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

[onera1961]

12 minutes ago, nasa123 said:

But still in Phuket you can not open a bank account if you don’t have a B-visa whit work permit, a have a account BAT new peopel no. 

They may have to go to Bangkok. Banks may change their rules for opening account in the future if TI is truly working with the banks to prepare the letter needed for "monthly transfer method"

 

[OJAS]

6 minutes ago, roger101 said:

Thanks for that. I normally use my TMB Bank but I have an account with Bangkok Bank as well.

But, as others have said, quarterly transfers will not, in all probability, be deemed acceptable by Immigration. Monthly transfers will, in these circumstances, be the strict order of the day.

[LongTimeLurker]

On 1/6/2019 at 7:13 AM, 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.

Presumably these monthly transfers will be subject to Thai income tax since they are income remitted in the year it is earned.

 

Maybe that is the reason behind it all??

[LongTimeLurker]

19 minutes ago, ocddave said:

The only thing I don't like is the letter and bankbook having to be dated the day of trip to the Immigration Office, usually its better to get to Immigration first thing, this new fiasco will make that an almost all day affair.....UGH!!!

Renewed my retirement visa in Jomtien a few days ago, with all the paperwork correct I was in and out in 15 minutes arriving at 10:30 after getting my bank letter the same morning. Same next day when collecting and getting re-entry permit.

 

Edit: I had all the forms filled in and all the paperwork ready before even leaving the house.

Edited January 7, 2019 by LongTimeLurker

[OJAS]

3 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Presumably these monthly transfers will be subject to Thai income tax since they are income remitted in the year it is earned.

Depends on the terms of the double taxation treaty between your home country and Thailand. If these transfers have already been taxed in your home country then they shouldn't be taxed again in Thailand.

[onera1961]

1 hour ago, ocddave said:

I'd rather see corruption stamped out with an iron-fist, then get back to a set of rules that everyone follows...or else.

Instead of posting it in TVF, why don't you become a Thai activist for eliminating corruption starting from the lowest level at villages where destitute Thai people have to pay tea money to get things done at the government offices. If you start that, it will be a real worthy cause to spend your retirement time here in Thailand. 

[Vacuum]

3 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Renewed my retirement visa in Jomtien a few days ago, with all the paperwork correct I was in and out in 15 minutes arriving at 10:30 after getting my bank letter the same morning. Same next day when collecting and getting re-entry permit.

Agent users won't believe you.

[onera1961]

10 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Presumably these monthly transfers will be subject to Thai income tax since they are income remitted in the year it is earned.

 

Maybe that is the reason behind it all??

Please don't post non-sensical posts about income tax. 

Edited January 7, 2019 by onera1961

[ocddave]

6 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Renewed my retirement visa in Jomtien a few days ago, with all the paperwork correct I was in and out in 15 minutes arriving at 10:30 after getting my bank letter the same morning. Same next day when collecting and getting re-entry permit.

 

Edit: I had all the forms filled in and all the paperwork ready before even leaving the house.

I've been going to Nonthaburi, and that place was Hell, though they do have a new facility, so maybe this will have improved this year when i go in. I like you, have everything ready, so hopefully in and out, but I see others stating we have to do this (letter/bankbook) again after the 30+ day approval period, in order to get the stamp.

Edited January 7, 2019 by ocddave

[Nyezhov]

Well as I see it then for guys like me who stay here only part of the year, its back to either METVs, or back to Back SETVs and border runs.

 

Im surely not going to transfer 65k into a Thai Bank account when I am not here. And I use TW when Im here and my bank does not show it as a foreign transfer. And I dont need 65K a month when I am here.

 

[wobalt]

Perhaps the other Embassies are just carrying on "as normal" without actually "verifying" the income as requested by TI?
 
Perhaps they are taking the stance that their citizens are responsible honest people who have provided them with proof of their income by supplying them with copies of Bank Statements showing regular Pension/other payments  and/or signed and dated copies of rental agreements etc?
 
