BREAKING NEWS British Embassy Bangkok to Stop Certification of Income Letters

[jimn]

32 minutes ago, Spidey said:

The only indication that I've seen from TI is that they are going to insist on an embassy letter as proof of income for the foreseeable future. I really can't see that changing because 2 embassies (from many) have thrown their toys out of the pram.

 

I really can't see why you are going to all this trouble. I will continue to transfer my money from my UK bank account using my Halifax Clarity credit card, transferring an average of 80k baht per month at zero cost to me and taking minutes between leaving my account in the UK and arriving in my Thai account.

 

Meanwhile, I am already putting things in place to transfer 1m baht into my Thai account next September.

 

Any other course of action is completely futile and is wasted money.

 

Get with the program guys, the 65k baht/ month income route, to obtain your visa extension, is dead and buried. Well at least for Brits and Americans anyway.

Dont give up yet Spidey. You and I know that things can change remarkably quick over here. 

[soalbundy]

2 minutes ago, jimn said:

Dont give up yet Spidey. You and I know that things can change remarkably quick over here. 

Yes but compromise needs flexibility and good will

[Spidey]

6 minutes ago, jimn said:

Dont give up yet Spidey. You and I know that things can change remarkably quick over here. 

You and I both know that Immigration go their own way. They don't take orders from embassies, particularly those playing a game of brinksmanship with them. Why should they change anything, particularly as it would mean more work/responsibility for them?

 

What can change remarkably quickly over here, is crackdowns. Here one minute gone the next. I suspect that most other embassies know this and are keeping their heads down until it blows over. Unfortunately, I can't see it blowing over for Brits and Americans, unlikely that either of their embassies will reverse their decisions to stop issuing the letters.

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

The only indication that I've seen from TI is that they are going to insist on an embassy letter as proof of income for the foreseeable future. I really can't see that changing because 2 embassies (from many) have thrown their toys out of the pram.

 

I really can't see why you are going to all this trouble. I will continue to transfer my money from my UK bank account using my Halifax Clarity credit card, transferring an average of 80k baht per month at zero cost to me and taking minutes between leaving my account in the UK and arriving in my Thai account.

 

Meanwhile, I am already putting things in place to transfer 1m baht into my Thai account next September.

 

Any other course of action is completely futile and is wasted money.

 

Get with the program guys, the 65k baht/ month income route, to obtain your visa extension, is dead and buried. Well at least for Brits and Americans anyway.

 Trouble? 

Its a piece of piss and the method I use for transferring money when I want to anyway. 

Dead and buried at the mo maybe but things have a habit of changing very quickly and the cut off is many months away so I’m not ruling anything out. 

[Spidey]

8 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

 Trouble? 

Its a piece of piss and the method I use for transferring money when I want to anyway. 

Dead and buried at the mo maybe but things have a habit of changing very quickly and the cut off is many months away so I’m not ruling anything out. 

It's not the cheapest way of doing things. My method gets me a better rate and has zero fees attached. Also, virtually instant transfer.

 

I applaud your optimism but unfortunately, I don't share it.

[Kadilo]

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

It's not the cheapest way of doing things. My method gets me a better rate and has zero fees attached. Also, virtually instant transfer.

 

I applaud your optimism but unfortunately, I don't share it.

I’m not asking you to lol

Its just one contingency, you are probably right in which case a plan B will come into play. But as yet no need to panic either way. 

[Spidey]

Just now, Kadilo said:

I’m not asking you to lol

Its just one contingency, you are probably right in which case a plan B will come into play. But as yet no need to panic either way. 

No panic for me but my method is also costing me money.

 

I have some investments that mature at the end of the financial year. Normally, I would re-invest them. This year I will holding the money back to seed my account in September (visa extension due every Christmas and I've already got my embassy letter for this year). After the extension is done I will live on the 800k and top my account up again the following year. 

 

This will cost me 8-10k baht in lost interest. If I deduct the 3k baht that the embassy letter normally costs me I'm only 5-7k baht out of pocket. Not too much to sweat about and still cost effective compared to paying an agent to season an account for me (and all above board).

 

Still pissed off with the British Embassy though.

[Kadilo]

9 minutes ago, Spidey said:

No panic for me but my method is also costing me money.

 

I have some investments that mature at the end of the financial year. Normally, I would re-invest them. This year I will holding the money back to seed my account in September (visa extension due every Christmas and I've already got my embassy letter for this year). After the extension is done I will live on the 800k and top my account up again the following year. 

 

This will cost me 8-10k baht in lost interest. If I deduct the 3k baht that the embassy letter normally costs me I'm only 5-7k baht out of pocket. Not too much to sweat about and still cost effective compared to paying an agent to season an account for me (and all above board).

 

Still pissed off with the British Embassy though.

