Retirement visa Phuket

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, Jimi007 said:

Yes, that's what I thought. Your Government assures your income to the Thai Government by a sworn affidavit. I have had to fly to my embassy in Bangkok before for an income affidavit. It's nice they do an outreach program here to Phuket a few time a year! 

Just a thought...……….does anyone know if the British Embassy has an outreach programme here in Phuket??

[Badrabbit]

Just a thought...……….does anyone know if the British Embassy has an outreach programme here in Phuket??

Wouldn't that be Great!

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[Psimbo]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Just a thought...……….does anyone know if the British Embassy has an outreach programme here in Phuket??

The last time THEY turned up was for some rape counselling road trip- actual consular duties seem to be beneath them AND they took most of the local Hon Con's responsibilities off him a number of years back. Useless.

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

Just a thought...……….does anyone know if the British Embassy has an outreach programme here in Phuket??

 

Used to come once a year many years ago. UK gov no money to pay for these away trips. Stopped at least 10 years ago. Useless anyway. The young fellow did not have the form I required. Promised to post it. Never received it. Useless. Even sold the embassy land in Bangkok. Everything routine handled by an agent now.

[Old Croc]

On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 8:44 AM, cleverman said:

"Few times a year". So there may not be an Ozzie consul in Phuket when I need one?

The Australian Consulate General is a permanent office with permanent staff including a genuine Canberra style public servant with the title of Consul General. It's not an Honorary Consulate and since it's inception the Bangkok Embassy no longer does outreach visits. You can apply for passports and get documents notarized here, by appointment.  They do not process visa applications for Intending Australian visitors (wives).

 

Others on this thread have started discussing the situation relating to their different nationalities.

[Agusts]

On 7/31/2018 at 5:22 AM, xylophone said:

Just a thought...……….does anyone know if the British Embassy has an outreach programme here in Phuket??

Easier via email/post, just download the 2 forms from UK Thai website (or email them and they send it to you) ,  fill up on computer (use some PDF editor or print/scan),  then scan or photograph your income statement/evidence and email the lot, you receive back in 10 days or so by post.... You have to put your CC detail on one form for £52, not a big deal, if you can't trust British embassy with your CC who can you trust...!  ! ! ? lol 

[xylophone]

Went to Phuket immigration on Friday (today) and the day got off to a bad start because I woke up with a sore throat and not feeling too brilliant and it was all downhill from there.

 

On the way to immigration I was held up by a couple of traffic jams, and stalls and things blocking the road because of the Vegetarian Festival, so I arrived later than I wanted to, however it was about 11.15 AM so thought everything would be okay.

 

I went into the doorway were the two volunteers sit and explained what I wanted and they directed me to room 103, where the guy outside checking paperwork informed me that I needed to reregister my address so to go to another room, which I did.

 

There was a form I had to fill out and it needed all sorts of things that were back in Patong with the owners of my apartment, such as tabien baan copy, the ladies ID card copy and a rental contract, which is something I’ve never had although I’ve been in this apartment for about seven years now. Also because the lady was not in a position to accompany me to the office, she filled out a form as per a “Notary Public” and I had to get a couple of stamps at immigration to complete that task, which I did.

 

So it was back to Patong to get the necessary from the owners of my apartment and they were very good about it and even drafted me a new rental contract.

 

Then headed back to Phuket immigration where I had to sit in a queue for about an hour and a quarter for a spot in front of the registration IO, and I have to say he was very good because he did the house registration and the new 90 day report there and then and when I explained to him that I was told by Patong immigration that I had no need to reregister when I came back into the country, he just shrugged and smiled and said “mai dee”.

 

So that being done I headed round to the retirement extension office and my paperwork was checked again, and inside of the office I went and the IO was paying particular attention to my income statements, one being a letter from the British Embassy and one from the New Zealand embassy, accompanied by a letter from the bank showing money “seasoning” in the bank as well as copies of the bank books.

 

I had calculated the amounts from the UK and NZ on the front of the letters and used yesterday’s foreign exchange rates and he did something which he’d never done before and that was to give it to the assistant to look up the exchange rates and work them out. He then thumbed through my bank statements and paid particular attention to my everyday working account, explaining to me that I didn’t have enough – – that was until I pointed out the time deposit which had sat there unused.

 

It seems like I passed the test, or at least the funds did, but what worried me was the thorough checking of the amounts and the exchange rates, something they have never done that closely before. In fact when he looked up and said that this seemed to be enough money, he then suggested that next year I might want to try the 800k route and I said that I would, having already decided that myself anyway.

 

I also stated at that very moment that I believed the British Embassy was no longer going to issue the income letters, and he knew nothing about that!

 

All in all it was a very frustrating day what with four journeys to and from Patong to Phuket, not to mention sitting in queues and of course the traffic jams.

