Retirement visa verification of funds letter and bank passbook update has to be done on same day as visa renewal application, says Lopburi immigration on 1-21-22

[Gecko123]

Today I renewed my retirement visa at Lopburi Immigration. I presented the required letter from my bank along with my bank passbook (and copies of the passbook pages). The letter and passbook updates were dated January 19th (2 days ago.)

 

I was told that the letter and the passbook updates had to be THE SAME DAY as the day that I applied for a visa renewal. Even though for the past 18+ years I have always gotten the letter from the bank a few days ahead of time without a problem, I was nevertheless informed that while they would make an exception this time, going forward the letter would have to be the same date as the visa application. I strenuously questioned whether this new rule followed national standards, and although I was given a bunch of half-hearted assurances that they would "look into it," I left immigration very doubtful that anyone would really double-check this matter.

 

Anyway, upon returning home I checked this website: https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?p=14714  which contained the following wording under retirement visas which appears to suggest that the letter does indeed now need to be dated the same date as the visa application (note below wording in bold type):

 

1. Must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-IM).
2. Must be 50 years of age or over.
3. Must have evidence of having income of no less than Baht 65,000 per month; or
4. On the filing date, the applicant must have account  deposited  (saving / fixed account) in a bank in Thailand of no less than
   Baht 800,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a
   deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 60 days prior to
   the filing date; or
5. Must have an annual earning and funds deposited with a bank totaling no less than Baht
   800,000 as of the filing date.
6. An alien who entered the Kingdom before October 21, 1998 and has been consecutively
   permitted to stay in the Kingdom for retirement shall be subject to the following criteria:(a) Must be 60 years of age or over and have an annual fixed income with funds maintained in
   a bank account for the past three months of no less than Baht 200,000 or have a monthly income of
   no less than Baht 20,000.(b) If less than 60 years of age but not less than 55 years of age, must have an annual fixed
   income with funds maintained in a bank account for the past three months of no less than Baht
   500,000 or have a monthly income of no less than Baht 50,000.

 

This is just a heads-up to anyone using Lopburi immigration. I don't know if this is a rule change, or just a stricter reading of the existing wording, but I wanted to warn people in advance. I also don't know if any other offices are imposing a same-day requirement. If anybody has any official guidance on this matter which contradicts Lopburi's apparent interpretation, please don't hesitate to post it here.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gecko123

[ubonjoe]

This info on the immigration website has been out of date since March of 2019 when they changed the immigration order.

"1. On the filing date, the applicant must have account  deposited  (saving / fixed account) in a bank in Thailand of no less than
Baht 800,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a
deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 60 days prior to
the filing date; or"

 

This is what the order states.

[tonray]

Been that way for most offices forever

[4MyEgo]

19 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

I also don't know if any other offices are imposing a same-day requirement. If anybody has any official guidance on this matter which contradicts Lopburi's apparent interpretation, please don't hesitate to post it here.

For what it's worth Sakon Nakhon allow me to provide them with a bank passbook update the following day without any questions.

 

What I do is get the bank letter and the 3 months statement from the bank, pay them the 200 baht fee, have all of my other docs ready and then make the journey which is an hour 20 the following day. I stop at a bank close to them, withdrawal 2,000 baht from the ATM and then go into the branch and ask them to update my bank passbook.

 

On my way to immigration up the road, I stop into a photocopying place and ask for two copies of my last page in my bank passbook, then staple that on the last page of the copies the ban provided me.

 

As long as they can see that the money is in there on the same day as applying, they are good, that said, you might want to try it this way or do it the same day, up to you as every branch is different.

 

The above said, they also told me that as long as I have the money in 2 months before hand, all is good and I can access the 800,000 baht as soon as the extension is issued on that day, i.e. no need for me to wait for months to withdrawal or go below 400,000 baht, as much as I like, as long as 800,000 is back in my account 2 months before reapplying.  

