Recommendation for visa agent in Bangkok

[EricTh]

55 minutes ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.

Really?

 

So you think an elderly single guy with no family should plunk $25k in a foreign bank so when he dies the bank keeps it?

 

Or bring in $2k a month from overseas when he contentedly lives rurally on under a thousand bucks a month, rather than leave it, or the $25k, in a profitable investment?

 

That's  insane.

He also said there's a monthly option which is legal.

 

However, the agent route is illegal as that is corruption.

 

 

[HeijoshinCool]

2 minutes ago, EricTh said:

He also said there's a monthly option which is legal.

 

However, the agent route is illegal as that is corruption.

 

 

.

 

Read my entire reply before attacking me.

 

Using an agent is entirely legal.

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, HeijoshinCool said:

Using an agent is entirely legal.

I would not say that since you are not meeting the financial requirements for the extension of stay.

What would you do if immigration asked to see your updated bank book to check it you had 400k baht in the bank after 3 months.

[Exploring Thailand]

1 hour ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.Using an agent is entirely legal.

 

58 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I would not say that since you are not meeting the financial requirements for the extension of stay.

I'd be interested to hear @ThaiVisaCentre's opinion on this.

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

However, the agent route is illegal as that is corruption.

Your opinion. It's an incorrect opinion but that doesn't matter. 

 

The OP asked for agent recommendation.

[LoeiI]

5 hours ago, EricTh said:

He also said there's a monthly option which is legal.

 

However, the agent route is illegal as that is corruption.

 

 

Does anyone know for a legal certainty whether or not Visa agents are legal or illegal ? or is it just conjecture from the anti agent posters, as far as I can ascertain when the passport is returned from the agency the visas / extensions etc. are signed and stamped at the same immigration offices you would attend if you did it yourself ??  

[EricTh]

6 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

Read my entire reply before attacking me.

 

Using an agent is entirely legal.

Using an agent if you have sufficient funds in your bank book 800k for 5 months and 400k for 8 months  (or the other 12 monthly transfer) is legal if you just want someone to hold your hands in photocopying all the required documents, queueing up for you and acting as translator between immigration officer and you.

 

But using an agent to circumvent the financial requirements is illegal because money is paid to some corrupt officers inside with the agent also getting some of the commission.

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by EricTh

[BritTim]

4 hours ago, EricTh said:

But using an agent to circumvent the financial requirements is illegal because money is paid to some corrupt officers inside with the agent also getting some of the commission.

In Thailand, there is "legal" corruption and "illegal" corruption. Yes, to us from first world countries, it appears bizarre that corruption could ever be legal, but that is the way the law works here in many situations.

 

As far as agent assisted extensions are concerned, it is important to understand the whole picture. There are certain conditions for an extension that are obligatory, and can never be circumvented under any circumstances. However, senior officials are legally empowered to waive/modify some of the conditions, notably those around financial proof. While there can be valid justifications for waiving some requirements (as an example, allowing the use of unseasoned funds that were moved from a non allowed account to an allowed bank account, where clearly only a technicality impedes meeting the normal conditions) agents and certain officials use the letter of the regulations to benefit some using the agent system. Of course, officials allowing many extensions without meeting the requisite financial proof is an abuse of discretion, but it is not actually illegal. If the superiors of the official acting in this manner do not take action, there is nothing anyone else can do about it. It is legal. 

[HeijoshinCool]

10 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I would not say that since you are not meeting the financial requirements for the extension of stay.

What would you do if immigration asked to see your updated bank book to check it you had 400k baht in the bank after 3 months.

.

Wasn't talking about myself. I'm married, so my wife will get the money. She certainly deserves it.

 

I was replying to a high and mighty comment that using an agent was insanity.  

 

A lot of older guys on retirement extensions whom I've met over the years fit the following profile:

 

No wife, no family, no heirs. Some had their savings in stocks or other investments, earning a good return. 

 

Who gets all that money in their Thai bank accounts?

 

I don't know how to answer your last question. I have never known of anyone being stopped on the street and asked for their bank book, though it certainly might have happened now and then, especially by an officer who is a little short on cash.

 

More likely, I would imagine, in the city than in a rural setting.

[itsari]

11 hours ago, EricTh said:

He also said there's a monthly option which is legal.

 

However, the agent route is illegal as that is corruption.

 

 

Illegal ? can you give the name of one prosecution of an agent in Thailand after a visa has been issued by them?

I have read that the immigration police has discretion on who a visa is awarded to.

That is how it works.

[itsari]

On 9/26/2021 at 12:57 AM, EricTh said:

I wonder what's the advantage of using LIne versus gmail?

 

Gmail can be used anywhere in the world. Line is mostly used in Thailand.

 

 

That's comforting

[EricTh]

12 minutes ago, itsari said:

Illegal ? can you give the name of one prosecution of an agent in Thailand after a visa has been issued by them?

I have read that the immigration police has discretion on who a visa is awarded to.

That is how it works.

 

Can you give me the name of the agents who helped those clients who didn't meet the financial requirements to get an extension?

 

Of course the name of the clients must also be revealed if you want to go through that route.

 

The name of the officers who approved those visa/extension must also be revealed to the higher authorities.

 

Then we will see whether they will be prosecuted or not if we report to the immigration head.

 

If the immigration head say it is alright after auditing the cases, I have nothing to say.

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by EricTh

[itsari]

1 minute ago, EricTh said:

 

Can you give me the name of the agents who helped those clients who didn't meet the financial requirements to get an extension?

 

Of course the name of the clients must also be revealed if you want to go through that route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is fob talk . The reason you come with fob talk is that there are no prosecutions for individuals using agents . Why is that ? Because agents work within the law.

