BREAKING NEWS British Embassy Bangkok to Stop Certification of Income Letters

[Different]

On 10/8/2018 at 9:57 AM, Jonathan Fairfield said:

The British Embassy Bangkok is stopping the certification of income letters because it is unable to fulfil the Thai authorities’ requirements to verify the income of British Nationals.

As far as I know role of embassy is to verify pension income certificate issued by pension department either by stamp on certificate itself or preferably on separate embassy papers stating the authenticity of income amount shown on pension income certificate.

I wonder how British and US embassy do it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

21 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

Not posted before but now I received my marriage extension last month I am concerned for next year. This year I got letter from the Embassy because with my disability it is not easy to travel to a bank to get a letter. If the Embassy is stopping providing letters of confirmation what are the current regulations and option for getting an extension due to marriage ?  The reason I ask is that having read so many pages of this thread, but not all, most people are talking about a retirement extension which does not apply to me. I also seem to recall then when enquiring for this year I could either show 400000 baht in a Thai bank or alternatively show I had an income of 40000 per month which is the route I took. I may be confused but is it not the case that the 40000 per month can be income from anywhere outside of Thailand?

 

Also what does the British Embassy think is going to happen to all those people married to Thais, who have been reliant on this letter to get their marriage extension and spend all their pension income on their Thai wife and family for everyday needs, and have nothing left over to save up for the alternative option of having 400000 in a Thai bank ?

 

Maybe the Thai authorities will amend their rules to differentiate more between people on a retirement visa and those with an extension based on marriage and having a Thai family so that it is easier for them to stay and support them.

 

Assuming you're a Brit on a marriage extension, the options at present are:

1. rely instead on Thai bank deposits and bank letter instead of the consulate income letter.

2. wait and see how this current deal with the British Embassy letters ends up being addressed (or not) by Thai Immigration.

 

There was some mention in one of the articles the other day with the new Immigration head talking about looking at possible future visa/extension rule changes, and one mentioned was the possibility of allowing the counting/credit for some assets belonging to the Thai spouse. But there was no detail of that, and it was merely an idea under consideration, not something Immigration has actually decided to allow.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

2 hours ago, maybefitz said:

I have just checked with BKK bank main office in Chiang Mai (Thapae Road), and they maintain that they are unable to issue a letter confirming income. The lady said 'surely the bank passbook is proof enough'. 

I think BKK Bank is right when they say they are unable to issue a letter confirming income (how can they be sure?). But that's not what is needed....is it? Surely the bank(s) can provide statements and a confirmatory letter showing that there have been regular, monthly deposit(s) of circa 65,000 baht over a 12 month period? Isn't that what's needed?

 

Regards,

 

Joe

[spambot]

When applying for proof of income letter at the British Embassy - Can this be obtained with a personal visit to the Bangkok Embassy or is it only available from postal / email application? 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, richiejom said:

Theresa May already showed how much she cares about foreign spouses/kids of British nationals... she couldn't give a rats butt... whereas other certain non British born people can walk in with no questions asked

 

Us and our families mean nothing to them, treasonous

 

The issue of whether Thai Immigration ends up deciding to allow marriage extension applicants here to count part of their Thai spouses assets has nothing to do with the British government whatsoever.  It's entirely a policy matter that will be decided by the Thai government.

 

But, I do understand your venting...

[vogie]

5 minutes ago, VYCM said:

This forum is unbelievable, no accountability, blame it all on the Embassy.

Shame, shame, you guys haven’t got a plan in place.

Now panic stations.

Thailand is so dynamic, you people come here and want, want, want then blame others for your stupidity.

 

Again

It’s about bloody time, it should filter out all the dead wood (all the lousy miserable B@st@rds) and the legitimate ones will have to sell some of their assets back home to fund their retirement in Thailand.

 

It is a clever move by the Thai authority, I have notice over the years the 800,000 baht is quickly spent over the next few months after the extension is issued, the funds being in a Thai bank account are easily accessible, I often spend on unnecessary items as others will do also.