[Gecko123]

Ubon Joe,

 

My apologies. I am well aware of the before/after renewal deposit requirements, but what I was asking about was whether anyone have any information about official wording about whether the verification of funds letter and passbook updates have a grace period after which they can still be used to renew a retirement visa.

 

I was previously told by Lopburi immigration that the verification letter and passbook update could be used to renew the retirement visa up to 5 days after the date of the verification/passbook update.

[Paulaew]

In the immigration office I where I do my retirement extensions (Chanthaburi), they accept a bank letter and bank statement that is dated 1 or 2 days previously, but require that my bank book be updated on the date I submit my application. That seems to be sufficient to fulfill the requirement that I have the necessary funds on deposit on the filing date.

 

Paul Laew

[OJAS]

Updating the passbook on the same day when you submit a retirement extension application should be no problem if the requisite 800k is held in a Bangkok Bank account since the Passbook Update Machine will print out a further line confirming the existing balance under the code "B/F". In the case of other banks, though, you will need to perform a token transfer of, say, 100 THB so as to activate the Passbook Update Machine to print a further line. And it is essential that you do this before seeking the account confirmation letter since, otherwise, the balance totals indicated in this letter and the passbook will be out of kilter with each other by 100 THB - and, hence, could provide Lopburi Immigration with a further excuse for denying a retirement extension application.

 

Although Chaengwattana Immigration (Bangkok) have been reported countless times on here as considering a 100 THB discrepancy between the 2 figures to be acceptable, it doesn't, of course, follow that other immigration offices will be equally tolerant!

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by OJAS

[Gecko123]

@4MyEgo

Thanks for the suggestion. My problem about having to run to the bank on the same day as the visa renewal is (a) my bank is about 32 km in the opposite direction of immigration, and (b) since the bank doesn't open until 8:30am, and Immigration (like you) is 1:40 minutes away, and (c) I usually combine the trip to immigration with a major grocery shopping at Makro, etc., the late start and extra out of the way trip to the bank (believe it or not) is going to make for a gruelingly long day. Don't forget all those groceries have to be put away. ????

 

What irks me is the arbitrary nature of the same day requirement. The passbook already confirms that the funds have been on deposit for at least 3 months prior to the application (in my case the funds have been sitting untouched for 10+ years.) The only thing a strict same day requirement could possibly be doing is preventing someone from withdrawing the 800K or a portion of it between the time the bank letter and passbook was updated and the time the visa was applied for. Why somebody would do that is beyond me, especially when you consider that those transactions would show up the next time you used that account to renew a visa.

 

They "trust" you to keep the balance above 400K after the visa is renewed by verifying this has been done at subsequent renewals, but they're paranoid that people are playing shenanigans for a couple of days between the time the bank issues the letter and the visa is issued??? That doesn't make sense.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gecko123

[Gecko123]

5 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Updating the passbook on the same day when you submit a retirement extension application should be no problem if the requisite 800k is held in a Bangkok Bank account since the Passbook Update Machine will print out a further line confirming the existing balance under the code "B/F". In the case of other banks, though, you will need to perform a token transfer of, say, 100 THB so as to activate the Passbook Update Machine with a further line. And it is essential that you do this before seeking the account confirmation letter since, otherwise, the balance totals indicated in this letter and the passbook will be out of kilter with each other by 100 THB - and, hence, could provide Lopburi Immigration with a further excuse for denying a retirement extension application.

 

Although Chaengwattana Immigration (Bangkok) have been reported countless times on here as considering a 100 THB discrepancy between the 2 figures to be acceptable, it doesn't, of course, follow that other immigration offices will be equally tolerant!

 

They're not saying just update the passbook on the same day as you renew. They're saying the verification letter from the bank and the passbook update have to be done on the same day you apply for a visa.

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

My apologies. I am well aware of the before/after renewal deposit requirements, but what I was asking about was whether anyone have any information about official wording about whether the verification of funds letter and passbook updates have a grace period after which they can still be used to renew a retirement visa.

