Konini

OK Joe, thanks for that - you are a real star.

Apologies in advance, mine are never straight forward.  I'm on a Non-O (spouse) visa\extension.

I got our marriage certificate verified by London and Ministry Foreign Affairs here so I can do the extension from here, and I almost got it a few weeks ago; all of my paperwork was in order (she sent me to get a copy of our lease) and it got to the point where the IO put the stamp in the passport ready for the senior officer to sign.  Senior officer knocked it back - even though my visa expires late May, we'd just come back from Vietnam and I was stamped in for 3 months, she told me everything was OK but I have to come back closer to the stamped in date (24 July) and do it then.  Problem is, we're going to England in a couple of days for 5 weeks.  She assured me that they will let me back into the country on that visa because I'm stamped in until 24 July.  OK, I trust her, but I don't so much trust the IO at Swampy being as switched on.  

I could just get the extension from London as I have done every year, (I'm a bit weary this time because there is an empty stamp in my passport that is crossed out which looks a bit dodgy) but I really would rather get it from here because if I get it from London I can't do 90 day reporting, I have to physically leave the country and it will bring our extensions up to the same date.  We end up doing a border hop at Mae Sai maybe once a year, but it's always at the most inconvenient time and it should be so easy to change that.

So, visa extension expires May, and I'm stamped in until July 24th , does anyone know how long I'll get when I come back in late June?  Hopefully, they'll just stamp me in until 24 July and I can do the extension as soon as we get back.  If I get stamped in for 3 months again though, I won't be able to do the extension because again the stamp will be too far from expiry. On top of that, we do a lot of trips out of the country and we're away the end of July for a couple of weeks then again the end of August. If they keep giving me 90 days, I could keep this up forever but I don't think that will happen, I think I'll get stamped in until 24 July and can do the extension when we get back, but I need some confirmation if anyone knows please.

On 5/16/2019 at 8:26 AM, SEtonal said:

O-A =/= O

O-A is not O.

Immigration can only issue an O.  Immigration cannot issue an OA.  An OA must be obtained at a Thai Embassy or Consulate in your country of citizenship or permanent residency.

Small correction - we live in Thailand, husband is on a Non-O (retirement). For some crazy reason our visas/extensions got out of sync; his extension is due in January, mine is due late May.  I get a Non-O (Spouse) visa from London every year.  I use my British passport for this, but on the form I fill in I put my address in Chiang Mai.  No problems at all.

39 minutes ago, Thailand said:

There are numerous posts on the forum as a whole and a number of times on this thread , particularly from Ubon Joe simply saying the "insurance" is only for non-immigrant O-A visa obtained from your home country or overseas not for extensions of stay based on retirement.

This is the case for sure.  However, I believe that the sprint of what they are trying to do has been botched by a very badly written law. They obviously want everyone here long term to have medical insurance, but the way it's been written (or should I say translated to English, I don't read Thai) it is aimed only at one particular group, the Non-O A visas.  In the news article it quoted imm saying all long term people on Non-O, so that would include volunteers, religious types etc.

As it has been published in English, it won't affect us, but I'm quite sure that they have just written or translated it badly so it appears not to include us.  I think that will change once they get into the 2nd week or so of July when they have processed a couple of hundred extensions.  I hope not, but I think it's coming.

IO's wouldn't be able to verify the various certificates presented to them, and anyone with a PDF editor can change whatever's on the policy in a matter of minutes. 

(Not that I would know anything about that kind of thing, of course). ????

Whilst technically correct about the wording of the new law, I think the spirit of that law is to have folks all on 'retirement' or other long stay Non-0 visas and extensions medically insured.  To be honest, I don't blame them, making sure that their public hospitals aren't left out of pocket, and I'm sure that we will all be required to have it, if not straight away then as soon as someone has a lightbulb moment and realises that most Non-O holders still aren't insured.  However, there are plenty of people who have insurance bought overseas that covers far, far more than that required - how many different insurance companies in how many different countries each with different layout for their policy certificates?  Our actual policy certificate doesn't have any dollar amounts on, just refers you to the online only terms and conditions.  And as Dante said, pre-existing conditions won't be covered by new insurance so the new law is not quite hitting the spot; Fred Bloggs may have his insurance policy which ensures he gets his extension, but he has a heart attack which isn't covered because of earlier health issues.  Fred Bloggs would, it seems to me, be the person most likely to end up with a big hospital bill that he can't pay.  It hasn't been well thought out at all, although I have no idea how you would solve the issues.  Something like this would be in the bottom of anyone's too hard basket.  

