Visa Agent Catch

[JimTripper]

Due to the current hassles I'm seriously considering just flying in on a 30 day and using an agent for a retirement visa. Current quote is 38k baht for 15 months, then 15k baht per year thereafter.

 

Do some loan shark money out?

 

Do they transfer funds into my bank and keep them them there all year? (hard to believe for a small fee)

 

Do they use their own bank account?

 

Does it differ by which agent I hire?

 

What are the dangers of having someone's money in my account and having the funds frozen for a legal reason or just fraud?

 

Is my safety at risk by the agent if I could not pay it back?

[problemfarang]

Hi, im not expert with retirement but i used agency for my marriage. Its the same logic though.

 

1) for me they put the money into my bank account for 1 or 2 days. Then withdraw it. They have the atm card and bank book. Its wise to open a new account and zero money in there when you are giving them to the agency.

 

2) this is a one in a million situation. If this happens and if this is not agency mistake yes of course they will come after you. But trust me this will never happen if you are not a criminal or likewise situation. Also the money will not stay there that long.

 

3) for agency time is not important. Just to show money in the bank account is the thing here. Yes, its basically bribe immigration police but again they are trying to do things as legal as they can. 

 

All you need to do is give the paper work what ever they want. 

[JimTripper]

13 minutes ago, problemfarang said:

Hi, im not expert with retirement but i used agency for my marriage. Its the same logic though.

 

1) for me they put the money into my bank account for 1 or 2 days. Then withdraw it. They have the atm card and bank book. Its wise to open a new account and zero money in there when you are giving them to the agency.

 

2) this is a one in a million situation. If this happens and if this is not agency mistake yes of course they will come after you. But trust me this will never happen if you are not a criminal or likewise situation. Also the money will not stay there that long.

 

3) for agency time is not important. Just to show money in the bank account is the thing here. Yes, its basically bribe immigration police but again they are trying to do things as legal as they can. 

 

All you need to do is give the paper work what ever they want. 

So just a bribe and immigration overlooks how long the money is in the account??

 

It's for a retirement visa, and would normally need to sit there.

[poohy]

6 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

So just a bribe and immigration overlooks how long the money is in the account??

A matter of minutes usually My agent does  it while I wait

[problemfarang]

57 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

So just a bribe and immigration overlooks how long the money is in the account??

 

It's for a retirement visa, and would normally need to sit there.

Well thats why you are using agency. To make things easier ????

My friend who has a retirement visa and used the same agency with me said they transfer the money and took it back 8n 1 hour. Thats is.. magic happens

[steve187]

using an agent to fund the money is a back door way to obtain extension, could come back and bite you in the a*se, once you have used an sgent its hard to stop using them as the financials are never seasoned correctly ie 800 for 5 months 400 rest of the year.

[JimTripper]

26 minutes ago, steve187 said:

using an agent to fund the money is a back door way to obtain extension, could come back and bite you in the a*se, once you have used an sgent its hard to stop using them as the financials are never seasoned correctly ie 800 for 5 months 400 rest of the year.

Yeah, I would need to keep using the same agent each time, since they have access to a particular immigration officer basically, or goto another agency and pay the steep initial fee again, if there was not a problem getting another bank account.

 

There is also a risk of the agent increasing the renewal fee for some reason, and having to travel to the agent each year to hand over the passport if I'm in another area.

 

There could also be an issue with drift, people moving on, bunking out etc, meaning I pay the steep 38k baht again.

 

It may be easier long term to put the 800k baht in myself and forget it doing it the right way.

[HappyExpat57]

Using an agent should be a last resort. I know people who have used agents for years and TO DATE there have been no issues, but as previously reported in this thread, if the powers that be decide to change the rules, you could find yourself in a tough spot.

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, JimTripper said:

Current quote is 38k baht for 15 months, then 15k baht per year thereafter.

Totally nuts price , atleast 10k over on 15 months and 2-3 on per year

[itsari]

2 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Totally nuts price , atleast 10k over on 15 months and 2-3 on per year

From my experience 15 months market price is from 30 to 32 thousand using agents in  Bangkok .

A 12 month extension up to 15000 . 

Depends what you call nuts i guess

[BritTim]

Most often, the financial requirements for retirement visa/extension is dealt with via a (probably deliberate) loophole in the immigration procedure.

 

First, for the visa, the only requirement is money in the bank, transferred from abroad, on the day the visa application is made. This only requires the money to be in the bank for one day, and can (these days) be arranged very cheaply, especially with the cooperation of the bank.

 

On the extension, there are seasoning rules. However, this is where the loophole comes in. An immigration official of sufficient rank is allowed to waive the seasoning requirement. There can be legitimate reasons for doing this. For instance, the money might simply have been in the wrong type of account. A senior official aware of this can simply tell you to transfer the money into a supported account type, and waive the seasoning requirement. As far as agent supported extensions are concerned, the official is guilty of abuse of discretion in allowing the extension without funds seasoning (again, the money will be in the bank for one day) but the procedure is technically legal.

[clivebaxter]

10 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Most often, the financial requirements for retirement visa/extension is dealt with via a (probably deliberate) loophole in the immigration procedure.

 

First, for the visa, the only requirement is money in the bank, transferred from abroad, on the day the visa application is made. This only requires the money to be in the bank for one day, and can (these days) be arranged very cheaply, especially with the cooperation of the bank.

