BREAKING NEWS British Embassy Bangkok to Stop Certification of Income Letters

[Redline]

On 10/8/2018 at 2:21 PM, sqwakvfr said:

I’m going to the US Consulate next week to get my Income Affidavit.  Of course the US never certifies anything(it is just an Affirmation Under Oath). I will ask if the US Consulate has plans to terminate this sevice?  In my case the 800K deposit is a no-go and direct depositing my pension into any Foreign Banks is also a no-go.  Maybe my time in LOS is coming to end soon?  

They already stopped I believe 

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Redline said:

They already stopped I believe 

If you're saying that the U.S. embassy and consulate have "already" stopped issuing income letters, that is FALSE INFORMATION. They are issuing the letters and there is no announcement (as yet) that is going to change. 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, selwonk said:

Well you go with that....and see what happens next year, hope all is good....Cheers

 

Yeah. Whatever. Very helpful. 

[kannot]

8 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Thaivisa sewing circle

I'd say  more knitting than sewing.????

[Redline]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

If you're saying that the U.S. embassy and consulate have "already" stopped issuing income letters, that is FALSE INFORMATION. They are issuing the letters and there is no announcement (as yet) that is going to change. 

They told my USA friend they can no longer be used.  He is looking for financing 

[kannot]

53 minutes ago, selwonk said:

for peace of mind , Prior visit your immigration office and ask what is required, I am sure it will be all good

What I do every year, drag the Wife down , ask them whats required, as it can vary wildly, then go back the next day with what they want...........even then the next day they can change it. This years "hiccup" was that our photos  needed to be printed on glossy photo paper even though every year theyve had them on matt paper straight off our printer.

Had to nip into Hua Hin  photo shop and get them done........20  minutes later  all done.

I always have a laugh  with them  about it but often its not them its the BKK boys who change things and they just  follow orders as they know it  will be sent back to them and they dont want any extra  work.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Redline said:

They told my USA friend they can no longer be used.  He is looking for financing 

Please stop spreading blatantly false information.

The USA embassy and consulate are issuing income letters.

Those letters are REQUIRED for income based applications.

Some (or one) office may be requiring additional documentation from some Americans to back up the claim on the letter.

But the letter is still being issued and required. Immigration has always had the right to demand further proof. So really no change at all in Thai immigration law on these matters.

[selwonk]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah. Whatever. Very helpful. 

Glad I could be helpful

[kannot]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

The problem is if you're British and want to do an income based application after the British embassy stops issuing income letters which are REQUIRED for income based applications. If you've been following this news you would know that already. 

yeah but sometimes 59 pages of replies aint enuff!!!????

[Jingthing]

Just now, kannot said:

yeah but sometimes 59 pages of replies aint enuff!!!????

59 is only the start, snookums. This topic has legs, I tell ya, legs. 

[Redline]

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Please stop spreading blatantly false information.

The USA embassy and consulate are issuing income letters.

Those letters are REQUIRED for income based applications.

Some (or one) office may be requiring additional documentation from some Americans to back up the claim on the letter.

But the letter is still being issued and required. Immigration has always had the right to demand further proof. So really no change at all in Thai immigration law on these matters.

I didn’t state it as a fact.  The visa company told him that, it appears they are wrong because the form is still on the website

[Jingthing]

Just now, richiejom said:

Thai immigration will address and make accommodations for this,  it seems they pressed the British Embassy and B.E called called their bluff... now they are in a situation where they could lose a lot income from British pensioners.  

 

Plus when Brexits over and the pound shoots up they'll want GBP more than other currencys

Just speculation. The facts as they stand is that retired Brits without letters will be out of luck doing any kind of income based applications and will have the 800K method as their ONLY option to stay.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Redline said:

I didn’t state it as a fact.  The visa company told him that, it appears they are wrong because the form is still on the website

They are definitely wrong.

I'm happy for the public reading this that the false information you were spreading has been REFUTED.

Cheers.

[Redline]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

They are definitely wrong.

