Does anyone know about this Visa service? Least expensive that I have seen.

[tropo]

23 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Just put 800,000 Thb in a bank for 3 months,2 if first time,

then after you get extension to can start spending it,this is

now the only legal way to go,if you don't have 800,000 THB

what are you doing here trying to scrape by,what if you have

an accident,fall ill,trying to do it in an illegal way is not going

to end well.things have changed now.

 

regards worgeordie

Most expats who "scrape by" in Thailand will be scraping even harder in their home countries.

 

[tropo]

16 hours ago, jimn said:

Why didnt you get the income affidavit from the embassy while it was available? Or is your extension not due for renewal in the next 6 months?

I'll be doing the same, but I don't think it's a sure thing. Hopefully, it will be cleared up in early January.

[Shoeless Joe]

9 hours ago, KittenKong said:

This is true, until the moment they choose to broadcast the information to all and sundry on a public forum. From that point onward they open themselves up to all sorts of comments and criticism, helpful or constructive or otherwise.

 

The spiteful response and your sad support of it makes me wonder if you actually read (and understood) the original post.

 

Joe

[DrJack54]

16 minutes ago, Shoeless Joe said:

 

The spiteful response and your sad support of it makes me wonder if you actually read (and understood) the original post.

 

Joe

Maybe you could read all other threads by op. Start off as genuine, quickly descend into self serving attention. The original question was about agent service. Its readily available and even been dealt with in this thread. 

[KittenKong]

52 minutes ago, Shoeless Joe said:

The spiteful response and your sad support of it makes me wonder if you actually read (and understood) the original post.

I did. But that isnt the issue. If you had read and understood my comment you would realise that the real issue is that if anyone posts in a public forum they should expect to get all sorts of replies.

 

If you cant stand the heat dont go into the kitchen.

[KhunFred]

On 12/26/2018 at 12:24 AM, jimn said:

Why didnt you get the income affidavit from the embassy while it was available? Or is your extension not due for renewal in the next 6 months?

Extension is due next October. I got my extension of stay on October 3rd.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, KhunFred said:

Extension is due next October. I got my extension of stay on October 3rd.

You have a lot of time to get your extension sorted out. Not sure why you are so worried about it at this time.

Just cool off and wait for the police order that should be released some time next month according to recent info.

[SkepticsRock]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You have a lot of time to get your extension sorted out. Not sure why you are so worried about it at this time.

Just cool off and wait for the police order that should be released some time next month according to recent info.

If all the Old Asia Hands pissing on each others' socks will allow a new member to comment....

 

The banks are already murmuring that what you're going to need is likely going to be a new form which Immigration hasn't yet devised, but which will be a Thai bank confirmation that you either have a regular monthly deposit (or deposits) at the required level or that you have a balance for the requisite number of months (3 vs 2) at the 800,000 level.  I bank at the Bangkok Bank right up the road from Chonburi Immigration.  They issue these letters every day in different formats and will, no doubt, be quite content to take your 100 or 200 baht to issue one.   Since the new regs are only just now falling into place I suggest to wait to see the outcome.  I'm sure Thaivisa Forums will be replete with hundreds of comments on people who've gone through the new drill.

 

The concern, IMHO, is for people who are not just living on the edge as most of us claim to be, but who are on the edge and off the grid.  With the primary consulates no longer chopping and signing any old thing you put in front of them, you can't keep your retirement funds in a bank back home or in Malta or Hong Kong.  You will have to arrange to have the requisite amount of funds arrive here each month.  If you control your US/AU/UK/DK banking via the internet, set up an automatic transfer on the same date each month.  Make it the first, but  there's always a lot to do with bill paying and such on the first.   I do it on the day of the month that matches my birthday, which is mid-month.  As long as they see that 65000 every month, the bank will chop your letter/form.