I’m not in such a good position tbh if the monthly income method falls flat and doesn’t materialize. I will be getting the income letter shortly as I’m due March next year but after that like many I will need to find ways of getting the 800K or paying an agent (which I really don’t want to do) which by then I have a feeling will be thin on the ground and more expensive. 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2018 by Kadilo

[Spidey]

5 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

I’m not in such a good position tbh if the monthly income method falls flat and doesn’t materialize. I will be getting the income letter shortly as I’m due March next year but after that like many I will need to find ways of getting the 800K or paying an agent (which I really don’t want to do) which by then I have a feeling will be thin on the ground and more expensive. 

 

 

Crack on with your income letter. There will be a flood of applications before the cut off date. I have a feeling that if the backlog isn't cleared before 1st January (last date that BE will be sending out letters) some people may never receive their income letters.

[Kadilo]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

Crack on with your income letter. There will be a flood of applications before the cut off date. I have a feeling that if the backlog isn't cleared before 1st January (last date that BE will be sending out letters) some people may never receive their income letters.

I’m in the UK at the mo and my scanner is not working. I’m due back BKK beginning December so was going to wait and send it in then but as you say I would rather not leave it. 

 

Im not the most PC literate tbh. What other ways can I apply from the UK without a scanner. Is it worth just sending the documents from here to BKK by airmail do you think? I do t want to risk losing my originals. I understand they want to see original documents? 

[skatewash]

13 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

I’m in the UK at the mo and my scanner is not working. I’m due back BKK beginning December so was going to wait and send it in then but as you say I would rather not leave it. 

 

Im not the most PC literate tbh. What other ways can I apply from the UK without a scanner. Is it worth just sending the documents from here to BKK by airmail do you think? I do t want to risk losing my originals. I understand they want to see original documents? 

Scanners are pretty cheap.  You can get a printer/scanner/copier in the UK for about £23.81

Maybe they have copy shops in the UK where you can bring a document to scan and have it sent to your email address as an attachment?
 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01J3B3HJW/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_bT8gpr_c_x_4_w/262-5187344-3685902?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=KEGP9XYW73WYB0VDDNXW&pf_rd_r=KEGP9XYW73WYB0VDDNXW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=7e291132-8a2f-5f39-bb52-6b39777683ec&pf_rd_p=7e291132-8a2f-5f39-bb52-6b39777683ec&pf_rd_i=430585031

 

Edited October 28, 2018 by skatewash

[Spidey]

13 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

I’m in the UK at the mo and my scanner is not working. I’m due back BKK beginning December so was going to wait and send it in then but as you say I would rather not leave it. 

 

Im not the most PC literate tbh. What other ways can I apply from the UK without a scanner. Is it worth just sending the documents from here to BKK by airmail do you think? I do t want to risk losing my originals. I understand they want to see original documents? 

No, I don't think that there's a requirement for originals, although I always send originals. All the documents that I send are available online as PDFs.

 

This year I sent 3 months bank statements, my P60 and a pension payslip. Didn't get my bank statements returned.

[Kadilo]

8 minutes ago, skatewash said:

Scanners are pretty cheap.  You can get a printer/scanner/copier in the UK for about £23.81

Maybe they have copy shops in the UK where you can bring a document to scan and have it sent to your email address as an attachment?
 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01J3B3HJW/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_bT8gpr_c_x_4_w/262-5187344-3685902?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=KEGP9XYW73WYB0VDDNXW&pf_rd_r=KEGP9XYW73WYB0VDDNXW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=7e291132-8a2f-5f39-bb52-6b39777683ec&pf_rd_p=7e291132-8a2f-5f39-bb52-6b39777683ec&pf_rd_i=430585031

 

Cheers. I’ll enquire

Edited October 28, 2018 by Kadilo

[Kadilo]

2 minutes ago, Spidey said:

No, I don't think that there's a requirement for originals, although I always send originals. All the documents that I send are available online as PDFs.

 

This year I sent 3 months bank statements, my P60 and a pension payslip. Didn't get my bank statements returned.

Apologies, Stupid question but can you not photograph them and attach them in the email. ?

[Spidey]

Just now, Kadilo said:

Apologies, Stupid question but can you not photograph them and attach them in the email. ?

I'm not sure that that would be acceptable.

[OneeyedJohn]

Transferwise I used earlier this month after I discovered a £15 charge showing on my HSBC A/C one day after doing a swift transfer via internet banking, this was over and above the normal £4 charge from HSBC. The beneficiary bank also make a charge of 320 Baht.

Neither bank would own up to how this charge appeared, so that is how I discovered transferwise.

They charge roughly £7 per £1000, and the banks get fck all.

 

OeJ

[Spidey]

15 minutes ago, OneeyedJohn said:

Transferwise I used earlier this month after I discovered a £15 charge showing on my HSBC A/C one day after doing a swift transfer via internet banking, this was over and above the normal £4 charge from HSBC. The beneficiary bank also make a charge of 320 Baht.

Neither bank would own up to how this charge appeared, so that is how I discovered transferwise.

They charge roughly £7 per £1000, and the banks get fck all.

 

OeJ

I would be looking to bring over iro £25k p.a. which would give me £175 in charges. Halifax swift transfer costs me £9.60 per transfer, don't think that Bangkok Bank charge anything, which would equate to £115 in charges for 12 transfers. Currently I use my CC which induces no charges.

