After using the 800k agency method

[jacko45k]

9 minutes ago, Delight said:

As I understand it the new 800/400 K rules were brought in to get rid of agents.

????

Would it not be easier for immigration to insist all applications are done in person, or simply stop allowing agents to bypass the queues and pass their workload directly into the hands of the IOs? These changes actually make it more difficult only for those who complied fully with the old requirements, and likely drove some of them into the hands of agents.... that is more likely the reason!

 

[yodsak]

1 minute ago, jacko45k said:

????

Would it not be easier for immigration to insist all applications are done in person, or simply stop allowing agents to bypass the queues and pass their workload directly into the hands of the IOs? These changes actually make it more difficult only for those who complied fully with the old requirements, and likely drove some of them into the hands of agents.... that is more likely the reason!

 

IO's like agents

[Graviton]

4 minutes ago, yodsak said:

7000 in pattaya

Lol

[Thaidream]

1 minute ago, yodsak said:

IO's like agents

That they do-  However- I would rather have an IO simply charge me whatever- if I was missing a seasoning period or a document- rather than go thru the whole Kabuki Dance and get an agent involved.  Call it Express Processing.

[Graviton]

Just now, Graviton said:

Lol

Lets get this right

you have 800k in the bank 2 months 

you have a retirement stamp in your passport from last time

so you are bulletproof.

[david555]

7 minutes ago, yodsak said:

thailand isn't in the digital age.

Agreed that they just entered .... but learning fast how to use , as you see the growing reports from Suvarnabhumi & border points entry refusals or red warning stamping for too many exempts in time,  or other things   

[yodsak]

6 minutes ago, Graviton said:

Lol

answer to scuba.    7000 in pattaya if you have the correct docs.   12,900 if you don't.    lol

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Until you, the agent, or the corrupt IO gets caught. Guess who's going to be in the front line when the excrement hits the fan?

There are many posts on this subject, however I did see one on another thread which I thought made a lot of sense........

 

It is written in the immigration rules for these people that the senior I/O in any immigration office has the authority to grant an extension based on retirement, of his own volition.

 

He/she does not have to see money in the bank, bank statements or any other supporting documentation, they simply put the stamp in the passport and that's it. It is the fide stamp/extension and will not be challenged because it's the very same thing that is used Thailand wide.

 

I think the overarching thing that some people are missing is the fact that this I/O officer can overlook anything in the issuing of the extension and doesn't have to see or approve any supporting documentation whatsoever; year upon year therefore overcoming the "seasoning" regime.

 

That is why the agents are and will become paramount going forward, because it is a great "income earner" for all concerned and as others have suggested, the agents will be in pole position now and that, if you think about it, suits everybody in this whole game.

[Graviton]

1 minute ago, yodsak said:

answer to scuba.    7000 in pattaya if you have the correct docs.   12,900 if you don't.    lol

1900 if you do it youself, what agent charges that?

[Thingamabob]

Never, ever, use an agent. No need whatsoever. Just follow the instructions given by your local immigration office.

[Suradit69]

4 hours ago, Nanaplaza666 said:

Holland germany france and more at this moment !!!! Taking in economical refugees and still paying them free money every month and free housing and free healthcare so maybe you should rethink your answer the expats here still living on their own strength and maybe not able to get the 800k in bank but having enuogh money to live from every month and when they really dont anymore they will go back to their own country at the end 

So if you're saying farang here as retirees are the same as economic  or political refugees in Holland, Germany etc., maybe the farang in Thailand facing financial difficulties should shift to Holland or Germany and get cash, healthcare, housing free.  Or maybe get arrested in some rich country... Free housing and healthcare and the opportunity to make a lot of new "friends."

[CARLO BALDASSARRE]

Hi,

     You want to live in thailand ...do what is requested or move on ......800,000 on an on an on an on ...you can't do it ..move on

     Marriage visa ..on and on and on .....400,000 bht on an on ..do not believe anything on this site , until you visit your local immigration office ...there is so many bored people just passing their day on this site it is amazing ..just nothing better to do than go for a walk and smell the roses .... ( YOUR LOCAL IMMIGRATION OFFICE )....

Edited May 23, 2019 by CARLO BALDASSARRE

[SeeRTB]

5 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Cannot believe that people use agents if caught your time in Thailand would come to an end is it really worth the risk 

Quite right, I had many offers and they all said "no problem " but for sure the next year, game over. Dont be a stupid farang is my advice !