I was previously told by Lopburi immigration that the verification letter and passbook update could be used to renew the retirement visa up to 5 days after the date of the verification/passbook update.

There is no written rule for the age of the letter or bank book update. I can vary from office to office.

Apparent they may have a new boss that wants if done on the day you apply.

[Paulaew]

Then there is the issue of whether the bank statement should cover 3 months or 6 months or 1 year.

 

I usually submit a 3 month or 6 month statement and my immigration office seems to find that acceptable. Getting a 1 year bank statement is a pain since my bank (Bangkok Bank) requires a week to generate the statement.

 

Usually my immigration officer peruses my bank book to check the balance and deposits over the course of the year.

 

In recent years I've been in and out in 15 minutes for my annual retirement extensions. I've been lucky to have the same immigration officer who has gotten to know me well.

 

Paul Laew

[worgeordie]

3 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

Then there is the issue of whether the bank statement should cover 3 months or 6 months or 1 year.

 

I usually submit a 3 month or 6 month statement and my immigration office seems to find that acceptable. Getting a 1 year bank statement is a pain since my bank (Bangkok Bank) requires a week to generate the statement.

 

Usually my immigration officer peruses my bank book to check the balance and deposits over the course of the year.

 

In recent years I've been in and out in 15 minutes for my annual retirement extensions. I've been lucky to have the same immigration officer who has gotten to know me well.

 

Paul Laew

Must be 12 month statement up in Chiang Mai , yes can take 7 days to be

issued by Bangkok Bank, so you have to be careful to take in holidays.

but they don't require you to return to show the money is still there after

3 months , as some offices do.

regards Worgeordie 

regards Worgeordie

[Gecko123]

36 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

I've been lucky to have the same immigration officer who has gotten to know me well.

In past years, I could say much the same, but I only recognized one person today and that person was brand new a year ago. Virtually 100% turn over from a year ago. I wonder if Immigration's having staffing problems because of perceptions that it's a high-risk job due to Covid. This may be a little unfair, but I also noticed that the general caliber of employee seemed to have gone downhill as well.

 

I also got to say that my suspicions that applications from people applying for visas on their own without an agent might be being subjected to hyper-nitpicking scrutiny were reignited on this visit. I saw baskets and baskets of visas being rubber stamped for approval, this despite me being the only person in the waiting area. I'm wondering could it be that immigration just prefers to deal with another Thai person (the agent) and foreigners have come to be seen as nuisances who need to be pestered into using agents? Or is immigration getting some kind of kickback from the agents which makes dealing with applications from individuals without agents less lucrative? I'm sorry, but something just doesn't feel quite right.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gecko123

[yeahbutif]

Well my  extension . All was Okay but .my bank letter was Okay but really was useless....as wanted to see bank book copies back to before my last year's extension .. lucky I had them with me .... so my bank letter just said amount in bank on the day...and not said he said nothing about funds have been maintained for a year..

[sirineou]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

@4MyEgo

Thanks for the suggestion. My problem about having to run to the bank on the same day as the visa renewal is (a) my bank is about 32 km in the opposite direction of immigration, and (b) since the bank doesn't open until 8:30am, and Immigration (like you) is 1:40 minutes away, and (c) I usually combine the trip to immigration with a major grocery shopping at Makro, etc., the late start and extra out of the way trip to the bank (believe it or not) is going to make for a gruelingly long day. Don't forget all those groceries have to be put away. ????

 

What irks me is the arbitrary nature of the same day requirement. The passbook already confirms that the funds have been on deposit for at least 3 months prior to the application (in my case the funds have been sitting untouched for 10+ years.) The only thing a strict same day requirement could possibly be doing is preventing someone from withdrawing the 800K or a portion of it between the time the bank letter and passbook was updated and the time the visa was applied for. Why somebody would do that is beyond me, especially when you consider that those transactions would show up the next time you used that account to renew a visa.

