Pib

What's the latest USPS tracking on your 7162 mailed to Wilkes Barre via registered airmail on 24 June? Has it arrived Wilkes Barre SSA yet?

I expect one of the reasons for setting a Bt400K floor and requiring a Bt800K level 2 months before & 3 months after extension application was to help ensure a person has enough funds to live on year-round (what Immigration feels is enough funds for a farang) and did not just borrow Bt800K for a few days to get the extension. After after those few days the person paid back/gave back the borrowed money and is possibly now back to only a few baht in his Thai bank acct and living on much less. And yea I know the short term Bt800K slight of hand is what some visa agents arrange....get immigration to bless. What is suppose to happen if falling below the Bt800K during the 2 months below & 3 months after extension application along with following below Bt400K during the remaining 7 months is you have violated the terms of your extension and it could be immediately terminated and/or when applying for the next extension it would not be approved. A person signs an immigration form notifying of such when processing an extension. Now regarding arrangement of a visa for your father, there is an option where income is not required....see below post/thread talking Rule 2.20 Dependent Extension.

Actually the deposit change went in effect 1 March 2019....over 4 years ago....time sure flies. See below Jan 2019 AseanNow thread. The link I posted earlier is a later police order that upped the medical insurance insurance requirement effective 1 Oct 2022 and this Oct 2022 police order also reflected the Bt800K deposit requirements from the Mar 2019 order. Or said another way the Oct 2022 order pretty much superseded the earlier order(s).

You should be OK. The copy you mailed back should arrive Wilkes Barre within 2-6 weeks. Registered airmail usually takes longer (typically twice as long) than regular airmail. Now even if it don't happen to arrive before the SSA 2nd 7162 mailing in Sep/Oct (for those folks Wilkes Barre didn't get a response to the 1st mailing) you can just mail back the 7162 provided in the 2nd notice....be sure to mail back any 2nd notice even if your tracking showed your 1st 7162 response arrived Wilkes Barre. Recommend you mail it back regular airmail as it should arrive sooner and definitely be a lot cheaper than using registered airmail. And if Wilkes Barre does not get a response to the 1st or 2nd mailing in Jan they will mail out a notice of benefits suspension applying to the 3 Feb benefit payment.. If that occurs you should contact the Manila FBU SSA office who are probably going to instruct you to mail them and/or Wilkes Barre a manually completed 7162 which can be downloaded from the Manila FBU SSA webpage....see their web page below for more info. https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/social-security/faq/

You will be required to have insurance. But in Phuket they implemented rules which grandfathered some....they kinda went rogue on the medical insurance requirement...but rogue in a good way for some.

Yes, assuming you are talking a retirement extension, Bt800K two months before extension application and 3 months after application approval....then can drop down to Bt400K for next seven months if desired before needing to bump it up to Bt800K again for 5 months. https://aseannow.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=874628&key=3ac22c8aa0266ccc9402b52fd4b76675

From Bangkok Immigration https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/visa-extension/#1610937437663-90b1feab-b48a See line item 18: In case of being a family member of a Thai National. There is no mention of Thai children age requirement. VISA SPOUSE / THAI CHILDERN Criteria for Consideration 1) Applicant must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-O) 2) Having proof of relationship 3) Having evidences of nationality of Thai spouse or Thai children 4) In the case of spouse, relationship must be de jure and de facto Documents to be submitted 1) Application Form for extension of temporary stay (TM.7) attached with one photo of applicant 2) Copy of passport first page with photo and copy last stamp, first visa, last visa, departure card(TM 6), evidence of report address, evidence of report 90 days 3) Evidence of relationship 3.1 In the case of spouse – Marriage Certificate (khor lor 2 and khor lor 3) or ; – Marriage Certificate from abroad must be certified by the Embassy and the Department of Consular Affairs in Thailand 3.2 In the case of Thai children – Copy of Birth certificate and household registration of child/children 4) Copy of Identification and household registration of Thai spouse or any other document proving Thai nationality issued by authority or governmental agency concerned 5) Copy of House lease agreement, Identification and household registration of owner with certified signature 6) Application fee is 1,900 Baht 7) Any other relevant documents which may be required for consideration REMARKS: 1) Applicant and spouse must contact in person for an interview 2) The originals of required documents must be shown to the competent officer and photocopied with certified signature by applicant

Here's a couple years old thread from Ubonjoe talking the confusion regarding a visa/extension for a farang based on supporting a Thai child.

Correct.

