Are you or do you know anyone that has been here before 1998? Did they really allow 200K instead of 800K?

[sleepy99]

According to the latest police order on No.6 which I don't see much discussed about here.

It says:



I have a American friend that has lived here since 1995, consecutively on his retirement Visa. for the past 24 years he has used the US embassy income letter, his latest extension was around October 2018, just in time before they stop issuing the letter, so he's good for now.

However, this means that this year will be the first time in his 24 years here that he has to use a different method of extension. He's 87 years old and can hardly walk anymore, international travel for him will be basically near impossible, plus he has nothing to go back to in the US.

At the moment he's living a good life with his Thai wife of over 2 decades that is taking care of him. He has a good pension, but a lot of it goes directly to his medical bills, so from what I've learned, they would be able to deposit the 200K right in time before his next extension but 800k might be a stretch due to his medical bills, so according to the rules stated above, 200K 3 months prior would qualify him for an extension since he has been here before 1998, however, he wants to be sure that this rule is really allowed and will work. having to leave the country is not an option for him, if they insist it has to be 800K he might have to sell some of his property to cover it in time, and even that could be a stretch.

Are you or do you know anyone that has been here before 1998? did they really allow 200K instead of 800K?

 

Edited February 6, 2019 by sleepy99

[elviajero]

How much is his monthly pension? And is it transferred to his bank in Thailand every month?

[sleepy99]

4 minutes ago, elviajero said:

How much is his monthly pension? And is it transferred to his bank in Thailand every month?

As far as I know, it's not transferred to Thailand monthly, I suspect that whatever pension he's on does not pay out monthly. Hence them having to resort to the money in the bank method.

Edited February 6, 2019 by sleepy99

[Khaeng Mak]

He's done for.

 

Long stay expats here are currently under siege. Unfortunately, the mass of them do not yet realize it.

 

Even if he puts together the required money for his next extension, he will not be able to get health insurance coverage which will also be a requirement before the end of this year.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Khaeng Mak

[sleepy99]

5 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

He's done for.

How so? 200K in the bank should qualify him. Which he will have in time 3 months prior to his next extension. Again, please note that he has been here on a retirement visa since before 1998.

Unless there is some reason why this would not work, which is why I started this topic to ask.

Edited February 6, 2019 by sleepy99

[StayinThailand2much]

40 minutes ago, sleepy99 said:

According to the latest police order on No.6 which I don't see much discussed about here.

It says:



(...)
Are you or do you know anyone that has been here before 1998? did they really allow 200K instead of 800K?

How is that even supposed to work? Who entered Thailand before Oct. 1998, staying here on retirement extensions since then, would be at least 70 (born in 1948), not 60 or 55! Except, of course, if retirement extensions were granted to 40-year olds back then... 

[sleepy99]

6 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

How is that even supposed to work? Who entered Thailand before Oct. 1998, staying here on retirement extensions since then, would be at least 70 (born in 1948), not 60 or 55! Except, of course, if retirement extensions were granted to 40-year olds back then... 

I believe it is addressing the age they were when they acquired the retirement visa before 1998.

Regardless, in his case he's over 60 years of age as stated in clause (a), which is the clause he falls into. So the only remaining question now is, do they recognized and really allow this or not?


 

Edited February 6, 2019 by sleepy99

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, sleepy99 said:

As far as I know, it's not transferred to Thailand monthly, I suspect that whatever pension he's on does not pay out monthly. Hence them having to resort to the money in the bank method.

He should be able to get an extension based on retirement under rule 6 (a) as long as he has 200K in the bank for 3 months before he applies.

 

If he’s legally married he could apply as a spouse with 400K in the bank for 2 months before applying.

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Khaeng Mak said:

He's done for.

 

Long stay expats here are currently under siege. Unfortunately, the mass of them do not yet realize it.

 

Even if he puts together the required money for his next extension, he will not be able to get health insurance coverage which will also be a requirement before the end of this year.