 

They "trust" you to keep the balance above 400K after the visa is renewed by verifying this has been done at subsequent renewals, but they're paranoid that people are playing shenanigans for a couple of days between the time the bank issues the letter and the visa is issued??? That doesn't make sense.

For my extension based on marriage we did the bank the day before but the next day before  we went for the extension we passed by the bank, did a small withdrawal from the ATM and then went inside and had the bank book  updated, 

This showed the last transaction which was the earlier small withdrawal , the date  and the balance, 

 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

they're paranoid that people are playing shenanigans for a couple of days between the time the bank issues the letter and the visa is issued???

Correct, so the best way you can show them that they can trust you is that you provide them with an updated bank passport the following day, not to hard to do, an inconvenience yes, but you got the extra day and that is the final hoop, after all of the other hoops you have been jumped through the day before.

 

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

That doesn't make sense.

To them it does, because everything is in check, check and check.

 

Having just done mine for the 6th year you would think they would do away with a lot of stuff, ok, bank letter, current passport, confirmed you are on the same number and address, that should be game over, but nope, have to have papers to shuffle in the land of officialism.

 

I share your frustration, but as I said, it's the final hoop, look at it as your final slam dunk with no more seconds on the clock ???? 

 

[LarrySR]

Immigration Officers can be extremely petty. 

One time I withdrew 100bt and updated my bankbook so the balance didn't match the letter exactly and they sent me away for a new banker letter. "Letter and book must be the same".....

Next time I made sure the bank letter and bank book balance was exactly the same and they sent me away to withdraw 100bt and update the book so this time the balance on the book didn't match the letter. 

 

 

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

They're not saying just update the passbook on the same day as you renew. They're saying the verification letter from the bank and the passbook update have to be done on the same day you apply for a visa.

Perhaps you should be asking them to show you the applicable regulation.

My understanding is the bankbook must be updated on the day the extension is applied for, but the bank letter can be anything up to 3 days old. That's the way it has always worked at CM and CR Immigration, although IO's are well known for making up the rules as they go.

Why wouldn't you ask the bank to postdate the letter so it matches with the date you apply? It's no skin off their nose.

 

[Gecko123]

14 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Perhaps you should be asking them to show you the applicable regulation.

My understanding is the bankbook must be updated on the day the extension is applied for, but the bank letter can be anything up to 3 days old. That's the way it has always worked at CM and CR Immigration, although IO's are well known for making up the rules as they go.

Why wouldn't you ask the bank to postdate the letter so it matches with the date you apply? It's no skin off their nose.

 

In the past, both the bank letter and passbook update have been accepted as long as it was within five days of the visa renewal. The five day period was fuzzy because Lopburi counted the day the bank letter was issued as one full day the moment the letter was issued, so it was only really acceptable 4 days after the letter was issued. Two years ago, a new manager rejected a letter submitted a full five days later, even though only 120 hours (24 hours x 5 days) had passed. So this time, not wanting this to happen again, I submitted a letter just two days old. So that's why I was like in disbelief when I was told that the letter now had to be dated the same day as the visa renewal. I thought about asking my bank to post-date the letter, but come on, you really think any bank teller in Thailand is gonna agree to that? I think there might be some bank fraud issues in play here, and anyway it would require so much explanation it wouldn't be worth the time or effort.

 

PS. I'm gonna double check whether they were saying BOTH the bank letter and passbook updates had to be on the same day as the application. I'm almost positive they said both, but there's a small chance they were just saying only the passbook had to be updated.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gecko123

[Andre0720]

My understanding is that IO will use any fine letter writing, and a narrow interpretation of a rule, if they believe that it may get an applicant to see an Agent, and thus support the system altogether.

Through an Agent, such irritations never occur...

[Gecko123]

10 minutes ago, Andre0720 said:

My understanding is that IO will use any fine letter writing, and a narrow interpretation of a rule, if they believe that it may get an applicant to see an Agent, and thus support the system altogether.

