BREAKING NEWS British Embassy Bangkok to Stop Certification of Income Letters

[PEE TEE]

Simple they just want all your money in a Thai bank 

[yang123]

2 hours ago, hlj said:

My retirement pension goes into a bank in the US I then withdraw my monthly spending out by ATM can or could a person use his or her US bank statement for proof of income and monies spent in Thailand? My monthly moneys are spent on car , house , food and clothing along with entertainment.

Same same, albeit a pension credited to my UK bank account.

My monthly statements list date of withdrawals + the address/code number of the Thai ATM used.  That should be enough for Thai Immigration but ....  who certifies/investigates the statements' authenticity?

[Cricky]

3 minutes ago, PEE TEE said:

Simple they just want all your money in a Thai bank 

Why would you write that, you are just compounding negativity.

 

They just want you to be contributing to the economy, it’s not a lot of money.

[Jesse123]

2 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

The salient points:-

 

1. The British embassy has said that they are no longer issuing the income letter. Nothing to do with Thai immigration. Their policy hasn't changed.

 

2. If you are not British, you don't have to worry (yet).

 

3. Thai immigration still need a letter from your embassy if you use the 65k per month letter.

 

4. If you are British, the only way is to now show an average of 65k going into your Thai bank account each month. You will then need to get the official stamped letters from your bank. The same ones that the people using the seasoned 800k method has to get.

 

Conclusion - Brits must bring in 780K during a year and have it certified by the bank, or, bring in a lump sum of 800k at least 3 months before the extension.

My take is that the British Embassy does not want to provide the personal service required to notarise an income letter (cf USA, Canada, Australia) and will not change the current wording to accommodate the Thai Immigration requirements. Until or if ever Thai Immigration provide a directive for British Citizens as to how they can prove the income requirement, the only alternative is 800K in the bank.

[Joe Mcseismic]

4 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Correct, EXCEPT Thai Immigration has yet to announce that 4) is acceptable to THEM.  It currently does not feature as a form of proof under the income option IIRC.

It's considered proof for the 800k option. If it isn't acceptable for the 65k per month, then Brits can only go the 800k route as there is currently no other form of proof that immigration will accept.

[PEE TEE]

2 minutes ago, VYCM said:

Why would you write that, you are just compounding negativity.

 

They just want you to be contributing to the economy, it’s not a lot of money.

mabey not for you 

[Miami007]

2 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

I have opened umpteen bank accounts in LoS, I have never shown any proof of residency.

 

Oh great - I guess the BE was incorrect then stating that proof of residency was one of the 3 items required to open the account (or maybe I misread...)

 

[lamyai3]

32 minutes ago, richiejom said:

I don't see how the UK Embassy could be duped with false documents...they surely do their checks, I sent bank statements.

They don't check, they just ask for supporting statements. From their own guidelines:

"Please note we will use the financial figures provided on this form and will not check or amend any financial amounts. Please ensure the pension/income evidence you provide is in a form that is simple and easy to understand and shows clearly the key financial amounts that are   required for inclusion in the letter."

[sumrit]

40 minutes ago, VYCM said:

They have chosen to go down this path for legal reasons. They are protecting themselves, too many British expats are doing the wrong thing, signing false documents etc.

 

Don't blame the embassy.

British Expats have to provide documentation (eg: bank statements, pension letters, etc) for proof of income to obtain their Income Letter. They are not false documents. 

[yang123]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

Thai immigration have informed all embassys that if , after presenting an embassy letter to immigration, it is subsequently found that the information is false, i.e. the supporting documentation supplied to the embassy was fake (fraudulent), then the Thai government will hold that embassy liable to endorsing false information to Thai immigration. 

Logical, but you know this how?

[Cricky]

3 minutes ago, PEE TEE said:

mabey not for you 

Sorry, you were serious when you said -

 

"Simple they just want all your money in a Thai bank" 

 

I didn't realise.

[Joe Mcseismic]

10 minutes ago, richiejom said:

 

I'm not going for a retirement visa I'm going for the marriage one... but based on what you said above I have just one question

 

How could anyone have 12 months of 65-40K deposits in a Thai bank if for example they just arrived in Thailand and wanted to apply for the visa.. (doesn't make sense)

The requirement is for the one year extension, not the original visa. If you are going for the yearly extension, then you will have been in Thailand for a year. Makes perfect sense.

[PEE TEE]

Just now, VYCM said:

Sorry, you were serious when you said -

 

"Simple they just want all your money in a Thai bank" 

 

I didn't realise.

correct

 

[Sir Dude]

Might just be the British Embassy sinking to new lows of unhelpfulness in its never-ending quest to be as useless as possible to its citizens. Would not surprise me at all. Also, if the Thais were leaning on foreign embassies about this then others would have followed suit too, not just the lamentable UK one. 

