BREAKING NEWS British Embassy Bangkok to Stop Certification of Income Letters

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

GOOD if that was because they did not meet the already excising rules to stay here anyway

What are you on about? It has NEVER been an existing rule to import all of the required monthly 65K monthly. In fact, on paper, there has never been a requirement to import even one baht when using the income method. 

[mok199]

3 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

 

I'm a little unsure which income you are talking about. Is it a CPP/OAS income proof? Or investment income proof? Or company pension proof.

 

I have a company pension. The company sends me a letter, which the embassy certifies after I swear the usual oath. They then use a form letter with embassy seal. I've never used the CPP/OAS proof yet, so it may have a different requirement, such that the embassy has to search your federal pension records.

 

Please explain your situation. Thanks. 

Yes I see your point,but the embassy must give you the letter  ,which the immigration honours correct??..in my case ,I download bank dep records (my Canadian bank) which I present to the embassy,the woman at embassy then gives me the ''letter of income"" which I must swear to under oath of course,this is all done ''in person''  I physically go to my embassy each year ..in my understanding ,immigration will ONLY honour ''the letter of income ''from the embassy...

[Ban Phe Dezza]

4 hours ago, garyk said:

How do i show proof of 65K baht / mo. income. Can I just show my bank statements showing monthly deposits of at least that much?

 

that was a question that I was Pondering at Present I/O will not accept that Method I guess a question for the more knowable than i 

[overherebc]

6 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

You can certainly get a letter from DWP confirming the amount of your pension.

 

I believe that the issue will be the ability/illingness of Thai Immigration to understand/accept such evidence.

True.

[wgdanson]

51 minutes ago, Awk said:

is to witness YOUR signature

You do not even sign the 'declaration' from from the British Emabassy. You must however, sign the Credit Card from !

[Cletus]

What is better for the Thay economy?

 

10 ppl spending 50k/month = 500k baht

or

2 ppl spending 100k/month = 200k baht (those people remaining after the new regulations)

 

Multiple for the real numbers . . .

[theoldgit]

10 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

This all may lead to proof needed to show the money comes from overseas.

That may cause a problem to the increasing number of us, including me, who now use Transfer Wise to transfer funds from overseas.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

37 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

This is a UK pension/funding thread.  What does  your incomprehensible comment CPP/OAS income proof add to it?

Can we let the Brits stay on track with their comments.

 

I was replying to post No. 2 by a Canadian who found virtually the same denial is going to be imposed by the Canada embassy. Since then, Americans, Aussies, Germans and other Canadians have chipped in. And, if you haven't read most of the posts, the change has been sparked by Thai immigration, so it likely applies to many nationalities. 

Edited October 8, 2018 by Kaoboi Bebobp

[offset]

15 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

You can certainly get a letter from DWP confirming the amount of your pension.

 

I believe that the issue will be the ability/illingness of Thai Immigration to understand/accept such evidence.

if you pay tax in the UK that  might be a better way of proving yearly income they always send you a confirmation of your income you received in the UK but you might have to change the date of you extension to suit when you receive the statement

[wgdanson]

7 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

That may cause a problem to the increasing number of us, including me, who now use Transfer Wise to transfer funds from overseas.

It says FTT on my online bank statement when I do a T'wise transfer from UK to Bkk Bank.

[Golden Brown]

7 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

That may cause a problem to the increasing number of us, including me, who now use Transfer Wise to transfer funds from overseas.

I was thinking likewise.  I was thinking of printing out from my Transferwise account the details of my annual transfers and matching these up with those in my thai bank book.   Don't know whether thai immigration will accept this!

[blackhorse]

 

I was replying to post No. 2 by a Canadian who found virtually the same denial is going to be imposed by the Canada embassy. Since then, Americans, Aussies and other Canadians have chipped in. And, if you haven't read most of the posts, the change has been sparked by Thai immigration, so it likely applies to many nationalities. 

