Income statement letters from embassies no longer required, confirms Phuket Immigration

By Tavee Adam

 

The Australian Embassy will cease issuing the income confirmation letters from Jan 7.

 

PHUKET:-- Phuket Immigration Deputy Chief Lt Col Archeep Jaroensuntisuk today (Nov 22) confirmed to The Phuket News that a letter confirming income is no longer required by any foreigner whose home country embassy no longer provides such official statements.

 

The news follows the UK and US embassies announcing that from Jan 1, 2019 they will no longer issue any statements confirming the income of one of their citizens, as is required in applying for many types of long-stay permits-to-stay (also called “long-stay visas”), such as the O-A visa for retirees.

 

The Australian Embassy in Bangkok has followed suit, effective Jan 7 (see here), and the Danish Embassy in Bangkok has ceased issued such statements with immediate effect.

 

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/income-statement-letters-from-embassies-no-longer-required-confirms-phuket-immigration-69438.php#wUHYaGw9cV6GcCYZ.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2018-11-22

“However, the foreigner applying for the visa (or permit-to-stay) will still have to prove that they have the funds to stay in the country, such as by showing bank statements that prove the foreigner has B800,000 in a Thai bank account,” he said.
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/income-statement-letters-from-embassies-no-longer-required-confirms-phuket-immigration-69438.php#IZF5tP7cSx8GQ7b0.99

So is that the only option? What about the 65,000 a month? Is that no longer an option? It seems that if we want to stay we have to put money into banks that many of us dont fully trust. I feel somewhat betrayed by the Embassies. You can guarantee they will not be there in our corner if/when our cash has vanished.

I hope immigration can come up with much firmer details on what is and isn't acceptable before crunch time comes, as I can already hear the squeals of pain and outrage.

so nothing new then

This is great so I dont need any money to get a one year extension...Yahoo...

The only thing coming from immigration I will pay attention to is when it comes from the Immigration Bureau not some head of a local office.

It is certainly lacking any useful information in IMO.

33 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The only thing coming from immigration I will pay attention to is when it comes from the Immigration Bureau not some head of a local office.

It is certainly lacking any useful information in IMO.

Don't get too excited... Nothing new. OP is very misleading. IO head only said the letters were not required and 800k bank account method was accepted. He DID NOT say monthly income method without income letter was accepted. See his quote below...

 

Of course this letter is no longer needed if the embassy no longer issues it,” Col Archeep explained to The Phuket News today (Nov 22).

“However, the foreigner applying for the visa (or permit-to-stay) will still have to prove that they have the funds to stay in the country, such as by showing bank statements that prove the foreigner has B800,000 in a Thai bank account,” he said.

But in Phuket and Pattaya ++ can you NOT open a bank account in any bank if you don't have a B-Visa and work permit. The banks here are afraid of money laundering and black money, so here are not Immigration in phuket with on their own rules.

Did the reporter totally screw this uP by hitting google translate?

15 minutes ago, BertM said:

He DID NOT say monthly income without income letters was accepted.

Not sure why you quoted my post. I did not mention what the article stated since it if had nothing useful in it IMO.

There is the 'such as showing bank statements that prove 800,000' Unfortunately doesn't say 'or income equivalent'

2 hours ago, darksidedog said:

“However, the foreigner applying for the visa (or permit-to-stay) will still have to prove that they have the funds to stay in the country, such as by showing bank statements that prove the foreigner has B800,000 in a Thai bank account,” he said.
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/income-statement-letters-from-embassies-no-longer-required-confirms-phuket-immigration-69438.php#IZF5tP7cSx8GQ7b0.99

So is that the only option? What about the 65,000 a month? Is that no longer an option? It seems that if we want to stay we have to put money into banks that many of us dont fully trust. I feel somewhat betrayed by the Embassies. You can guarantee they will not be there in our corner if/when our cash has vanished.

I hope immigration can come up with much firmer details on what is and isn't acceptable before crunch time comes, as I can already hear the squeals of pain and outrage.

These people who do not trust the local banks.....what basis do they have for this mistrust? Are there any forum posters who have lost a large sum of money that was deposited in a Thai bank? I’ve never met or heard of anyone who this has happened to.

1 hour ago, nasa123 said:

But in Phuket and Pattaya ++ can you NOT open a bank account in any bank if you don't have a B-Visa and work permit. The banks here are afraid of money laundering and black money, so here are not Immigration in phuket with on their own rules.

Hundreds of posts confirming this to be false information.  Visit a Bank of Bangkok main branch (not the mall) in any tourist location and open an account.  1. Bangkok Bank.  2.  Main branch.  In Pattaya that is on second road by end of soi six.  There is a new thread about it. 

It would be nice if they could make up their minds on whether or not we need an income letter and whether or not we need to carry our passports.  This puts expats in constant danger of shakedowns and arrest.