 

On the extension, there are seasoning rules. However, this is where the loophole comes in. An immigration official of sufficient rank is allowed to waive the seasoning requirement. There can be legitimate reasons for doing this. For instance, the money might simply have been in the wrong type of account. A senior official aware of this can simply tell you to transfer the money into a supported account type, and waive the seasoning requirement. As far as agent supported extensions are concerned, the official is guilty of abuse of discretion in allowing the extension without funds seasoning (again, the money will be in the bank for one day) but the procedure is technically legal.

But there is no loophole around not getting the extension from the province you live in. All the ones I contacted can only get them from upcountry, I don't see how that can be legal. Then you are stuck doing the 90 day reports and re entry permits with the agent and paying over the odds there. OK if you are hard up, but foolish and risky if you have the funds anyway.

[Moonlover]

5 hours ago, JimTripper said:

It may be easier long term to put the 800k baht in myself and forget it doing it the right way.

Now what a good idea that is.

[DrJack54]

5 hours ago, JimTripper said:

It may be easier long term to put the 800k baht in myself and forget it doing it the right way.

Reading your few posts I think doing it yourself with your own money is best suited to you.

 

MANY use agents ongoing for years and that works well for them.

Up to you. 

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Then you are stuck doing the 90 day reports and re entry permits with the agent and paying over the odds there

That is not the case.

You can do a TM30 for change of address to where your living. 

Having said that many use the agent to do the reports.

Optional extra. 

[blackshadow]

where do you live ??? aimed at the poster......

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

I heard there's no money in the bank used for this method at all.

 

I heard you pay off your agent, who in turn pays off the IO, and according to how the law is written they have the power to approve you based on money in the bank, OR any other criteria they see fit. Heh.

[MajorTom]

23 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Then you are stuck doing the 90 day reports and re entry permits with the agent and paying over the odds there.

I don't think so. I have had extensions issued in random provinces. Never had any problems doing TM30, 90 day reports or CoRs in my home province.

[JimTripper]

6 minutes ago, blackshadow said:

where do you live ??? aimed at the poster......

The agent who quoted me is based in Pattaya. If I used an agent it would be in either Pattaya or Bangkok.

[Hamus Yaigh]

7 hours ago, JimTripper said:

Current quote is 38k baht for 15 months, then 15k baht per year thereafter.

What happens if the agent goes out of business?

[clivebaxter]

17 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

That is not the case.

You can do a TM30 for change of address to where your living. 

Having said that many use the agent to do the reports.

Optional extra. 

Surely you have to put the address on the TM30 in the province where you are moving from, which you never lived in, then have to do the TM30 every year. The agent must enter a fictional address on the extension form. is it the same one for all the customers? Seems like one lie after another

[petermik]

4 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

The agent who quoted me is based in Pattaya. If I used an agent it would be in either Pattaya or Bangkok.

IF you must use an agent Maneerat on soi 13 is recommended by many.....me I do it the legit way.

[JimTripper]

Just now, Hamus Yaigh said:

What happens if the agent goes out of business?

Well, I would be stuck without a visa at renewal and would need to use another agent and pay the hefty initial startup fee a second time. That's what I'm afraid of having to pay the 38k baht over and over if something went wrong.

[clivebaxter]

12 minutes ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

I heard there's no money in the bank used for this method at all.

 

I heard you pay off your agent, who in turn pays off the IO, and according to how the law is written they have the power to approve you based on money in the bank, OR any other criteria they see fit. Heh.

Why not cut out the middle man and just offer the IO the cash up front? It's all legal and above board after all????

[petermik]

19 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

What happens if the agent goes out of business?

 

16 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Well, I would be stuck without a visa at renewal and would need to use another agent and pay the hefty initial startup fee a second time. That's what I'm afraid of having to pay the 38k baht over and over if something went wrong.

On another thread...........

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, JimTripper said:

So just a bribe and immigration overlooks how long the money is in the account??

 

It's for a retirement visa, and would normally need to sit there.

Just an agent's fee, you are not bribing anyone,  and, yes, Immigration keeps out of it for 12 months, they don't screw over their agents who are providing part of their income.

[Denim]

5 hours ago, JimTripper said:

It may be easier long term to put the 800k baht in myself and forget it doing it the right way.

Bingo !

[Moonlover]

18 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Why not cut out the middle man and just offer the IO the cash up front? It's all legal and above board after all????

I believe that really is called bribery and is illegal.

[Lemsta69]

5 hours ago, itsari said:

From my experience 15 months market price is from 30 to 32 thousand using agents in  Bangkok .

A 12 month extension up to 15000 . 

Depends what you call nuts i guess

ser, please DM the agent's details if you have the time. I was quoted 20k for extension in Bangkok, oops Krung Thep Maha Nakhon ????

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, steve187 said:

using an agent to fund the money is a back door way to obtain extension, could come back and bite you in the a*se, once you have used an sgent its hard to stop using them as the financials are never seasoned correctly ie 800 for 5 months 400 rest of the year.

Immigration officers do not check on the previous (expired) extension application and how it came to be stamped in your passport, they're only interested in the current one that you're applying for.   There's no reason for an agent-supplied extension to bite you in the ar$e.