I'm happy for the public reading this that the false information you were spreading has been REFUTED.

Cheers.

Nobody read it????

[evadgib]

6 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Just speculation. The facts as they stand is that retired Brits without letters will be out of luck doing any kind of income based applications and will have the 800K method as their ONLY option to stay.

Poppycock! A solution will materialise preventing such folly.

[simoh1490]

2 hours ago, blackhorse said:

Nobody I know pays tax including me. One day there will be yet another crackdown.

 

 

If you don't declare the income that will be a problem and yes, there will be a crackdown one day, the sooner the better.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

Poppycock! A solution will materialise preventing such folly.

You wish. You do not know. I'm dealing with facts which is why I'm so aggressive refuting blatantly false information being posted here.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Redline said:

Nobody read it????

Of course they did. This is a very hot thread.

[tropo]

6 hours ago, Moonlover said:

8 hours 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.

How did you mange to do that? I'm not even going to try to read 51 pages. But I do understand what you mean from the few nose dives that I've made into this morass!

That's a superhuman effort. I gave up after 5 pages and I thought that was a big effort LOL. 59 pages in 37 hours (882 posts) must be a forum record.

[mstevens]

20 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

I would be very surprised in Thai immigration did not know what's been the case here for years....the ~20k "fee" for a retirement visa has been a huge money maker for various Imm. branches.....and I doubt for one minute that anything will change

I imagine that it will take a foreigner who has extended his visa using agents to be arrested in a case that gets a lot of news coverage for there to be a change.  If, or is it when, that happens expect that to be the end of using agents visa the backdoor.

 

Remember many years ago there was that terrorist who was arrested in Ayuthaya (??) who it transpired had been extending his visa by sending his passport out of the country without actually leaving the country himself.  That was the end of that means of extending visas.

 

Imagine if news breaks that a foreigner involved in some nefarious activity has been living in Thailand for a long time and extending his visa using agents.  There will be a huge backlash.  That's all it takes and that will be the end of using agents.

[poanoi]

42 minutes ago, mstevens said:

 

Imagine if news breaks that a foreigner involved in some nefarious activity has been living in Thailand for a long time and extending his visa using agents.  There will be a huge backlash.  That's all it takes and that will be the end of using agents.

Imagine if news breaks that a foreigner involved in some nefarious activity has been living in Thailand for a long time and extending his visa by going to immigration and extend for 1900 baht, that will be the end of doing it yourself ????

[melvinmelvin]

8 hours ago, Expattaff1308 said:

If that is the case then it should change it rather than dump it and leave us high and dry.

I always used my pensions and am confused as the verification required as I cannot see The Civil Service Pensions and the DWP falsifying amounts to satisfy my needs for Thai Immigration. If the Embassy cannot trust the DWP & Pension Providers then they need to find a system that they do trust.

 

guess a lot could be done by looking at the wording in the letter

 

this is how my embassy certifies/verifies my address; (which I just give them on a piece of paper)

 

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

 

Mr Name Name, holder of passport nnnnnn, has informed the embassy that he resides on:

address

address

address

 

and then a suitable heap of stamps and signatures - I am happy - Thai authorities are happy

 

 

 

 

embassy takes no responsibility

[Shoeless Joe]

6 hours ago, selwonk said:

As I understand you will still be able to do the income route eg 65K monthly, but it will have to be deposited into a Thai bank account

Thanks for your reply.

 

I already deposit well in excess of 65,000 baht monthly into my Thai bank account (and have been doing so for years), so that's not a problem. The problem is, what will the Thai immigration authorities accept as "proof" of income when the British Embassy stop providing the verified Pensions Income letter?

 

For example; will 12 months of "authorised" bank statements be considered acceptable? Or will those statements need to be supported by "authorised" copies of the relevant pages in my bank passbook? Or will further confirmation be required in the form of a supporting letter from my bank (which by the way, they say they can't / won't do, because in their opinion the bank passbook information should be sufficient for immigration).

