Latest from USA Embassy as of 14 December

[Olmate]

9 hours ago, marcus111 said:

garyk...

Come on mate...You are thinking to much..!!!!

2 bucks a day in lost interest to live in Thailand is a very small price to pay.

800K only needs to be in a Thai bank for 3 months prior to your extension.....

So if you leave your 65K per month in your home country in an interest bearing deposit account during the 9 months prior, your 2 bucks per day would more than likely 1 buck per day.

Are you that stingy to not shell a buck or 2 to live here...????

Maybe it's time for you to go home...!!!!!

You might want to re think your last comment!Maybe ???

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, fusion58 said:

I’m just now learning about the U.S. Embassy’s decision to stop providing income affidavits. I have relied on these affidavits for every retirement (or marriage) extension I have done hitherto. I have no Thai bank account - all my money is deposited in U.S. banks. My current retirement extension expires on 28 February 2019. What are my options?

Not sure how you missed all the topics about it. Perhaps you should enroll in STEP so you don't miss important info (https://step.state.gov/step/).

The first thing you should do is send a email to the ACS ([email protected]) to see if you can get an appointment. There are no appointments available at this time shown on the site for them. With a little begging they might agree to do an affidavit after January 1st.

[Olmate]

This probably shows a large number of people have no inkling of this new requirement . Many not on forums or connected with fellow expats or even IT savvy? How can they me made aware ?

[fusion58]

On 12/27/2018 at 8:34 AM, ubonjoe said:

Not sure how you missed all the topics about it.

What’s not to understand?

 

I don’t frequent this forum very often. Furthermore, I usually don’t visit the US Embassy website unless I need something specific.

 

[fusion58]

Re: Monthly transfers or deposits to a Thai bank account as proof of funds: Does the Thai bank account have to be mine, or can I use monthly transfers to my Thai wife’s account?

[jacko45k]

29 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

Re: Monthly transfers or deposits to a Thai bank account as proof of funds: Does the Thai bank account have to be mine, or can I use monthly transfers to my Thai wife’s account?

At the moment it has not been announced what evidence of income will be deemed acceptable in lieu of the affidavit. I would highly expect if a Thai bank account was obligated, that it would have to be in the name of the person applying for the extension. Nothing certain yet though!

[ubonjoe]

32 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

Re: Monthly transfers or deposits to a Thai bank account as proof of funds: Does the Thai bank account have to be mine, or can I use monthly transfers to my Thai wife’s account?

I assume they will want to see the money going into an account in you own name.

[BertM]

41 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

Re: Monthly transfers or deposits to a Thai bank account as proof of funds: Does the Thai bank account have to be mine, or can I use monthly transfers to my Thai wife’s account?

I wouldn't think you could use wife's bank account. And, no one knows for certain what the future requirements will be for proving monthly income. We are all waiting to hear what documents will be accepted if any.

Edited January 2, 2019 by BertM

[garyk]

I have a question for you guys. I told my GF I was not going to give the banks 800K for three months every year. She told me since she brings in much more than that she would season my account for me every month. Will this fly or do the funds have to come from outside Thailand?

Edited January 2, 2019 by garyk

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, garyk said:

I have a question for you guys. I told my GF I was not going to give the banks 800K for three months every year. She told me since she brings in much more than that she would season my account for me every month. Will this fly or do the funds have to come from outside Thailand?

There is no requirement to show the funds came from outside Thailand for the 800k. It must be in an account in your name and accessible at any time.

[garyk]

6 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

There is no requirement to show the funds came from outside Thailand for the 800k. It must be in an account in your name and accessible at any time.

Wow, My worries are over.. haha

At least for this part of the equation, and for today... Tomorrow might be a different story here in the LOS's 

Edited January 2, 2019 by garyk

[Ahab]

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 10:45 PM, marcus111 said:

Totally agree with dddave.

Abuse by getting income affidavits is I believe is wide spread. I do the 800k baht requirement every year as I like to be honest and in all honesty if you are genuine and receive an income from your said affidavit as submitted to said embassy surely you have 800k thousand available to do it with truth.

Good to see the Thai authorities stopping the stupidity of these so called income letters.

 

I do not disagree with your opinions on fraud, but I do take issue with your assumption that everyone with sufficient income has 800K Baht in the bank. I have a retirement pension from the US military that is well above the requirement for a retirement extension, but I do not have 800K Baht laying around to deposit in a Thai bank. I also choose not to raid my 401K because of the 30% tax hit I would take. My Bangkok Bank bankbook clearly shows more than 65K Baht per month coming into Thailand from a foreign source (FFT code). My extension is due for renewal in August and my plan is to apply as early as possible and if there is an issue I will use an agency, or leave the country and apply for another non Imm-O visa (based on marriage).  Hopefully the issue will sort itself out before August.