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

“However, the foreigner applying for the visa (or permit-to-stay) will still have to prove that they have the funds to stay in the country, such as by showing bank statements that prove the foreigner has B800,000 in a Thai bank account,” he said.
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/income-statement-letters-from-embassies-no-longer-required-confirms-phuket-immigration-69438.php#IZF5tP7cSx8GQ7b0.99

So is that the only option? What about the 65,000 a month? Is that no longer an option? It seems that if we want to stay we have to put money into banks that many of us dont fully trust. I feel somewhat betrayed by the Embassies. You can guarantee they will not be there in our corner if/when our cash has vanished.

I hope immigration can come up with much firmer details on what is and isn't acceptable before crunch time comes, as I can already hear the squeals of pain and outrage.

"Betrayed by the embassies"? In order to continue the income verification letters, they were being asked by Immigration to provide some sort of documentable review and verification service that is far beyond the scope of their responsibilities, capabilities or resources.

1 minute ago, bubba said:

"Betrayed by the embassies"? In order to continue the income verification letters, they were being asked by Immigration to provide some sort of documentable review and verification service that is far beyond the scope of their responsibilities, capabilities or resources.

Yes, it’s crazy that so many people feel hard done by. Our embassies have basically told Thai Immigration to take a hike, and rightly so in my opinion.

For those who are not native speakers of English but nevertheless enjoy reading the tea leaves, the phrase " ... such as by showing bank statements ... " means "for example, by showing etc". In other words, it merely mentions one possible way of "proving that they have funds to stay in the country". It does not exclude other ways.

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Not sure why you quoted my post. I did not mention what the article stated since it if had nothing useful in it IMO.

Sorry ubonjoe,

I wasn't thinking when I quoted your post. Your post was the last one in line when I posted. But, I was hoping you would get my meaning and help clear up that the IM Head DID NOT say that no letters were required with regard to the income method which is what the OP's headline seemed to suggest... To me this was very misleading, that is why I used the IM Head's quote to show he referred only to the 800k method for future use. This is crazy... The post right before yours, the person was celebrating that no more income letters were required. See Mr. fforest1 quote below celebrating the news....

3 hours ago, fforest1 said:

This is great so I dont need any money to get a one year extension...Yahoo...

I just signed up a few days ago to follow the latest news, but I need a break already from all this craziness... Will check back in a few months when things settle out... I cannot keep reading all these crazy posts...

11 minutes ago, bubba said:

"Betrayed by the embassies"? In order to continue the income verification letters, they were being asked by Immigration to provide some sort of documentable review and verification service that is far beyond the scope of their responsibilities, capabilities or resources.

And how many countries are there? And how many countries are not issuing the income letter? So that leaves loads of countries still issuing the income letter...Does any one see any thing strange with this?

So your saying ALL other embassies are just fine with verifying income?
I say not a chance in hell... 

12 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

For those who are not native speakers of English but nevertheless enjoy reading the tea leaves, the phrase " ... such as by showing bank statements ... " means "for example, by showing etc". In other words, it merely mentions one possible way of "proving that they have funds to stay in the country". It does not exclude other ways.

Yes.  But it is unfortunate that he only mentioned the method which has never required an embassy letter, and did not elaborate on what those of us who relied on those letters to qualify, might do in the future.

10 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

And how many countries are there? And how many countries are not issuing the income letter? So that leaves loads of countries still issuing the income letter...Does any one see any thing strange with this?

So your saying ALL other embassies are just fine with verifying income?
I say not a chance in hell... 

When the British Embassy made their announcement, people said the same thing. Then the US Embassy followed suit but still it was only two so the comments continued. Then the Australians and Danish made similar announcements. Do you really not see a trend here? Do you honestly think no other embassies will stop issuing income letters? 

35 minutes ago, Mark1066 said:

When the British Embassy made their announcement, people said the same thing. Then the US Embassy followed suit but still it was only two so the comments continued. Then the Australians and Danish made similar announcements. Do you really not see a trend here? Do you honestly think no other embassies will stop issuing income letters? 

Their are 195 countries in the world....4 have said no more letters.....Sense no embassy can 100% guarantee income from all their citizens that means they would ALL have to stop issuing the letter..... 191 embassies who after a few months now have said nothing......Yes some more embassies I am sure will say no more letters but that will still leave a shit ton of embassies who will continue to issue them.....Some thing stinks about this whole thing....

16 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

Their are 195 countries in the world....4 have said no more letters.....Sense no embassy can 100% guarantee income from all their citizens that means they would ALL have to stop issuing the letter..... 191 embassies who after a few months now have said nothing......Yes some more embassies I am sure will say no more letters but that will still leave a shit ton of embassies who will continue to issue them.....Some thing stinks about this whole thing....

