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

[pagallim]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

 

Forgive my ignorance but how many months do they need to do a transfer before qualifying?

 

Must it be only 3 months before extension or each of the 12 months in a year?

Nothing has been quantified by the BE, with the result that they appear to be presenting Thai Immigration requirements on a make it up as you go along basis.

[Spidey]

Just now, Issanjohn said:

So it’s official I have an official email from the United States Embassy and you can disregard what the British Embassy supposedly said in the email posted in the article.  I just posted an official email from the actual United States Embassy which totally contradicts what the British Embassy stated yesterday.  

But your email does state "we are currently evaluating options regarding the future provision of this document". Oops!

 

The statement "Currently there are no plans to stop this service for the foreseeable future" is clearly given with the caveat, "until the evaluation is completed."

[Media1]

22 minutes ago, Issanjohn said:

See the attached email from the United States Embassy I also spoke to them on the phone yesterday and I was told that there are absolutely NO PLANS for the United States Embassy to stop providing this service, now someone please tell the British Embassy to please speak for themselves only and not us!!!!  They say there maybe changes way off in the distant future but they are not going to totally stop providing the proof of income affidavit service at all the British Embassy is wrong and they obviously don’t know what they are talking about and clearly don’t know what they are doing based on the position they are putting their own citizens in.  British Embassy speak for yourself and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves for putting your citizens in the position you’re putting them in it’s absolutely unacceptable.  If I were a British citizen I’d be extremely angry.  

 

Additionally I also went and spoke to immigration in person this morning and this policy of the British government has absolutely nothing to do with Thai immigration.  Thai Immigration has NOT changed their policy regarding acception of the proof of income affidavit and that information came directly from an immigration supervisor I spoke to in person this morning!!!  So please everyone stop the rumor mill and focus on these actual facts.  United States citizens we have nothing to worry about it is confirmed by the United States Embassy and I’ve even attached their email I received from them this morning!!!  I can only tell you about my phone call with them yesterday.  I hope this helps squash all of the misinformation going around online....

As I said yesterday the UK Embassy should stop representing other countries and concentrate on mad May and the citizens 

[Issanjohn]

11 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Whilst I agree with everything that you have posted, the email does say "We are currently evaluating options regarding the future provision of this document". Ominous.

 

Americans be afraid, be very afraid, s**t yourselves.

Well on the phone yesterday they said that they WILL NOT STOP PROVIDING IT LIKE EVER however they may change the document itself way off in the distant future but there are absolutely NO PLANS to completely stop providing this service as the British Embassy is doing.  They said on the phone yesterday that it’s just a British Embassy policy ONLY, NOT A United States Embassy policy.  So actually no there really isn’t anything to worry about even if they do change the document in the distant future as they said on the phone yesterday MIGHT HAPPEN THEY WILL STILL BE PROVIDING IT NOW AND FOREVER at least for the foreseeable future anyway but who knows what will happen 5 to 10 years from now everything changes with time.  I could be dead in 10 years for all I know so don’t worry about it they aren’t going to stop providing it even if they do make changes and that information came from the United States Embassy so no actually it’s not to worry.  If you’re a British citizen you should be concerned next year.  

[bluemoonpattaya]

Just a thought, but why not have pension paid into an account in a Thai bank in London, say Bangkok bank and transfer your money over when you need it.  And you will have your monthly pension payments into a Thai bank account

[Media1]

2 minutes ago, Issanjohn said:

Well on the phone yesterday they said that they WILL NOT STOP PROVIDING IT LIKE EVER however they may change the document itself way off in the distant future but there are absolutely NO PLANS to completely stop providing this service as the British Embassy is doing.  They said on the phone yesterday that it’s just a British Embassy policy ONLY, NOT A United States Embassy policy.  So actually no there really isn’t anything to worry about even if they do change the document in the distant future as they said on the phone yesterday MIGHT HAPPEN THEY WILL STILL BE PROVIDING IT NOW AND FOREVER at least for the foreseeable future anyway but who knows what will happen 5 to 10 years from now everything changes with time.  I could be dead in 10 years for all I know so don’t worry about it they aren’t going to stop providing it even if they do make changes and that information came from the United States Embassy so no actually it’s not to worry.  If you’re a British citizen you should be concerned next year.  