 

You scammers come here and annoy others, get in the way, Thailand doesn’t need this waste.

And that's from the head of the Morality Police. 

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, sumrit said:

Can somebody tell us how other Embassies (eg: USA, Australia, Canada) word their Income letters in order to comply with Thai Immigration requirements.

The New Zealand Embassy letter states...………...

Name, place and date of birth and passport details and goes on to say: –

 

"The Embassy confirms that we are in receipt of correspondence dated xxxx from the Ministry of social development, New Zealand Government, stating that "xylophone" receives a weekly superannuation payment of "xyz" from the New Zealand Government as a pension.

 

This letter is written at the request of "xylophone" and if you have any questions please contact me at the address below".

 

And it gives the address of the New Zealand Embassy and the Consular Adviser who wrote the letter, along with a New Zealand Embassy stamp.

 

Whereas the British Embassy letter, after giving passport and Thailand address details, goes on to say: –

 

"Xylophone has also stated that he receives a monthly pension totalling "xyz" and has shown to us a letter from the Pension Service stating that he receives "XYZ pounds" per annum.

 

There seems to be no difference in what the letters actually state, because both of them base their information on letters provided by the relevant governments/government departments so why is there a problem, unless pensions are not the problem, but income from other areas is??

[pagallim]

I think a course of action for affected UK expats would be through the Honorary Consuls to provide feedback and further clarification.   The HC's live/work in our communities and would have greater knowledge of the impact of denying letters to those retired/married etc, as well as having direct lines to provide feedback to the Embassy staff who are removed from the machinations of visa extensions.

[brewsterbudgen]

Thanks - I'd missed the other thread.  Rather than rely on Pattaya Radio, I think I'll wait for a definitive (?!) statement from Thai Immigration. 

Why would Thai Immigration say anything about a change in policy by the British Embassy?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Cricky]

2 minutes ago, vogie said:

And that's from the head of the Morality Police. 

Be accountable.

Dont blame others 

Simple

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, Shoeless Joe said:

I think BKK Bank is right when they say they are unable to issue a letter confirming income (how can they be sure?). But that's not what is needed....is it? Surely the bank(s) can provide statements and a confirmatory letter showing that there have been regular, monthly deposit(s) of circa 65,000 baht over a 12 month period? Isn't that what's needed?

 

 

AFAIK, the Thai banks will only issue a letter confirming you have an account and stating your current balance as the writing of the letter.

 

Beyond that, the banks will issue a certificated statement, and they usually charge you a couple hundred baht for that, showing all the transactions in your account over a period of time. Basically the same as what your bank book would show. Except, they do a printout on bank paperwork and stamp it.

 

[yang123]

31 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Its not the wording etc, the main difference is UK income letter the consulate is the writer and signatory of the letters. All the other consulates the letters are written and signed by the citizen (the consulate just verifies you wrote it and signed it)

An income letter from Australia, Canada US etc, immigration has the writer and signatory sitting in front of them applying for an extension.

A UK income letter, the writer and signatory is sitting in the UK consulate.

I got that, and was wondering why the British Embassy wouldn't adopt a similar procedure to avoid stirring up the angst in this thread.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Why would Thai Immigration say anything about a change in policy by the British Embassy?
 

Well, at some point, we're going to find out from Immigration one way or another when Brits start showing up next year at Immigration for retirement or marriage extensions, and try to show they've met the financial test via monthly income.

 

Either, Immigration will simply say NO, no consulate letter, no income method for you. Or, between now and then, will end up accepting some kind of alternate accommodation for Brits in terms of acceptable documentation showing monthly income.

[Rally123]

7 minutes ago, VYCM said:

Thailand is so dynamic, you people come here and want, want, want then blame others for your stupidity.

