Retirement extension Income letter from embassy time validity and content

[leddie]

Does anyone know how long an income letter from the embassy is valid for?  Also is there any specific wording or content?  Does the monthly income have to specifically state "pension income" or can it just state "monthly income of xx". 

 

Thank you.

[ubonjoe]

Immigration will accept a income letter that is up 6 months old on the date you apply.

Whether you determine the content depends upon how your embassy does it. Some have their own templates for them.

Any income from outside the country will accepted by immigration but some embassies will only verify pension income.

[Eff1n2ret]

If you're  a Brit, the embassy letter will include income other than pensions, such as rental income.

[Muzarella]

To be safe.......it is better not to go over 3 months old.

[Pequ]

Last winter when applying extension based on retirement visa they asked evidence from my Thai bank money transactions. Income letter from my embassy was not enough. I did not have but they accepted with note: next time should show!

[Lamkyong]

15 minutes ago, Muzarella said:

To be safe.......it is better not to go over 3 months old.

i agree but 3 years ago Sakon Nakhon  accepted 7 months  but times they are a changing

[Lamkyong]

1 minute ago, Pequ said:

Last winter when applying extension based on retirement visa they asked evidence from my Thai bank money transactions. Income letter from my embassy was not enough. I did not have but they accepted with note: next time should show!

which office and embassy ??

[Pequ]

Sirindhorn immigration/Finnish embassy

[Suradit69]

I've used embassy income statements that were 4 or 5 months old at Jomtien without a problem. Your embassy will be familiar with the process and may have a form to use. The US embassy, for example, has a form that can be downloaded on their website.

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, Pequ said:

Last winter when applying extension based on retirement visa they asked evidence from my Thai bank money transactions. Income letter from my embassy was not enough. I did not have but they accepted with note: next time should show!

A copy of your bank book for the previous 3 months, at least, is a standard requirement. I always include that as well as my bank manager's letter confirming my balance and recent foreign sourced deposits.

[leddie]

11 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

A copy of your bank book for the previous 3 months, at least, is a standard requirement. I always include that as well as my bank manager's letter confirming my balance and recent foreign sourced deposits.

Are you saying that an income letter by itself will not be accepted at Jomtien, but must be backed up by bank statements?  Any others with experience on this?

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

A copy of your bank book for the previous 3 months, at least, is a standard requirement.

That is not a standard requirement. And is certainly not required at Jomtien where you apply for your extension.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Pequ said:

Sirindhorn immigration/Finnish embassy

Not needed when I applied for my 10th extension at new office here in the city last month.

Same for all of the them at Phi Bun and at Sirindhorn.

[TKDfella]

The British Embassy also have their own requirements from proof of income. Below is a copy of what required for my Letter of Certification in 2014.

1.      Copy of the State Pension Document from England stating amount of weekly pension received by me.

2.      Copy of Company Pension Payment Advice for May 2013 showing annual increase.

3.      Additional Pension Pay Advice from Company Pension for October 2013 showing change of address.

4.      Copy of my Thai Bank account (Bangkok Bank)  pages showing the account name and number along with receipt of monthly pension transfers indicated by ‘*’.

5.      Copy of previous Letter of Certification from the British Embassy.

6.      Postal Order for Bt 2600, fees for the Consular Letter of Certification and return EMS postage.

7.      Copy of British Passport.

8.      SAE

 All enclosed documents must be signed.

In the past mistakes were made at the embassy and I had to phone them to correct and resend. So future letters also contained my breakdown of what the total was. Items in red above are not standard but in my case the BE asked for them

The BE requires 10 working days but I always received the L.of C. within that period. I hope this helps.

 

 

[Lamkyong]

53 minutes ago, TKDfella said:

The British Embassy also have their own requirements from proof of income. Below is a copy of what required for my Letter of Certification in 2014.

1.      Copy of the State Pension Document from England stating amount of weekly pension received by me.

2.      Copy of Company Pension Payment Advice for May 2013 showing annual increase.

3.      Additional Pension Pay Advice from Company Pension for October 2013 showing change of address.

4.      Copy of my Thai Bank account (Bangkok Bank)  pages showing the account name and number along with receipt of monthly pension transfers indicated by ‘*’.

5.      Copy of previous Letter of Certification from the British Embassy.

6.      Postal Order for Bt 2600, fees for the Consular Letter of Certification and return EMS postage.

7.      Copy of British Passport.

8.      SAE

 All enclosed documents must be signed.

In the past mistakes were made at the embassy and I had to phone them to correct and resend. So future letters also contained my breakdown of what the total was. Items in red above are not standard but in my case the BE asked for them

The BE requires 10 working days but I always received the L.of C. within that period. I hope this helps.

 

 

i have never been asked for    4-5-8

[bazza73]

I've been assured by my visa agent all I need ( Australian ) is a Statutory Declaration witnessed by an Australian Consulate officer stating my monthly income in dollars - Immigration does the baht conversion.

The Consulate didn't even ask to see supporting documentation - in my case last year's tax return.

[lungbing]

The British Embassy no longer accepts postal orders.  please check current requirements, not those from years ago.