Like Wavehunter we too have travellers insurance, unlimited medical and US$10 million public liability.  We pay less for that annual (joint or family policy, covers both of us) policy than we would have to pay for a local one (cheapest I could see was 52k each, Mr K is 56 next year so we'll be in the next bracket then).  If for any reason our existing policy doesn't cover us and we are required to pay 102k baht a year for insurance we wouldn't use (because the policy we already have is much better and we need that policy anyway for when we are in countries other than Thailand) the camel's back can be officially considered broken.  

4 hours ago, cusanus said:

Have say not. My wife and I were both over 50 when we arrived in 2005 and we used the spousal (dependent) visa extension, 800,000 baht. Heck, I didn't even know the spouse could be under 50. 

For the first few years we were here we got 12 month Non-O's from Hull in England.  By the time they shut that down (they were handing out too many Non-O's), he was 50, I was only 48 but no problems - sorry for the confusion.

Since then though, my husband has a Non-O (Retirement hand written on the stamp) which he applied for in Chiang Mai and I piggy back onto his visa extension as his spouse (goods and chattels) with my own extension. 

12 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Either way you can no longer draw down and spend the 800k as you used to and indeed, with the hassle of timing withdrawals and maintaing the minimum required many people have just opted to just put 800k aside in a fixed deposit account untouched. Which of course means you need to bring in other funds to live on.

AFAIK nothing has changed for dependent spouse visa.

If you want yo switch over to monthly income method you need to show 12 monthly transfers (every month) of at least 65k originating from abroad. Be aware that there are issues with the coding of incoming transfers if using a currency excange service like Transferwise. Read up on it,, there have been many threads.

Some IOs -- and CM might be one of then I'm not sure -- have taken it upon themselves to ask for additional proofs of source of income from abroad such as pension statements though it is not required by the police order.

Thanks Sheryl - looks like we'll have to just do what we have been doing so far with the 800k in the bank 3 months prior to the extension (January) and start bringing over 70k or so every month from December by bank transfer ready for the year after.  It's our own self managed Superannuation fund, so we can get our accountant to do a statement just in case we need it.  Even though I knew it was a long shot I thought we might get away with starting to do the monthly transfers now, but there would only be 9 of them.  It's either that or putting 800k into a bank account and just 'forgetting' about it for as long as we want to stay here.

We've got until the next extension is due to decide which way to go - there is even a third way we can go; if our current health insurance policy isn't deemed to be acceptable by immigration, we'll have to think very seriously about whether or not to stay on here.  The minimum policy for us per the government's site would be over 100,000 baht (2 x 52,000) which is more than we are paying now for an overseas policy with an awful lot more benefits and that would definitely be the straw that breaks this camel's back.  What, with the couple of months in Europe, a month in Australia, 3 or 4 short holidays around Asia every year and this year almost 3 months of unbreathable air up here, we might just be better off with a couple of tourist visas and a couple of visa exemptions on arrival.  We already have a lease and our driver's licences will be renewed for another 5 years soon, so I can't see any drawbacks to that plan (not having a Non-O) at the moment.

Too much to think about at the moment, we go to England on Monday and I had to get a back tooth pulled about an hour ago.  The only thing about it that didn't hurt was the 1,000 baht it cost.  I was sooo looking forward to fish and chips and English-Chinese food, and mam's Sunday roast and Yorkshire puddings but from previous experience I'm going to be on almost cold porridge and honey for about 3 weeks.  First world problems, I know, but if you can't wallow in self-pity after having a tooth out, then you never can.

1 hour ago, cusanus said:

Terrific! Great to know that the spouse can still piggyback on the one account, it probably can still be joint for that purpose I'd wager. But from what I keep hearing, the income must now be exactly per month, that's what they keep saying here anyway if you read earlier posts. Seems a lot easier to just keep an 800,000 (or 400,000 mid year) balance. You can pick up a bit more interest keeping 800,000 in a fixed account and a different account for daily use. Nice to know that you've been enjoying Thailand for so long. My USA wife left in 2008, but we're still on friendly terms.