Tell the UK Embassy to announce the l are running for PM in the next election..l need media coverage please.

[Spidey]

Just now, Issanjohn said:

Well on the phone yesterday they said that they WILL NOT STOP PROVIDING IT LIKE EVER however they may change the document itself way off in the distant future but there are absolutely NO PLANS to completely stop providing this service as the British Embassy is doing.  They said on the phone yesterday that it’s just a British Embassy policy ONLY, NOT A United States Embassy policy.  So actually no there really isn’t anything to worry about even if they do change the document in the distant future as they said on the phone yesterday MIGHT HAPPEN THEY WILL STILL BE PROVIDING IT NOW AND FOREVER at least for the foreseeable future anyway but who knows what will happen 5 to 10 years from now everything changes with time.  I could be dead in 10 years for all I know so don’t worry about it they aren’t going to stop providing it even if they do make changes and that information came from the United States Embassy so no actually it’s not to worry.  If you’re a British citizen you should be concerned next year.  

Well if you didn't record the phone call, I'd take it with a pinch of salt. Part of "Team Trump", habitual liars who say one thing today and do the opposite tomorrow. 

[kannot]

21 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

Thousands of Brits on TV shouting anti immigration

So long as immigrants dont bleed  the system after paying in nothing Ive no problem with them.

Its  when they arrive and the get benefits its all wrong, should have to   Pay in 8 years national insurance  before can get anything back type of rule.

Us Thai immigrants can access nothing and cost Thailand nothing, thats a big difference.

We also dont demand  a special type  of law be used with us such as Sharia.

[dontoearth]

10 hours ago, JerseytoBKK said:

Total BS. There are so many inaccuracies in that statement. Your 250K assumption is beyond absurd. 
 

Full retirement for those that were born between 1943 and 1954 is 66. The age increases marginally who those younger. If you delay past full retirement then you'll get appr 8% more per year for each year you delay receiving benefits until 70.

 

If you opt for early social security, then you receive less. You can stop working at 62 but don't need to file for benefits. If you did that, your monthly benefits would have kept increasing until you actually started claiming/receiving benefits. There is a very good calculator here that lets you know what you can receive based on your past earnings, future earnings (if any) and whatever date you want to choose to retire: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html

  

    You are not familiar with my individual case.  And not so very informed about the final payouts.  The estimator will tell you that it is not accurate.  You need to check in before retirement with a counselor.  I was penalized by the WEP among other things. You don't get the automatic raise of 8% every year anymore if you are not still working and paying in to the system between 62-70.   Are you from the US?  I did use two years of the maximum social security website run by the best selling author with just that book title for my planning.  It helped me find out I was getting screwed because of my government pension and desire not to work between 62 and 70.   Things the estimator doesn't really account for very well. 

    It would be much better for me if the things you are talking about were true.

    I am happy enough with the things worked out.  I feel fine.

    I was born in 1956.  Every 10 years the goal post are moved further down the field.   I can't imagine what the millennial generation will get from this system.

    

   

[offset]

4 minutes ago, bluemoonpattaya said:

Just a thought, but why not have pension paid into an account in a Thai bank in London, say Bangkok bank and transfer your money over when you need it.  And you will have your monthly pension payments into a Thai bank account

Problem with that is if you live over here full time and not have an address and 3 bills address to you at that address you cannot in the UK open a bank account

[dontoearth]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

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.

 

 

 

   Military pensions are different.  

   Almost no two people get exactly the same pension.  I used google and cut/pasted it in a previous post.  Here is the info from investopedia:

"The maximum monthly Social Security benefit payment for a person retiring in 2018 at full retirement age is $2,788. However, the maximum allowable benefit amount is only payable to those who had the maximum taxable earnings for at least 35 working years."

[zydeco]

32 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Whilst I agree with everything that you have posted, the email does say "We are currently evaluating options regarding the future provision of this document". Ominous.

 

Americans be afraid, be very afraid, s**t yourselves.

The US embassy changes their letter every year.  They constantly evaluate it and make changes to the content.

[flipside555]

48 minutes ago, Issanjohn said:

I also went and spoke to immigration in person this morning and this policy of the British government has absolutely nothing to do with Thai immigration.

 

Thai immigration told  the British Embassy that it must now verify the income of individuals requesting an income letter. The British embassy is saying that it cannot do that.