I sent my paperwork to the British Embassy  Monday last week by EMS and received the letter and the return of my evidence on Friday morning.

 

Why would anybody apply for a letter confirming their income 6 months before they need it?

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, lungbing said:

Why would anybody apply for a letter confirming their income 6 months before they need it?

Because not everybody can apply by post. For most people it means a trip to Bangkok to get one.

Since immigration set the rule at 6 months it has made it much easier for me. I can now get it during a planned family trip instead of the month before. I have already used one that was 4 months old. The most recent one was over 2 months old.

[woodenjake]

Traveling Retired couple going in on regular 30 day US tourist no visa ( due to time schedule on travel prior to Thailand) planning on getting extensions to stay long-term in Thailand (planning on 3 month/ 6 month beach area rentals, probably eventually longer) .. we have plenty of monthly pension  income .. that of course will be spent in Thailand while there but do not want to have to put large amounts into Thailand bank to stay - appreciate the convenience & comfort of our regular bank.. probably would get a small Thai checking account to cover paying utility bills etc. Can we get ongoing extensions  (retirement or otherwise) showing monthly income only into our US accounts not into a Thai one? Once we've settled.into Thai life long-term  we are planning on various short -term (few weeks at a time) travels around Asia.

[OJAS]

2 hours ago, lungbing said:

The British Embassy no longer accepts postal orders.  please check current requirements, not those from years ago.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-obtain-a-pensionincome-letter-for-thai-immigration

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, woodenjake said:

Traveling Retired couple going in on regular 30 day US tourist no visa ( due to time schedule on travel prior to Thailand) planning on getting extensions to stay long-term in Thailand (planning on 3 month/ 6 month beach area rentals, probably eventually longer) .. we have plenty of monthly pension  income .. that of course will be spent in Thailand while there but do not want to have to put large amounts into Thailand bank to stay - appreciate the convenience & comfort of our regular bank.. probably would get a small Thai checking account to cover paying utility bills etc. Can we get ongoing extensions  (retirement or otherwise) showing monthly income only into our US accounts not into a Thai one? Once we've settled.into Thai life long-term  we are planning on various short -term (few weeks at a time) travels around Asia.

If at all possible it would be best if you both got single entry non-o visas for being 50 over from one of the honorary consulates in the US. List of them is here: http://thaiembdc.org/royal-thai-honorary-consulates-general-in-the-u-s/

If not then it would be best to get single entry tourist visa to get more time to do a conversion to a 90 day non immigrant visa (category O) entry. 

After entering with a non-o visa or doing the conversion you could apply one year extensions of stay based upon retirement during the last 30 days of the 90 day entry from the visa.  If only of you are applying for the retirement extension the other one would would get an extension as a their dependent. But the one getting the dependent extension would have to go out to a nearby embassy or consulate to get a single entry non-o visa.

You will find it very difficult to open  a checking account (current account) here. You can open a savings account without a problem.

There is no requirement to have your funds transferred to a Thai bank to apply for the extensions of stay but it does make it easier if you have one to get your funds here.

[TKDfella]

15 hours ago, Lamkyong said:

i have never been asked for    4-5-8

This was a reply to an email I sent to BE;

'A letter to confirm your pension/income is available upon producing original supporting documentation of proof, your passport, the fee (currently Baht 2,340).  Your application can be made via the post with a copy of your passport but you must include the original proof of income, postal order for the letter currently fee Baht 2340 plus an additional Baht 100 for the postal administrative return of the letter and your original documents.'

Note the proof of income in their reply. I contacted them by phone to clarify proof of income hence the list I quoted earlier. SAE was preferred as it assists in speedy replies.

[007 RED]

1 hour ago, TKDfella said:

This was a reply to an email I sent to BE;

'A letter to confirm your pension/income is available upon producing original supporting documentation of proof, your passport, the fee (currently Baht 2,340).  Your application can be made via the post with a copy of your passport but you must include the original proof of income, postal order for the letter currently fee Baht 2340 plus an additional Baht 100 for the postal administrative return of the letter and your original documents.'

Note the proof of income in their reply. I contacted them by phone to clarify proof of income hence the list I quoted earlier. SAE was preferred as it assists in speedy replies.

The information that you have been given is incorrect for several reasons, namely:

 

The request can now be made by email - so how do you attach the originals?   You can only attach scanned copies.

 

Many pensions providers no longer send 'payslips' - these are often only available online, so you can only provide screen print copies.

 

The BE no longer accepts postal orders - now needs to be bank draft or credit card.

 

Take a look at the info page on the BE website.  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-obtain-a-pensionincome-letter-for-thai-immigration

 

Did mine a couple of months ago by email - attached copies of screen shots of payslips and paid by CC, back in a few days.

 

 

[billd766]

When I got my letter from the British Embassy in July I gave them the details of my KBank debit card which is clearly marked Visa.

 

They refused to accept that as it was a debit card and NOT a credit card and was issued in Thailand.

 

They then sent me the details of a bank draft which I took to the local branch and the counter staff dealt with it easily on the spot.

 

The difficulty was the embassy and not the bank as the bank draft was accepted without a problem.

