OJAS

In that case it is IMHO totally unacceptable that, thanks to apparent Immigration Bureau dithering and indecision, there remains uncertainty on this basic point with less than 6 weeks to go until the change is made. Taking Pacific Cross policies as examples, you could get away with their Premier Plus policy if the figure is 3 million at an annual premium of 70,244 for the 61-65 age bracket. However, if the figure is 3.5 million you would need to upgrade to their Maxima policy which provides 5 million cover at an annual premium of 81,567 for the 61-65 age bracket. Maxima-Plan_Edit-1.pdf Premier-Plan-Edit-1.pdf

You will not be able to get back on the insurance ladder at all if you are aged 75+ !!!

Well let's hope that the Immigration Bureau get round to issuing the necessary Police Order by 23:59:59 on 31 August! In any event, isn't the increase, in fact, to 3 million THB rather than the 3.5 million figure quoted by the OP? 3 million was certainly the figure quoted in official guidelines issued by the MOPH some time ago (attached). I was under the impression that you wouldn't be tied to Thai insurance policies after 1 September! Guideline_on_Non-Immigrant_O-A_Visa.pdf

Still to be formally confirmed by the Immigration Bureau through a new Police Order, though, I think.

So, if not VFS, who performed what HMPO, in their infinite wisdom, clearly consider these days, in a blatant insult to our intelligence, to be the excessively onerous and complicated task for us humble mortals of wielding a pair of scissors in order to snip off the top and bottom corners of the front cover of the passport being renewed in your case? EDIT: Or are you, in fact, saying that VFS performed this onerous task when you submitted your renewal application instead of when you collected your new passport? If so, then the inherent bungling incompetence and ineptitude of their HMPO masters in the UK is clearly rubbing off on to them as well!

Thanks - so give or take still around the 11 weeks being officially advised then.

How long did you have to wait for your new passport?

Which is your local immigration office? Others with personal experience of obtaining marriage extensions at that particular office may be able to advise you on specific requirements.

Acccording to various reports on here that I can recall, only CW appears to make use of the online booking system - provincial offices seem to ignore its existence entirely!

Certainly that's what I did with no problem at my local office (Rayong) when using the 65k monthly income method. Not sure whether this approach would necessarily work, though, in the case of the 800k method where offices specifically require statements in addition to passbooks (Rayong don't) - don't recall any specific reports on here one way or the other.

This thread might be worth a read on his part in the first instance:

I think that you should give serious consideration to opening an account with another bank for future retirement extensions using the 800k method. Most other banks will issue 12-month statements on the spot (e.g. Kasikorn do as stated above by @Digitalbanana, plus Krungsri as stated by @flexomikeelsewhere). In any event it is IMHO preferable to house the 800k you need for retirement extension purposes in an exclusively separate account (presumably your reference to paying your phone bill from your Bangkok Bank account means that it is your general all-purpose account?).

Neither can I - but I was referring to private pensions.

Definitely not the case at Rayong in my experience - see my first previous posting.

.. who most certainly aren't one of those offices still insisting on a 3-month seasoning period, @proton!

Definitely don't need a statement at Rayong - which happens to be my office as well as the OP's. I, myself, switched from the 65k monthly income method to the 800k bank balance method for the first time in connection with my latest retirement extension application there last Tuesday. Although I had obtained an account confirmation letter plus statements covering the previous 12 months identifying monthly 65k+ transfers (my home country embassy being one of those which no longer provides an income confirmation service), Rayong weren't interested in seeing these. Instead all that I was required to provide were a bank confirmation letter plus passbook (and copies) relating to my separate dedicated 800k account - which included a token 20 THB transfer which I had made into it the previous day. The OP should, however, be aware that Rayong do require account confirmation letters to be obtained the same day as the associated retirement extension applications in the case of the 800k method.

And, if as in the case of @foreverlomsak they were not prepared to pay into a Wise account either, you would be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea as regards receiving your private pension if First Direct were to pull the plug on your UK account with them. Whilst this may well be unlikely in your case, as you have already said, others whose private pension providers were not prepared to make payments into a Thai bank or Wise account would not be in the same fortunate position as you if the UK banks upon which they were reliant for receiving their private pensions were to decide on the spur of the moment to close their accounts. In their case the only option open to them, as I see things, would be an enforced return to life in the UK.

If said "huge silent majority" are "not on Aseannow asking questions etc", then what purpose would a survey on here serve?

And then they would get even more confused if they were told on here that the only way in which they could renew their "retirement visa" would be to exit the country for a fresh real genuine McCoy single-entry visa of the non-immigrant "O" variety (either from a Thai embassy or consulate, or through a subsequent conversion at their local immigration office)!

That link actually sets out the requirements for the conversion of an existing real genuine McCoy tourist visa (or visa-exempt entry) to an equally real genuine McCoy non-immigrant visa of the "O" variety, and definitely not for an annual extension of stay which some on here insist on calling a "visa"!

Might they also insist, for good measure, that the payments must be paid into a UK bank account - and under no circumstances directly into a Thai account, as is permitted by DWP in the case of State Pension payments?

Well, one particular "what if" that many of us do seem to be worrying about to a considerable extent at the present time is whether the mandatory health insurance requirement will, in fact, increase to 3,000,000 THB / 100,000 USD for all non-OA visa holders past and present from 1 September. The only basis for asserting that this will be the case is an announcement made some time ago by the MOPH. However, to the best of my knowledge it is the Immigration Bureau, not the MOPH, who are responsible for formulating and enforcing immigration policy in LOS. As far as I am concerned, therefore, I shall only accept that an increased 3,000,000 THB / 100,000 USD health insurance requirement will apply to all non-OA visa holders from 1 September when and if a Police Order confirming this is issued by the Immigration Bureau (in connection with which 1 September is, of course, now only 7-8 weeks away).

And the supreme irony is that, according to the Money Saving Expert link I circulated yesterday, TSB had not (back in 2020 at least) formulated any specific plans for closing accounts held by EU expats!

In fact, it has already started happening here, at least as far as TSB are concerned according to this thread originated by @pontious

Problem with Wise accounts, though, is that they are not covered by the FSCS £85k deposit guarantee scheme. The following link includes a UK bank-by-bank account of the situation in the EU post Brexit: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/11/eu-bank-accounts-closed-brexit/