@tai4de2 Interesting info you provided above. Regarding the issue of not having two active visas at the same time from reading numerous AseanNow posts/experiences over many years it does seem the general rule is a person shouldn't (or can't) have two active Thailand visas at once except it did seem to be OK sometimes like when one visa was within 30 days or so of expiring when a person was applying for a certain other type of visa outside of Thailand, etc....but these posts/experiences sometimes left a person with more questions in their minds as to exactly what the Thai immigration regulations allow since we are not privy to a lot of regulations/policies/memorandums that Thai Immigration and Embassies follow. And regarding not entering on another visa or visa exempt before you evisa application is approved, definitely don't do that as some quick googling led me to the below Thai Embassy websites in the Netherlands and U.S. which basically say the evisa will be rejected/disapproved if the Thai Embassy sees you are currently in Thailand....I expect they can check your passport number/name against the Immigration database to see if you happen to be in Thailand on any type of visa or visa exempt. If in Thailand then the evisa will be rejected and no application refund...and I'm sure you don't want to lose the $1600/Bt50K LTR evisa application fee you have already paid. Snapshot from Thai Embassy in Netherlands https://hague.thaiembassy.org/th/publicservice/e-visa-general-conditions Snapshot from Thai Embassy Washington D.C. https://thaiembdc.org/visas/

Thanks, Misty. I guess what it boils down to is an LTR Visa allows the issue of a work permit where some types of visas do not like a Non OA Retirement visa, an Elite Visa, etc,.....and a LTR visa removes the 4 Thais to 1 foreigner work permit requirement which can be a real plus. And of course the BoI One Stop Service Center being able centrally process the work permit.

@Misty I think @tai4de2 might be asking if the digital work permit can only be approved if you have a "specific employment/job" at the time of work permit application OR can the work permit be issued as a catchall, good for most any job/employment in Thailand? Now I don't have a work permit nor have much knowledge on the work permit regulations, but I would think the work permit would be issued for a "specific" job/employer and if changing employer an updated/new work permit would be required link to the new job/employer?

Whoops...where I referenced you submitting on 6 July that was based on your earlier 6 July post...but I just saw your post of today where you said 5 July was the submissions day. Too late for me to edit my post to say the correct date.. Probably considering the U.S./Thai time difference and since you were posting from the U.S. where it's was still probably yesterday it still works out to 14 calendar days....but if it was 15 days that still durn fast.???? Hopefully for those applicants with their ducks all lined up approx 14 "calendar" days will become the norm processing time which is much faster than the 20 "business/working" days (which equates to approx 28-30 calendar days when considering weekends/holidays) that BoI has advertised for the LTR processing time from submission to endorsement (approval).

@tai4de2 Congrats! Yeap...it now seems when a person has all the required documentation lined-up like ducks the approval process is much faster than the initial 4 to 6 months of the LTR program. From looking at your earlier posts you submitted your application on 6 July...and today/20 July you got the endorsement/approval....14 days---fast! And @JimGant very recently got his LTR Pensioner endorsed after around 16 days which included a day or two of delay due to an additional doc request. Yeap....seems BoI is much faster now when a applicant's ducks are all lined up. Regarding your question as to where to have the LTR issued via the e-visa system OR having it done at BoI in you very near term trip to Thailand, I would recommend you play it safe and ask BoI the question per the LTR Visa Issuance Guidance on the BoI LTR website....see weblink at bottom and partial quote. I would think after you explain your situation of wanting to have the LTR issued in Thailand since you will arrive in a few weeks, the evisa system would be more expensive and may not issue the LTR in time for travel, and how you can provide all required docs such as your latest passport copy with all stamp "with the exception of the entry stamp" to occur when arriving that BoI would say no problem...you can indeed have the LTR issued at BoI and you can provide the updated entry stamp on your appointment day. But that's just my opinion....confirm with BoI. I would send your request directly to their email address as shown at the bottom of the webpage AND also submit the same request via their inquiry form. LTR has been answering questions very quickly lately...within hours to a business day. Be sure to include your LTR application number so they can easily look you up in their system. https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/visa-issuance-info.html

You are right that's it's a rumor the Bt800K deposit method has been deleted OR has changed from Bt800K to Bt1M....was this a rumor originating from the 3rd barstool down? And the Bt65K/month transfer/deposit from overseas is still available....as is the home country embassy letter method "if" your embassy provides such letters (the UK, US, AU embassies do not).

One thing for sure is the LTR Pensioner category has been the most popular LTR category so far...with the LTR Work from Thailand category coming in second.

And here's some more stats on the average U.S. retirement income....it gives an excellent example of what that average is based on "mean and median" averages which are calculated differently. The "mean" average which is how most people figure out an average will usually be much higher than a "median" average when talking about income levels of many, many people....like the entire population of a country as the upper income tiers will usually make a mean average much higher than a median average. Webpage Link

