BREAKING NEWS British Embassy statement on income letters: Officials knew about problems in May and say that US nationals will also be affected

[soalbundy]

15 minutes ago, OJAS said:

No, this is all a pathetically unfunny joke from the bungling incompetent penny-pinching UK government whose sole and avowed aim is to make life for us long-suffering Brits living in LOS as miserable as is humanly possible.

I don't think so, that would require planning, they are just arrogantly uncaring by default.

[Spidey]

24 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I hear what is being said, but still don't understand the logic.

Thailand, logic? A true oxymoron.

[OJAS]

1 minute ago, soalbundy said:

I don't think so, that would require planning, they are just arrogantly uncaring by default.

Yep, you're probably right on reflection.

[OJAS]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

Thailand, logic? A true oxymoron.

In common with "UK, caring" of course.

[Spidey]

23 minutes ago, Estrada said:

If the photo of the British flag shown in the poster was supplied by the British Embassy, it just goes to show how useless they are. The flag shown is a typical knock off of the British flag with the red cross printed in the wrong position.

Most, if not all of the day to day work done in the British Embassy is done by Thai staff, including updating the website, so you can't blame the Brits really.

 

The only time a Brit sees an application for an income letter is when the completed letter is put in front of the Vice Consul for signing, which she probably does a dozen at a time whilst having her morning coffee. No chance that she actually reads it.

[soalbundy]

I don't think that there is any need to panic, this will be sorted out by the IO, many Brits have families here, the IO doesn't have an agenda to make life here impossible just for Brits, there is a momentary glitch in the machine.

[GinBoy2]

I don't have any skin in this game anymore.

But, for all you, hope for the best, plan for worst.

Nobody knows how all this will pan out. Might be like many things in Thailand and just get's forgotten, along with a myriad of other things.

But this is your life, not like some proclamation on people sitting in the back of pickup trucks.

If Thai immigration is really going to require foreign embassies to do verification of income it's a huge deal, and I can see almost all of them following the Brits

[sanmyintmaung]

45 minutes ago, Estrada said:

If the photo of the British flag shown in the poster was supplied by the British Embassy, it just goes to show how useless they are. The flag shown is a typical knock off of the British flag with the red cross printed in the wrong position.

It looks like an upside down Union Jack.

Edited October 11, 2018 by sanmyintmaung

[Spidey]

2 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I don't think that there is any need to panic, this will be sorted out by the IO, many Brits have families here, the IO doesn't have an agenda to make life here impossible just for Brits, there is a momentary glitch in the machine.

IO haven't made any changes. It's the British embassy alone that is making life impossible for Brits.

 

Bearing in mind that the British Embassy has lied about other embassys following suit (esp. US), lied about IO agreeing to take 65k/month going into a Thai bank account as evidence of income, I have no doubt that they have lied about the content of the meeting that allegedly took place between themselves and the Thai IO several months ago.

 

It's just too much of a coincidence that this all comes at a time that they have announced that they are selling the embassy on Wireless Road and moving to smaller, less salubrious accommodation.

 

By ceasing to provide income letters for several thousand Brits, it gives them the opportunity to lose a couple of Thai staff and require less office accommodation. 

 

The £50 fee they received is of no consequence to them as they aren't there to make a profit, just stick to budgets. Office accommodation and support staff salaries, are budgeted for, the £50 fee isn't.

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

For those of us who have kids in Thailand and go back to US yearly, it seems a straight Non-O multiple entry is the way to go, every 3 mos, do a border crossing. I'm not retired yet but will be so next year and all this is quite confusing.

Suspect that the most practical option in your case once you're retired will be to obtain a non-OA visa during a trip back to the USA, which you can then get a further year out of if you time your return from your following year's trip to the USA to coincide with the day before the visa expires, whereupon you will be given a further 12-month permission to stay. Then during your next USA trip thereafter you can obtain a further non-OA visa and repeat the process every 2 years ad infinitum.

 

You will still need to prove finances on the basis of the prevailing USD equivalent of 800,000 THB, but this amount can be held in the relative safety of a USA bank account.

 

I'm aware of at least 1 compatriot of yours who does this on the basis of reports I've seen on here!

Edited October 11, 2018 by OJAS

[soalbundy]

7 minutes ago, Spidey said:

IO haven't made any changes. It's the British embassy alone that is making life impossible for Brits.

 

Bearing in mind that the British Embassy has lied about other embassys following suit (esp. US), lied about IO agreeing to take 65k/month going into a Thai bank account as evidence of income, I have no doubt that they have lied about the content of the meeting that allegedly took place between themselves and the Thai IO several months ago.