We were told specifically that the account had to be in my husband's name only and that they would not accept a joint account for his extension.

While we can pick up a bit of interest, we can make a lot more with it invested which is why I don't want to have to keep the money in a bank account.  If we have to go down that route for the next extension we will, but we'll definitely be doing the income method for the one following.

We have used the 800k in the bank for 7 or 8 years now and we would like to change to income.  As the extension is due in January, if we start transferring money this month we will only have 9 monthly transfers by the time it is due.

Chiang Mai office; is this do-able for the next extension or do we have to have the 800k and start transferring money in December so we have 12 monthly transfers when it is due the following year?

5 hours ago, cusanus said:

Hmmm... but how about your own extension, are you saying your husband's account covers the spousal extension? I was under the impression it didn't any more, but you had to double the 800,000. Maybe you don't need to double it. All I know is that rules have CHANGED effective March of this year and you have to have 800,000 in the account three (or is  it now two) months prior and three months after the extension day, ALSO, 400,000 minimum the rest of the year (or a combination of accounts I assume in the same name). Also, depending on the embassy, you can't use income letters anymore. Once again, I suggest going in person and asking an IO these questions (then reporting back here). 

No problems with my extensions previously (I think I'm on my 6th or 7th), I always joke that I'm one of my husbands' goods and chattels because I don't count for anything.  He has a bank account in just his name, every year we transfer 1 million baht into that account, we make sure that it's over 800k for 3 months before the extension, and gradually transfer it over to our joint account during the year for spending money until it's time to do the international transfer for the next extension.  As I said, I'm just one of his goods and chattels.  I know a couple of other married people who do the same as us, both on 800k in the bank and usually the husband has the Non-O for retirement  then extensions of the same, and the wife is listed as Spouse on her visa extension stamp.

Providing nothing has changed in relation to the spouse extension, and I can't see that anything has changed, the new rules won't affect us so much; we will just have to be careful not to let the bank account we use for international transfers go below 400k after the now 6 months seasoning.  A tad inconvenient, but no biggie really.  We may change over to the income method (transferring minimum 65K here every month) I just need to know if you need a full year of monthly transfers before doing the extension (it's due in January, Christmas day is the absolute best time to go to immigration because nobody else is there).  Because we only have 7 months, we probably won't be able to do it next year, but if anyone knows differently, I would be grateful if they could share it.

11 hours ago, cusanus said:

That's how I used to do it 12-14 years ago, 800,000 in a joint account was good for both myself and spouse for a retirement visa extension; however, what I've been hearing, as I said earlier, is that you cannot use a joint account anymore. And again, though I hear these are the new rules, you should go to the Immigration office and ask directly. I've done that many times over the years and never found it difficult, but then you aren't in the country right now did you say? In 2005 we brought money over in intervals bigger than monthly and it was satisfactory for all, but now it sounds like it must be strictly monthly which can be a pain. 

We've always had an account in just my husbands' name with the 800,000 for extensions in, over the next year I gradually move cash over to an account that we use day to day, before transferring 800k from overseas in time for the next extension (so no change for us there, providing they haven't changed the requirement to 800k each).

Hopefully we'll be OK - but I do have a question.  Does anyone know if we have to have a full 12 months of transfers into the account before it would be accepted that we have this income every month?  We only have 6 or 7 months until it's due - would that be enough?  Anyone with experience of this?? No drama if not, but I'd rather be able to do it for the next extension.  Would they accept overseas accounts/statements?

9 hours ago, cusanus said:

My understanding is that this is no longer acceptable. It must NOT be a joint account and both husband and wife need separate 800,000 amounts and/or incomes. I suppose if the deposits/income are double that might work, not sure about that. Can't guarantee this is right either, so suggest you go right to the source and ask the horse. He'll give you answer that you endorse.

I've always had a spouse visa, meaning I don't have to have my own 800,000 on deposit - 1.6m is not a problem in itself, but much more than we want to have tied up here.  This rule hasn't changed, has it?  

We've also been thinking about going onto income based for not the next extension but the one after because of the changes, again because of our aversion to tying up 400,000 indefinitely (in a bank that isn't government guaranteed as they are back home).  Are there any issues with the deposits coming into Thailand quarterly rather than monthly?  We have plenty of time to sort it out, and can do a direct payment to our bank here each month regardless of when we organise our super fund to pay it into our account back home, but doing 12 overseas transfers rather than 4 seems like an unnecessary expense.  Again, we'll do what is required, but it seems that things used to be so much easier. 