 

Here is a copy of their email. Please excuse that part of this is in Thai.

 

Unfortunately, your card has been refused by our Barclays System. If your card is issued by Thai Bank, there might have been security issue preventing Barclays from charging your card.

 

Please kindly go to any bank and get the banker’s draft or a cashier cheque in the amount of 2,400 THB (fee effective since 7/12/2016), pay to the British Embassy and send it to us.

 

The original letter will be sent to you as soon as we received your payment

 

We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused you

 

If you need any assistance, please let me know.

 

สำหรับธนาคาร

 

รบกวนทางธนาคาร ออกใบ cashier cheque หรือ banker’s draft ให้สำหรับทางลูกค้าท่านนี้ เป็นจำนวน 2,400 บาทถ้วยครับ นำจ่าย British Embassy ครับผม

 

ขอบคุณครับ,

ศุภณัฐ

[pontious]

UK Debit cards work fine.

[OJAS]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

When I got my letter from the British Embassy in July I gave them the details of my KBank debit card which is clearly marked Visa.

 

They refused to accept that as it was a debit card and NOT a credit card and was issued in Thailand.

 

They then sent me the details of a bank draft which I took to the local branch and the counter staff dealt with it easily on the spot.

 

The difficulty was the embassy and not the bank as the bank draft was accepted without a problem.

 

Here is a copy of their email. Please excuse that part of this is in Thai.

 

Unfortunately, your card has been refused by our Barclays System. If your card is issued by Thai Bank, there might have been security issue preventing Barclays from charging your card.

 

Please kindly go to any bank and get the banker’s draft or a cashier cheque in the amount of 2,400 THB (fee effective since 7/12/2016), pay to the British Embassy and send it to us.

 

The original letter will be sent to you as soon as we received your payment

 

We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused you

 

If you need any assistance, please let me know.

 

สำหรับธนาคาร

 

รบกวนทางธนาคาร ออกใบ cashier cheque หรือ banker’s draft ให้สำหรับทางลูกค้าท่านนี้ เป็นจำนวน 2,400 บาทถ้วยครับ นำจ่าย British Embassy ครับผม

 

ขอบคุณครับ,

ศุภณัฐ

Suspect that you are going to experience major problems in paying for a new passport in due course, then, Bill since HMPO in their infinite wisdom only accept payments by valid UK credit or debit cards.

[TKDfella]

5 hours ago, 007 RED said:

The information that you have been given is incorrect for several reasons, namely:

 

The request can now be made by email - so how do you attach the originals?   You can only attach scanned copies.

 

Many pensions providers no longer send 'payslips' - these are often only available online, so you can only provide screen print copies.

 

The BE no longer accepts postal orders - now needs to be bank draft or credit card.

 

Take a look at the info page on the BE website.  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-obtain-a-pensionincome-letter-for-thai-immigration

 

Did mine a couple of months ago by email - attached copies of screen shots of payslips and paid by CC, back in a few days.

 

 

Thank you for that update. My info goes back 3 years to 2014 but haven't used this method for retirement extension since (adequate funds in the bank now).

[billd766]

6 hours ago, OJAS said:

Suspect that you are going to experience major problems in paying for a new passport in due course, then, Bill since HMPO in their infinite wisdom only accept payments by valid UK credit or debit cards.

 

I had that problem last time and I asked an old friend in the UK if I could use hers and it went through easy peasy. Paying her back was more difficult as the KBank in the village had never done a transfer back to the UK before. I was on the mobile to KBank Central in English and the bank lady was doing the same in Thai. It tokk about 30 minutes but it is only once every 10 years, so at 73 I figure that I have perhaps 2 more to go. I don't think I will worry too much about the 3rd one as I will be about 100 then and getting my telegram from King William V and Queen Kate.

[OJAS]

17 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

I had that problem last time and I asked an old friend in the UK if I could use hers and it went through easy peasy. Paying her back was more difficult as the KBank in the village had never done a transfer back to the UK before. I was on the mobile to KBank Central in English and the bank lady was doing the same in Thai. It tokk about 30 minutes but it is only once every 10 years, so at 73 I figure that I have perhaps 2 more to go. I don't think I will worry too much about the 3rd one as I will be about 100 then and getting my telegram from King William V and Queen Kate.

Well, if you were to make it to 100 and survive 2 more doses of the dreaded "With-It Tower Passport Renewal Experience", Bill, I'm sure that you'd much rather William and Kate send you a free lifetime passport than a telegram!

 

I can recall a time when all those above a certain age were eligible for free passports, but, alas for the likes of you and me (+ countless others), this no longer appears to be the case.

[davhend25]

On 9/11/2017 at 5:57 PM, bazza73 said:

I've been assured by my visa agent all I need ( Australian ) is a Statutory Declaration witnessed by an Australian Consulate officer stating my monthly income in dollars - Immigration does the baht conversion.

The Consulate didn't even ask to see supporting documentation - in my case last year's tax return.

Same here for the U.S. Embassy. Just asked me to swear under oath that the pension amount on the income form was correct. No supporting documentation was asked for.