Perhaps this is something that was discussed as far back as May last year, and (to my knowledge) no other Embassy has been pushed/reminded by TI of the "verification" issue?
 
Perhaps the British Embassy (followed by the others that you mention) have "spat the dummy out" as basically TI are saying that the Embassy shouldn't believe what their citizens are telling them! 
 
 

I believe that the insurance carriers provide you with docs stating how much pension you got and since when and where it is transferred too. Maybe different for civil servants who have not to pay for the pensions. But they should got a similar doc as well. However why the TI doesn’t accept them now - is not clear






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[onera1961]

2 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Agent users won't believe you.

It is hit and miss. It is the total time he spent collecting documents that TIs not even interested. Agent users don't like to deal with the hassle and nitty gritty of TI's retirement  extension. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

56 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

 

Both my wife, and her friend, confirm that the word "average" does not appear in the Thai document.  If they were to have used the word "average" they (TI) would have needed to clarify if it was an average of 12 deposits per year or an average of 65,000 Baht per month.  This they have not done.

 

As with many Thai words they can they can sometimes have several different English meanings, as is the case that the original post which used the word "pension".  The Thai words used in the document can in fact also mean pension, income, salary, wages, investments or revenue.  Hence the reason why UJ has had to clarify several times to ally members fears that the new criteria only covers pension income.

 

 

Thanks very much for the clear and responsive update to the question I posed. I asked, of course, because the quick and dirty version in the OP news report did use the term "average" in one place in part of the retiree section, but not in the marriage section. I'm inclined to go by your and your wife's version of the document, as you've elaborated above.  And also wait to see how the supposedly forthcoming ThaiVisa version deals with that language.

 

My guess from the outset was that, in this case, Thai Immigration really means 12 monthly foreign source deposits, not four or six, etc, and they really mean a minimum of 40K or 65K for each and every one of those 12 deposits, not 35K this month and 45K next month, etc etc...

 

Be interesting to see how it all plays out. Thanks again for your reply.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

4 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

Please don't post non-sensical posts about income tax. 

You obviously don't know the Thai law!

[LongTimeLurker]

8 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Agent users won't believe you.

Wife and daughter renewing their visas plus getting their re-entry stamps were done before me!!

 

It's all a matter of getting the right documents, including the ones they don't tell you that they want!!

Edited January 7, 2019 by LongTimeLurker

[ocddave]

6 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

Instead of posting it in TVF, why don't you become a Thai activist for eliminating corruption starting from the lowest level at villages where destitute Thai people have to pay tea money to get things done at the government offices. If you start that, it will be a real worthy cause to spend your retirement time here in Thailand. 

Not retiring here, have to be here, so I'm just a statistic waiting for a place to happen.....I figure death by pollution, death by Thai drivers, or death by chemical/pesticide infused food or water. I spend my time trying to avoid dying, hopefully I'll be successful ????

[onera1961]

8 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Well as I see it then for guys like me who stay here only part of the year, its back to either METVs, or back to Back SETVs and border runs.

You can also do back-to-back exemption entry. Does not cost anything. But there may be risk of entry denial depending on how often you do it.

Edited January 7, 2019 by onera1961

[Pattaya46]

9 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

13 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Renewed my retirement visa in Jomtien a few days ago, with all the paperwork correct I was in and out in 15 minutes arriving at 10:30 after getting my bank letter the same morning. Same next day when collecting and getting re-entry permit.

Agent users won't believe you.

Neither do I.

15 minutes!

Why was it so long? 

[onera1961]

4 minutes ago, ocddave said:

Not retiring here, have to be here, so I'm just a statistic waiting for a place to happen.....I figure death by pollution, death by Thai drivers, or death by chemical/pesticide infused food or water. I spend my time trying to avoid dying, hopefully I'll be successful

You're lucky because you won a genetic lottery but destitute Thai people are not as lucky like as you. 