 

It's just too much of a coincidence that this all comes at a time that they have announced that they are selling the embassy on Wireless Road and moving to smaller, less salubrious accommodation.

 

By ceasing to provide income letters for several thousand Brits, it gives them the opportunity to lose a couple of Thai staff and require less office accommodation. 

 

The £50 fee they received is of no consequence to them as they aren't there to make a profit, just stick to budgets. Office accommodation and support staff salaries, are budgeted for, the £50 fee isn't.

I agree with what you say but I can imagine the IO making changes to accommodate the special circumstances that the Brits are facing through no fault of their own.

[OJAS]

6 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I agree with what you say but I can imagine the IO making changes to accommodate the special circumstances that the Brits are facing through no fault of their own.

It would be unwise to bank on this happening (at least in time for our next annual extension), though.

[Spidey]

6 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I agree with what you say but I can imagine the IO making changes to accommodate the special circumstances that the Brits are facing through no fault of their own.

Thai IO will not under any circumstances make "special arrangements" for one nationality. Particularly as the "circumstances" are entirely due to the underhand tactics of one embassy who are also covering their backsides by trying to shift the blame onto Thai IO by blatantly lying about Thai IO. 

 

Thai IO will be bloody minded about this and agree to wave goodbye to several thousand Brit expats rather than falsely admit to being in any way to blame for the situation.

 

Thai "face", never admit that they are wrong. Admit to something when they are not in the wrong? No chance.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Spidey

[simoh1490]

1 hour ago, Farang99 said:

How do you persuade a Thai bank to separate income data from the  rest of the account?

Er, deposits are coded differently from all other transaction types, have you ever looked at your passbook!

[soalbundy]

1 minute ago, OJAS said:

It would be unwise to bank on this happening (at least in time for our next annual extension), though.

Yes, maybe stay in Cambodia for a while until the smoke clears.

[Spidey]

Just now, simoh1490 said:

Er, deposits are coded differently from all other transaction types, have you ever looked at your passbook!

Err, have you ever had dealings with Thai Immigration? Far too complicated for them, well above their pay grade.

[simoh1490]

31 minutes ago, sanmyintmaung said:

It looks like an upside down Union Jack.

A union jack that is flown upside down means a country in distress, perfectly accurate I reckon.

[OJAS]

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Thai "face", never admit that they are wrong. Admit to something when they are not in the wrong? No chance.

Equally applicable to the British Embassy in this case, I think. Any reversal of their crazy decision to stop issuing income confirmation letters will, of course, result in their mainly Thai staff members losing face big time!

[simoh1490]

2 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Err, have you ever had dealings with Thai Immigration? Far too complicated for them, well above their pay grade.

From what you've written in this thread you seem to have a serious beef with The British Embassy, the banks and Thai Immigration, there's just no pleasing you it seems.

[boonrawdcnx]

You can barely open a bank account now without a work permit. 
 
Took my mate to the Bangkok Bank in the Emporium, explained that he needs a bank account for his retirement visa to pay the 800k into (he's minted so no issues) and was told no, need to have work permit. I argued that he was retired and is not working LOL. Was told cannot open bank account without work permit. 
 
He did it in Pattaya instead. 

The bank was wrong - I initially had the same problem and told them - how do you expect me do have the money in the account when applying for the 1 year visa extension ( retirement) for two months if I cannot open an account? Most of them have no idea what they are doing.

A friend then called a friend - the head of Bangkok Bank for Chiang Mai and I went to see her.

She told me there is another option apart from having a work permit you only need a Thai person to guarantee and sign your application.

You need an address verification letter as well either from immigration or your consulate / Embassy.

And within minutes I had a fixed deposit bank account.

When my visa renewal came up and I needed the updated bank letter I went into the Promenada Branch of BkkBank where immigration had been located the last few years.
I got to talk to the marketing lady and told her about the difficulties people have opening accounts.

She told me she knows about the problem and their head office allows them to open accounts for foreigners who apply for one year visa extensions since they are next to immigration.

Same procedures - Thai guarantors signature ( your wife, gf,bf, friend) and verified address in Thailand.

I then quickly opened another account with ATM card and Bualuang MBanking which is fantastic for Transferring funds and checking your account on your mobile phone.




Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Spidey]

Just now, simoh1490 said:

From what you've written in this thread you seem to have a serious beef with The British Embassy, the banks and Thai Immigration, there's just no pleasing you it seems.