[roath]

The requirement is for the one year extension, not the original visa. If you are going for the yearly extension, then you will have been in Thailand for a year. Makes perfect sense.

that's not correct in all cases e.g. if you're applying for conversion from tourist visa

Sent from my RNE-L22 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[connda]

Now there's a hail and hardy "Screw yourselves our dear expat UK citizens"! 

 

UK expats: Now caught between a rock and a hard place.  I wonder which countries are next to force a repatriation their wayward emigrants.

[Pattaya46]

2 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

The requirement is for the one year extension, not the original visa. If you are going for the yearly extension, then you will have been in Thailand for a year. Makes perfect sense.

That may make sense for you, but it's FALSE...

Many people arrive on a single non-O that give them 90 days

and get their Extension for Retirement before the end of these 90 days.

The 800K during 2 months in a Thai bank seems the only option then.

[vogie]

26 minutes ago, theswedishguy said:

How hard is it to take a certificate of income and change the amount / date on a computer?  It takes minutes. 

 

Since these papers can’t be checked by Thai authorities, maybe that’s the reason for money in Thai bank?  At least they can check it then?  

 

What I mean: 

when I apply for th visa I have to show bank account with money +400k the for 6 months. Airplane tickets. Rental / own condo papers. A certificate from an employee in my EU country. 

 

Aiplane tickets: just book tickets. Print out and cancel. Th can’t call the airplane company and get the info. 

Money bank: just print out ordinary statement and fix it with enough money on computer. And so on. 

 

Its just for show/ hustle. They can’t check this stuff outside th. 

 

Btw opening th bank account is usually easy if you agree to a 2000thb year card fee. And opening an account is the first thing you always should do if you stay in th. How else do you transfer money from home / here?  Using credit card? With zero fee? But loose 7-15% on lower exchange rate?

 

remember that Thai money is locked in Thailand. That’s why we get great exchange rates for open money. I loose about 1% when transferring foreign money to th. 

 

And the home banks / cc cards loves to con us. If you let your eu bank exchange your money to thb: loose 10%.  You have to get foreign money to th - only loose 1% 

 

and for for people who do not understand. Take 10 dollars and go to your us/eu bank without fees. Exchange it to euro. Then dollar. Then euro. Somehow magically you loose 7-15% each exchange. 

 

Btw is it really that hard to get your pension payed to a foreign bank? In Sweden they had papers ready for it since so many immigrants live in Sweden as refugees and moved home to the country they fired from and get their Swedish pension there. 

 

And the prerson in the tread complaining about th banks.  At least th have real money something that eu/U.K./us don’t have because of fragmented banking.  There’s no value in money in those countries. No gold reservers. USA people would show me a dollar with gurarateed by fed bank. They do not understand that psychical money is less than 3% of all money in the west. It’s all fake. We have been conned.

 

th and majority of non western countries have real /locked money with a real valuation. 

 

(If you do not believe. Check your countries gov bank. Sweden is honest: the valuation of Swedish krona is set by the market.  Just 50 years ago money had real value with gold but then the banks can’t lend out money that do not exist and get interest.  That is what happened in the west. We pay interest on something that does exist and it’s legal. Swedish banks are amounts the best in the world and they are proud of 16% liquidity. Only 84% of their lending out does not exist but generated interest. 

Just this thought experiment USA: the government debt is 20 times higher than all printed money. So. How can the loan be payed back?  And how is money that do not exist lended out?  And this is true for all countries with fragmented banking. The lending is 40 times higher than all money printed. And that is why eu/USA have to print money each year since interest takes money supply out of the system. And when the real money is to little: bank crash like 2008. 2001. 1991. 1983. 1976. Every 10 year since our western governments stole the real value of money and we have fragmented fake money banking / casino stockmarket where you actually do not own anything. It’s the depo that legally owns it. But that’s another story. But almost everything we believe as real in west is in real world fake/sham. 

There is no need to falsely change the date on the documents as it was legal to use the same docs every year.

[lamyai3]

3 minutes ago, connda said:

Now there's a hail and hardy "Screw yourselves our dear expat UK citizens"! 

 

UK expats: Now caught between a rock and a hard place.  I wonder which countries are next to force a repatriation their wayward emigrants.

They need them all back to pick fruit next spring. 

[SooKee]

12 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

It's considered proof for the 800k option. If it isn't acceptable for the 65k per month, then Brits can only go the 800k route as there is currently no other form of proof that immigration will accept.

Indeed.  The assumptions being made are that the form of proof will also be accepted for income. Even the BE are assuming that unless they have leased with Thai Immigration and got an answer which Thai Immigration have yet to announce.

[fimo]

The french embassy didn't verify anything at all, I wont be surpised that they will follow the english embassy.

I'm not yet 50 yo, but I know many retired farangs from all nationalities that don't have 65,000 bahts/month and 800,000 bahts in their than bank account.