 

 

The American Embassy says exactly the same thing. It assumes "no responsibility for the truth or falsity of the representations" i.e. it cannot verify the sources of income.

 

 

 

[Leatherneck]

16 hours ago, Leatherneck said:

Going into the US Consulate here in Chiang Mai tomorrow morning to get an income cert for my visa extension next week. Definitely plan to ask that question...but fully expect a government bureaucratic answer.

Asked the question today at the Chiang Mai Consulate about the rumors floating around that the income certificates may be discontinued. Response was that the Consulate had heard the same rumors and that US officials were in discussions with Thai immigration officials and no decision had been reached one way or another. I was told to stay tuned and a notification would be made if any change was made. Like I said earlier..."a government bureaucratic answer".????

[davidcrookes]

Can anyone advise how many months would be acceptable to qualify the 65000k monthly income option ( 3 or has to be a full 12 months prior to retirement visa application).

Thanks

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

45 minutes ago, Issanjohn said:

  So please everyone stop the rumor mill and focus on these actual facts.  United States citizens we have nothing to worry about it is confirmed by the United States Embassy and I’ve even attached their email I received from them this morning!!!  I can only tell you about my phone call with them yesterday.  I hope this helps squash all of the misinformation going around online....

 

Interesting..   I too sent an email yesterday to the U.S. Embassy ACS unit yesterday, and got an email response back from them this morning. And it is similar to the one you posted above, EXCEPT, the answer ACS sent me does NOT have the final sentence about "no plans to stop the service."  And oddly, it looks like our two responses were signed by the same person, being "AB".

 

If other responses from the U.S. are forthcoming, it will be interesting to see if they come in the flavor you received, which is more definite, or the flavor I received, which is more ominous. Seems like both the British and the U.S. Embassy folks have some work to do on handling their public communications.

 

[lipflipper]

I had a similiar situation happen to me in July when I went to my Visa Agent to get my yearly Retirement and Multi Entry Visa taken care of. It was on a Tuesday morning and she informed that the Chaing Mai Immigration in the afternoon on Monday had decided that Americans needed to actually provide proof of income along with the notarized statement from the U.S. Consulate. As you can imagine that piece of news did not sit well with the Americans who had been waiting at Chiang Mai Immigration since Monday morning. Calls were made to the U.S. Consulate and I assume to the American Embassy because on Tuesday afternoon I got a call from the Visa Agent and was told that Chaing Mai Immigration had rescinded their position and Americans only needed the notarized statement like before. Evidently this has something to do with a Quid Pro Quo agreement between the two Countries and unless both sides agree to a change it is the policy now.

Sent from my CMR-AL19 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Just Weird]

19 hours ago, crazykopite said:

$50 that’s nothing the Brit Embassy is over 3,000 baht plus postage and that was three years ago before I went onto the 800,000

It's not, it's currently B2400 and the postage is so little it makes no difference!

[Spidey]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Interesting..   I too sent an email yesterday to the U.S. Embassy ACS unit yesterday, and got an email response back from them this morning. And it is similar to the one you posted above, EXCEPT, the answer ACS sent me does NOT have the final sentence about "no plans to stop the service."  And oddly, it looks like our two responses were signed by the same person, being "AB".

 

If other responses from the U.S. are forthcoming, it will be interesting to see if they come in the flavor you received, which is more definite, or the flavor I received, which is more ominous. Seems like both the British and the U.S. Embassy folks have some work to do on handling their public communications.

 

The sentence "Currently there are no plans to stop this service for the foreseeable future" is really poor grammar, unlike the rest of the email. Maybe a bit of creative writing from Issanjohn.

[Just Weird]

19 hours ago, mikebell said:

The letter (costing nearly 4 times more than NZ Embassy) reads words to the effect - 'the applicant says he receives sufficient funds to satisfy Thai Immigration and we have no reason to doubt that.'  They insert your name & churn them out for  3 or 4 thousand baht.  

"They insert your name & churn them out for  3 or 4 thousand baht". 

It's B2400.  Why do people like you churn out such garbage?

[Just Weird]

19 hours ago, crazykopite said:

President Trump looks after his folk not like our Prime Minister she even freezes our pensions because we choose to live in Thailand .

Mrs May did not freeze UK pensions abroad!