[EricTh]

3 minutes ago, itsari said:

That is fob talk . The reason you come with fob talk is that there are no prosecutions for individuals using agents . Why is that ? Because agents work within the law.

If the agents are working within the law, then why are they not revealing their names publicly? Why are they not revealing the client cases and approving officers to the immigration head?

 

Can you record a conversation with the immigration information desk at Chiang Mai that if we don't meet the financial requirements, can we use an agent to go through the back-door to circumvent the financial requirements?

 

If you can produce such a video, then I have nothing to say.

 

[BritTim]

10 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

Can you give me the name of the agents who helped those clients who didn't meet the financial requirements to get an extension?

 

Of course the name of the clients must also be revealed if you want to go through that route.

 

The name of the officers who approved those visa/extension must also be revealed to the higher authorities.

 

Then we will see whether they will be prosecuted or not if we report to the immigration head.

 

If the immigration head say it is alright after auditing the cases, I have nothing to say.

If you started accusing a senior immigration official and a well connected agent of corruption, have you any idea how stupid that would be? It would not matter if what you claimed was true. Unless you have extremely powerful friends, you are going to find yourself on the wrong end of an extremely expensive defamation suit.

 

Thailand is not Norway.

[HeijoshinCool]

16 minutes ago, EricTh said:

If the immigration head say it is alright after auditing the cases, I have nothing to say.

.

Who the heck do you think is signing and stamping the passports and receipts, the janitor?

 

 

[Moonlover]

On 9/24/2021 at 9:11 PM, GringoSteve said:

On 9/24/2021 at 1:32 PM, problemfarang said:

@GringoSteve

contact me if you need a really good help. Im using this agency for 2 years now and they are great and cheap and no headache at all. 

thaiviacentre will totally rip you of. 

the agency im using will charge you 28K for your first time then if you use them 2nd time it will b eonly 18K thaivisacentre will get your 30-35K for everytime! i suggested my agency to at least 5-6 ppl from this website and they are all happy and thanking me

if you are interested PM me. 

Expand  

 

On 9/24/2021 at 9:13 PM, GringoSteve said:

thanks, I'm kind of heading same route with help from Thai gf relative.

I came here 7 years and didn't have much of a clue. But 3 months later, without any assistance, other than my Thai wife, I got myself a 1 year retirement extension for 1,900 THB. 

 

It's easy providing you can meet the financial requirements. There's no need to shell out for expensive agencies. 

[HeijoshinCool]

What amuses me with threads like this is the very same guys who deride "Thai bashers," and demand all farang follow Thai customs and social norms, or "go home......"

 

Post here demanding the same farang do not use an agent, even though that is totally acceptable to Thai immigration/culture.

 

So which is it, follow Thai culture, or not?

.

[clivebaxter]

11 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.

 

Read my entire reply before attacking me.

 

Using an agent is entirely legal.

Depends what the service is, obtaining an extension in another province to which you live in, which they often do, is certainly illegal.

[HeijoshinCool]

3 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Depends what the service is, obtaining an extension in another province to which you live in, which they often do, is certainly illegal.

.

 

Dude, I have a friend who NEVER stays in the same place for more than a month. Even during covid, he has carried a backpack and a duffel bag on his bicycle, and enjoys staying in hotels.

 

Things are never black and white. Every person has different circumstances.

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

Depends what the service is, obtaining an extension in another province to which you live in, which they often do, is certainly illegal.

Perhaps, but the official records will show that you resided in the province at the time the extension was granted (even if you have never actually visited the province).

[LoeiI]

2 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

What amuses me with threads like this is the very same guys who deride "Thai bashers," and demand all farang follow Thai customs and social norms, or "go home......"

 

Post here demanding the same farang do not use an agent, even though that is totally acceptable to Thai immigration/culture.

 

So which is it, follow Thai culture, or not?

.

Think I might be suffering a bit of culture shock (I've worked in foreign countries but only ever lived in the UK) I suppose "discretion" is the key word as far as getting visas is concerned (and a few other things form what i read / hear). I really couldn't get my head round the idea of a military coup until i saw it first hand here, as much as i despise bent Boris and his cronies i cant imagine the army just rocking up and taking over I mean who voted for them ??  reckon I'll just go with the flow as my old boss used to say "new ways of working" lol

[The Hammer2021]

My Pattaya based agent has a car..just give any major agent a call

[stigar]

I used TVC last time for covid extension 60 days.Agreed via Line the price and after 1 hour the counter picked up my passport at the hotel.I paid cash and get a receipt.Another guest at the hotel choosed a agent in pattaya that was cheaper.Anyway i get my passport delivered at my hotel after 2-3 days.Everything ok.The other guest get his passport back after a week.The thing he didnt realize was that he had to go to pattaya again to renew his covid extension.That get more expencive for him because had to stay 2 more nigths in pattaya + hotel again.

[clivebaxter]

8 hours ago, BritTim said:

Perhaps, but the official records will show that you resided in the province at the time the extension was granted (even if you have never actually visited the province).

Therefore illegal as you do not live where the extension was issued

[Lite Beer]

21 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Your opinion. It's an incorrect opinion but that doesn't matter. 

 

The OP asked for agent recommendation.

His opinion is 100% correct. Please stop giving wrong advise to members.

[Lite Beer]

11 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.

Who the heck do you think is signing and stamping the passports and receipts, the janitor?

 

 

No. The corrupt Immigration Officer who took the bribe.

Just because Immigration are complicit in the deception does not make it legal.

It will be the applicant who suffers not the corrupt officer.

[ubonjoe]

Now another agent topic that is now closed since it has turned into another bickering and baiting session.

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