BREAKING NEWS Thai immigration reveals new requirements for retirement, marriage extensions (visas)

[jlwilliamsjr18]

This too shall change.  Note...there's an election coming and all to most ministers will be replaced.  

[Spidey]

9 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

many people don't have pensions so this will not be the case. I am sure the wording will change to something like "funds from outside Thailand"

I admire your faith in TI. You're definitely a glass half full kinda guy.

[AsterixThai]

Hello,
For information, the Swiss embassy sends retirement certificates.
Why are not the embassies of other countries doing the same thing?

[zydeco]

So is the combination method gone? Or is there a subsequent order coming to explain any changes there?

[ubonjoe]

Some off topic posts and replies to them have been removed and now a comment on moderation. Off topic and nonsensical posts will be removed without notice from now on.

[don long]

Anyone know how the combination will work my income monthly is 55,000 so if I maintain 200k in a bank account will I need a letter from the bank or who can be contacted to get a definitive ruling on Requirements? Is Transferwise transfers considered intl. transfers based on how they transfer funds if anyone knows?


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[problemfarang]

all i see is... Thai Imm trying to do things more harder than now as if its not hard enough.

 

I have an American friend and gets his NON-O (thai wife) 1 year extension by a income letter from his embassy. His income is not real. He just tells the embassy and they give a letter, thats all. Now some might thing its ok, some might thing its not fair at all. I think IMM noticed this and decided to take an action, which is fair enough.

 

What i dont understand is... why your income should be 40K? I mean when thai ppl get married their income not even 30K (most of them) so why the law changes when it comes to farang... Also why both husband and wife income not count?! One of my friends income is 31K + 8K = 39K he cant get an extension... for 1K.

 

If i understood correctly the most important thing they changed is this certificate the income letter and make sure you really have that income. The rest seems all same. For the retirements still no problem because i have another friend from the UK, and as mentioned before his pension come to Krungthai every month and no problem. He can use it with his Krungthai card. Also Bangkok Bank is great about this. They are more pro.

 

I believe their next action will be about NON-O 90 days visa run thing. As we all know they already stopped it in big borders. And i believe more is coming. So.. its really becoming more difficult and stressful getting NON-O and stay on it.

 

Thanks for the great info though! This is why i love this website.

[tingtongtourist]

24 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

OK so those affected by this change need to investigate a monthly transfer service like Transferwise.

 

And or setting up repeating monthly transfers from their bank outside of Thailand where ever it may be.  

 

The exchange rate is something you will have to monitor month to month.

 

 

 

 

my understanding: for first year, you can apply for visa in your own country, showing your own $/funds same as 800k in bank.

 

then for 2nd year/extension: need to show 800k baht in Thai bank.

 

i dont know if this is 100% correct tho?

 

As for your theory about exchange rate, would it not be best to do monthly income and wait for a time of a high exchange rate?

Then transfer 800k in one hit when have the good rate?

 

I always wonder how people over 50y.o

can be secure in retirement in Thailand

if they cannot arrange to have 800k in a Thai bank

but i guess, up to them!

[janclaes47]

5 minutes ago, sumrit said:

in the "MARRIAGE SECTION":

Evidence of annual income that equates to no less than B40,000 per month of alien father, mother or spouse such as.

 

in the "RETIREMENT SECTION":

For retirement extensions of no more than 1 year evidence of average monthly income of B65,000 is required.

 

First Anomaly:

For people using the money in the bank option, just put 480/780k baht in the bank and call it 'average monthly income.........no need to season it any more.

From the same "retirement section"

 

For retirement extensions of no more than 1 year evidence of average monthly income of B65,000 is required.

 

1.       Evidence of pension. Same as 2 above,

 

And number 2 as above reads.

 

2.       Evidence of a pension. Letter of certification from a Thai bank supported by bank statements showing a pension being transferred to the pensioner’s bank account every month for at least 12 months. Exceptions are allowed for those who have been retired for less than one year – example given.

[keithet]

I got my us embassy letter dec 27. Have to go to immigration jan 8 for exstension. 

So I guess now I have to put 40k starting now for jan 2020's exstension. But I use my US bank to transfer to thai Kbank. But I just do that 3 times a year to save on transfer fees and to pick a better exchange rate. 

[overherebc]

5 minutes ago, AsterixThai said:

Hello,
For information, the Swiss embassy sends retirement certificates.
Why are not the embassies of other countries doing the same thing?

Spend the Gin and Tonic budget ??????? Your jocking, right???? Well I am anyway. ????

[JLCrab]

So looks like Thai IMM has issued new extension via monthly income regs which some said they would never do and now, based on the limited info available, ThaiVisa vox populi has already gone into "Well what about me?" mode.

[8OA8]

33 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

OK so those affected by this change need to investigate a monthly transfer service like Transferwise.