 

Have said it a couple of times in this thread but everyone needs a 'plan B' in case 'plan A' goes tits up. As in this case. No 'plan B' then you deserve what is coming. Sorry

[Thingamabob]

Does the British embassy do anything useful any more ? It is only interested in trade now, but they are not any good at that either.

[Peterw42]

24 minutes ago, VYCM said:

This forum is unbelievable, no accountability, blame it all on the Embassy.

Shame, shame, you guys haven’t got a plan in place.

Now panic stations.

Thailand is so dynamic, you people come here and want, want, want then blame others for your stupidity.

 

Again

It’s about bloody time, it should filter out all the dead wood (all the lousy miserable B@st@rds) and the legitimate ones will have to sell some of their assets back home to fund their retirement in Thailand.

 

It is a clever move by the Thai authority, I have notice over the years the 800,000 baht is quickly spent over the next few months after the extension is issued, the funds being in a Thai bank account are easily accessible, I often spend on unnecessary items as others will do also.

 

You scammers come here and annoy others, get in the way, Thailand doesn’t need this waste.

There has been no move by Thai immigration, clever or otherwise, as has been confirmed by several people contacting immigration, and in the absence of any comment or announcement by Thai immigration. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

You appear to be channelling what you want the rules to be, something against people without much money living here. Other than expressing what you would like, again, there have been no changes to the income or deposit or proof requirements. (the requirements are written in specific police orders, and no new orders have been released)

 

You do realise the whole idea of the 800k/65k is to show it then spend it to live in Thailand, 800k/65k is immigrations estimate of how much it cost to live in Thailand. At the end of the year/month your account should be empty, otherwise how are you living here. Some immigration offices will actually question you if appears you are not spending it, they presume you must be working.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Peterw42

[JLCrab]

OOPS see edit below.

Edited October 9, 2018 by JLCrab

[ozmeldo]

Obviously no longer wanted to be a part of the charade. Fearing their own reputation...

[JLCrab]

41 minutes ago, galt67 said:

49 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

That information I believe would be for O-A Visa obtained in US at Thai Embassy Washington DC and official consulates.

It's from the 'US Embassy and Consulate in Bangkok' and I see nothing that these requirements only apply to the 'O-A visa'...?

 

Perhaps I missed something? Source for your statement?

Because it says Retirement VISA -- not extension of stay.

 

And it then says to contact for additional information the Thai Embassy WashDC which has nothing to do with extensions of stay.

[ozmeldo]

5 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

There has been no move by Thai immigration, clever or otherwise, as has been confirmed by several people contacting immigration, and in the absence of any comment or announcement by Thai immigration. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

You appear to be channelling what you want the rules to be, something against people without much money living here. Other than expressing what you would like, again, there have been no changes to the income or deposit or proof requirements. (the requirements are written in specific police orders, and no new orders have been released)

 

You do realise the whole idea of the 800k/65k is to show it then spend it to live in Thailand, 800k/65k is immigrations estimate of how much it cost to live in Thailand. Some immigration offices will actually question you if appears you are not spending it, they presume you must be working.

Well, that wouldn't be Bangkok. The book I show them never has money WD, increases 100k a year. They just process my marriage extension in 20 mins snd I'm gone. No questions why I only need 400k but have 1.1m.

 

All they care about is you have all your money seasoned and it's the correct amount. Another TV legend

 

[ozmeldo]

22 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

AFAIK, the Thai banks will only issue a letter confirming you have an account and stating your current balance as the writing of the letter.

 

Beyond that, the banks will issue a certificated statement, and they usually charge you a couple hundred baht for that, showing all the transactions in your account over a period of time. Basically the same as what your bank book would show. Except, they do a printout on bank paperwork and stamp it.

 

Yes at SCB the letter is 200 and the financial printout is 200. The latter is unnecessary based on savings

[spambot]

4 hours ago, Spidey said:

Yes it's simple and what I intend to do. ! will need i.r.o. 1 million baht in my Thai bank account 3 months prior to making my visa extension. (800k seeding + 200k living expenses for 3 months). Doable but a pain. Much easier for me to send my P60 + one monthly pension payslip + copies of 3 months bank statements to the British Embassy once per year with £52 and receive a letter. More than enough evidence for the British Embassy to determine that my stated income is genuine.