22 hours ago, grin said:

You have a point there about worrying about nothing. Now that I think about it I should just forget about updating my TM30 every time I come home even if I stay longer than a weekend. Then I will only have to pay the fine once a year when I go in to do my extension of stay. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. What a load off. This will save me about 20 trips to immigration every year.

 

Ding ding!  This is the winner.  Owner reports online every time we arrive back in the country, we only physically go to immigration to do TM30 with a screenshot of the latest report on the phone (we don't bother printing it, they don't seem to care) the one time before we do our extensions.  There is an old TM30 receipt stapled to the last page of our passports, it's never looked at in detail but they make sure one is there.  It's just ripped out, binned, and the new one stapled in.

We leave the country between 8 and 10 times each year and one of us rides over to immigration once a year with both passports.

Your mileage may vary.

1 hour ago, oneoffpost said:

oi! my post got deleted, i wasnt trolling i was complimenting konini. Like i said i deleted my account ages ago and made a new one specially to do it.

Cant remember my exact words but something like I had forgot how good it is the way she tells people off when they need telling. Like so condesending like that only the English can do with an aussie twist on the tail. Always knows just the right words to use and i think i said i miss seeing it.

Chortle chortle. I got you post via email notification, didn't realise it had been deleted.  I wasn't offended at all, I read it in the spirit it was posted. In fact, I have a feeling that I know who you are; if you are indeed from deepest, darkest Lytham-St-Annes, I have a vague recollection of you being on the pointy end of my tongue once. My memory fails me, but I remember it was a particularly acerbic and pernicious spray that you copped, but you knew you deserved it and took it well. What I do remember is you soon afterwards quoted the Black Night, saying it was just a flesh wound, but that you knew exactly how he felt when he said it.

Jeez, that must be 7 years ago. I'm getting old.

EDIT: I should have said I think I know who you are because I know few people who use the English language as atrociously as you somehow succeed in doing and whose only knowledge of grammar is it being your father's mother.

Sadly it's actually getting worse as the day goes on.  The Sun usually burns some of it off but it isn't making a dent in it, To  confirm it for myself I've just looked at the numbers, currently 578 at the San Phusea station,  higher than it was at 6AM.   

Mr K is away on a bike ride to the north, I've told him to stay where he is if it's not too bad where they are or where they're going.  No point in coming back if he has or can find breathable air. Every year we say we'll get out for it next year and of course never do.  We're going to contribute to the smog by taking a flight to Nha Trang next week, but it's only for a week, give the lungs a blow through.  Next year, really. 

Seriously.  March until the rains come is the time to be somewhere else. Today is the worst I've seen it in 10 years, but I'll acknowledge that we're very  lucky to be able to get out,; most residents in the city can't just up and go.  Hell, at the moment I can't up and go with Mr K away somewhere, playing, in the mountains today. We can hire a car for 700 baht a day and drive south. I wish he hadn't gone so we could hire that car, so I'm just stamping my foot here really.  

But, at least, we can, if we organise ourselves.  We can hire a car or book a flight at a moment's notice. It's not fair.  Why won't the government do something?  It's education, plain and simple. Education.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Educate them so they know that the polluted air they breath every burning season It's going to give them or their children respiratory problems in the future that can be fatal.  It will cost a massive amount of money in future years to treat people with respiratory problems, way, way more than they could ever imagine and the education would be such a minor cost; this effects a huge portion of the population.  There will be so many of them in the coming years, it's a hidden disease, similar to coal and asbestos miners  People are going to die, the damage is being done today and in 10 years or 20 years or  30 years, it will all be such a big mess. Surely there must be someone who has a brain to get this sorted.  If the campaign with the tree-hugging-hippy-dippy types convinced me to recycle stuff, they can convince anyone to do anything. 

Thai's seem to be conditioned to accept rules by rote; how hard would it be?

Meh, ramblng...