Through an Agent, such irritations never occur...

But that's suggesting that corruption is the reason why immigration reviews applications submitted from individuals with a fine tooth comb while turning a blind eye to defective applications submitted through an agent. The only reason why I can think for why that would be the case is that there's some financial incentive for accepting defective applications from agents.

 

Whenever there's a thread where people voice frustration with dealing with immigration, there are always people who pop up to congratulate themselves for using agents, but in my opinion, if they are using agents in order to circumvent rules, they need to be made aware that they may be making life more difficult for those who choose not to use agents.

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gecko123

[Lacessit]

13 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

In the past, both the bank letter and passbook update have been accepted as long as it was within five days of the visa renewal. The five day period was fuzzy because Lopburi counted the day the bank letter was issued as one full day the moment the letter was issued, so it was only really acceptable 4 days after the letter was issued. Two years ago, a new manager rejected a letter submitted a full five days later, even though only 120 hours (24 hours x 5 days) had passed. So this time, not wanting this to happen again, I submitted a letter just two days old. So that's why I was like in disbelief when I was told that the letter now had to be dated the same day as the visa renewal. I thought about asking my bank to post-date the letter, but come on, you really think any bank teller in Thailand is gonna agree to that? I think there might be some bank fraud issues in play here, and anyway it would require so much explanation it wouldn't be worth the time or effort.

 

PS. I'm gonna double check whether they were saying BOTH the bank letter and passbook updates had to be on the same day as the application. I'm almost positive they said both, but there's a small chance they were just saying only the passbook had to be updated.

I'm just trying to help, it's your choice whether you want to follow upon the suggestion. You won't know until you ask.

As long as you leave the balance in the bankbook untouched until you update on the day of application, there is no fraud issue. Permit me to doubt an IO would follow up with a bank on that, they are not that industrious.

Perhaps you misheard the IO, IME of 10 years of extensions my bank letters have never been questioned.

[Andre0720]

12 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

But that's suggesting that corruption is the reason why immigration reviews applications submitted from individuals with a fine tooth comb, while turning a blind eye to any deficiencies in applications submitted through an agent. The only reason why I can think for why that would be the case is that there's some financial incentive for accepting deficient applications from agents. Whenever a thread pops up where people voice frustration with dealing with immigration, there are always people  who pop up to congratulate themselves for using agents, but in my opinion, if they are using agents in order to circumvent rules, they need to be made aware that they may be making life more difficult for those who choose not to use agents.

You are really wrong on this.

I am not praising the use of Agents.

When I visited the IO office for my first retirement extension, I was told bluntly that I could not do that on my own. No matter how much money I had. From an OA visa, to retirement, impossible.

But the agent can do it.

Afterwards, I observed IO making it difficult to follow the rules. Must be a reason....

Through an Agent, never any rules not met..

[Gecko123]

18 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I'm just trying to help, it's your choice whether you want to follow upon the suggestion. You won't know until you ask.

As long as you leave the balance in the bankbook untouched until you update on the day of application, there is no fraud issue. Permit me to doubt an IO would follow up with a bank on that, they are not that industrious.

Perhaps you misheard the IO, IME of 10 years of extensions my bank letters have never been questioned.

I appreciate your help, Lacessit. I wouldn't dream of asking my bank to post-date a funds verification letter. I think I would suffer reputational damage at my bank just for asking. Plus no bank is going to do that. I appreciate the 'no harm, no foul' concept, but for a bank to write a letter today to the police confirming I had (not will have) 'x' amount of funds in my account five days from now is fraudulent anyway you look at it, and I can't imagine any banking official ever agreeing to do that.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gecko123

[Gecko123]

26 minutes ago, Andre0720 said:

You are really wrong on this.

I am not praising the use of Agents.

When I visited the IO office for my first retirement extension, I was told bluntly that I could not do that on my own. No matter how much money I had. From an OA visa, to retirement, impossible.