Without that (illegal) loophole, that might be a real issue now for them.

 

Sometime I dont understand the thai immigration, those retired farangs are living in Thailand for at least 5-10 years and never caused any trouble in the country. Why immigration doesn't ask them something easy to provide ? If you are living more than 5-7 years in Thailand, immigration should treat them as residents and shouldn't ask anything about their revenues. If you are already living for more than 5 years, you know how to manage your budget/money, thai notes are no more Monopoly notes.

[maybefitz]

23 hours ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

Maybe Thai banks can issue official letters confirming that a minimum of 65,000 Bt each month has been deposited in your account with them. This will be the same kind of letters that the bank issues for the seasoned 800K.

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'.

Interesting, checked with Thai Immigration Chiang Mai, they were unaware of the B Embassy stopping the service. I asked if the bank book, with 70,000 p month income would be sufficient. He said he didn't know, The problem is that it will require a years income into the book to show it's a regular thing, so I need to set this up now.

Edited October 9, 2018 by maybefitz
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[blackhorse]

This means many have no choice but to put their thai families into the UK immigration cue and will cost the UK dearly in the long run

[pmarlin]

1 hour ago, DJ54 said:

United States Social Security 2018 - All information I gathered from internet which should be fairly accurate. 

 

The maximum monthly Social Security benefit payment for a person retiring in 2018 at full retirement age is $2,788 (@ 83,640 baht) per month.

 

However, the maximum allowable benefit amount is only payable to those who had the maximum taxable earnings for at least 35 working years. People that topped out for 35 years is a small percentage.
 

The estimated average monthly benefit for "all retired workers" in 2018 is $1,404 (@42,120 baht) per month.

 

800,000 baht in Thai bank or Income of 65,000 baht a month. Social Security alone you’d need to be getting $2,167 USD a month

at todays exchange rate. 

 

1 in 3 Americans have less than $5,000 saved for retirement 

 

There will be a lot of people if their only income is social security and not enough in savings won’t qualify. 

 

Correct me if I wrong. I recall reading something on the forum that

Policy may be revised to include property (assuming house/condo) as a booster per say towards money required. 

Other retirement income like retirement pensions  i.e. Military retirement pay, veterans benefits, civil service retirement, and more.

[mikosan]

I have an annual pilgrimage to Bangkok to visit the Australian High Commission and sign a statutory declaration of income, which is in excess of the 65000 baht per month required.  If the Thai authorities, or even the Aussies, change the rules on income letters, then I can easily provide proof that I bring in more than 65000 baht per month to live on, which I do every month. I simply have to produce bank statements and I assume/hope this will be sufficient.  I guess the issue is if you are living off savings already deposited here, or using ATM cards to get money from accounts overseas, then it might prove difficult to show you bring in over 65000 baht per month, if that will be the new requirement.  In truth, in the years I have been living here, I've wondered why the Thai authorities have not checked this out before.

[baansgr]

5 hours ago, roiethome said:

I very much doubt that Makro and Lotus will be closing any outlets if more farangs leave Thailand. The farang spend is a small amount overall. Only the small bars with 100% farang clientele will be the losers.

About time the loopholes were tightened up and those that cant fully comply with the regulations should be forced to leave.

so those with a family or wife here should be forced to leave because they are a few baht a month below the required amount due to falling XE...... Really

[leggo]

Totally amazed by the amount of people who haven't grasped what is going on. Basically now that the British Embassy has said it will no longer authenticate retirement pensions retirees will be obliged to follow Thai immigration requirements and they will have to deposit the required amount for three months in a Thai bank before they will issue a visa and pensions will have to be paid into a similar account on a monthly basis. Simple the Thai immigration wants to get rid of all the scammers ! 

[Cricky]

32 minutes ago, PEE TEE said:

33 minutes ago, VYCM said:

Sorry, you were serious when you said -

 

"Simple they just want all your money in a Thai bank" 

 

I didn't realise.

correct

 

Might be best you call it a day and head back home mate.

[PAWNEESE]

"If you do transfer 800'000 to here, which is the best interest-bearing account? Is it taxed?

 

Eddy"

 

Be very careful .. and realise that it has to be in a accessable account .. not a "high" interest account that cant be accessed till the term is over. I had a million baht locked in a 12 month account. Stupidly thought this prooved I had funds over my living expenses and not a pauper .. but immigration would not count it. Had last minute panic to get B. Embassy income letter (a year or two back). I guess higher income term account that the term has ended before visa application logically may be acceptable but paperwork / letter possibly needed to show now available ...... the account had the word term in it that IO was not happy with. I personally wont risk bothering squeezing an extra 1 or 2 percent.

[Spidey]

34 minutes ago, yang123 said:

Logical, but you know this how?

I listened to this broadcast. Was stated in the news item.