Scaremongering nonsense.

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, sleepy99 said:

Are you or do you know anyone that has been here before 1998? did they really allow 200K instead of 800K?

I arrived in 1995, but was only 30. ????

 

Yes it was 200K; which got increased to 500K and then 800K.

 

I’m not 100% sure, but I believe the qualifying age was 60 (200K), then 55 (500K) reducing to 50 when it increased to 800K.

[dcnx]

29 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Scaremongering nonsense.

My agent also said mandatory insurance is coming soon. They’ve never steered my wrong so I have no reason not to believe them. 

 

I’m leaving hopefully by the end of this year plus I’m already insured so I’m not concerned either way.

 

There’s going to be a whole lot of disappointment foreigners when that happens along with the other visa changes that are inevitably coming. Thailand wants wealthy foreigners. If that’s not you, you’re going to be screwed.

 

Bookmark this so we can all revisit and I can say I told you so.

[sleepy99]

Back to the topic's subject matter, does anyone knows an example of some one who has successfully used the 200K method for people that qualify for retiring here pre 1998.

 

As mentioned earlier in my original post. I don't see much discussed about here regarding this. I do understand that most people on this forum came here post 1998, but someone might know about it and could share some insights.

[lamyai3]

48 minutes ago, dcnx said:

There’s going to be a whole lot of disappointment foreigners when that happens along with the other visa changes that are inevitably coming. Thailand wants wealthy foreigners. If that’s not you, you’re going to be screwed.

Including more than a few no doubt who've been cheering on the departure of "lowlife" retirees who are having trouble with the new income or lump sum requirements. 

[fforest1]

If he is 87 and in poor health.....One option would be to forget the visa altogether and ride out the rest of his days visa free....

[sleepy99]

12 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

If he is 87 and in poor health.....One option would be to forget the visa altogether and ride out the rest of his days visa free....

If he ever gets caught, that means detention and deportation, at his age, not a risk he should take.

Besides, on paper, he would fully qualify to extend based on 200K in the bank because of being here on retirement prior to 1998.

All that is left is, do they recognized and really allow this or not since it's stated on paper in clause 6? because sometimes it might be different in practice. This topic is for asking if someone could share some insights. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by sleepy99

[AGareth2]

5 hours ago, Khaeng Mak said:

health insurance coverage which will also be a requirement before the end of this year.

where does this come from?

[lamyai3]

10 minutes ago, sleepy99 said:

If he ever gets caught, that means detention and deportation, at his age, not a risk he should take.

Besides, on paper, he would fully qualify to extend based on 200K in the bank because of being here on retirement prior to 1998.

Doesn't mean he came here before 1998. Since he's not a real life case, I hope this hypothetical 87 year old does go to jail, and draws worldwide attention to immigration's latest mean-spirited policies. 

[sleepy99]

2 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Doesn't mean he came here before 1998. Since he's not a real life case, I hope this hypothetical 87 year old does go to jail, and draws worldwide attention to immigration's latest mean-spirited policies. 

You are nuts to think that this is hypothetical, in my area alone there are at least 10 expats that I personally know whom are older than 80 years old, most of them have been here for almost 20 years. My american friend in this case is the oldest guy I know of and I've just met with him yesterday.

You must be sick to wish something like this to him.

[jacko45k]

15 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Doesn't mean he came here before 1998. Since he's not a real life case, I hope this hypothetical 87 year old does go to jail, and draws worldwide attention to immigration's latest mean-spirited policies. 

I see your point but it is a double edged sword. People end up in deplorable conditions here it Thailand without there even being a conviction. Whether that gets brought to the attention of the world, and Thailand reacts in a timely manner is a bit hit and miss. The way I hear of the Bangkok Hilton it could kill a weaker person in days!

[khwaibah]

6 hours ago, sleepy99 said:

Are you or do you know anyone that has been here before 1998? did they really allow 200K instead of 800K?