 

Meanwhile Thai immigration keep doggedly repeating the message that a "verification of pensions income" letter from the British Embassy is required and the British Embassy (as usual, bereft of ideas) say this service will cease in January 2019 without (it seems) having spoken to the Thai authorities about an acceptable alternative.

 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

 

[Spidey]

10 minutes ago, Shoeless Joe said:

Thanks for your reply.

 

I already deposit well in excess of 65,000 baht monthly into my Thai bank account (and have been doing so for years), so that's not a problem. The problem is, what will the Thai immigration authorities accept as "proof" of income when the British Embassy stop providing the verified Pensions Income letter?

 

For example; will 12 months of "authorised" bank statements be considered acceptable? Or will those statements need to be supported by "authorised" copies of the relevant pages in my bank passbook? Or will further confirmation be required in the form of a supporting letter from my bank (which by the way, they say they can't / won't do, because in their opinion the bank passbook information should be sufficient for immigration).

 

Meanwhile Thai immigration keep doggedly repeating the message that a "verification of pensions income" letter from the British Embassy is required and the British Embassy (as usual, bereft of ideas) say this service will cease in January 2019 without (it seems) having spoken to the Thai authorities about an acceptable alternative.

 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

 

There is zero evidence that Thai Immigration will accept anything other than an embassy letter as proof of income. It's not acceptable to take "proof of income" to the IO. They'll laugh you out of the building.

 

The British Embassy advice is badly written, the proof in a Thai bank they refer to is just the seeded 400k/800k that is already in place. Read the British Embassy announcement again. THe 65k baht monthly income route is dead and buried, as far as British citizens are concerned. No amount of emails to the British Embassy will change that. The Embassy staff (mostly Thai) do know where the delete button is.

[Moonlover]

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Thai immigration will address and make accommodations for this,  it seems they pressed the British Embassy and B.E called called their bluff... now they are in a situation where they could lose a lot income from British pensioners.  

 

Plus when Brexits over and the pound shoots up they'll want GBP more than other currencys

 

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Just speculation. The facts as they stand is that retired Brits without letters will be out of luck doing any kind of income based applications and will have the 800K method as their ONLY option to stay.

Which is, of course yet more speculation!

Edited October 10, 2018 by Moonlover

[New beginnings]

There is also the option of the Thai Elite Visa which, if you leave and return to Thailand just before expiry, will last for 6 years, multiple entries and various other benefits.

Edited October 10, 2018 by New beginnings

[doctormann]

4 minutes ago, New beginnings said:

There is also the option of the Thai Elite Visa which, if you leave and return to Thailand just before expiry, will last for 6 years.

Certainly worth thinking about and the financial requirement is less than that required for a retirement extension.

The downside, of course, is that once your 5 (or 6) years are up, the 500,000 Baht has gone for ever.

[Neeranam]

Well be careful what you pray for.

I know so many pensioners who yearn for Thailand to become like the West and/or have reciprocal agreements with their countries.

 

Does anyone know how much a Thai needs to retire in the UK?

 

I believe they can retire to the USA if they invest 16 million baht in a company.

 

[New beginnings]

On 9/30/2018 at 6:45 PM, Trujillo said:

"I declined to answer and handed the phone back to the Thai guy."

 

Did it then not occur to you to ask the fellow what he was doing? 

 

3 minutes ago, doctormann said:

Certainly worth thinking about and the financial requirement is less than that required for a retirement extension.

The downside, of course, is that once your 5 (or 6) years are up, the 500,000 Baht has gone for ever.

 

Yes, but don’t forget total is not full 500k when you take into account yearly renewal and re-entry fees and any possible changes in immigration requirements during the next 6 years. Basically a way to stay for 6 years hassle free.

Edited October 10, 2018 by New beginnings

[Neeranam]

9 minutes ago, New beginnings said:

There is also the option of the Thai Elite Visa which, if you leave and return to Thailand just before expiry, will last for 6 years, multiple entries and various other benefits.

Seems like an easy way out, how much is it?