bank letter and copies of my bankbook pages. I decided to go home and return the next day with the additional information. Up Thepasit, across Sukhumvit, onto Khoa Noi I noticed a new Bangkok Bank so I went in and asked for the letter. Five minutes later I had a letter stating my account balance of 900 Baht. My pension check doesn't hit until the 1st of every month and my bank book reflects this so I took a chance and went back to Immigration. It was now approaching 4PM. I saw Barry again and he went through the paperwork, again with compliments on efficiency. He gave me a number and said it was the last issue of the day and it was now being called so I just went back to desk #6. The young officer checked the pages, removing some additional crap (letters of pension statement) which were unnecessary, handed it to the young lady next to him. She took my picture, asked for 1900 Baht and told me to go to the desk behind her. An older woman then scoured my paperwork page by page and informed me I had to put more money into my account. She did notice the prior deposits so this must have counted for something. My Visa expired on the 8th of March and this was the 24th of February. She told me she would issue a Visa good until March 8, 2011 and for me to return on Friday (2 days later) to pick up my passport. She issued me a numbered card. Went back on Friday, straight back to the last desk and had my brand new retirement Visa. A very good experience overall.

The asked specifically for the house rental papers.

Just finished a conversion from A-O to Retirement Visa at Jomtien. Had a letter of income verification from the US Embassy in Bangkok, filled out the application with an online from so everything was neatly typed in place, had my house lease and TrueMove bill, copies of passport pages and a passport size photo. Entered Immigration at 2PM on a Wednesday. It was crowded but I managed to get Barry's attention and before he would issue me a ticket he went through all my paperwork. He complimented me on how neat and organized it all was but informed me that I still needed a bank letter and copies of my bankbook pages. I decided to go home and return the next day with the additional information. Up Thepasit, across Sukhumvit, onto Khoa Noi I noticed a new Bangkok Bank so I went in and asked for the letter. Five minutes later I had a letter stating my account balance of 900 Baht. My pension check doesn't hit until the 1st of every month and my bank book reflects this so I took a chance and went back to Immigration. It was now approaching 4PM. I saw Barry again and he went through the paperwork, again with compliments on efficiency. He gave me a number and said it was the last issue of the day and it was now being called so I just went back to desk #6. The young officer checked the pages, removing some additional crap (letters of pension statement) which were unnecessary, handed it to the young lady next to him. She took my picture, asked for 1900 Baht and told me to go to the desk behind her. An older woman then scoured my paperwork page by page and informed me I had to put more money into my account. She did notice the prior deposits so this must have counted for something. My Visa expired on the 8th of March and this was the 24th of February. She told me she would issue a Visa good until March 8, 2011 and for me to return on Friday (2 days later) to pick up my passport. She issued me a numbered card. Went back on Friday, straight back to the last desk and had my brand new retirement Visa. A very good experience overall.

I now have a couple of questions that they could not answer. My 90 day report is due on March 2nd. I thought the new Visa would cover this but the young officer at the front said no and that I still must come in on the 2nd. Is this correct?

I would like to get a single re-entry while I am there because I plan to visit the US in July. Can I just get the reentry and fill it out when I firm up my plans or do I have to have exact dates and flights to get the re-entry permit?

.

"I'm going to Bangkok next Friday for an "income verification" letter from the US Embassy."

You can save a trip to Bangkok to get an income verification letter if you go to one of the Consular Outreach events that the U.S. Embassy has, usually twice per year in several towns around Thailand.

Here's the notice from this past November - they'll probably have another one soon - you could probably find out through the "Contact" on their WWW or direct eMail.

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/consular_outr...taya_nov09.html

.

Thanks, Surfrider. I've seen these outreach events in Pattaya, but I need to re-up the Visa before March 2 and those letters are only good for who knows how long, 30,60,90 days. Those outreach events are packed solid as well, sit for hours.

Just need your passport. I recommend making an appointment. Here is a link: Link

I had them add pages also while I was there. You have to fill out a form there, where you state your income. Easy as pie. Takes about 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on how busy they are.

I heard they are now asking for copies of your bank book for the past 3 months here in Pattaya. I head over there Tuesday and will also try to get a letter from the bank stating my balance...

Many thanks, especially on the heads up for an appointment. Does the US Ebassy require the bank statement info or are you saying just Pattaya immigration?

What do you mean by 'the lady who took a photo'? I got my third retirement extension (which I assume is what you're talking about, not a visa) last December, and nobody has ever taken a photo.

I just renewed my retirement visa in Jomtien today and they did take a "web cam" type photo immediately after I submitted my application.

This was my first renewal in Pattaya, the previous six were at Suan Plu, Bangkok. Some differences that I noticed in Pattaya:

1) I had to leave my passport overnight and can collect it the next day after 2 pm. In BKK I could renew my visa and re-entry permit in one day; not in Pattaya.

2) The reviewing officer wanted me to provide her with a copy of my apartment rental agrement when I returned to pick up my passpot. Never had to provide proof of residence in BKK.

3) Had to provide a bank balance letter even though I had a new US Embassy "Pension Verification" letter. Nevver had to have a bank + pension letter in BKK

Not a bad experience but a little more bureaucratic.

I'm going to Bangkok next Friday for an "income verification" letter from the US Embassy. Is there any forms I can fill out ahead of time? Do I need to bring any proof of income (I have a pension and social security but no real documents to prove it)?

I also need some pages to be placed into my passport. Can I request this at the same time and wait while they do it?

Did you bring copies of your bank book to Pattaya immigration or can you just bring the bank book to show?

Thanks

Don't they grow this shit in Pakistan?????

Only one, but the bulb must want to change on its' own. We can't force change.

Go to immigration with your house/condo/apt. lease and a utility or Internet bill with your name on it. They prefer the bill.

They will issue you a letter the following day confirming your address. It's good for 30 days (they took mine after 60 so I got lucky). Take that letter along with a medical certificate, copies of passport pages, international or foreign license (if you want to avoid written and driving tests). Fill out the application (it has English between the lines). They will give you a number (at least in Pattaya), go upstairs and wait (bring a good book).

Two months ago my elbow swelled with fluid. Went to Pattaya Memorial where it was drained. Three days later it filled back up so I returned to the hospital for another aspiration. Prescribed antibiotics were not working. The third visit resulted in a one night stay and surgery to remove the bursa sac. Stitched up and sent home everthing was fine for one month when the elbow turned red and slightly swollen and yellowish substance leaking. Infection for sure but went back to the doctor and he performed another incision under local anesthetics, opened the elbow, aspirated and restitched the elbow. Now a month later everything seems fine except for the arthritic pain that I was told would be there for the rest of my life. Getting older is tough.

Where can I buy coffe beans wholesale?