 

So this was my impression of today’s visit: – all in all I had over 40 pages/pieces of paper, which seems a complete and utter waste of time and resources to me and there has to be a better way than this.

 

Furthermore I do believe that there is much more scrutiny going on now, and in my case it was the thorough checking of the exchange rates, and indeed a friend of mine who visited immigration just before I did, relayed a story about a guy who had the required 800k in his account until last night when he took out some spending money. Now this would have been all right if immigration had not checked his passbook which he had updated, because it showed the withdrawn amount, whereas the printout he presented to immigration didn’t. So there was a difference and it didn’t match and they told him to go away and apparently that was that!

 

Another guy stormed out of the office after being told by one of the volunteers that his paperwork was incorrect, shouting loudly and gesturing as he barged out of the doors.

 

As if to add fuel to the fire, just as I was writing this I got a call from immigration where the officer was questioning my British Embassy income letter and he said that the passport I had presented to them was not the same one as noted on that letter – – well this is because I always use my New Zealand passport for travelling around the place and I had forgotten about taking a copy of my British passport along, although I have to say that this has never been picked up before, so just adds weight to my suggestion that immigration are scrutinising all of the paperwork much more closely than before.

[Badrabbit]

Why so many problems, 9yrs and not one problem for me, so many people go with incorrect paperwork, how hard is it to find out in advance what is needed, and losing your temper there is just crazy!

 

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[xylophone]

29 minutes ago, Badrabbit said:

Why so many problems, 9yrs and not one problem for me, so many people go with incorrect paperwork, how hard is it to find out in advance what is needed, and losing your temper there is just crazy!

 

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Easy if the info one received was the same...…...Patong office said no need to re-register, Phuket Imm says different.

 

AND to have to re-submit a rental contract, tabien baan, Owners ID card, house details etc when it has already been done once, and this every time when leaving and re-entering the country is madness.

 

As one of the volunteers has said...…….even we sometimes don't know of the changes!!

[Badrabbit]

Easy if the info one received was the same...…...Patong office said no need to re-register, Phuket Imm says different.
 
AND to have to re-submit a rental contract, tabien baan, Owners ID card, house details etc when it has already been done once, and this every time when leaving and re-entering the country is madness.
 
As one of the volunteers has said...…….even we sometimes don't know of the changes!!

And that is why I find out at least a month before of any new changes, the 800k in the bank option for retirement extension is so easy, not had a problem yet with address as I always go and re register everytime I leave Phuket or leave the country, it could be considered a pain but I don't live far from immigration so it's not a problem.

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[Psimbo]

36 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Easy if the info one received was the same...…...Patong office said no need to re-register, Phuket Imm says different.

 

AND to have to re-submit a rental contract, tabien baan, Owners ID card, house details etc when it has already been done once, and this every time when leaving and re-entering the country is madness.

 

As one of the volunteers has said...…….even we sometimes don't know of the changes!!

I was fortunately in a position to ring fence the 800k and it just sits there- I'm not bothered that it isn't doing much. 

 

As for the guy with the temper tantrum- good luck when he comes back!

 

I noticed back in Jul that they were scrutinising things a lot more- even knowing that all the paperwork is correct gets that vein pumping on the temple a bit the longer he takes. One never knows the new spanner they might try and throw in the works.

 

It's worth sitting down with your landlord and registering the property online- once that's done and you have the user id and password you can do it yourself. It just takes a bit of patience and someone who reads Klingon. There is a translate option but some boxes need filling in in Thai

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Badrabbit said:

And that is why I find out at least a month before of any new changes, the 800k in the bank option for retirement extension is so easy, not had a problem yet with address as I always go and re register everytime I leave Phuket or leave the country, it could be considered a pain but I don't live far from immigration so it's not a problem.

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Yes the 800k is an option for me which I have done before and will do again. 

 

As for the other point, why does one get different info from immigration offices. I have no problem following the rules provided they are consistent...….which they are not and that is my main point.

[Badrabbit]

Yes the 800k is an option for me which I have done before and will do again. 
 
As for the other point, why does one get different info from immigration offices. I have no problem following the rules provided they are consistent...….which they are not and that is my main point.

Yea that is annoying, can't understand why they make things so difficult for us and themselves, I'm all done for another year.

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[LivinginKata]

46 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Yes the 800k is an option for me which I have done before and will do again. 

 

As for the other point, why does one get different info from immigration offices. I have no problem following the rules provided they are consistent...….which they are not and that is my main point.

 

That's the problem. The rules are not consistent. I have been on various extension types for 20 years now. Non O, Married, Work Permit, now retired with 800k in bank as the paper work is so so much easier. Each annual application is a challenge to find what new obstacle has been dreamed up by the IO.

[cleverman]

800k in a bank that has no replacement of your money if for any reason it goes missing, never in a million years.

