OJAS

In this connection the following thread illustrates perfectly the downsides to using an agent IMHO:-

I started this thread on the UK Home Country Forum before coming across this one!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64981979 Not good news for those with UK passport renewal applications in the pipeline or about to be submitted. Looks like we can kiss goodbye to any chance of receiving new passports within 3-4 weeks for the next couple of months at least.

Indeed there is. As far as UK documents are concerned this procedure is spelt out in the following links:- https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/714089/Legalisation_info_June_2018.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/714090/Legalisation_info_graphic_June_2018.pdf I only hope for the widow's sake that any surviving family members of her late husband will be willing and able to help her out as necessary at the UK end in getting his death certificate legalised!

Disagree with you about drives to Rayong City and Koh Chang being particularly easy at the present time, thanks to extensive roadworks taking place on Highway 3/Sukhumvit to the west of the newish split-level intersection with Highway 363, which make getting to the local immigration office from where I live to the east of Rayong City a particular PITA at the present time. But I am reliably informed by a fellow Asean Now member who lives in Ban Chang that there is an alternative route to the immigration office from there, which avoids all this disruption. @jacko45k - this may also be of interest to you.

Click on the following link for details as to how you go about applying for a 90-day non-O visa conversion for retirement at your local immigration office:- https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

Or alternatively near the expiry of the 90 days apply for a one-off 60-day extension for the purposes of visiting your Thai wife, maybe? Would that give you enough time to accumulate 400k in your Thai bank account and then comply with the 2-month seasoning requirement?

This link sets out the requirements for a non-O conversion application for retirement:- https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

But they might nevertheless need to make an emergency trip back to their home country at short notice because of (e.g.) a seriously ill relative there. I'm sure that they wouldn't welcome having to overcome the bureaucratic hurdles placed in the way of visiting Thai nationals by their home country in such circumstances! So definitely best to hang on to your home country citizenship if at all possible IMHO, no matter how unlikely such a situation might appear in your case - until you're faced with it, of course!

And please accept my profuse and humblest apologies for taking it all with a ginormous pinch of salt.

There is a hard core of cyclists back in the UK who consider themselves completely above the law with what they feel is their God-given right to ride wherever they like and in whatever manner they choose, be this, for example, riding on pavements or jumping red lights. And whenever this attitude brings them into conflict with other road users, it is always the other road user (vehicle driver or pedestrian) who invariably finds themselves on the wrong side of the law, with the cyclist receiving a gentle rap over the knuckles if even that.

IMHO this thread is yet more evidence, if we really needed it, that CW regard themselves as serious contenders for the 2023 Rogue Immigration Office Of The Year award!

Depends on how often you are planning to travel back to the UK. If only occasionally could you not make do with your Thai debit card (assuming that it can be used to make GBP payments in the UK, of course) - even though this will inevitably mean a double-whammy on the exchange rate front if your income is derived in the UK but paid into a Thai bank account. A bitter pill which you might just have to swallow, I'm afraid.

Because DWP are hell-bent on making this shining example of pointless bureaucratic nonsense just as difficult for us as is humanly possible!

And definitely no mention of legislative requirements in the following link, for instance! https://slothmove.com/uk-bank-account-if-i-move-abroad/

Indeed, when it comes down to ease and grace, American passport renewal procedures from Thailand IMHO knock spots off the cumbersome bureaucracy that we local Brits here are faced with at passport renewal time. In our case, unfortunately, the use of the excellent Thai Post EMS system is clearly considered far too technologically advanced by the Luddites back in the UK who are responsible for inflicting the nonsensical procedures which we Brits are required to endure on us!

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!