Australia joins the UK and USA with withdrawal of income verification

[Russell17au]

Today 2/11/2018 the Australian Embassy has declared that it will from the 7th January 2019 it will NOT witness Statutory Declarations for proof on income for Thai Visa extensions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Crossy]

Thanks for that, no real surprise, I suspect the other embassies will follow suit ????

 

The links at the bottom of the notice don't really help as there are no specifics other than the full deposit option 

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_22

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_18

 

I've fixed the spelling error in the topic title ????

 

[TSF]

Looks like all farang living in Thailand on annual extensions will now need to have the 400K & 800K THB in a Thai bank account in order to continue living in Thailand. Now, just wait and see if next year they'll double the required sums. I've been expecting it for a couple years now, but it'll happen because they want you gone.

[giddyup]

I can imagine this is going to cause some sleepless nights among Aussie retirees to Thailand.

[ezzra]

The question is why now and whether the Thai government is behind it to force expats to bring more money into the country or is it a cahoot of the US, UK and the aussie governments for reasons that are know only to them...

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, TSF said:

Looks like all farang living in Thailand on annual extensions will now need to have the 400K & 800K THB in a Thai bank account in order to continue living in Thailand. Now, just wait and see if next year they'll double the required sums. I've been expecting it for a couple years now, but it'll happen because they want you gone.

That has been discussed over and over again the other topics about the embassy income proof. All 3 embassy are saying that you can prove you income by transfer the required income of 40k or 65k baht in a Thai bank. But immigration have not confirmed that will be accepted.

Not sure why you would think immigration would double the money in the bank. There is no basis for stating that.

 

[giddyup]

13 minutes ago, TSF said:

Looks like all farang living in Thailand on annual extensions will now need to have the 400K & 800K THB in a Thai bank account in order to continue living in Thailand. Now, just wait and see if next year they'll double the required sums. I've been expecting it for a couple years now, but it'll happen because they want you gone.

The 800K hasn't been increased for many years so it would be no surprise to see an increase, but tell me, why would the Thai government want us gone?

[giddyup]

4 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The question is why now and whether the Thai government is behind it to force expats to bring more money into the country or is it a cahoot of the US, UK and the aussie governments for reasons that are know only to them...

It's designed to force expats to actually prove they can meet the financial criteria instead of signing a possibly fraudulent stat dec.

Edited November 2, 2018 by giddyup

[Russell17au]

30 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Thanks for that, no real surprise, I suspect the other embassies will follow suit ????

 

The links at the bottom of the notice don't really help as there are no specifics other than the full deposit option 

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_22

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_18

 

I've fixed the spelling error in the topic title ????

 

Thanks Crossy

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So at this point, I'd say it's pretty clear the moving force behind all these changes re income affidavits/letters is Thai Immigration, and not this or that Embassy deciding to be pissy about their workloads.

 

Although, from what the Embassies have said, these latest changes by Immigration seem to have been underway well before BJ just lately became the new Immigration commander. For whatever that is worth.

 

 

[Russell17au]

The thing is that anyone who is on a government pension can prove their income quite easy and it is also easy for the embassies to be able to verify government pensions. It would not take much for each of the embassies to have access to the amounts that are paid for the different government pensions. I can print mine out of official Australian government letterhead and it tells the type of pension that I am receiving so how hard would it be for the embassies to have a list of the different government pensions to check.

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So at this point, I'd say it's pretty clear the moving force behind all these changes re income affidavits/letters is Thai Immigration, and not this or that Embassy deciding to be pissy about their workloads.

 

Although, from what the Embassies have said, these latest changes by Immigration seem to have been underway well before BJ just lately became the new Immigration commander. For whatever that is worth.

 

 

I would say it's become pretty clear to TI that in many cases the stat dec or affidavit is not worth the paper it's written on.

[onera1961]

32 minutes ago, TSF said:

Now, just wait and see if next year they'll double the required sums. I've been expecting it for a couple years now, but it'll happen because they want you gone.

I am not sure if 800K requirement will be changed. But I think TI does not want people from Western countries live in poverty stricken areas of Thailand with a minuscule amount of pension (e.g. 600 to 800K USD). Regular 65K incoming/month coming to a Thai bank will be accept fro now, I guess. 

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

The thing is that anyone who is on a government pension can prove their income quite easy and it is also easy for the embassies to be able to verify government pensions. It would not take much for each of the embassies to have access to the amounts that are paid for the different government pensions. I can print mine out of official Australian government letterhead and it tells the type of pension that I am receiving so how hard would it be for the embassies to have a list of the different government pensions to check.

And what about other cases, like mine, where I only get a part goverment pension because of other income, like interest on term deposits, allocated pensions, superannuation, rental income etc? Do you think embassies have the time, expertise or manpower to be checking all that out.

[Will27]

6 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

The thing is that anyone who is on a government pension can prove their income quite easy and it is also easy for the embassies to be able to verify government pensions. It would not take much for each of the embassies to have access to the amounts that are paid for the different government pensions. I can print mine out of official Australian government letterhead and it tells the type of pension that I am receiving so how hard would it be for the embassies to have a list of the different government pensions to check.

I don't think the OAP meets the financial requirements anyway.

 

I'd suggest most of the Aussies would have more than just the pension.

[Pib]

Since the Thai immigration website can be hard to reach sometimes and sometimes the English page is not working, below is a snapshot from the two pages as of 9:30am.  Been no changes for years. 