But the agent can do it.

Afterwards, I observed IO making it difficult to follow the rules. Must be a reason....

Through an Agent, never any rules not met..

I apologize. I didn't intend to direct my remarks to you individually, more to those who champion using agents. My feeling is that using an agent for purposes of convenience is one thing, but using agents to circumvent immigration rules may be putting pressure on people who file visa applications without using an agent.

 

My theory is that because people who don't use agents may not generate under the table income for immigration officials, immigration may discriminate against these applications because (a) they have a financial incentive to pressure people into using agents and (b) if deficient applications are being approved through visa agents, there may be administrative pressure to review with a fine toothed comb those applications from individuals not using agents, so that they would have readily available files which have been impeccably vetted, in case their office was ever audited by central command.

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gecko123

[Andre0720]

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

I apologize. I didn't intend to direct my remarks to you individually, more to those who champion using agents. My feeling is that using an agent for purposes of convenience is one thing, but using agents to circumvent immigration rules may be putting pressure on people who file visa applications without using an agent.

 

My theory is that because people who don't use agents may not generate under the table income for immigration officials, immigration may discriminate against these applications because (a) they have a financial incentive to pressure people into using agents and (b) if deficient applications are being approved through visa agents, there may be administrative pressure to review with a fine toothed comb those applications from individuals not using agents, so that they would have readily available files which have been impeccably vetted, in case their office was ever audited by central command.

 

I do not have time tonight, so perhaps tomorrow.

But quickly, certainly no such thing as an audition by a central command.

If one gets a stamp from an IO, his passport is duly stamped, end of it.

With or without the use of an Agent.

But from what I experienced, once an Agent is used to get a stamp, because an Agent was the ONLY way to obtain a stamp, there is some kind of pressure to keep this 'customer' to use an Agent. Not using an Agent will be possible, but hurdles will appear.

 

[TerraplaneGuy]

20 hours ago, LarrySR said:

Immigration Officers can be extremely petty. 

One time I withdrew 100bt and updated my bankbook so the balance didn't match the letter exactly and they sent me away for a new banker letter. "Letter and book must be the same".....

Next time I made sure the bank letter and bank book balance was exactly the same and they sent me away to withdraw 100bt and update the book so this time the balance on the book didn't match the letter. 

 

 

There is no rational basis and no basis in the law for them to reject you because of the mismatch.  As long as you have the required B800K the exact amount should not matter, and it's obvious that a transaction after the bank letter will create a mismatch - so what?  Chaeng Wattana always required me to do a transaction the day of application which inevitably created a mismatch (since my bank letter was always from a previous day) and they were happy.  I think if an officer tells you a mismatch is unacceptable you have to insist on speaking to their supervisor and escalate until, hopefully, they back down.  It is also possible, as others have hinted, that in some offices they are deliberately creating difficulties in the hope of steering you to an agent or otherwise obtaining a personal benefit, in which case you still have to try to escalate but if they're all in on it you do have a problem.

[OJAS]

23 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

They're not saying just update the passbook on the same day as you renew.

Not at all clear how you managed to deduce from my posting that I was saying "just update the passbook"!!!

[Gecko123]

Followup:

I wrote the below email to Lopburi Immigration on January 26th. Today, I got a very, very kind phone call from Lopburi Immigration apologizing for the interaction on January 21st. They explained that they could clearly see that the funds were on deposit for many years, and that in the future I could use a bank letter and passbook update up to a week before applying for a visa renewal. I in particular want to recount that they told me they wanted me to have "sabai jai" and to think of Lopburi Immigration  as "family." Although the below letter is in English, I used Google translate to prepare a version in Thai. The reason I am sharing this is to remind people that Google translate can be helpful when communicating with Thai immigration and if you take the time to explain what is going on, Immigration has generally proven itself to be very reasonable.

