BREAKING NEWS British Embassy Bangkok to Stop Certification of Income Letters

[Spidey]

2 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

Received my proof of income letter yesterday from the BE. It contained spelling mistakes on both the envelope and the letter itself, as well as grammatical errors and an error in punctuation.

 

All part of the service at £52.

All parts of the process are performed by Thai staff including, often, the signature on the letter.

 

Issuing income letters is beneath what few British staff they have, which is probably why they are ceasing the letters.

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, merijn said:

So if you think that they are wrong (i agree with you that they are) you should them tell them that.

Not me.

But those affected by their policy should call 1178 and complain about it to the Immigration Bureau.

[merijn]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Not me.

But those affected by their policy should call 1178 and complain about it to the Immigration Bureau.

You have easy talking and telling people what to do.

You are not standing in front of the officer who decides if you get the extension or not.

Even you are theoretically correct in reality it works different.

[MrPatrickThai]

2 minutes ago, merijn said:

You have easy talking and telling people what to do.

You are not standing in front of the officer who decides if you get the extension or not.

Even you are theoretically correct in reality it works different.

Don't let them intimidate you. they can't refuse you a visa for complaining.

[soalbundy]

14 minutes ago, MrPatrickThai said:

Don't let them intimidate you. they can't refuse you a visa for complaining.

I don't think they need to give you a visa at all

[newatthis]

1 hour ago, merijn said:

Hopefully the people will tell the officers that they are wrong and demand the extension with their income papers.

Lets see who wins, I'm afraid it's the officer.

I wouldn't try that attitude with any immigration officer in any country.

 

20 minutes ago, MrPatrickThai said:

23 minutes ago, merijn said:

 

Don't let them intimidate you. they can't refuse you a visa for complaining.

But they can make it bloody difficult, if they so desire.

[ubonjoe]

42 minutes ago, merijn said:

You have easy talking and telling people what to do.

You are not standing in front of the officer who decides if you get the extension or not.

Even you are theoretically correct in reality it works different.

It would not be the officer standing in front of you that is making up the rules and more than likely not the one that signs off on it.

I can tell you I would do it if the head of an office was making up outlandish requirements that were keeping from getting an extension approved,

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Stopped recruiting from Oxbridge I guess.

Surely you meant Oxford, or Cambridge (Universities).

Oxbridge is a College based in South Africa.

[jacko45k]

23 minutes ago, MrPatrickThai said:

Don't let them intimidate you. they can't refuse you a visa for complaining.

I wouldn't like to test that, I was under the impression they can refuse you if they feel inclined. A bit of energetic complaining might do the trick and get you on a 7 day farewell.

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Surely you meant Oxford, or Cambridge (Universities).

Oxbridge is a College based in South Africa.

Look it up!

Refers to either or maybe both!

Edited November 24, 2018 by jacko45k

[merijn]

16 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It would not be the officer standing in front of you that is making up the rules and more than likely not the one that signs off on it.

I can tell you I would do it if the head of an office was making up outlandish requirements that were keeping from getting an extension approved,

Your right but it's the officer in front of who decides to accept the application or not.

And not many higher ranking officers will overrule their staff for something like this.

[Tanoshi]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I can tell you I would do it if the head of an office was making up outlandish requirements that were keeping from getting an extension approved,

Absolutely agree, I'd go armed with copies of their Police Orders and ring 1178 whilst in front of them.

This is a situation where you could be forced to leave Thailand, not some misdemeanour.

There are times you need to take a stance and this is one of those times.

[wayned]

15 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It would not be the officer standing in front of you that is making up the rules and more than likely not the one that signs off on it.

I can tell you I would do it if the head of an office was making up outlandish requirements that were keeping from getting an extension approved,

Until the Immigration Bureau creates and releases an order  explaining to that identifies exactly what the Immigration officers can and can not accept as proof of the monthly amount for an extension, everything that is said is total hearsay including the Fact sheet issued by the US Embassy about the 26th of October, anything that any other embassy tells you and, unfortunately, the opinion of "the boss" of the individual ingratiation offices!, although if they do offer an extension, don't be sanctimonious and refuse it!