[Spidey]

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

It's not, it's currently B2400 and the postage is so little it makes no difference!

It's currently £50 plus £2 postage. paid it yesterday.

[Just Weird]

Good grief, all the garbage spewers are out in force today.

[MysteryIsland]

No Embassy can verify the income of any individual.  There are so many sources of income.  You either accept the individual is not lying and swear to it.  The only way you can show income to Thailand is from a bank statement or a letter from the bank with documents showing the income.

 

Thai immigration can do what they want.  But let hope they just continue to accept the income letter from the Embassy. 

[crazykopite]

1 hour ago, Issanjohn said:

For a marriage visa the minimum monthly income requirement is only 40,000.  That’s less than half of what I make in a month but if I have to use a local bank I’m only depositing the minimum amount because I’m not using a local bank I WILL continue to use my bank in the states.  I’m actually about to post some REALLY GOOD NEWS I just received in writing from the United States Embassy.  So honestly this shouldn’t ever be an issue at least not anytime soon anyway.  There maybe changes way off in the distant future according to them but they are NOT going to stop providing the document I have now confirmed that with the United States Embassy via phone yesterday and email a few hours ago which I’m about to post for everyone to see.  In fact here it is now attached now someone please tell the damn British Embassy to please speak for themselves only and not us!!!!  

 

Additionally I also went and spoke to immigration in person and this policy of the British government has absolutely nothing to do with Thai immigration.  Thai Immigration has NOT changed their policy regarding acception of the proof of income affidavit and that information came directly from an immigration supervisor I spoke to in person this morning!!!  So please everyone stop the rumor mill and focus on these actual facts.  

It pisses me off big style that if you are married to a Thai you only need 40,000 per month or 400,000 in the bank , however if your single or married to another national then it’s 65,000 per month or 800,000 in the bank and now 13 years down the road of living here no one has ever given an explanation. Those farangs I know married to Thai woman are always moaning how they have no money as the wife is always in spend spend mode . I welcome sensible comments not sarcastic ones although I know I will get many ????

[Just Weird]

4 minutes ago, Spidey said:

It's currently £50 plus £2 postage. paid it yesterday.

That's what I said, more or less.  The amount depends on the exchange rate, last time I paid it was nearer B2400 plus postage that is so little it's inconsequential.

 

Anyone who objects to the cost of a stamp to the Embassy can always do it by email...until December.

[taxin]

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Totally based on a complete misunderstanding of the requirements for extensions.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Jingthing my understanding is that you are no longer able to get an extension of stay (currently if you are from the UK) based on having funds overseas, starting from 1st January, instead you will need to go down the route of having 400/800K in a Thai bank. If I have read wrong and this is not the case I apologise.

[Just Weird]

19 hours ago, ginjag said:

What about my bank statement, from the Uk showing the direct debit paid into the account of my pension that should be proof enough surely.     50+ quid for a paper from the embassy was a rip off.  That presented with the Thai bank balance.   is that what they want......I got my Embassy paper to re-new my retirement visa in August.....why didn't they know then------I ought to get my 50+ quid back.  DOH

"I got my Embassy paper to re-new my retirement visa in August.....why didn't they know then------I ought to get my 50+ quid back.  DOH".

 

Why, did they not give you the letter that you paid for?

[Spidey]

2 minutes ago, MysteryIsland said:

No Embassy can verify the income of any individual.  There are so many sources of income.  You either accept the individual is not lying and swear to it.  The only way you can show income to Thailand is from a bank statement or a letter from the bank with documents showing the income.

 

Thai immigration can do what they want.  But let hope they just continue to accept the income letter from the Embassy. 

I send a P60. Easily verifiable. How can IO continue to accept an income letter if you can't get one.

 

 

[crazykopite]

51 minutes ago, bluemoonpattaya said:

Just a thought, but why not have pension paid into an account in a Thai bank in London, say Bangkok bank and transfer your money over when you need it.  And you will have your monthly pension payments into a Thai bank account

 

51 minutes ago, bluemoonpattaya said:

Just a thought, but why not have pension paid into an account in a Thai bank in London, say Bangkok bank and transfer your money over when you need it.  And you will have your monthly pension payments into a Thai bank account

Have you tried opening an account in the BKK bank in London it’s a joke 3 times I have made an application with no response and this has been over a 3 year period.