 

Where the AU/US/UK embassy announcements talk "X-amount deposited into a Thai bank account" per Thai immigration website, the Thai immigration website just states evidence of monthly income and to quote from their website/the snapshot below: "Must have evidence of having income of no less than Baht 65,000 per month."   As you see there is no reference that this income needs to flow into a Thai bank. 

 

Remember, what foreign embassies say carries no weight until "Thai Immigration" say the same thing/publish specific guidance which they have not done as of this date/time.  Summary: status quo for need of embassy income letter if using the income method.

 

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_22

 

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_18

[Will27]

Surely it will mean a lot of people (not just Aussies) will be going to places like Savannakhet and HCMC

for visas now.

[giddyup]

1 minute ago, Will27 said:

 

I'd suggest most of the Aussies would have more than just the pension.

I'd suggest that the ones who don't have been using the stat dec method from the embassy.

[Chongalulu]

20 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That has been discussed over and over again the other topics about the embassy income proof. All 3 embassy are saying that you can prove you income by transfer the required income of 40k or 65k baht in a Thai bank. But immigration have not confirmed that will be accepted.

Not sure why you would think immigration would double the money in the bank. There is no basis for stating that.

 

As ever you are the voice of reason amongst the panic and speculation. It’s actually beneficial (and it was very predictable)that more embassies would follow suit because it adds to the momentum and pressure for Immigration to propose a solution and define the parameters. The nuclear option for them is to insist that without income letters (which will I believe in all cases become a thing of the past unless ) only bank deposits are acceptable with all the associated ramifications for many. There is a lot more to be played out in this scenario and there is effectively over 6 months for that to happen.

[onera1961]

6 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

The thing is that anyone who is on a government pension can prove their income quite easy and it is also easy for the embassies to be able to verify government pensions.

Why TI will now create another class of retirees - retirees on government pension? Why not private pension, why not people spending their money from savings, 401K, IRAs etc? TI has laid down the rules 65K/month coming to your account or 800K deposited in a Thai banks. They should make it easy for banks to open an account with an O-A visa. You just walk into a bank with an O-A visa, and you should be able to open an account. Another thing they should make it easy is family visa (married to a Thai or having a Thai child). 

[giddyup]

1 minute ago, Will27 said:

Surely it will mean a lot of people (not just Aussies) will be going to places like Savannakhet and HCMC

for visas now.

You don't think those loopholes will also be closed eventually?

[Will27]

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

You don't think those loopholes will also be closed eventually?

I've got no idea TBH.

 

But at the moment, for some it might be the only option.

[Mooserj]

These links to the Thai Immigration website

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_22

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_18

 

do actually state the three (3) methods of proving required funds:

 

1. Money in the Bank 

2. Income per month

3 Combination method

 

I am sure Bank books/statements and bank letters can prove these fund methods without the need for Embassy support documents. Interesting to see how Immigration react to all this and what they will be accepting.

[cleopatra2]

5 minutes ago, Pib said:

Since the Thai immigration website can be hard to reach sometimes and sometimes the English page is not working, below is a snapshot from the two pages as of 9:30am.  Been no changes for years. 

 

Where the AU/US/UK embassy announcements talk "X-amount deposited into a Thai bank account" per Thai immigration website, the Thai immigration website just states evidence of monthly income and to quote from their website/the snapshot below: "Must have evidence of having income of no less than Baht 65,000 per month."   As you see there is no reference that this income needs to flow into a Thai bank. 

 

Remember, what foreign embassies say carries no weight until "Thai Immigration" say the same thing/publish specific guidance which they have not done as of this date/time.  Summary: status quo for need of embassy income letter if using the income method.

 

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_22

 

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_18

it is possible to interpret the police order , using the retirement combination method as requiring the income portion to be in a Thai bank

[Pattaya46]

35 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The question is why now and whether the Thai government is behind it to force expats to bring more money into the country or is it a cahoot of the US, UK and the aussie governments for reasons that are know only to them...

I imagine that there are a lot of similarities in laws from UK, USA and AU (for obvious historical reasons). So maybe BE first found that there was some "incompatibility" between this letter and the UK law, and after that USA and AU found the same problem, and chose the same (easy) solution. Could be.

[MekkOne]

ex-pats complaining too much, this is how your top cop is paying you back, put the money in the bank and if you die we are going to keep it... Enjoy.

[grego49]

11 minutes ago, Will27 said:

I don't think the OAP meets the financial requirements anyway.

 

I'd suggest most of the Aussies would have more than just the pension.

The OAP is $849,au a fortnight in Thailand.

[giddyup]

1 minute ago, MekkOne said:

ex-pats complaining too much, this is how your top cop is paying you back, put the money in the bank and if you die we are going to keep it... Enjoy.

Rubbish. That 800K can be willed to whoever you like.

[Longcut]

15 minutes ago, giddyup said:

I would say it's become pretty clear to TI that in many cases the stat dec or affidavit is not worth the paper it's written on.

If anyone is still wondering if the Thai government reads any of these forums, this should be proof that they do. Also, for those that complained some people were abusing the affidavit letter and possibly not having the funds that they swear to. It looks like it backfired on them too. 

 They too will have to scramble about just like the ones they accused of not really having the funds or income available. 

 Wouldn't it have just been better to have minded your own business?

 I for one really didn't care how my neighbor got to stay here. 

As long as I knew I was legal, no business of mine.

[marcusarelus]

3 minutes ago, MekkOne said:

ex-pats complaining too much, this is how your top cop is paying you back, put the money in the bank and if you die we are going to keep it... Enjoy.

Or you could make a will.