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, wayned said:

Until the Immigration Bureau creates and releases an order  explaining to that identifies exactly what the Immigration officers can and can not accept as proof of the monthly amount for an extension

That is correct but you need to go back a page and read the posts that started the discussion.

It was referring to Phuket immigration stating only a proof a income from a state pension being accepted along with a income letter or affidavit.

[wayned]

50 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That is correct but you need to go back a page and read the posts that started the discussion.

It was referring to Phuket immigration stating only a proof a income from a state pension being accepted along with a income letter or affidavit.

Isn't that what I said?  Now that 4 Embassies have admitted that their Income letters do not meet the intended requirements that the Embassies are certifying the applicant's income and since there is no immigration order or directive instructing each Immigration Office exactly what they can or can not accept, the "boss" at the Phuket office has decided that he will only accept proof of income from a state pension, Hat Yai might accept something totally different.  Until there is a directive from Immigration Headquarters to the Regional Offices it'll just be a crap shoot!

[DPKANKAN]

2 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

Surely you meant Oxford, or Cambridge (Universities).

Oxbridge is a College based in South Africa.

"Oxbridge" is a saying grouping (Ox)...ford & Cam...(bridge) Uni's together.... doohhh.????????????

[jayboy]

Stopped recruiting from Oxbridge I guess.

Oxbridge graduates would almost never be found in these visa matter sections.The expatriates involved here would be mid to low level entrants to the FCO or home civil service - not the fast steam entrants many of which are Oxbridge graduates.


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[sumrit]

12 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

Surely you meant Oxford, or Cambridge (Universities).

Oxbridge is a College based in South Africa.

No, he meant Oxbridge. 

 

It refers to somebody who has studied/taught at either Oxford or Cambridge Universities.

 

Taken from Wikipedia: 

Oxbridge is a portmanteau of "Oxford" and "Cambridge", the two oldest, most prestigious, and highly-ranked universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to describe characteristics reminiscent of them, often with implications of superior social or intellectual status or elitism.^[1]

[luckyluke]

14 hours ago, wayned said:

the "boss" at the Phuket office has decided that he will only accept proof of income from a state pension,

" The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse" 

-Edmund Burke-

 

" What I fear most is power with impunity" 

-Isabel Allende-

 

 

 

 

 

[merijn]

8 minutes ago, richiejom said:

This doesn't make sense...  the UK Income letter from Embassy is for both married and pension...there is no distinction it is the same letter provided for both types of people and Thai immigration law shown by UbonJoe states it is accepted for extension based on marriage

 

The immigration officer/staff member in Phuket is clearly making a mistake and being intentionally awkward/unhelpful towards this person

That is correct, the UK embassy letter can be used for extension based on retirement (65K) or marriage (40K) 

But if you want to use the income option you will need the embassy letter.

And currently they only accept the embassy letter if it is from income from a government or military pension.

Other incomes besides the pension is currently not accepted in Phuket.

[melvinmelvin]

17 minutes ago, merijn said:

That is correct, the UK embassy letter can be used for extension based on retirement (65K) or marriage (40K) 

But if you want to use the income option you will need the embassy letter.

And currently they only accept the embassy letter if it is from income from a government or military pension.

Other incomes besides the pension is currently not accepted in Phuket.

interesting

by and large I would think a private pension is a safer source of income than a state pension

if coffers get too low governments just find a wild excuse to cut state pensions

 

[OneeyedJohn]

I remember in Penang a couple of years ago applying for an extension of retirement, and the guy sat behind the grille looked through my papers and said "no letter from Embassy !", so I argued I didn't need one as my application was based on money in the bank totally. He repeated "no letter, only give tourist visa, come back tomorrow !".  I was fookin furious. The effort and wasted time all for nothing, apart from the expense of the trip.

