OJAS

But it IS a drama in the case of us Brits, thanks mainly to those enforced 2 route marches from wherever live in LOS to a particular rundown office building in Bangkok or its Chiang Mai equivalent, regardless of our calendar-working capabilities (or otherwise)!

There was a short-lived issue relating to transfers routed through one of Wise's Thai partner banks (Bangkok Bank) being delayed the week before last as referred to in the 2 threads linked below. Maybe you were caught up in that, @Negita43? The delays experienced by some on that occasion appeared to be primarily caused by some thankfully isolated incidence of bungling incompetence and ineptitude at the Bangkok Bank end, over which Wise had no control, of course. https://aseannow.com/topic/1286393-anybody-having-issue-with-wise-transfer-to-bangkok-bank-taking-longer-than-usual/ https://aseannow.com/topic/1286702-wise-again/ Things do now seem to be back to normal timing-wise, as I can confirm on the basis of personal experience having just initiated a fresh Wise transfer from my UK account.

And the fact that their HMPO masters back in the UK have apparently never sought to intervene on this point is IMHO yet another manifestation (if we really needed it) of bungling incompetence and ineptitude on their (HMPO's) part!

The only thing you can ask for in your home country is a fresh real genuine McCoy non-immigrant visa (as opposed to one masquerading as an extension of stay) from the local Thai embassy!

A decision which he is probably now coming to regret as he spins in his grave.

Many thanks. Based on your partial image I think that I have now succeeded in coming across a full-page image - albeit slightly fuzzy - of what I believe is officially called the Chor3 certificate following some further Googling. See attachment. My wife and I were certainly given nothing like this when we got married here in 2009 - and I hope that there will be no bars to obtaining one retrospectively 14 years later. There is presumably no need for a certified English translation?

From where did you/your wife obtain the change of name document? At the amphur/khet where you got married? Also, would it be possible, please, for you to attach a scan with personal details redacted, of course, since Google searches I've attempted to make for a specimen have all drawn blanks (presumably this doc is only in Thai)? Happy for you to send me a PM if you would prefer.

Thanks. In the light of your comments it does, indeed, look like it has been a new requirement at CW since Sept 2020 - although, in the light of @raysunshineray's comments, one which has not been applied there consistently (no big surprise, of course)! Can't answer your query about the need for your wife's presence, I'm afraid, since CW aren't my local office.

Yep, just like the "obvious assumption" made by the cops last week that the body had by then floated out into the sea!

But surely not as tiresome as much the boring nonsense going on here in LOS that we are regularly treated to courtesy of the Thailand News forum?

When did you obtain your 60-day wife visit extension at CW? Before or since 1 September 2020 when @Huckfi obtained his there according to the earlier thread?

The Lancashire Police Force should also IMHO be prosecuted for the bungling incompetence and ineptitude which they have displayed in this whole matter, as well as their crass insensivity in divulging personal details about Nicola to the world and his wife.

I'm sure that Randy Andy's nephew who now lives in California has a spare room in which he could easily be put up if need be. The further from the UK which that particular pair of renegades are located the better IMHO!

And on the few occasions that we are troubled for Life Certificates in connection with our CS pensions (just 2 in nearly 15 years of retirement in my experience), it's OK to submit a witnessed version by email. And the witnessing function does not necessarily have to be performed by a non-family individual "of suitable standing in the local community" - last time I got my mother-in-law to perform the honours!

Or you could even email a scanned form to a suitable pal back in the UK with your section dutifully completed in black ink. Provided they have access to a decent printer they could print it off, complete the witness section, then pop it in a letterbox inside an envelope bearing a second-class stamp. The important thing to ensure of course, though, is that your date and your witnesser's are both the same!

My gut feeling is that every State Pensioner living in Thailand is currently being targeted by DWP for a witnessed Life Certificate to be received at their end by 30 April at the latest. So, if a particular pensioner's form has still not showed up in the post it would IMHO be strongly inadvisable for them to assume that no news was good news, but instead set the ball rolling ASAP (having regard to postal disruption at the UK end at the present time) on the basis of these 2 attachments (which DWP steadfastly refuse to make available for download from the GOV.UK website for some ridiculous reason). CFN701.pdf IPC698.pdf

And, if you can find a fellow Brit to perform the witnessing function for you, get them to write their NI number in the Official Stamp box.

So looks like I can kiss goodbye to any chance of obtaining a one-off 60-day extension then since my wife never obtained a family name change certificate following our marriage in 2009. That didn't prove any bar to her subsequently getting her blue housebook updated and a fresh ID card issued, though. @Huckfi - if you are reading this thread, could you please attach a scan of the family name change certificate your wife obtained (with personal info redacted, of course) and let me know how she went about obtaining it and from where? @ubonjoe - would also appreciate your comments on the need for a family name change certificate in support of an application for a 60-day extension for the purposes of visiting your wife. The only answer to your question I can think of is that Immigration are hell-bent on making the 60-day wife visit extension as difficult as is humanly possible to apply for and, preferably from their point of view, completely impossible to obtain in practice! That said, though, I do wonder whether we might be talking about some uniquely rogue CW requirement here. I'll be going to my local immigration office (Rayong) next week to obtain a re-entry permit and submit a 90-day report in any event, so also plan to take the opportunity of clarifying their requirements for a 60-day wife visit extension application. @connda - you would also IMHO be strongly advised to check your local office's specific requirements for a 60-day wife visit extension application. What goes at CW may not necessarily go there!

According to @Huckfi in that thread, though, one of the docs he was required to produce was a Wife's family name change certificate copy What on earth is a family name change certificate? Never heard of one of these before! Is it a requirement peculiar to CW? Interested in this thread because I'm thinking of following in the OP's footsteps at my local office (Rayong). EDIT: According to Peter Denis on the 2020 thread a family name change certificate is, indeed, needed if your wife changed her surname to yours following your marriage to her, as mine did! So another piece of paper to have to chase round for just for a 60-day extension, then, by the look of things. ????

Well, they would say that, wouldn't they? After all, saving face is their tip-top priority bar none, of course!????

And was said partner bank also Bangkok Bank, by any chance? It's my impression that their bungling incompetence and ineptitude lay at the heart of most (if not all) of the issues reported in this thread, over which Wise had absolutely no control, of course.

Nothing wrong at all with doing this IMHO if you're really stuck in finding someone to perform the witnessing function who complies in every respect with DWP's over-fussy eligibility criteria - provided, of course, that you are, in fact, still in the land of the living (and you would, of course, be in considerable difficulty in doing all the necessary in any event if you weren't!). DWP almost certainly have no way of checking the authenticity of any name you choose to use for this purpose. Only serves to underline the whole futility of the Life Certificate charade in the way it is being administered in practice by DWP, I think.

I have renewed my passport twice since moving to Thailand, and on neither occasion (most recently as 3 months ago) was I required to include the original of my existing passport with the application docs. The current requirement, as clearly stated on the GOV.UK website, is to provide "a full colour photocopy of the entire passport (every page including blank pages)." https://www.passport.service.gov.uk/overseas/information/thailand/renew/adult

Strikes me that as a result of this "Statement" CW may now be making a serious bid for the 2023 Rogue Office Of The Year award!

Was this "Statement" attached to a blank TM7 form which you had obtained from CW? Or from an agent??