 

And or setting up repeating monthly transfers from their bank outside of Thailand where ever it may be.  

 

The exchange rate is something you will have to monitor month to month.

 

 

 

 

The problem with the Transferwise route is that the funds don't come from outside Thailand and they advis that before the transaction is done. I noticed on my bank statement last week where the source of inbound funds received via Transferwise as stated as coming from "DUMMY BRANCH"  

[smedly]

4 minutes ago, sumrit said:

For people using the money in the bank option, just put 480/780k baht in the bank and call it 'average monthly income.........no need to season it any more.

you forgot to include the words "monthly deposit" which IMO makes this whole thing a complete nonsense, I hate giving banks money in fees and this would force me to pay monthly fees to my home bank and it is not about the money it is about the fee no matter how big or small

 

as of now I have never used the income method for 12 month extension but I would like to have had the option of a combo method it I wanted to use it at some future time

 

My question is - why is one yearly deposit from outside Thailand not the same as 12 monthly deposits - in effect it is the same thing

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

For retirement extensions of no more than 1 year evidence of average monthly income of B65,000 is required

It does use the word "average."  One assumes that means the amount can vary from month to month or even be deposited less frequently than each month as long as it averages out to Baht 65,000 a month.

 

Of course if some months the amount is less than Baht 65,000 that would mean you'd have to sit there while someone enters 12 monthly deposits and then divides by 12 and possibly does it a second time to confirm. 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

The new order is an amendment to these clauses of police order 138/2557 titled "Supporting documents for Consideration of an Alien’s Application for a Temporary Stay in the Kingdom of Thailand".

This in clause 2.18 for extensions based upon marriage or being the parent of a Thai.

This in clause 2.22 for retirement.

 

I think pension is probably the best wording for what it states in Thai. Some words or phrases are difficult to translate exactly. Even the word pension can mean more than one thing. In some languages and countries per diem or a living allowance is called a pension.

 

[madmen]

you forgot to include the words "monthly deposit" which IMO makes this whole thing a complete nonsense, I hate giving banks money in fees and this would force me to pay monthly fees to my home bank and it is not about the money it is about the fee no matter how big or small
 
as of now I have never used the income method for 12 month extension but I would like to have had the option of a combo method it I wanted to use it at some future time
 
My question is - why is one yearly deposit from outside Thailand not the same as 12 monthly deposits - in effect it is the same thing

Where did you see "monthly"

[smedly]

6 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

It does use the word "average."  One assumes that means the amount can vary from month to month or even be deposited less frequently than each month as long as it averages out to Baht 65,000 a month.

 

Of course if some months the amount is less than Baht 65,000 that would mean you'd have to sit there while someone enters 12 monthly deposits and then divides by 12 and possibly does it a second time to confirm. 

 

 

one yearly deposit would make it very simple to work out lol

Edited January 6, 2019 by smedly

[mogandave]

my understanding: for first year, you can apply for visa in your own country, showing your own $/funds same as 800k in bank.
 

To get a 1 year non o visa at the Thai embassy in Los Angeles you only have to show about $700 in the bank.

[cyberfarang]

12 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Why would i have a problem?

I have 800.000 baht in the bank for my annual extension.

I have never used the income method for my annual extension.

When some embassies stopped issuing income confirmation letters, there were posters on some of these threads that said; they will use an agency to borrow the money or borrow from somewhere else to obtain their annual extensions. Then I said; this could have a knock-on effect of immigration demanding to see proof of where the money is coming from.

 

So in fact this could mean immigration will cease the lump sum in a Thai bank option and insist on monies being brought over monthly from credible sources. 

 

Hope this is not the case, because I doubt many retirees receive the amount of 65000 baht per month, especially now with the strong baht and weak foreign currencies.

 

I do hate these rotten vague reports that become a guessing game of what`s going to happen next. 

[janclaes47]

Just now, Suradit69 said:

It does use the word "average."  One assumes that means the amount can vary from month to month or even be deposited less frequently than each month as long as it averages out to Baht 65,000 a month.

 

Of course if some months the amount is less than Baht 65,000 that would mean you'd have to sit there while someone enters 12 monthly deposits and then divides by 12 and possibly does it a second time to confirm. 

 

 

What I understand from this is that there has to be monthly deposit from abroad, which averages 65K a month at the end of the 12 month cycle.

 

I hope I'm wrong about the need to have a monthly transfer from abroad

[Spidey]

3 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

So looks like Thai IMM has issued new extension via monthly income regs which some said they would never do and now, based on the limited info available, ThaiVisa vox populi has already gone into "Well what about me?" mode.

Hardly "limited information". It's come from TI and lays out the new requirements to obtain a visa extension.

 

"Well what about me" mode? We all have different circumstances and need different solutions to the same problem.

 

It's not all about you, Crabby.