[Geordie59]

5 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

5 hours ago, Graviton said:

Post seasoning is the point.
For new extension based on money you show bank statement for the 2 months...... and follow new rules

If using an agent, no need for seasoning or 90 day proof of 800k

How can you be so sure there is no need for the 90 day proof of 800k as that will happen for the first applicants next month. 

A new extension next year requires 800k for 3 months, not 2 and also that you never went below 400k during the middle 6 months. Again you can't be certain that agents will have a way around that until it actuall happens. 

[SeeRTB]

The agent will always say "no ploblem" but i recon it might only work once, second year forget it  ! Dont be a stupid farang, its not worth the risk. 

[scubascuba3]

How can you be so sure there is no need for the 90 day proof of 800k as that will happen for the first applicants next month. 
A new extension next year requires 800k for 3 months, not 2 and also that you never went below 400k during the middle 6 months. Again you can't be certain that agents will have a way around that until it actuall happens. 

An agent told me, so I'm sure

Sent from my SM-J730GM using Tapatalk

[sunnyboy2018]

7 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Cannot believe that people use agents if caught your time in Thailand would come to an end is it really worth the risk 

can't believe that people don't use agents. They are built into the system for a reason.

[sunnyboy2018]

15 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

An agent told me, so I'm sure

Sent from my SM-J730GM using Tapatalk
 

The agents are IOs , or work closely with IOs for the mutual benefit of all. if cheap Charles and skinflint don't want to use them then they don't understand Asia.

[Kalasin Jo]

6 hours ago, Graviton said:

Doom merchant bet you voted remain ?

Doom merchant? With the chaos in the UK the £ has been falling steadily against all currencies for over a week. Today BKKB exchange rate is 39.55 baht. The lowest I've ever seen. 

[Graviton]

5 minutes ago, Kalasin Jo said:

Doom merchant? With the chaos in the UK the £ has been falling steadily against all currencies for over a week. Today BKKB exchange rate is 39.55 baht. The lowest I've ever seen. 

I was here pre 2008 and still here now, plus tick all boxes for retirement,

You take the high road and I’ll take the low.....buy £ bet its 55 in 1 yr.....

[JackThompson]

8 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

The point from Immigration is simple : If you can't comply with either of these two methods then no you can't stay ... other than to leave Thailand. Good guys in cheap charlies (bad) guys out. It's really simple. 

What country in their right minds (however infrequently in their right minds) wants to have foreign people living in their society that can't muster a reasonable self-funding to live there!!!!!!! 

What they are asking is not "reasonable" relative to the cost of living in Thailand - especially if one owns their own condo (no rent).

 

All they are doing, is wrecking many farangs' retirements (in progress), while lowering the number of Thais who get better-than-average jobs, as a result of farang-spending.  It's a lose lose, so the only logical explanations are xenophobia and/or they are after the agent/school/elite gravy-train.

 

7 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

10k baht is more like the minimum wage, not the average. But I think the point in that other reply was that the whole idea of long stay permits is for the foreigners to add to the Thai economy by bringing into the country MORE than the minimum or average wage.........

Min is closer to 8K - a bit less in some areas, a bit more in others.  Jobs working in Farang serving guesthouses, restaurants, etc pay significantly more - but immigration is removing as many of those as possible, which forces more Thais into working for 8K at the "package tour" serving businesses, or giving up and returning to subsistence-farming.

Edited May 23, 2019 by JackThompson

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

5 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Until you, the agent, or the corrupt IO gets caught. Guess who's going to be in the front line when the excrement hits the fan?

Have you missed the action of BJ vs Agents? and the Agents and those connected won

BJ's rules (assuming they were his) were not designed to stop agents, but to increase agent-revenues.  If they wanted to stop agents, they would not have changed the seasoning-rules, which the agents can skip. 

 

Instead, they would be rounding-up agents, confiscating records, and canceling extensions, and issuing bans.  And, or course, arresting hundreds (or thousands?) of IOs across the country - forcing each to reveal who else they had to share agent-money with in the chain of command.

 

BJ focused on ending the types of payments not shared with the chain of command, i.e. "tips."

 

4 hours ago, Delight said:

As I understand it the new 800/400 K rules were brought in to get rid of agents.

Suspect that  the opposite will happen.There could well be an expansion of  visa extensions using this approach.

Maybe  that was their  hidden motive all along.

Not so Well Hidden, methinks.

 

4 hours ago, Thaidream said:

That they do-  However- I would rather have an IO simply charge me whatever- if I was missing a seasoning period or a document- rather than go thru the whole Kabuki Dance and get an agent involved.  Call it Express Processing.