  The next day I went back and waited until I had my passport back in my grubby hands before giving him a mouthful and telling him to make their poxy website up to date and with correct information.

  I spent the rest of my time in Penang on a drunken rampage to ease my rage.

[merijn]

12 hours ago, richiejom said:

We don't know if this is official policy or whether one member of staff has made a c*ck up...you are stating that as a fact when all we have is one persons comment on a thread about enquiring over the phone

 

When we know from the rule book that this is not the case.... I would love for the commenter to reply to this thread to know if they actually continued that stance or whether his letter was accepted when he actually went to the office

 

I'm not affected as I'm not in Phuket

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 ????

[steve73]

15 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

interesting

by and large I would think a private pension is a safer source of income than a state pension

if coffers get too low governments just find a wild excuse to cut state pensions

 

Government can simply print money to keep up the pretense, so your state pension should be relatively safe, although it could of course be devalued by excessive inflation.  OK, I do accept that Greece were unable to maintain their (excessive) pensions due to not having control of their own currency.

 

A company or private pension is at a MUCH greater risk, both from bankruptcy of the company, the pension fund, or the assurance company, as well as being devalued by inflation.

[melvinmelvin]

42 minutes ago, steve73 said:

Government can simply print money to keep up the pretense, so your state pension should be relatively safe, although it could of course be devalued by excessive inflation.  OK, I do accept that Greece were unable to maintain their (excessive) pensions due to not having control of their own currency.

 

A company or private pension is at a MUCH greater risk, both from bankruptcy of the company, the pension fund, or the assurance company, as well as being devalued by inflation.

fair enough, however I do disagree with that

why?

there is no limit to the evil of politicians

 

I have seen what politicians have done to pensions

in Denmark, in UK, in Norway - their greed is vast

 

 

[soalbundy]

5 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

fair enough, however I do disagree with that

why?

there is no limit to the evil of politicians

 

I have seen what politicians have done to pensions

in Denmark, in UK, in Norway - their greed is vast

 

 

I doubt if they were doing it for their own personal benefit so greed would be the wrong word, ruthless and uncaring yes but the old and poor were always fair game.

[melvinmelvin]

18 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I doubt if they were doing it for their own personal benefit so greed would be the wrong word, ruthless and uncaring yes but the old and poor were always fair game.

ok, greed on behalf of coffers doesn't work in English?, ta!

 

and yes, old and poor always always fair game

 

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by melvinmelvin

[marcusarelus]

31 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

fair enough, however I do disagree with that

why?

there is no limit to the evil of politicians

 

I have seen what politicians have done to pensions

in Denmark, in UK, in Norway - their greed is vast

Compare the government pensions like American SS against the private pensions that have decreased in value or gone broke. 

[jacko45k]

4 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

I remember in Penang a couple of years ago applying for an extension of retirement, and the guy sat behind the grille looked through my papers and said "no letter from Embassy !", so I argued I didn't need one as my application was based on money in the bank totally. He repeated "no letter, only give tourist visa, come back tomorrow !".  I was fookin furious. The effort and wasted time all for nothing, apart from the expense of the trip.

  The next day I went back and waited until I had my passport back in my grubby hands before giving him a mouthful and telling him to make their poxy website up to date and with correct information.

  I spent the rest of my time in Penang on a drunken rampage to ease my rage.

I don't understand how you can apply for an extension of a permission to stay while out of the country.

Where you actually applying for a Non-Imm O based on retirement, single?

Edited November 26, 2018 by jacko45k

[merijn]

14 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I don't understand how you can apply for an extension of a permission to stay while out of the country.

Where you actually applying for a Non-Imm O based on retirement, single?

Very simple, You can't.

I suspect that he applied for a Non-O visa. (based on retirement)