[xylophone]

3 minutes ago, cleverman said:

800k in a bank that has no replacement of your money if for any reason it goes missing, never in a million years.

Well there may be no way round that (if British) now that the B Embassy has said they are stopping the "income letters". 

[Badrabbit]

800k in a bank that has no replacement of your money if for any reason it goes missing, never in a million years.

Where do you keep your money, In your house or a bank? My 800k has been in the bank for the past 9 years it was still there this morning, what are people supposed to do?

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[LivinginKata]

26 minutes ago, cleverman said:

800k in a bank that has no replacement of your money if for any reason it goes missing, never in a million years.

 

This could apply to any bank in any country. I have have a bank account in Thailand for 22 years. Now have multiple accounts. No money lost except 50,000 baht scammed from my ATM card in Kata. I was stupid enough to let it happen by a smooth taking French guy. I cancelled my ATM card the next day. 

[cleverman]

24 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

This could apply to any bank in any country. I have have a bank account in Thailand for 22 years. Now have multiple accounts. No money lost except 50,000 baht scammed from my ATM card in Kata. I was stupid enough to let it happen by a smooth taking French guy. I cancelled my ATM card the next day. 

Oz banks guarantee your funds up to 250k, or it may be the Govt. 

[Badrabbit]

 
This could apply to any bank in any country. I have have a bank account in Thailand for 22 years. Now have multiple accounts. No money lost except 50,000 baht scammed from my ATM card in Kata. I was stupid enough to let it happen by a smooth taking French guy. I cancelled my ATM card the next day. 

Have to ask, how did a guy relieve you of money, did you give him your card and pin number?

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[stevenl]

1 hour ago, cleverman said:

Oz banks guarantee your funds up to 250k, or it may be the Govt. 

In Thailand I think 2 mio baht, but that amount is set to change.

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, cleverman said:

Oz banks guarantee your funds up to 250k, or it may be the Govt. 

 

Thai banks guaranteed by Gov for 1 million baht.

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, Badrabbit said:

Have to ask, how did a guy relieve you of money, did you give him your card and pin number?
 

 

Neither. Withdrew 20,000 walked away and this French rushed up saying I left 1,000 note in the machine. This flustered me. He insisted I go back and check my balance. I had card and did not share PIN as far as I know. Shortly after I counted the 20K. It was all there. Next Kbank I passed I checked balance. All ok. They waited a few days before taking the 50K. Cancelled card. Only use bank book now. 

[Badrabbit]

 
Neither. Withdrew 20,000 walked away and this French rushed up saying I left 1,000 note in the machine. This flustered me. He insisted I go back and check my balance. I had card and did not share PIN as far as I know. Shortly after I counted the 20K. It was all there. Next Kbank I passed I checked balance. All ok. They waited a few days before taking the 50K. Cancelled card. Only use bank book now. 

Some clever nasty people about!

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[Badrabbit]

He must of had some sort of electronic card reader, bank book is 100% safe way of withdrawing money.

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[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Badrabbit said:

He must of had some sort of electronic card reader, bank book is 100% safe way of withdrawing money.

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Yes, had that happen to me when withdrawing money from an ATM here, only to discover that 20,000 baht had gone the next day and not by my hand.

 

Luckily enough it was from my NZ Visa card with ASB Bank and I had been a chief manager of investments there and I still had contacts in the bank...…...so telephoned a senior manager there and they put it back into my account within hours.

 

I went back to the ATM and noticed a piece of sticky tape in the top corner and that is used to hold a "button camera" whilst a false card reader is applied over the card slot...……..a common trick according to my bank friend.

 

Anyway off topic, but still good to remind people to cover their pin and check the reader.

[macahoom]

14 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Thai banks guaranteed by Gov for 1 million baht.

 

Currently, the amount guaranteed is 10 million baht.

 

That is due to drop to 5 million in August 2019, and then to 1 million in August 2020.

[simoh1490]

9 minutes ago, macahoom said:

 

Currently, the amount guaranteed is 10 million baht.

 

That is due to drop to 5 million in August 2019, and then to 1 million in August 2020.

And arguably those amounts will be extended yet again and won't drop as planned.

[Psimbo]

On 10/13/2018 at 11:25 AM, LivinginKata said:

 

This could apply to any bank in any country. I have have a bank account in Thailand for 22 years. Now have multiple accounts. No money lost except 50,000 baht scammed from my ATM card in Kata. I was stupid enough to let it happen by a smooth taking French guy. I cancelled my ATM card the next day. 

I tend to insert 'Notso' at the start of his name! he seems to be struggling with getting to grips with Thailand! ????

[Agusts]

On 10/12/2018 at 11:59 PM, xylophone said:

Well there may be no way round that (if British) now that the B Embassy has said they are stopping the "income letters". 

Is there any official reference or link or announcement on the web to this from British embassy...!?