It would be nice if they would come out and say, "I am a corrupt (colorful adjective), so give me a X-thousand baht tip, or I will make up a fake reason to deny your extension."  Obviously higher tips for "real" missing requirements would be required.  That seems to tally with the agent-prices variable by with/without meeting the official requirements.

 

5 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Immigration are in cahoots with these agents and will likely direct you that way as it helps with the car payments. What would you regard as minor? If it was simply a missing copy of something, I would go copy it, if it was your failure to demonstrate income, it isn't minor. 

In Jomtien for marriage - landlord docs is one way they force legit-applicants to agents.  You already have a valid TM-30, and they are coming to visit you anyway - but they know many landlords will not give up chanotes, or make special trips to amphurs for new housebook-copies for a tenant.  No agent =  no extension.

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I think its too risky and be trapped in the agency method so I'll stick to the legit 800k method

Agreed. When I came in 2016 I read TVF regarding agencies and this very same bind was discussed. Once you use an agent and then later go it yourself it may becomes obvious from your history that a  shady agent may have set you up for just such a fall. If so, a close examination of your immigration history will now be a detriment.

 

It made perfect sense so I decided then to learn the laws and do all my immigration work myself.

 

I did so, and am glad I saved a lot of money and educated myself to boot. I'm naturally cynical and never believed in the something for nothing approach. Too clever by half as they say.

 

The way things are going it seems wise to take responsibility and control your own immigration work. It's really a pretty small burden after all and you can sleep better at night.

[RocketDog]

1 hour ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

The agents are IOs , or work closely with IOs for the mutual benefit of all. if cheap Charles and skinflint don't want to use them then they don't understand Asia.

You imply that saving money is the only issue in eschewing agents. You are deceiving yourself. Something that is even nominally illegal is potentially a dangerous practice. To actually pay to incur such risks strikes me as abysmal cupidity.

 

If you read, understand, and follow the immigration law then you don't have to understand anything else about retaining permission to stay in Thailand. 

 

If you don't then you are putting your destiny in the hands of somebody who circumvents the system for a livelihood. I don't enjoy playing mind games with the Immigration office and their current or former agents.

 

Good luck with choice #2 but don't expect sympathy from folks who take choice #1 if things go south on you.

[onera1961]

11 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Cannot believe that people use agents if caught your time in Thailand would come to an end is it really worth the risk 

Risk takers always win in the World. You cannot show me a successful person who has not taken a risk in their life. 

[somo]

I have the money and get legit extensions but that was not always the case and I used to duck and dive 15-20 years ago. I would never knock someone using an agent or shortcut to stay in this country. Everything is a game here sp why shouldn't they? It's not as if they are living off the state and claiming benefits. They live here and pay tax through VAT which is all 90% of Thais do. They do no harm so the self righteous here who criticise them should stop being so pompous and mind their own business.

[onera1961]

1 hour ago, RocketDog said:

If you read, understand, and follow the immigration law then you don't have to understand anything else about retaining permission to stay in Thailand. 

Are you a lawyer? I think not. If you are a lawyer you know that anytime there is a conflict in laws, it is resolved by an independent judiciary and not by farangs tantrums in a forum. If an IO says this application does not require seasoning, that is the law. And if the IO says because you submitted a DIY application, it is not approved. That is the law. You're powerless because there is no judiciary to review your case. You have freely subjected yourself to this situation b selecting to live under an authoritarian government unlike forced submission of ladies in Handmaid's tale (I am binge watching the series now, so it came to my mind). I feel using agent does a service to the agent communities and IOs who don't have to bother with annoying farangs and there meaningless questions.

Edited May 23, 2019 by onera1961

[onera1961]

14 minutes ago, somo said:

They live here and pay tax through VAT which is all 90% of Thais do.

If you support only the informal economy, you don't even pay VAT. Please don't compare Thais to yourself. I think that cheapens your personal achievement if you have any in your life. If you don't have any personal achievement in your life, consider yourself lucky, a mere lottery winner,  to be born in a rich country. 

Edited May 23, 2019 by onera1961

[yodsak]

8 hours ago, Graviton said:

1900 if you do it youself, what agent charges that?

Exactly,    . None .

Never ever heard of an agent charging 1900.  impossible. 

 

But unfortunately you cant do it yourself if you don't have the funds .. Simples      

Edited May 23, 2019 by yodsak

[Fairynuff]

9 hours ago, Lacessit said:

There is nothing wrong with using an agent if the rules are obeyed. It's simply for convenience. There are legitimate agents, and the dodgy ones.

And how do you determine which are legitimate and which are dodgy?