[garyk]

13 minutes ago, Ahab said:

I do not disagree with your opinions on fraud, but I do take issue with your assumption that everyone with sufficient income has 800K Baht in the bank. I have a retirement pension from the US military that is well above the requirement for a retirement extension, but I do not have 800K Baht laying around to deposit in a Thai bank. I also choose not to raid my 401K because of the 30% tax hit I would take. My Bangkok Bank bankbook clearly shows more than 65K Baht per month coming into Thailand from a foreign source (FFT code). My extension is due for renewal in August and my plan is to apply as early as possible and if there is an issue I will use an agency, or leave the country and apply for another non Imm-O visa (based on marriage).  Hopefully the issue will sort itself out before August.

It's a scam plain and simple.  I have the 800K available, but it ain't going into a Thai bank. Income can and is verified easily.  People spouting I have the 800K and am proud to put it in a Thai bank are just want the Thai government wants.

Good business if you can get the masses to throw 800K/ yr, into a bank. Thailand is one of the few places where this will fly, old pensioners already in their homes, comfortable. Tens of thousands will have to conform. 

 

Of course the pool will dry up in a few years. These guys will die off and the new retiree's will not come to Thailand to retire. 

 

But, it will fly today for sure.

  

Edited January 2, 2019 by garyk

[jacko45k]

16 minutes ago, garyk said:

It's a scam plain and simple.  I have the 800K available, but it ain't going into a Thai bank. Income can and is verified easily.  People spouting I have the 800K and am proud to put it in a Thai bank are just want the Thai government wants.

Good business if you can get the masses to throw 800K/ yr, into a bank. Thailand is one of the few places where this will fly, old pensioners already in their homes, comfortable. Tens of thousands will have to conform. 

 

Of course the pool will dry up in a few years. These guys will die off and the new retiree's will not come to Thailand to retire. 

 

But, it will fly today for sure.

  

I do not see it as a scam, it is a requirement allowing me to stay here. I do not have income. I do not have to put it in 'every year', simply the once in the 12 years I have been here. It is also there, available to me to spend for 9 months of the year. It could help me out if I needed medical treatment. Postponing my 'dying off' hopefully. 

Thank heavens I didn't have to traipse off to my distant embassy and pay them money for naught each year.

 

 

 

 

[flbkk]

A group of expats needs to contact the relevant US senators or representatives, needs to be ones close to the current administration. Perhaps then, we could have an ear in the US government. 

[garyk]

44 minutes ago, flbkk said:

A group of expats needs to contact the relevant US senators or representatives, needs to be ones close to the current administration. Perhaps then, we could have an ear in the US government. 

It won't help. The westerners are coming here less and less, this is just a way to extract as much as possible while they can. US government has nothing to do with this IMO. 

The demographics are changing and will continue to change. IMO in 20 years or less very few westerners will come here, and the Thai government knows it. 

Simple as 2 + 2 IMO. No matter what anyone says, the Thai government has smart people that work for them. They look at statistics and make long term predictions. 

I say it is a scam, but really it is a very smart business plan. Actually my hat is off to the folks that do the long term outlook for Thailand. 

If you guys from the government are reading this I salute you.. 

If I had a business I would do the same thing if possible.

 

Only problem I see is it is going to hurt a lot of expat dependent Thai's in the process. Probably a good thing.

Edited January 2, 2019 by garyk

[Pattaya46]

14 minutes ago, garyk said:

It won't help. The westerners are coming here less and less, this is just a way to extract as much as possible while they can. //

Problem (for you) is that all statistics I saw show that the number of expats of most western countries do no stop to increase, year after year... 

[garyk]

4 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Problem (for you) is that all statistics I saw show that the number of expats of most western countries do no stop to increase, year after year... 

Haha,,, Ok.

I'm curious to see the results of these changes in a few years. Time will tell.

Edited January 2, 2019 by garyk

[nickstav]

The first time I went to get a verification letter from the consulate in Chiang Mai I brought along my original award letter from my government pension system, which clearly stated that I would be receiving this amount for life. I wasn't getting SS yet and didn't need it to qualify as my pension amount was more than enough. The young lady behind the counter looked at the award letter and asked me to wait a minute. She got on the phone and made a call. I was wondering what was up. A few minutes later a young man came to the window and introduced himself as the Vice-Consul. He looked at my award letter and said, "so you worked for the government?". Then he began to laugh. He said we don't need to see this, just raise your hand and swear that what you wrote on the affidavit is true. He was very nice about everything. I thought to myself, this is the stupidest thing I ever saw that they just take my word for it. I worked for the government for 30 years in a management position and would never attest to something just based on someone swearing to it. I also know they could very easily verify certain types of income, i.e. pensions, SS, if they wanted to.

[JackThompson]

2 hours ago, nickstav said:

He said we don't need to see this, just raise your hand and swear that what you wrote on the affidavit is true. He was very nice about everything. I thought to myself, this is the stupidest thing I ever saw that they just take my word for it. I worked for the government for 30 years in a management position and would never attest to something just based on someone swearing to it.

The consul was not attesting to your statement as fact - only that you are who you say you are, and that you made that statement under oath.  This is stated on all of the embassy's "under oath statement" forms.  Some amphurs used that paragraph as an excuse to refuse to marry my wife and I.