If you're still looking, VServe Plus are the authorised centre Lenovo sent me to.  They are absolutely fantastic, I really couldn't fault them. They tried really, really hard to fix my problem and get it repaired under warranty - I damaged a USB port that's attached to the motherboard and can't be replaced, had to buy whole new motherboard which cost more than a replacement, warranty didn't cover it because I damaged it. They tried everything to fix it up with a bodge-job but nothing worked. I just run with a single USB port now.

They are on the Superhighway going clockwise just before Chang Puak intersection. Link to location. Not sure if my link will work, but search VServe Plus in google maps if it doesn't.

I honestly can't recommend them highly enough.

Thank you Joe - you really are a star.

EDIT: - Sorry, scrap that question, but one more if I may.

We've just decided to apply for the extension here, I have our marriage certificate all authenticated and stamped ready to be used, so presuming that they bring our dates into line with each other, I'll only get 6 months on this extension, I don't mind as it'll make things easier in the long run.

We know that the retirement extension can be done up to 45 days before it's due; can I assume that the spouse Non-O will also be able to be extended 45 days before due date?  We just want to be able to go at the same time, Chiang Mai immigration is now, dare I say, an absolute pleasure, and on Christmas day it is totally empty.

Sorry, I'm having a bit of brain freeze. Husband has a Non-O (retirement) that he's just renewed here, I have a spouse visa which I usually send off for while we're on our annual trip to UK.  I've attached a JPG image, (on which I've blurred the exact date to shield my identity) so there's no confusion in case I don't explain well.  I'm 99% sure that I will be OK, but 99% isn't a guarantee of being an overstayer.

We want to change the month of our visit home from the usual May to June, and need to know exactly when my visa is valid to.  My Non-O is dated X May 2018 and says it must be utilised by X May 2019. Does this mean I can enter for 90 days so long as it's prior to the May 2019 date, or will the visa be finished on the exact date stated? 

Confused?  You will be  ????  As I say I'm 99% sure, but need reassurance.

For the more logical amongst you, and I know I'm not laying this out very well (as I said, brain freeze), just say those two stamps read 01 May 2018 and 01 May 2019.  If we do a week-long trip overseas returning mid April, will I get 90 days when we come back (meaning I'll be OK to stay in Thailand until the 01 June 2019 when we go to UK) or do I have to have a new visa in place on or before 01 May 2019 which is the utilise by date on the visa?  i.e. Will re-entering the kingdom before the utilise by date give me another 90 days?

EDIT: - I've just noticed it doesn't say 'Spouse' on it.  All previous visa's from London have been the full page printed sticker type and all said 'Spouse'. Last year was the first to get a stamp instead of a sticker, I wondered at the time why they'd changed.

I was ill for a while and it coincided with some of the snarkiness and even nastiness that we would only see in the other forums seeping through.  I really wasn't in the right place to deal with unpleasantness so I gave it away for a couple of years.

Just started catching up again, mainly to keep up with what's happening at immigration, and it seems very quiet (but from what I've seen so far nice and friendly again).

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

If anyone is unduly distressed by having to pay to get a Residence Certificate the same day because they don't want to wait 2-3 days to get it for free

4 weeks in Chiang Mai - I've just picked one up.  Haven't heard from anyone applying for one in the last few days, so perhaps it's improved.  The office hours certainly have - 6am to 8pm now.

As an aside, last time I got one it was 2 weeks; not about 2 weeks, they told you to come back in 14 days.  This time I got a slip to return in 30 days at 5pm when I declined the 'express service'.  Perhaps there weren't enough people willing to pay for the sake of 2 weeks, but whatever the reason for it, it has doubled.

Even better - that's much preferable to sending the licence off through the mail and risking it going missing.

Thanks again.

That's correct - my husband's retirement extension and my spouse non-o visa fell out of sync a few years ago for reasons I don't remember but and as we're usually in UK when mine expires every year, I just send it off to London when we arrive. It's been one of those things we never got around to sorting out, because I'm lazy to be fair, but this year we may not be there at the right time.

Thanks for the link to the info and the forms, I'd much rather send them off.

Finally, from reading that link it seems that turnaround time is good - does anyone know what the turnaround times are at the moment? We are going away again in 6 weeks or will need it to be back by then. Sorry if that sounds over the top, Chiang Mai experiences colour my view.

EDIT Sorry, I didn't read the info properly. It seems it's only a couple of days.

Thank you again Joe, you're a legend!