[overherebc]

6 minutes ago, problemfarang said:

all i see is... Thai Imm trying to do things more harder than now as if its not hard enough.

 

I have an American friend and gets his NON-O (thai wife) 1 year extension by a income letter from his embassy. His income is not real. He just tells the embassy and they give a letter, thats all. Now some might thing its ok, some might thing its not fair at all. I think IMM noticed this and decided to take an action, which is fair enough.

 

What i dont understand is... why your income should be 40K? I mean when thai ppl get married their income not even 30K (most of them) so why the law changes when it comes to farang... Also why both husband and wife income not count?! One of my friends income is 31K + 8K = 39K he cant get an extension... for 1K.

 

If i understood correctly the most important thing they changed is this certificate the income letter and make sure you really have that income. The rest seems all same. For the retirements still no problem because i have another friend from the UK, and as mentioned before his pension come to Krungthai every month and no problem. He can use it with his Krungthai card. Also Bangkok Bank is great about this. They are more pro.

 

I believe their next action will be about NON-O 90 days visa run thing. As we all know they already stopped it in big borders. And i believe more is coming. So.. its really becoming more difficult and stressful getting NON-O and stay on it.

 

Thanks for the great info though! This is why i love this website.

Last year I posted about getting a 1 year MO in HCMC. I had the 400,000+ in the bank and copy of of the bank book in the paperwork, just in case.

The lady checked it and kept it in the pile. I said, I wasn't sure if you needed that and her reply was that soon? all places will be asking for it.

I was 'of course' shot down by quite a few posters.

Just sayin'

[madmen]

When some embassies stopped issuing income confirmation letters, there were posters on some of these threads that said; they will use an agency to borrow the money or borrow from somewhere else to obtain their annual extensions. Then I said; this could have a knock-on effect of immigration demanding to see proof of where the money is coming from.
 
So in fact this could mean immigration will cease the lump sum in a Thai bank option and insist on monies being brought over monthly from credible sources. 
 
Hope this is not the case, because I doubt many retirees receive the amount of 65000 baht per month, especially now with the strong baht and weak foreign currencies.
 
I do hate these rotten vague reports that become a guessing game of what`s going to happen next. 

Read Ubon Joe's reply. It's not the full translation which is coming tomorrow. You will know more then

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, taichiplanet said:

so the yearly amount based on monthly income:

for marriage is 480k;

for retirement is 780k.

 

Whereas the amount held in an account was (still is?) 400k for marriage and 800k for retirement.

 

Just note, the actual language posted in the OP says EVERY MONTH, which presumably means you'll have to be able to show at least the minimum required amount arriving EVERY MONTH during a 12 month period prior to your application.  That presumably means you can't, for example, do larger deposits in 10 months and then happen to skip payments for two months.

 

The language they're using now does NOT include the term AVERAGE monthly payment of....

 

[Pattaya46]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The new order is an amendment to these clauses of police order 138/2557 titled "Supporting documents for Consideration of an Alien’s Application for a Temporary Stay in the Kingdom of Thailand". //

I think you should add that in the OP, and also make clear in it that the 400/800k option is still available and unchanged. This would avoid a lot of questions and speculations about it... IMHO 

[JLCrab]

2 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Hardly "limited information". It's come from TI and lays out the new requirements to obtain a visa extension.

 

"Well what about me" mode? We all have different circumstances and need different solutions to the same problem.

 

It's not all about you, Crabby.

It is limited info until someone actually gets an extension based upon the new regs.

 

And they have to issue regs that will accommodate the greatest number of extension seekers possible while avoiding a logistical nightmare at the IMM offices which is what some people with their "what about me?" circumstances unique to them might ensue.

[smedly]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

2.       Evidence of a pension. Letter of certification from a Thai bank supported by bank statements showing a pension being transferred to the pensioner’s bank account every month for at least 12 months

9 minutes ago, madmen said:

13 minutes ago, smedly said:

you forgot to include the words "monthly deposit" which IMO makes this whole thing a complete nonsense, I hate giving banks money in fees and this would force me to pay monthly fees to my home bank and it is not about the money it is about the fee no matter how big or small
 
as of now I have never used the income method for 12 month extension but I would like to have had the option of a combo method it I wanted to use it at some future time
 
My question is - why is one yearly deposit from outside Thailand not the same as 12 monthly deposits - in effect it is the same thing

Where did you see "monthly"

Edited January 6, 2019 by smedly

[zydeco]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The language they're using now does NOT include the term AVERAGE monthly payment of....

Yes, it does. 

Quote

2.22

 

For retirement extensions of no more than 1 year evidence of average monthly income of B65,000 is required.

 

[kwak250]

I bet the immigration officers are all sat around laughing at us all while reading these comments.

I must admit if they change the 400k in the bank rule i would be well and truly forked.