[Moonlover]

3 hours ago, Spidey said:

The only indication that I've seen from TI is that they are going to insist on an embassy letter as proof of income for the foreseeable future. I really can't see that changing because 2 embassies (from many) have thrown their toys out of the pram.

 

I really can't see why you are going to all this trouble. I will continue to transfer my money from my UK bank account using my Halifax Clarity credit card, transferring an average of 80k baht per month at zero cost to me and taking minutes between leaving my account in the UK and arriving in my Thai account.

 

Meanwhile, I am already putting things in place to transfer 1m baht into my Thai account next September.

 

Any other course of action is completely futile and is wasted money.

 

Get with the program guys, the 65k baht/ month income route, to obtain your visa extension, is dead and buried. Well at least for Brits and Americans anyway.

So, according to your very pessimistic view point Spidey, Quite a large number of Thai wives are going to be deprived of their husbands over the next year because their menfolk are not able to deposit 400K in their bank accounts and their 40k p/m income will not be acceptable without an embassy letter.

 

No. Oh no. That will not happen. Thai Immigration may be stickers for their rules, but they are not that ruthless. A compromise solution will be found.

 

And, of course what's good enough for the (married) goose, is good enough for (single) gander.

[Spidey]

37 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

No. Oh no. That will not happen. Thai Immigration may be stickers for their rules, but they are not that ruthless. A compromise solution will be found.

Of course, I hope you are right but, as you say TI are sticklers for the rules, particularly when they are getting crap from a couple of jumped up embassies. Thai Rak Thai.

[luckyluke]

14 minutes ago, Spidey said:

A compromise solution will be found.

I hope so.

However do you think every time an embassy decide to change their rules,

automatically Thai Immigration should amend their own directives ?

 

Don't know why Spidey appears instead of Moonlover in the quoting.

Edited October 28, 2018 by luckyluke

[phutoie2]

20 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

I hope so.

However do you think every time an embassy decide to change their rules,

automatically Thai Immigration should amend their own directives ?

 

Don't know why Spidey appears instead of Moonlover in the quoting.

No, why should we.  The alternatives are already in place.  Deal with the fact that there will no more income letters from BE. 

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

So, according to your very pessimistic view point Spidey, Quite a large number of Thai wives are going to be deprived of their husbands over the next year because their menfolk are not able to deposit 400K in their bank accounts and their 40k p/m income will not be acceptable without an embassy letter.

Foreigners married to a Thai already have the option of obtaining a Non Imm O ME Visa from Savannakhet without any proof of funds. Whilst not ideal for many it is an alternative.

 

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

No. Oh no. That will not happen. Thai Immigration may be stickers for their rules, but they are not that ruthless. A compromise solution will be found.

The only compromise solution will be down to Immigration.

As already suggested, they could accept income deposited in a Thai bank, which they can verify, same as the deposited funds method, however I believe they want proof of 12 months income and they'll divide by 12 for average monthly.

 

[Spidey]

5 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

The only compromise solution will be down to Immigration.

Then there won't be one.

[Tanoshi]

58 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Then there won't be one.

I'm more optimistic.     ????

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

1 hour ago, Tanoshi said:

The only compromise solution will be down to Immigration.

 

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

Then there won't be one.

 

9 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

I'm more optimistic.     ????

Me too. ????

[dayo202]

3 hours ago, Spidey said:

I would be looking to bring over iro £25k p.a. which would give me £175 in charges. Halifax swift transfer costs me £9.60 per transfer, don't think that Bangkok Bank charge anything, which would equate to £115 in charges for 12 transfers. Currently I use my CC which induces no charges.

when I did a transfer with Halifax the other week into my BBL bank account  I was charged £9.50 by Halifax, but when I received my money in my Bangkok bank FBA bank account there was £20 less. I phoned the Halifax they told me the £20 was the commercial bank ( 3rd party bank Halifax to use ). so in total the real charge was £29.50.

[evadgib]

On 10/27/2018 at 6:55 PM, Dale75 said:

If you really want to live in Thailand is it such a threat that TIO would like you to demonstrate this by actually putting some money into the country?

After xx trouble-free years I'd like to see PR for anyone on married or retired extensions & be treated like grown ups.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, phutoie2 said:

No, why should we.  The alternatives are already in place.  Deal with the fact that there will no more income letters from BE. 

I accept that there will be no more embassy letters, but I am not so sure what the Thai Immigration are going to do about it.

 

If they will accept that 400,000 or 800,000 baht is OK AND accept that the income stream is OK also then the problem has eased itself. Then all they have to do is to tell all the Immigration offices across the country that will be OK.

 

If that happens then most of us will be OK, but if not ...........?

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

 

 

Me too. ????

And me. ????

[roger101]

Does anybody know how many Income Letters are actually processed by the relevant embassies per year. This might tell us how much Foreign Exchange the government will lose if we all go home. Not to mention our wives and children.