Copy of Letter to Lopburi Immigration:

To: Manager of Lopburi Immigration

Re: Verification of Funds Letter for Retirement Visa

            my name

            passport xxxxxxxx

Dear Manager of Lopburi Immigration:

On Friday January 21, 2022 I renewed my retirement visa. I presented a verification of funds letter which was dated January 19th, 2022. I was initially told that this letter was not acceptable because it had to be dated the same day as the retirement visa application. I was then told that an exception would be made this time, but for future visa applications, the letter from the bank would have to be completed the same day as the visa application.

I am writing to you to ask you to reconsider this policy. I believe that requiring retirement visa applicants to complete the bank letter on the same day as the application provides little to no benefit to Thailand, and that more flexibility about the date of the bank letter will not result in any problems. I also think that requiring the bank letter to be completed on the same day as the visa application is unnecessarily inconvenient for retirement visa holders. Please consider the following points:

Little to no benefit for Thailand

The current requirement is that the 800,000 baht has to be deposited in the account no less than two months prior to visa application and for 3 months after the visa is issued. In my case, the required 800,000 baht has been deposited in the same account for almost 9 years, and no funds have ever been withdrawn from the account during this period. In the past, I have used letters received from my bank up to 4 days prior to renewal without any problem.

So I cannot understand why Lopburi immigration now wants the bank letter to be dated the same day as the visa application. After the visa is renewed and three months have passed by, funds can be withdrawn, but 400,000 has to remain in the account, right? But immigration doesn't check to see if 400,000 has been kept in the account for the remainder of the year until the visa is renewed the next time. So for nine months, you don't verify that the requirement that 400,000 be kept on deposit has been followed, right? Immigration checks at the next renewal to see if this has been adhered to, right? So I don't understand why Immigration would be concerned if the bank verification letter is dated a couple of days before the visa renewal application.

Requiring bank verification letter be dated the same day as the visa application can be inconvenient for retirement visa holders.

Retirement visa holders are 50+ years old. Some are much older than 50 years old. Older people do not have the same energy and strength as younger people. I think this should be considered. More flexibility would be greatly appreciated.

For example, a couple of days before applying for my visa, I go to xxxxxxx (Petchabun province) to get the visa photo, the bank verification of funds letter, and to photocopy documents needed for the retirement visa application. I then go to Lopburi Immigration a couple of days later. If Lopburi Immigration requires that I go to the bank on the same day, it will be a very long day for me. Because the bank does not open until 8:30 am, by the time I get the photos, the verification of funds letter from the bank, photocopy the necessary documents, it could easily be 11 am already. I have to eat lunch, right? Then I have to drive 2 hours to Lopburi immigration. Maybe I am at immigration for half an hour to forty five minutes. Then I drive back home 2 hours, maybe arrive home at five PM. This is a long day for me. I am away from home a long time. I have pets, I have a vegetable garden that needs to be watered, I have to prepare dinner.

Also, when I go to Lopburi immigration, I like to leave very early in the morning because the traffic is not heavy, and it is safer for me. After going to Lopburi Immigration, I like to go to Makro to buy food I cannot find near my house. If Lopburi Immigration requires that I go to the bank and get the verification letter on the same day as I apply for my visa, I don't think I will have enough time to go shopping at Makro on the same day. So I will have to make a separate trip to go to Makro. Not good for the environment, not good for global warming, not good for congested roads.

For the above reasons, I am asking if Lopburi Immigration could be more flexible about the required date for bank verification of funds letters.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

[MajorTom]

On 1/22/2022 at 2:18 PM, TerraplaneGuy said:

It is also possible, as others have hinted, that in some offices they are deliberately creating difficulties in the hope of steering you to an agent or otherwise obtaining a personal benefit

I thought so too, but something does not add up with this theory. Most people that are pushed to use agents for whatever reason will have to use an immigration office in another province. So there is no money or benefit in it for the "difficult/making up arbitrary rules" immigration office. I think its just pure xenophobia.