Edited January 7, 2019 by onera1961

[LongTimeLurker]

7 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

It is hit and miss. It is the total time he spent collecting documents that TIs not even interested. Agent users don't like to deal with the hassle and nitty gritty of TI's retirement  extension. 

Agent users still have to provide the documents the TI wants.

[ocddave]

2 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

You're lucky because you won a genetic lottery but destitute Thai people are not as lucky like as you. 

Which is why I am more caring, respectful, polite to them than I am to the HI-SO's who trample them under their feet, or run them over with their Mercedes/BMW's. But back on topic...

[onera1961]

1 minute ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Agent users still have to provide the documents the TI wants.

Yes but they don't have to spend their time in TVF, bank, etc., reading what documents need to be provided for their jurisdiction. They don't have to know how the TIs in their jurisdiction is interpreting the Thai written orders, etc. All information agents will have and I bet they will also help you in getting exact documents you need. 

[onera1961]

21 minutes ago, wobalt said:

However why the TI doesn’t accept them now - is not clear

Because TIs don't have to accept your way, my way and million other ways. Can you imagine the circus it will create?

[wobalt]

Because TIs don't have to accept your way, my way and million other ways. Can you imagine the circus it will create?

No, they still accept the German letter, maybe the Uk,US, AUD etc social security system is inferior and can be Abused


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[ubonjoe]

A off topic post bringing health insurance into the topic and a reply to it have been removed.

There is ongoing topic about that subject.

[Rich21]

I know someone may have answered this but I wasn't going to go through 64 pages of replies - is there any change to the rules if you have a lump sum in your Thai bank account rather than monthly income? Is it still same - 800 000baht for retirement visa?

[sfokevin]

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

A off topic post bringing health insurance into the topic and a reply to it have been removed.

There is ongoing topic about that subject.

When you post the final translation can you do it in a new post and close this one as it has really gone on too long.... Thanks

Edited January 7, 2019 by sfokevin

[Nyezhov]

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

Depends on which Thai bank you hold your account here with. If Bangkok Bank (like mine is) it will be recorded as a foreign transfer in your passbook (coded FTT) since they are TransferWise's agency bank in Thailand. But rather less clear-cut in the case of other banks, it would appear.

Krungsri does not code them as a foreign transfer.

[ubonjoe]

A translation of the directive has been posted here.

 

[David Walden]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

I don't understand the second part of this (4 times a year). You either use the 400/800k method (in which case it doesn't matter how many transfers you make as long as the full amount is on deposit for 3 months before you apply for extension) or you use the income method.

 

If you use the income method, from the information given here,  immigration will accept a letter from your bank saying you transferred an average of the required amount from abroad  each month along with bank bank showing the monthly deposits.

 

For Transferwise the issue is whether your bank will recognize these as transfers fomo abroad and thus issue the needed letter.

 

I would start by getting a copy of the "Credit Advice" from the HQ of your bank for your most recent transfer (I am assuming all banks issue this) and see what it contains. If it shows the origin abroad (probably does) then showing these to your bank branch should suffice to get the needed wording in the letter.  I suggest you do this now so that you know ahead of time. If it has the needed info then arrange to get ta copy of the Credit Advice for each transfer.

 

Alternative would be to show statements from TW to your bank branch but that will likly be  problematic, and at a minimum involve being referred to their HQ, whereas they will readily recognize and understand  Credit Advices issued by their own Bank HQ.

 

I see part of the problem up till now is that even the banks and reputable Thai legal firms have got into bed with the scammers by providing false statements and bank books stating the required funds have been in a bank for the required time, but in fact the Bt800,000 may only be in that bank book for a few hours and I suppose for a fee.  I don't have to use this type of service as I do have the required funds but many of my friends do use scammers even though they can get the money, they say it's easier this way.  Just pay someone the Approx Bt25,000 and it all happens in a few days.  Ignorance is bliss. 

  With things happening this way the mind boggles.