BREAKING NEWS British Embassy Bangkok to Stop Certification of Income Letters

[PST]

4 hours ago, merijn said:

All officers at Phuket immigration are doing the same.

I know it is a fact for this moment but i  only can hope that it will change soon.

As soon it changes i will know it straight away ????

I really hope it changes. I'm waiting on my letter of income as we speak, at least if things do change, then it's valid for 6 months. I can extend anytime from next week, but it seems that I would be wasting my time at present, as I have no pension. i'm now thinking of holding back and going on another visa run in the vain hope that things may change in the next few months.

 

Not holding my breath though...

[wayned]

Let's put it in prospective of what people are looking at if the Income Letter doesn't get solved and the only option is the bank deposit..  I'll use myself as an example.  I just did my 1 year extension.  My next extension is due 345 days from today.  Subtracting 90 days for the money to season that gives me 255 days.  If my bank account is "zero" I would have to deposit about 3200 baht/day or 950000 baht/month over the next 255 days to get the money in the bank in time.  That's in addition to what I would need to live on , which the Thai government is 65000 baht/month.  Not a problem, I've started to build my mobile noodle cart yesterday!  Some people are in far dire straits as their extensions are due long before next November.  I do have options such as selling property but they certainly aren't what I want to do.

[OneeyedJohn]

How did u get ur extension?

income or funds in bank?

[yang123]

On 11/24/2018 at 8:12 AM, OneeyedJohn said:

Received my proof of income letter yesterday from the BE. 

I'm beginning to get nervous about my proof of income letter.

Q: How many embassy working days between BMs supplying the raw material and arrival of the embassy letter?

Q: Was the embassy letter sent by ordinary or registered post?\

 

Thanks in advance! 

[JohnC]

Received my income letter from the BE last week, it took ten working days from my submission (by e mail) it was delivered by EMS. 

[jimn]

49 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Received my income letter from the BE last week, it took ten working days from my submission (by e mail) it was delivered by EMS. 

Yes mine exactly the same. Dont forget its 10 days after they receive the information, not 10 days after you sent it. I did mine by email very easy.

Edited November 27, 2018 by jimn

[Jip99]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Received my income letter from the BE last week, it took ten working days from my submission (by e mail) it was delivered by EMS. 

 

 

You were lucky.

 

A friend (for reasons of dementia) left it 12 working days before his extension expiry date before applying....... he is still waiting and his extension date has passed. 

[doctormann]

1 hour ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

You were lucky.

 

A friend (for reasons of dementia) left it 12 working days before his extension expiry date before applying....... he is still waiting and his extension date has passed. 

I would say that he needs phone the BE to tell them that the letter hasn't arrived.  This happened to me, a few years ago.  I managed to extract the EMS tracking number from them and found that the letter had been delivered - but not to me!  It had been sent to somewhere completely incorrect - and had been signed for by someone irrelevant.  I never received it!

 

To give the BE their due, a phone call resulted in a replacement letter arriving in two days.

 

Why they don't provide the tracking number as a matter of course, I don't know.  Could be done very easily by email. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by doctormann
typo

[Jip99]

13 minutes ago, doctormann said:

I would say that he needs phone the BE to tell them that the letter hasn't arrived.  This happened to me, a few years ago.  I managed to extract the EMS tracking number from them and found that the letter had been delivered - but not to me!  It had been sent to somewhere completely incorrect - and had been signed for by someone irrelevant.  I never received it!

 

To give the BE their due, a phone call resulted in a replacement letter arriving in two days.

 

Why they don't provide the tracking number as a matter of course, I don't know.  Could be done very easily by email. 

 

I agree with those comments.

 

Unfortunately, the BE now have a banner on their website saying do not contact until after 10 working days.

 

They also failed to respond to a separate email requesting urgency on medical grounds.

[JusticeGB]

Went to Jomtien Immigration today to ask if they had any new information about what will happen next year and they said at the moment it looks like you will need 800k or 400k in a bank account for at least 3 months before applying to renew your retirement Visa next November. I asked what the requirements were for a Marriage Extension. A photo of me, my wife and a witness in our bedroom and for the 3 of us to go to Immigration with the Marriage Certificate and a letter from the bank confirming the deposit and that it had been in the account for 3 months. Harsh!

[luckyluke]

47 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

Went to Jomtien Immigration today to ask if they had any new information about what will happen next year

Did you specify your nationality?

 

[DPKANKAN]

14 hours ago, yang123 said:

I'm beginning to get nervous about my proof of income letter.

Q: How many embassy working days between BMs supplying the raw material and arrival of the embassy letter?

Q: Was the embassy letter sent by ordinary or registered post?\

 

Thanks in advance! 

You can go and collect it! I have for 4 years. Just as well because last year it was wrong so I had to wait to have it redone! Also I only pay when I get it!!

[JackThompson]

10 hours ago, JusticeGB said:

A photo of me, my wife and a witness in our bedroom and for the 3 of us to go to Immigration ...

Great.  So now one has to do a threesome in the bedroom for them?

 

My impression / experience, is that even family-members not living in a home do not visit the bedroom. Wife confirms. And other reports indicate the witness cannot be a family-member.  That would make this request quite out-of-bounds - even more so than pics in the bedroom with only the wife, which is culturally-improper by itself.