 

BTW, KhunFred...   why are you even contemplating using a commercial service?  The requirement for a retirement visa is one of the simplest to fill (notwithstanding the rule change on the income affidavit).  Chonburi Immigration are very helpful and the document stackers at the front counter really just want to get their daily stack of requests taken care of and my feeling is that if you go in all shucks-and-humble, they'll walk you through it because it's ultimately quicker than to put up with you haggling with them and asking four hundred questions.  They just want to pencil-whip you through to the numbered counter areas where the actual officers sit.  I've renewed my retirement visa six times and have never had any problems not of my own making.  

 

A suggestion from a veteran of fifty years dealing with Thai Immigration....(not me - my friend who is born of two farang parents but was born and raised here and has several businesses). "It's Thailand.  Leave the flip-flops, cargo shorts and t-shirt at home.  Put on a pair of slacks and some big boy leather shoes. Smile a lot.  Please and thank you go a long way.  (Rent a cute Thai kid.... I no longer take my wife in because I know all the forms inside and out, but my son looks like something out of a picture from The Palace and Thais, even Immigration/Police, love kids, especially good-looking and well-behaved ones.)

 

I believe this is why people refer to the Visa services as rip-offs.  They're charging you 8 to 30 thousand baht for something you can tackle yourself quite readily.  Aside from the side trip to get the income affidavit, it's never taken me longer than 24 hours to get my extension.  The seedy part of their businesses are based on providing funky bank accounts with that 800,000 balance.  The less said about those, the better.  I know one ex-pat who uses such a service, but he also uses them for financial services for his wife's (we own nothing... no really, officer, I swear, we're 'umble retirees we are) businesses and it's more a matter of convenience rather than necessity.

 

Finally, to those slamming the policy changes.  I'm so far left that I think of Jill Stein as a neocon, so I have no love of military regimes and bureaucracies.  But some of the comments make me wonder if you follow the news at all!  Listen to Crap Radio 103 FM.   Every second day there's a story in the local/national news (on the half-hour) about some expat who's been living off the grid and has overstayed his visa by 3/8/11.... YEARS!!!   Yeah, you and me are saints but let's not deny that there are a whole lot of people here whose home governments, constabularies or courts might have an interest in speaking with.  We've had everyone arrested here in the past year from Yakuza, to baby rapers, to wayward dads who refuse to pay child support....   And they were all busted, initially, on "Overstay".  With the huge loophole of the Consulates just signing any old statement we put in front of them, I'm surprised that they let the income affidavit letter exist as long as they did.  I've lived in Canada and Taiwan and Hong Kong.   All of them would've demanded something more than a piece of paper with a figure you make up and hand to the Consulate window!  Yeah, I'm a charter member of the Get Off My Lawn crowd, too so I don't like changes to my routine, but this one doesn't sound unreasonable.  

[JackThompson]

6 hours ago, SkepticsRock said:

I believe this is why people refer to the Visa services as rip-offs.  They're charging you 8 to 30 thousand baht for something you can tackle yourself quite readily. 

Not if your local-office wants that agent-money.  Then they make it somewhere between "very difficult" and "impossible."

 

6 hours ago, SkepticsRock said:

Aside from the side trip to get the income affidavit, it's never taken me longer than 24 hours to get my extension.  The seedy part of their businesses are based on providing funky bank accounts with that 800,000 balance.  The less said about those, the better.  I know one ex-pat who uses such a service, but he also uses them for financial services for his wife's (we own nothing... no really, officer, I swear, we're 'umble retirees we are) businesses and it's more a matter of convenience rather than necessity.

Many immigration offices prefer you "contribute" to them via an agent.  The "seedyness" is part of their process.  The only question is, will they let you do things the honest way, or are you among the percentage that will be targeted.  Anyone using Chang Wattana in Bangkok is set - "by the book" seems to always be an option, there.  For the rest, it varies.