Just a quick sanity check - You are providing only the last 3 months of bank statements - Is that correct? - Not 6 or 12 months  as some on this forum are suggesting.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, ozmeldo said:

Well, that wouldn't be Bangkok. The book I show them never has money WD, increases 100k a year. They just process my marriage extension in 20 mins snd I'm gone. No questions why I only need 400k but have 1.1m.

 

All they care about is you have all your money seasoned and it's the correct amount. Another TV legend

 

 

There apparently are a few outlying Immigration offices that want to see some transactional activity in applicants' bank books, as a way of assuring that the applicant isn't working. But that's not the case in BKK or in most other IOs, AFAIK.

 

[jimn]

I ploughed through all 51 pages in case I missed anything and just in case the people on TV whose views I trust posted anything new. The fact that these people didnt UJ etc tells us that all 51 pages so far are pure speculation and all that exists is the original info posted by Jonathan. Clarification will obviously follow in a few days either from the British Embassy or Thai Immigration. Because at the moment its as clear as mud, other than the 800k option. Proving 65k monthly income no one knows.

[Spidey]

Just now, spambot said:

Just a quick sanity check - You are providing only the last 3 months of bank statements - Is that correct? - Not 6 or 12 months  as some on this forum are suggesting.

The rule is to show three consecutive bank statement entries for your income, which for me is 3 months worth of statements. I also provide my P60 and my latest pension payslip, but I don't think that they are strictly necessary.

[Kadilo]

2 minutes ago, jimn said:

I ploughed through all 51 pages in case I missed anything and just in case the people on TV whose views I trust posted anything new. The fact that these people didnt UJ etc tells us that all 51 pages so far are pure speculation and all that exists is the original info posted by Jonathan. Clarification will obviously follow in a few days either from the British Embassy or Thai Immigration. Because at the moment its as clear as mud, other than the 800k option. Proving 65k monthly income no one knows.

Spot on fella. Just a few new self appointed “experts” crawled out the woodwork. 

The real facts will follow with the trusted members. 

[ozmeldo]

I'm going to be so laughing as this blows up. Guys claiming to have 65k in monthly income can't scrape together 400, 800k.

 

All embassies should follow suit, nothing but enablers of fraud in many cases.

 

[Spidey]

Just now, jimn said:

I ploughed through all 51 pages in case I missed anything and just in case the people on TV whose views I trust posted anything new. The fact that these people didnt UJ etc tells us that all 51 pages so far are pure speculation and all that exists is the original info posted by Jonathan. Clarification will obviously follow in a few days either from the British Embassy or Thai Immigration. Because at the moment its as clear as mud, other than the 800k option. Proving 65k monthly income no one knows.

The British Embassy has already posted a statement on their website which has been reposted here. I don't see any reason why Thai immigration would post information on a British Foreign Office decision.

[Kadilo]

1 minute ago, ozmeldo said:

I'm going to be so laughing as this blows up. Guys claiming to have 65k in monthly income can't scrape together 400, 800k.

 

All embassies should follow suit, nothing but enablers of fraud in many cases.

 

Yeah these type of things always bring out the worst in people. 

[jimn]

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

The British Embassy has already posted a statement on their website which has been reposted here. I don't see any reason why Thai immigration would post information on a British Foreign Office decision.

I get that and someone (may have been you) posted that before. But the fact is that The British Embassy has posted a statement saying that monthly income of 65k has to be proved via a Thai bank account. So this is going to crop up as an issue that needs clarifying. I dont believe for 1 minute that the embassy will issue the statement without any prior disscussions with Immigration. Where they choose to comment remains to be seen but it will be an issue that needs clarification.