"the change has been sparked by Thai immigration"

 

Then it should have been announced on their website

 

Sparked by British embassy.

 

[Ban Phe Dezza]

1 hour ago, smedly said:

I think the proof of income will be money into your Thai bank account over 12 months so if you make 1 or 2 transfers a year they will add them up and divide by 12, so little has changed except it has become easier - no need for an embassy letter, just a letter and passbook from Thai bank showing the annual transfers from outside Thailand, I can't see it working any other way

Ok Providing one gets the required amount into the Thai Bank, 

My two questions are

Will the bank provide you with a letter

secondly will the I/O accept that Letter

I am presuming The need to provide copies of our Thai Bank Books 

[Esso49]

52 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

The retirement visa allows you to stay 365 days a year as long as you do 90 day reporting. For what possible reason would they shorten this time period? It's called a retirement visa for a reason.

 

Sounds like you're one of the "skint" and your post is just a rather weak retort, or, spiteful wishful thinking.

Perhaps you are one of the retired with failing eyesight ?  I said renewal of retirement extension. Is it you could not read properly or just you don't undertsand the difference ?

[cyberfarang]

37 minutes ago, Cletus said:

The message from the Thai authorities (Big Joke&Co) is clear:

there's too many farangs in our country, many of you are also abusing the system. We want only the very rich ones to live here (buy elite visa) or, at least, you have to deposit your money (800k/65kmonth) into our banks.

You`ve got it, that`s what it`s all about.

 

The Thai authorities don`t want foreigners that stay in Thailand long term keeping the bulk of their money in foreign accounts then bringing over the bare minimum for the shortest time possible just to obtain yearly visas and extensions.

 

There have also been lots of scams going on whereas applicants have been using corrupt agencies to help show funds, borrowing money from friends or relatives and all kinds of tricks.

 

Who`s to blame? The a/holes that have been abusing the system, that`s who to blame. This will probably affect thousands and good riddance, now it`s either put up the money or bye, bye.

[Neeranam]

The British embassy sucks.

Even if you want to get Thai citizenship, they won't give a letter of intent to renounce your British citizenship until the home office meets with the special branch police.

So they stopped helping their citizens and won't allow them to change citizenship.

 

Surely this is an abuse of human rights!

 

They wouldn't legalise my birth certificate last year, after sad saying they would on the phone and making me waste 30k baht on hotels and flights for my family,  wasted appointments with other agencies.

 

To think of all the tax I've paid, 4 full years!

 

 

 

 

[baansgr]

The writing is on the wall in Thailand for expats.  PI can get a 10 year visa with no passing go or any other crap, if you are over 37 years old can get a lifetime retirement visa....this place is starting to get worrying 

[Jip99]

6 minutes ago, offset said:

if you pay tax in the UK that  might be a better way of proving yearly income they always send you a confirmation of your income you received in the UK but you might have to change the date of you extension to suit when you receive the statement

 

 

There are are several ways of ‘evidencing income’....... what matters is what Thai Immigration set as their requirement

[Jingthing]

Just now, baansgr said:

The writing is on the wall in Thailand for expats.  PI can get a 10 year visa with no passing go or any other crap, if you are over 37 years old can get a lifetime retirement visa....this place is starting to get worrying 

It's been on the wall for decades now. Some people get shaken out. Some new ones come in to join the fun. 

[theoldgit]

4 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

It says FTT on my online bank statement when I do a T'wise transfer from UK to Bkk Bank.

My Kasikorn statement says "Dummy Branch" whilst TransferWise says "Local bank transfer" & "Bangkok Bank".

[Mark1066]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

The British embassy sucks.

Even if you want to get Thai citizenship, they won't give a letter of intent to renounce your British citizenship until the home office meets with the special branch police.

So they stopped helping their citizens and won't allow them to change citizenship.

 

Surely this is an abuse of human rights!

 

They wouldn't legalise my birth certificate last year, after sad saying they would on the phone and making me waste 30k baht on hotels and flights for my family,  wasted appointments with other agencies.