Bit silly to include all 195 countries in this discussion (especially Thailand - there isn’t a Thai embassy in Thailand of course). Many of those 194 countries have very few, or no, citizens living on non-immigrant O visas in Thailand and some are thoroughly corrupt. I don’t think there’s anything strange about what’s happened, from what I’ve read so far. I’m glad my country’s embassy has refused to lie or to agree to follow convoluted verification procedures that would be impossible for them to implement at a reasonable cost. As individuals, it’s hard for us to fight immigration but our embassies obviously have no intention of being pushed around by them. Perhaps thousands of expats will be forced to leave because of these decisions but I seriously doubt it.

Does this mean I can show them my Norwegian bank statements ? Or only transfers into a Thai bank ? 

24 minutes ago, Mark1066 said:

Bit silly to include all 195 countries in this discussion (especially Thailand - there isn’t a Thai embassy in Thailand of course). Many of those have very few citizens living on non-immigrant O visas in Thailand and some are thoroughly corrupt. I don’t think there’s anything strange about what’s happened, from what I’ve read so far. I’m glad my country’s embassy has refused to lie or to agree to follow convoluted verification procedures that would be impossible for them to implement at a reasonable cost. As individuals, it’s hard for us to fight immigration but our embassies obviously have no intention of being pushed around by them. Perhaps thousands of expats will be forced to leave because of these decisions but I seriously doubt it.

If you cant see there are very strange things going on behind the scenes..Not much I can do....Thai Immigration policies should apply to ALL embassies..And if that were the case...Thai immigration could just say WE WILL NO ACCEPT INCOME VERIFICATION LETTERS FROM A-N-Y COUNTRY....

 

They could knock out all 194 countries in a day...

But this is not happening is it?

You embassy is only doing what they were told to do...

8 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

If you cant see there are very strange things going on behind the scenes..Not much I can do....Thai Immigration policies should apply to ALL embassies..And if that were the case...Thai immigration could just say WE WILL NO ACCEPT INCOME VERIFICATION LETTERS FROM A-N-Y COUNTRY....

 

They could knock out all 194 countries in a day...

But this is not happening is it?

As far as I am aware, Thai immigration have demanded that embassies actually verify our income statements rather than simply notarise them and, so far, 4 embassies have said no, get stuffed. Nothing strange about that. They have not said they will not accept income letters from those 4 embassies, it is those 4 embassies that have said they cannot issue letters that comply with the demands of Thai immigration.

2 hours ago, Mark1066 said:

These people who do not trust the local banks.....what basis do they have for this mistrust? Are there any forum posters who have lost a large sum of money that was deposited in a Thai bank? I’ve never met or heard of anyone who this has happened to.

Actually, having searched online, it seems that theft from Thai bank accounts is not an uncommon event and in most cases, the banks do little to help. In one case I found, they suggested the victim ask the police to help track down the thief and refused to take responsibility for the missing money themselves. As I was about to transfer quite a lot of money here, it’s certainly given me pause for thought.

4 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The only thing coming from immigration I will pay attention to is when it comes from the Immigration Bureau not some head of a local office.

It is certainly lacking any useful information in IMO.

Agreed, when it has a Police Order Number reference, then I know it is perhaps OK.

But, not wishing to appear sycophantic, but when UbonJoe says it is OK, then it is.

I shall await his advice.

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

“However, the foreigner applying for the visa (or permit-to-stay) will still have to prove that they have the funds to stay in the country, such as by showing bank statements that prove the foreigner has B800,000 in a Thai bank account,” he said.
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/income-statement-letters-from-embassies-no-longer-required-confirms-phuket-immigration-69438.php#IZF5tP7cSx8GQ7b0.99

So is that the only option? What about the 65,000 a month? Is that no longer an option? It seems that if we want to stay we have to put money into banks that many of us dont fully trust. I feel somewhat betrayed by the Embassies. You can guarantee they will not be there in our corner if/when our cash has vanished.

I hope immigration can come up with much firmer details on what is and isn't acceptable before crunch time comes, as I can already hear the squeals of pain and outrage.

i have been here over 18 years had millions of bahts in accounts here over that time not 1 baht has ever gone missing.

8 hours ago, fforest1 said:

And how many countries are there? And how many countries are not issuing the income letter? So that leaves loads of countries still issuing the income letter...Does any one see any thing strange with this?

So your saying ALL other embassies are just fine with verifying income?
I say not a chance in hell... 

Different countries have their own interpretations. One might expect some more to follow suit though and add to the 4 already withdrawing letters. Those 4 cover the majority of those who apply for extensions based on retirement or marriage to a Thai. 

10 hours ago, nasa123 said:

But in Phuket and Pattaya ++ can you NOT open a bank account in any bank if you don't have a B-Visa and work permit. The banks here are afraid of money laundering and black money, so here are not Immigration in phuket with on their own rules.

And therein lies their whole, flawed logic. If Thai banks deem certain people unqualified to open an account through not having the requisite visa or a WP, then they simply all must be money launderers and felons. Since Thai Immigration are well into their illusory white good guys in, black bad guys out campaign, such (mostly  white) felons are in the latter category. Simples.