[OJAS]

13 hours ago, JusticeGB said:

a letter from the bank confirming the deposit and that it had been in the account for 3 months.

The required seasoning period for marriage extensions is only 2 months. Might you have misheard the officer, perchance?

 

Also, compliance with the seasoning requirement is normally proved through passbook entries and not the bank letter confirming the current balance (although a separate bank statement listing transactions over the preceding 2 months should be sought if any overprinting in the passbook, as illustrated in the example attached, has occurred for this period).

Passbook.pdf

Edited November 28, 2018 by OJAS

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, DPKANKAN said:

You can go and collect it! I have for 4 years. Just as well because last year it was wrong so I had to wait to have it redone! Also I only pay when I get it!!

Not from the British Embassy you can't! They send their letter to you by EMS, hence the 100 THB surcharge.

[marcusarelus]

7 hours ago, JackThompson said:

Great.  So now one has to do a threesome in the bedroom for them?

 

My impression / experience, is that even family-members not living in a home do not visit the bedroom. Wife confirms. And other reports indicate the witness cannot be a family-member.  That would make this request quite out-of-bounds - even more so than pics in the bedroom with only the wife, which is culturally-improper by itself.

He got the seasoning time wrong and didn't say who he asked and what he told them and I agree with you no Thai person is going to ask for bedroom photos especially a stranger. 

[JackThompson]

14 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

He got the seasoning time wrong and didn't say who he asked and what he told them and I agree with you no Thai person is going to ask for bedroom photos especially a stranger. 

They do demand a bedroom photo - but the "witness" in the bedroom was a new twist.  Honestly, I would not be surprised at all, since the point of the exercise is to beat-down and humiliate applicants into using agents - not to find out if your marriage or finances are "really legitimate."

[soalbundy]

12 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I thought it had moved to Witthayu Rd ?

you're funny.

[DPKANKAN]

14 hours ago, Spidey said:

British Embassy refuse to allow you to collect them in person and insist on sending them out by mail.

 

You must have some serious connections in the embassy.

No. I just e-mailed them and asked them. Simple!!????????????

[soalbundy]

Just now, DPKANKAN said:

No. I just e-mailed them and asked them. Simple!!????????????

wow ! the BE answered your E-mail ? ?

[DPKANKAN]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

I thought it had moved to Witthayu Rd ?

That is Wireless Road!! Duh????????????????

[DPKANKAN]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

you're funny.

????????????????????????????????????

[jacko45k]

 

15 minutes ago, DPKANKAN said:

That is Wireless Road!! Duh????????????????

Actually I thought Wireless Rd was a smaller street at the South end of Witthayu after the Japanese Embassy.

[soalbundy]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

 

Actually I thought Wireless Rd was a smaller street at the South end of Witthayu after the Japanese Embassy.

Thai language, Wittayu = English language, wireless

[jacko45k]

3 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Thai language, Wittayu = English language, wireless

Thank you... I double checked on Google Maps and there is a Wireless Rd! Better not go looking for the BE down there!

Edited November 29, 2018 by jacko45k

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, richiejom said:

What about people who got married to Thai's in their home country as well... surely the whole proving their marriage is legitimate is pretty pointless in their case as well.

Not if you want to apply for an extension based on marriage.

[billd766]

5 hours ago, richiejom said:

What about people who got married to Thai's in their home country as well... surely the whole proving their marriage is legitimate is pretty pointless in their case as well.

I got married to my Thai wife in the UK in 2000.

 

In 2003 I went through the whole rigmarole of getting the UK certificate translated then certified by the British embassy after which I took it to the MFA at Chaeng Wattana to get it certified.

 

All that was fine until I decided to change from a Retirement to a Marriage extension.

 

That required me to register the marriage and get a Kor Sor 22 certificate at my local amphur. I went there last month and we spent about 10 minutes with the translated documents and my wife had to go back in the afternoon to sign the KS 22. That took about 30 minutes and cost about 400 baht.

 

I had them laminated and then scanned them onto the computer, and will copy them out ready for my application in August 2019.

[wayned]

49 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I got married to my Thai wife in the UK in 2000.

 

In 2003 I went through the whole rigmarole of getting the UK certificate translated then certified by the British embassy after which I took it to the MFA at Chaeng Wattana to get it certified.

 

All that was fine until I decided to change from a Retirement to a Marriage extension.

 

That required me to register the marriage and get a Kor Sor 22 certificate at my local amphur. I went there last month and we spent about 10 minutes with the translated documents and my wife had to go back in the afternoon to sign the KS 22. That took about 30 minutes and cost about 400 baht.

 

I had them laminated and then scanned them onto the computer, and will copy them out ready for my application in August 2019.

In adition to the original marriage certificate, Kor Ror 22, not 23, I think that you will need a Kor Ror 2 for the Amphur each year to show that you are still married.  I don't know how long it is valid.

[ubonjoe]

30 minutes ago, wayned said:

In adition to the original marriage certificate, Kor Ror 22, not 23, I think that you will need a Kor Ror 2 for the Amphur each year to show that you are still married.  I don't know how long it is valid.

A Kor Ror 2 marriage registry is only for marriages done here. The Kor Ror 22 marriage registry is for foreign marriages.

[Ron19]

A number of bickering posts and answers have been removed.