Yes I have a serious beef with my Embassy. I have never had any issues with Thai banks or Thai Immigration, the opposite, I've always found both to be helpful and courteous. Which of my posts suggests otherwise or are you just talking out of your backside?

[evadgib]

1 hour ago, Estrada said:

If the photo of the British flag shown in the poster was supplied by the British Embassy, it just goes to show how useless they are. The flag shown is a typical knock off of the British flag with the red cross printed in the wrong position.

Methinks you and your fellow clickers should take a closer look ????

Edited October 11, 2018 by evadgib

[simoh1490]

4 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Yes I have a serious beef with my Embassy. I have never had any issues with Thai banks or Thai Immigration, the opposite, I've always found both to be helpful and courteous. Which of my posts suggests otherwise or are you just talking out of your backside?

Post 534 for a start, "Thai Immigration? Far too complicated for them, well above their pay grade".

[Spidey]

Just now, simoh1490 said:

Post 534 for a start, "Thai Immigration? Far too complicated for them, well above their pay grade".

Thais have difficulty thinking outside the box. Along with all other Thai sections of life, they do everything by the book. No room for creative thinking.

 

As far as Thai immigration is concerned, if you do everything by the book, so do they. I follow this simple rule and never have problems with them.

 

And my negative comments about banks?

[pagallim]

There's the statement from the BE in thier email to TV:

 

"British Nationals should now demonstrate that they have an amount of at least 800,000 THB in an account in Thailand for no less than three months prior to the visa application, or a monthly income of at least 65,000 THB transferred into an account in Thailand for a retirement visa. For a marriage visa, the amounts are at least 400,000 THB in an account in Thailand for no less than three months prior to the visa application, or a monthly income of at least 40,000 THB transferred into an account in Thailand. A bank statement should be used as the supporting document for obtaining a Thai retirement or marriage visa. If the British National doesn’t already have a bank account, they should open one and follow the steps above".

 

Possibly there are cross wires here, that the BE whilst verifying (with disclaimer) that the applicant receives the required amount(s), they cannot verify that the minimum amounts are transferred into an account in Thailand.   Just a thought.

 

 

[Spidey]

Just now, pagallim said:

There's the statement from the BE in thier email to TV:

 

"British Nationals should now demonstrate that they have an amount of at least 800,000 THB in an account in Thailand for no less than three months prior to the visa application, or a monthly income of at least 65,000 THB transferred into an account in Thailand for a retirement visa. For a marriage visa, the amounts are at least 400,000 THB in an account in Thailand for no less than three months prior to the visa application, or a monthly income of at least 40,000 THB transferred into an account in Thailand. A bank statement should be used as the supporting document for obtaining a Thai retirement or marriage visa. If the British National doesn’t already have a bank account, they should open one and follow the steps above".

 

Possibly there are cross wires here, that the BE whilst verifying (with disclaimer) that the applicant receives the required amount(s), they cannot verify that the minimum amounts are transferred into an account in Thailand.   Just a thought.

 

 

It's not "crossed wires" just another blatant lie by the British Embassy.

[joebrown]

10 hours ago, manarak said:

One can only wonder at the unhelpfulness of consular services these days.

 

not being "verification specialists" is a weak excuse, they could very well certify clear-cut cases such as received pensions and other clearly documented income sources.

 

if it was a problem of manpower, they could charge a fee covering expenses, I'm sure there are enough jobless Britons back in the UK who would be happy to issue income certifications all day long in exchange for a job in Bangkok.

 

why is everything so dull and hopeless today

 

I think I read somewhere in this thread that the New Zealand embassy charges 1.300 bht for an income letter. The UK embassy charges 2,400 bht for the same. Which embassy is undercharging and which is a rip-off? (Sorry, no prizes for guessing which one has the bigger cocktail cabinet)

[mrmazinkle]

18 hours ago, smedly said:

open a sterling account with Bangkok Bank and transfer in sterling from the UK, the sterling account can be used for 12 month extension

is this true Thought it MUST be in Thai baht...in a Thai bank for extension?????

[EricTh]

11 hours ago, dontoearth said:

  $2K in US Dollars 65Kb in thai baht.  Sorry I didn't put in the $ and B.

By the way, what is the average salary for a non-high ranking government official in USA?

 

And what is the average pension in USD they could get when they retire ?

 

I have seen quite a few US personnel stationed in the Philippines.

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by EricTh

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, mrmazinkle said:

is this true Thought it MUST be in Thai baht...in a Thai bank for extension?????

The funds can be in any currency, they will be converted into THB at the prevailing rate, for purposes of the letter to Immigration.