 

Lying under oath at a US Embassy is a felony, and could result in federal prison time.  Even if "only" probation, one has the sub-title "Convicted Felon," from that point forward.  The stupid action would be lying under oath, given such extreme consequences if caught.  Those consequences are much worse than anything Thai immigration could do to your future, for lying to them.

[JLCrab]

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

The stupid action would be lying under oath, given such extreme consequences if caught.  Those consequences are much worse than anything Thai immigration could do to your future, for lying to them.

That statement might be true but the odds of anything actually happening to you if/when you made a false statement to your country's Embassy/Consulate official versus, in effect, filing a false police report while physically in a Thai RTP police IMM office in front of a Thai RTP IMM police officer are hardly the same.

[JackThompson]

14 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

That statement might be true but the odds of anything actually happening to you if/when you made a false statement to your country's Embassy/Consulate official versus, in effect, filing a false police report while physically in a Thai RTP police IMM office in front of a Thai RTP IMM police officer are hardly the same.

Only if the RTP didn't inform the USA of violations - which may have been the case, and led to more people taking that risk (still very foolish, imo). 

 

But to be clear - I have a wife / life here, so will not be taking either of those risks.  I was afraid to use an agent, even when it was clear immigration was attempting to force me to do so.  But, some single-guy who hasn't established a life here could have a different perspective - where burning a bridge to Thailand wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

[JLCrab]

4 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

But to be clear

But to be clear for you or anyone else, if you want to walk into an RTP Thai MM office and sign a false statement, up to you.

[JackThompson]

5 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

But to be clear for you or anyone else, if you want to walk into an RTP Thai MM office and sign a false statement, up to you.

Anyone filing false stat-decs was doing that already, so no change there.  Whatever happens next, they will have one less potential charge to worry about - from a US Federal Prosecutor who can subpena all your info - and the more dangerous of the two, at that.

Edited January 2, 2019 by JackThompson

[JLCrab]

I was thinking more of what might happen regarding a bunco effort on some potential 65K+ baht monthly deposit scheme for which you have made copious analysis of some of the various possible round-robin workarounds.

 

As to falsifying an income affidavit, RIP to that.

[SheungWan]

Some guys here are stating that the main reason they do not want to transfer 800k to Thailand is loss of return on their investments where that money is currently invested. However, at the same time they are committing to a continuous retirement in Thailand. Could not the net loss of returns just be seen as a manageable overhead to that commitment? (I am also assuming that the net loss is not putting them in a marginal financial predicament). So the key question re the net loss amount anticipated, is this amount the deal breaker for some of you to threaten to leave? It seems out of proportion. Looked at in the round why not just swallow?

[fusion58]

18 hours ago, BertM said:

I wouldn't think you could use wife's bank account. And, no one knows for certain what the future requirements will be for proving monthly income. We are all waiting to hear what documents will be accepted if any.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to wait for the police order to come down as my current extension expires on 28 February.

Even if I were amenable to depositing funds in a Thai bank, (which I’m not) I wouldn’t have enough time to meet the seasoning requirements. I’m starting to believe the Thailand Elite visa might be my best (and my only viable) option at this point. 

[fusion58]

11 hours ago, SheungWan said:

Some guys here are stating that the main reason they do not want to transfer 800k to Thailand is loss of return on their investments where that money is currently invested. However, at the same time they are committing to a continuous retirement in Thailand. Could not the net loss of returns just be seen as a manageable overhead to that commitment? (I am also assuming that the net loss is not putting them in a marginal financial predicament). So the key question re the net loss amount anticipated, is this amount the deal breaker for some of you to threaten to leave? It seems out of proportion. Looked at in the round why not just swallow?

It’s the breathtaking incompetence of the work force that scares me away from Thai banks. Not long ago, my wife needed to make a wire transfer from her Thai bank account to a U.S. bank. We attempted this transaction at three different bank branches before we found an employee who knew how to do a wire transfer. The employees at the first two branches gave us absurd reasons why “you cannot.” It was clear from their BS stories that these employees were clueless re: their own bank’s policies and procedures. Trust these imbeciles with my money? Never going to happen.

[SheungWan]

40 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

It’s the breathtaking incompetence of the work force that scares me away from Thai banks. Not long ago, my wife needed to make a wire transfer from her Thai bank account to a U.S. bank. We attempted this transaction at three different bank branches before we found an employee who knew how to do a wire transfer. The employees at the first two branches gave us absurd reasons why “you cannot.” It was clear from their BS stories that these employees were clueless re: their own bank’s policies and procedures. Trust these imbeciles with my money? Never going to happen.

How about opening a bank account with a branch in one of the more central areas of Bangkok which would be more conversant with overseas transfers? Should I assume that the bank branches you are currently using are elsewhere?

[HuskerDo]

On ‎12‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 3:13 AM, JLCrab said:

Nah it's only about $25,000 but who knows what's on the minds of the IMM top brass.

FYI, if you are from the US you will need to report to the US Govt (another form completed when doing your annual taxes) if you have an overseas account with $10,000 dollars or more for even a single day. The 800,000 baht in a Thai bank will force this since it's about $25,000 dollars.