YES. 4 individuals..

[chainarong]

In 1998 you could open a bank account with a tourist Visa and it was pretty lax all over , corruption was a big thing , however under PM Chuan things started to change, they started clamping down due to pressure from Security org , world bank and whole lot of nations hammering them the come up to international standards Terrorism , kiddy trafficking , wild life trafficking , people trafficking , money laundering , drug trafficking all need to be addressed, a big job still in progress.

[roo860]

My agent also said mandatory insurance is coming soon. They’ve never steered my wrong so I have no reason not to believe them. 
 
I’m leaving hopefully by the end of this year plus I’m already insured so I’m not concerned either way.
 
There’s going to be a whole lot of disappointment foreigners when that happens along with the other visa changes that are inevitably coming. Thailand wants wealthy foreigners. If that’s not you, you’re going to be screwed.
 
Bookmark this so we can all revisit and I can say I told you so.

So your agent knew about the recent new regs before they happened? Could have made the dramatic headline before immigration did.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Moonlover]

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

He should be able to get an extension based on retirement under rule 6 (a) as long as he has 200K in the bank for 3 months before he applies.

 

If he’s legally married he could apply as a spouse with 400K in the bank for 2 months before applying.

If the 'grandfathering' also applies to married applicants it might be even less than 400K. You need to look up the criteria for marriage extensions and see whether it applies.

 

I'm quite sure he's not 'done for' as our prophet of doom said above.

 

[fforest1]

50 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

where does this come from?

Requiring worthless heath insurance would be a useful tool in the war against farang.......So it will probably happen,with a possible Chinese and Indian exemption of course..... 

[cleopatra2]

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

I arrived in 1995, but was only 30. ????

 

Yes it was 200K; which got increased to 500K and then 800K.

 

I’m not 100% sure, but I believe the qualifying age was 60 (200K), then 55 (500K) reducing to 50 when it increased to 800K.

The retirement age qualification as always been fifty. The ages stipulated in the grandfathering clause reflect the minimum age a person would be to qualify at the time the grandfathering clause were updated.

[Moonlover]

7 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

I arrived in 1995, but was only 30. ????

 

Yes it was 200K; which got increased to 500K and then 800K.

 

I’m not 100% sure, but I believe the qualifying age was 60 (200K), then 55 (500K) reducing to 50 when it increased to 800K.

 

7 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

The retirement age qualification as always been fifty. The ages stipulated in the grandfathering clause reflect the minimum age a person would be to qualify at the time the grandfathering clause were updated.

Why does everyone keep talking about the retirement rules here?

 

The guy mentioned in the O/Ps submission has been married here for over 20 years!

 

I'm quite sure that 'grandfathering' also applied to married folk. He should be able to get a married extension for peanuts!

 

[Khaeng Mak]

5 hours ago, elviajero said:

Scaremongering nonsense.

I will quote you directly when the compulsory health insurance hammer falls later this year.

[cleopatra2]

12 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

Why does everyone keep talking about the retirement rules here?

 

The guy mentioned in the O/Ps submission has been married here for over 20 years!

 

I'm quite sure that 'grandfathering' also applied to married folk. He should be able to get a married extension for peanuts!

 

Grandfathering does not apply for the purpose of marriage.

 

[chrisinth]

27 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

The retirement age qualification as always been fifty. The ages stipulated in the grandfathering clause reflect the minimum age a person would be to qualify at the time the grandfathering clause were updated.

Absolutely incorrect, the retirement age has not always been 50.

[Khaeng Mak]

1 hour ago, sleepy99 said:

Besides, on paper, he would fully qualify to extend based on 200K in the bank because of being here on retirement prior to 1998.

 

From a pragmatic point of view, how would he prove that?

 

His older passports would be gone for sure one would imagine?

 

And immigration cannot even keep records on a retiree for more than 12 months. I have to submit reams of the exactly the same documents year after year.