I'm sure when the govt dreamed up the LTR program years ago they first decided what categories of people they wanted to attract. One of those categories was "pensioners." And of course they wanted some sexy sounding names for the different LTR categories as sexy sells. Now the name they gave of "Wealthy Pensioner" was probably selected because it sounds HiSo, sexy, etc....kinda like the HiSo, sexy sounding LTR category of "Wealthy Global Citizen" that implies someone who is a citizen of the world....like a citizen of every country on Earth...can easy afford to do nothing but travel from country to country their entire life... real HiSo, sexy sounding. Yea, when you are selling something you want that something to have a sexy sounding name as sexy sells better. But beyond the selection of HiSo, sexy sounding LTR category names I'm sure Thai govt agencies "like the BoI" knew they needed to have good income statistics for each of the LTR categories as the govt didn't want to set the requirements "too high" but at the same time they also didn't want to set them too low. So, disregarding HiSo, sexy sounding LTR names what does a typical "pensioner" make in most western countries. Well, the typical annual "retirement income" in the U.S. according to the U.S. Census Bureau is approx $76K/year for a 55 to 64 year old (but for many this amount surely includes very significant income from still working), but by age 65 many have stopped working and only have pension/passive retirement income and now the average retirement income amount has dropped to approx $48K/year. See snapshot at bottom. I expect these U.S. retirement income amounts are similar to other western countries like in Europe. Also keep in mind these "average" amounts in the U.S. Census Bureau stats is a "median" type average where half the people made less and half made more. If the statistics were based on how people typically determine an average by adding up say the income of say 1000 people and then dividing 1000 then that that average figure could very well reflect a much higher (or lower) average amount and this type of average is called a "mean." Mean, median, etc.,....math still hurts my head! So, when the Thai govt picked the $80K/year wealthy pensioner level for the "average" retiree over 65 making around $48K, an $80K amount is about 67% (two-thirds) higher than the average retiree's income amount and that average retiree might feel his fellow retiree making $80K is wealthy. And since the Thai govt probably wanted to focus on upper income tiers of retirees for the pensioner category that's probably why they picked the $80K/year requirement level with no investment amount required. But if a retiree with a more average retirement income in the $40K/year ballpark then they also created a $40K to less than $80K/year with $250K investment requirement. Additionally, such amounts definitely sound wealthy to the typical Thai. So, assuming the Thai govt based the LTR Pensioner requirements on statistics like U.S. Census Bureau stats and wanted to focus the LTR pensioner category on those pensioners in the upper tier retirement income stats, then $80K/year was probably about right. And then if a person wants to throw in typical "Thai pensioner" income level that is surely a LOT lower than a typical farang retiree income level then a HiSo, sexy sounding LTR name like Wealthy Pensioner fits. https://www.annuityexpertadvice.com/good-monthly-retirement-income/#:~:text=According to U.S. Census Bureau,2020 to %2447%2C620 in 2021.

You would probably just provide that on the day of your appointment...the BoI rep would just add that to the paper package they have built for you. Not uncommon for some last minute, very recently updated documentation that needs to be added to the package before going across the hall from the BoI office to the Immigration office where the very last step of the LTR process occurs over an hour or so. Heck, some people between the time they make their LTR issue appointment which could be an appointment weeks or longer away might make some trip that results in another stamp or two in their passport which might also result in a new TM6 if the reentry was at a land border. BoI is just trying to get the "very latest" copy of your passport and some key docs before the LTR appointment day....avoid the need to make a bunch of copies on the big day.

Double really? Where a person wants to retire (whether they are well off or not so well off) is totally up to them. Maybe it's because they have Thai family, maybe they like the low cost of living in Thailand, maybe they really enjoy the Thai culture, maybe...maybe....maybe a whole host of reasons the person decided on Thailand. Face it....Thailand is a popular location.

What blocked that try?

Between the time a person first submits their LTR application and when its approved, which could be anywhere from weeks to numerous months later, a person's immigration/passport records could have change significantly like getting another 1 year extension on their non immigrant visa, maybe even changed from say an extension based on retirement to marriage (or visa versa), maybe even changed from say a Non OA visa to a Non B visa, processed one or more new 90 day repots...etc....etc.....etc....etc. Lots of major or minor changes may have occurred....and what kind of and how many changes possibly occurred will vary from individual to individual. It's my understanding that it's the "Immigration Office" side of BoI that requires the LTR applicant to provide a new copy of their passport with all stamps and other various possible immigration related forms a person might have obtained/processed between the date he initially applied and just before the date the applicant is taking the final step to pay the LTR issue fee/have the LTR actually issued. And immigration requires it in the format requested (one "continuous" PDF doc) versus several PDF uploads that people often upload when initially applying for an LTR. It just something you will have to do...plan on resubmitting your passport and possibly a few other forms like your latest TM47 90 day address report (if you have one), TM6 from last entry (in case one was issued like entering at a land checkpoint vs airport)....if you don't have any of these forms like because you haven't been required to submit a TM47 since you haven't started in Thailand 90 days yet then you just tell BoI such. If your passport hasn't changed in anyway then you just upload it again in the one continuous doc format requested. As said, BoI wants to ensure they have the "latest" copy of your passport and some other forms before taking the final LTR steps.

Here is what "use" to be on the Bangkok Bank website years ago regarding the process/documentation related to death of an account holder and what a foreign relative needed to do to access those funds. Now their website just says to contact Bangkok Bank for process/documentation requirements which are probably still the same as below.

Yeap....my Bangkok Bank passbook regular saving accounts reflect a SC and when I did fixed savings account years ago those old Bangkok Bank passbook reflect a FC. I don't know what the code would be for a foreign currency acct but FC might not be it as others have mentioned since Bangkok Bank uses FC for their Thai baht fixed savings accounts. Then again maybe Bangkok Bank also uses FC for accounts other than fixed savings accounts.

See below Medicare.gov article. https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11037-Medicare-Coverage-Outside-United-States.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwibjty8-pCAAxVbd2wGHS8XB6AQFnoECBsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0y3hugbAvtkNB0fwwzkYx0