A New Form For Retirement Visa

[farangene]

I got a one year extension on my "retirement visa" yesterday. I have done this for the last 4 years and it has become a very straight forward process, or so I thought.

One new factor this years was the 800K in the acct for the last 3 months. I only topped off my acct about 5-6 weeks ago and so it was above 800K yesterday. The immig. officer never said anything about it. I guess the 3 month rule won't be enforced until next year for old-timers.

One other thing that I had not experienced before was a new form. I wish I had copied the name or form number down but did not. After the officer reviewed my submitted paper work and said "OK, 1900 baht" she handed me a blank form I had not seen before. I think it was called Affaddavit of Information or Certification of Information. It was a form that included name, passport # and local home address which I filled in and some other info which I did not. I signed the form and the officer said "Ok".

It seemed to be a revalidation that my address was the same. Does anyone know what this form was? I now wonder why it is not part of the immig. form TM-7. Also she asked for my mobile or home phone number to be written on the TM7 next to my signature which wasn't requested in prior years.

I checked into immig. on Monday morning about 11am. I had 50 people in front of me according to the queue number I was given. My number was called at 2:30PM (3 1/2 hours later) but I brought several magazines and newspapers to kill the time. I also went out to lunch for 45 minutes. Monday is generally a bad day to hit immigration.

[Maestro]

One other thing that I had not experienced before was a new form.

Could it have been this form, TM.28? Was the lower portion of the form, the “Receipt of notification”, filled out by Immigration and stapled into your passport?

--

Maestro

[farangene]

No, that was not the form.

My address has been the same for the past 3 or 4 years and I did my 90 day report about 30 days ago so it was current.

I guess I will have to pay closer attention to he details of what I am signing next time.

[samtam]

I checked into immig. on Monday morning about 11am. I had 50 people in front of me according to the queue number I was given. My number was called at 2:30PM (3 1/2 hours later) but I brought several magazines and newspapers to kill the time. I also went out to lunch for 45 minutes. Monday is generally a bad day to hit immigration.

Which office?

[farangene]

I checked into immig. on Monday .....to hit immigration.

Which office?

Suan Plu in Bangkok

[lopburi3]

There indeed has been another form in use as I was asked to fill it out in July of last year. Seemed to be the same type of information that was normally asked and entered by officers themselves. Not sure it had any TM number and believe it was basically who/what/where type data. As I was also doing after a 3 plus hour wait was not too observant.

[lanny]

I just extended my retirement visa for another year -- my 3rd or 4th time -- today. After waiting nearly 4 hours, I was also asked to sign another form I hadn't seen before. I think it was a TM3, but I'm not sure. All is did was repeat my address and passport information.

[JonnieB]

curious about the 800k requirement for 3 months. is it still either or regards the money or monthly income?

i have always received extensions based on embassy letter re monthly income...these can still be used right...expecially at pattaya/jomtien office?

is it possible the 800k for 3 months prior to application for retirement extension applies to NEW FIRST TIME applicants and not those renewing past extensions?

[lanny]

Since JonnieB asked, I will add that I used the letter from the US embassy showing my monthly income. The immigration officer wanted to see a letter from my bank and a copy of the bank book but the balance was less than 100,000 baht. There were only three entries on the last page of the bank book, all deposits and all within the last couple of days. She didn't say anything about the balance. Nor did she ask about the income shown on the letter from the embassy. Once I sat down in front of her desk, the whole process took less than 15 minutes!

The only problem was that I was number 971 a little after 10:00 am and the number being called when I went to the back room was 938! After sitting through their lunch hour, my number was called just before 2:00 pm.

[lopburi3]

The requirement has not changed in that 800k or 65k monthly income or combination can be used but if you use the bank deposit method the money will have to have been in the account for three months prior to first application or any renewals - starting at some point - (up to now it has not been required according to reporting).

[ProThaiExpat]

My conclusion after going through the retirement extension application for the 5th time this year was the "new form" filled in by the applicant was merely the same information that was acquired by the immigration officer during your "interview" previously and written down by them. I answered no question this year from either the initial assemble document enlisted policeman or the officer who signed off on the transaction and collected the money in a semi-private office in Chiang Mai.