 

6 hours ago, SkepticsRock said:

Listen to Crap Radio 103 FM.   Every second day there's a story in the local/national news (on the half-hour) about some expat who's been living off the grid and has overstayed his visa by 3/8/11.... YEARS!!!   Yeah, you and me are saints but let's not deny that there are a whole lot of people here whose home governments, constabularies or courts might have an interest in speaking with.  We've had everyone arrested here in the past year from Yakuza, to baby rapers, to wayward dads who refuse to pay child support....   

 And they were all busted, initially, on "Overstay". 

By "wayward dads" I assume you refer to the victims of the one-sided "family court" system (USA, in any case).  I am not surprised, but thank my lucky-stars every day to have avoided having my future wrecked that way - unlike many friends.  Interesting they report on those, given there seems to be no Thai equivalent - even a decent and balanced version.

 

As to the other actual criminals - there are 75,000 Americans on long-stays, per the Embassy consul.  How many from all countries in total?  Of course a tiny percentage are bad-guys, so something to report daily.  But please do not buy into / repeat propaganda used to justify putting us ALL over a barrel, when the offset / good we do far outweighs the bad.

 

6 hours ago, SkepticsRock said:

With the huge loophole of the Consulates just signing any old statement we put in front of them, I'm surprised that they let the income affidavit letter exist as long as they did. 

In the case of the USA and Australia, it is a Felony to lie on that form.  In the USA system, that's a federal charge, so assured life-long repercussions in employment, travel (anywhere), etc.  Whatever the Thais do next, unless it is a death-penalty or life-in-prison offense, it will have less teeth than that system did.

 

6 hours ago, SkepticsRock said:

I've lived in Canada and Taiwan and Hong Kong.   All of them would've demanded something more than a piece of paper with a figure you make up and hand to the Consulate window! 

None of which resemble Thailand.  All have large middle-class populations, few if any "desperately poor," extensive welfare systems, and hordes of people trying to work there illegally - entering from poor countries. 

 

By contrast, Thailand has a large population of poorer citizens who need good jobs, which our presence helps to provide.  Even a relatively poor farang spends several Thai salaries of "free money," in foreign-sourced capital, every year.

 

6 hours ago, SkepticsRock said:

Yeah, I'm a charter member of the Get Off My Lawn crowd, too so I don't like changes to my routine, but this one doesn't sound unreasonable.  

The devil is in the details.  We shall see what the new police-order states.  If it is just "show the deposits," then I am set. 

 

But many have not completely abandoned their passport-country.  For them, having to send the full amount here first, then pay "home-country bills" out of a Thai account, may be a challenge. 

[KhunFred]

6 hours ago, SkepticsRock said:

 

BTW, KhunFred...   why are you even contemplating using a commercial service?  The requirement for a retirement visa is one of the simplest to fill (notwithstanding the rule change on the income affidavit).  Chonburi Immigration are very helpful and the document stackers at the front counter really just want to get their daily stack of requests taken care of and my feeling is that if you go in all shucks-and-humble, they'll walk you through it because it's ultimately quicker than to put up with you haggling with them and asking four hundred questions.  They just want to pencil-whip you through to the numbered counter areas where the actual officers sit.  I've renewed my retirement visa six times and have never had any problems not of my own making.  

 

 

I would like to THINK you are correct, but I have no evidence of anyone being successful by merely presenting the "proof". I would be happy to walk in and show them the same documents that I showed the Thai consulate officer in Vientiane. I had my Embassy letter with me, but he wanted more documentation, which I had. I went over it very briefly and he then told me I could pick up my passport with O-visa the next day. The smoothest ride I have ever had with a Thai bureaucracy. I DID notice that everyone in Vientiane, in any kind of official capacity, spoke better English than I have ever heard at Chonburi Immigration.. The Thais can look down on Laos if they want to, but I found them very reasonable.

[DrJack54]

This post was basically along lines of "cheap agents for extensions". Anywhere upwards from 15k basically. The answer was already known. Then the serial wonkers spill out another zillion words of self ego massage. How does that contribute to info about visas, extensions etc. Its just a crock. I have an idea about next post from those bored. " I heard a bloke tell another bolke about a friend of his that said..."