 

To think of all the tax I've paid, 4 full years!

 

 

 

 

Legal documents issued in the UK, such as birth, marriage and divorce certificates, are 'legalised' by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK, not the British Embassy in Thailand.

[Esso49]

46 minutes ago, pagallim said:

No, what Immigration are saying is that income verification letters issued by an Embassy are no longer acceptable.   My understanding is that Immigration now require proof of either 4/800,000 baht on deposit for the required period, or minimum 40/65,000 baht/month being credited to a Thai account, neither of which any Embassy could provide verification for, only your bank could do that.   My question would be, for what period would you have to show the monthly credit for, i.e. the previous 12 months, or as in the case of the lump sum, 3 months.

We do not know what Thai immigration are saying new if anything. All we know is what was in the email provided by the British Embassy. Until we have verification from the Thai authorities of exactly what is being asked/required differently everything else is conjecture

[Geck0]

58 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

well the Thai banks are going to have billions of baht on hold if we all have to show 800,000. thats why its being done, i do the money in the bank plus pensions, so now instead of having 3 thousand UK pounds in a Thai bank is have to show about 20,000 uk pounds.. ( 800,000  baht plus 3 months spends) all my money is in the UK where it is safe, lose your money here and they dont want to know. and as one poster put it, whats happens when you croak it, i remember about 4 years ago , some guy who died, his friend was sorting out his affairs to release money, never did hear the end of it. my money is for my daughter in the UK not these scamming banks

Your money have been safe in UK...

[Esso49]

25 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

That may cause a problem to the increasing number of us, including me, who now use Transfer Wise to transfer funds from overseas.

Maybe not as income can be from any source, anywhere.  Deposits/transfers into your bank account should be considered income but of course would require definitive clarification

[Peterw42]

Some posters are mentioning that you dont actually sign a UK consulate income letter. (the consulate is making the income statement not a person). Other countries its a declaration/affimation that you personally sign and the consulate witnesses. Possibly this has something to do with only applying the UK letters etc. 

[Esso49]

16 minutes ago, baansgr said:

The writing is on the wall in Thailand for expats.  PI can get a 10 year visa with no passing go or any other crap, if you are over 37 years old can get a lifetime retirement visa....this place is starting to get worrying 

And if it gets rid of those scammers that are bucking the system, using dodgy agents to fix their extensions or just telling downright lies to facilitate extensions then my view is damn good job too and clear off to PL ASAP. Some of us who have been here years legitimately are sick to the back teeth of being tarred with the same brush as the scammers/system buckers.

[madmitch]

If Thai Immigration is its usual efficient self, the first we'll know of any new rules is when someone innocently turns up with an income letter and gets refused the extension. This will then be followed by a post on Thaivisa and a 20 page thread of information and speculation thereafter, as each Immigration Office appears to have its own rules.

 

I also wonder whether this could be a precursor to an increase in the required amounts, which in Thai baht terms have stayed the same for some time but for Brits and many other nationalities the real amount is significantly higher already. 

[Expattaff1308]

3 minutes ago, Esso49 said:

Maybe not as income can be from any source, anywhere.  Deposits/transfers into your bank account should be considered income but of course would require definitive clarification

You could print off the pdf receipt from transferwise to coincide with the deposits in your Thai Bank Acc. Along with your Thai Bank Statements this may be acceptable. Maybe Immigration will accept a Bank Letter stating they have received deposits of 40/65,000 per month. But until we know exactly what Immigration require its all speculation.

[ianf]

Off course there is a lot of astupidity involved in this. I have two pension streams. Each one of them shows that the pension is for life. But every year I have to have the same documents notarised by the British Embassy. Exactly the same docs. This is pointless. Once should be sufficient.

[Fred31]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

British embassy are a total waste of space.

 

yep, a buch of layabouts, with no advocacy for British people -- why don't they protest?