Visa Agent Catch

[JimTripper]

8 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Yes that's correct.

The point I was making is that's just stock market shares.

Nothing brilliant about Cbus.

Point is stick 800k in a basic investment such as managed funds and that would be your return..

I can understand why some folk do not keep 800k in a Thai bank account. 

Most banks let you invest the money in a mutual fund within your account. Is there some reason a Thai Bank does not allow this?

 

It seems like immigration would only care about the balance, not what your invested in, although I have never asked about it.

Edited March 30, 2022 by JimTripper

[DrJack54]

5 hours ago, JimTripper said:

It seems like immigration would only care about the balance, not what your invested in, although I have never asked about it

The funds must be held in a Thai bank account that allows for instant withdrawal without penalty.

Thinking in the case of FD account there is loss of interest but no penality. 

Think my banks current interest rate is 0.5%

I just sit back and rake in the interest. A whooping 4k per year. 

[LarrySR]

On 3/28/2022 at 12:44 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

If he goes out of business after you've got your extension you just use a different one next time if you still want an agent.   If he goes out of business between getting your money and getting the extension, you're bugg_ered, I suppose, but has anyone ever had credible reports of that happening?   Why would an agent ever go out of business, if he's got your application and your fee he's obviously still in business, surely, what else is there to an agents business?  

I read in the news about a year ago, Dragon VISA Service in Pattaya 3rd Rd. (near Buffalo Bar) ran off with a bunch of passports and baht.

 

Tourist Police caught up with him after the Pattaya Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant on May 18th for the suspect over alleged fraud.

"The suspect reportedly took 45,000 baht from the Japanese victim for a visa service & disappeared with the victim was unable to contact them.

Pattaya Tourist Police later reported that there were more than ten foreign victims who were defrauded for an estimated hundreds of thousands of baht."

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by LarrySR

[RichardColeman]

7 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

but use an agent because I want to make the process as painless as possible for me, it costs 8,000 THB for a 12 month extension & (IMHO) is money well spent, others may prefer to spend their money differently... to each his own...

I know many people using agents at 300-500 for their 90 report as they are too lazy to go from Pattaya to Jontiem on the 10 baht bus - that or not wanting to waste half a day sitting around 

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, LarrySR said:

I read in the news about a year ago, Dragon VISA Service in Pattaya 3rd Rd. (near Buffalo Bar) ran off with a bunch of passports and baht.

 

Tourist Police caught up with him after the Pattaya Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant on May 18th for the suspect over alleged fraud.

"The suspect reportedly took 45,000 baht from the Japanese victim for a visa service & disappeared with the victim was unable to contact them.

Pattaya Tourist Police later reported that there were more than ten foreign victims who were defrauded for an estimated hundreds of thousands of baht."

 

 

 

 

He was in business for a long time. Too bad.

[DrJack54]

22 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I know many people using agents at 300-500 for their 90 report as they are too lazy to go from Pattaya to Jontiem on the 10 baht bus - that or not wanting to waste half a day sitting around 

Or they could do it online or mail.

Spending 500b instead of going in person, I wouldn't call "lazy".

I would call it smart. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by DrJack54

[LarrySR]

43 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Or they could do it online or mail.

Spending 500b instead of going in person, I wouldn't call "lazy".

I would call it smart. 

In Bangkok, the round trip taxi fare is around 500bt. So definitely a bargain if the agent only charges 500bt. 

[xylophone]

10 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I think ultimately it comes down to how much integrity you have. 

I've heard a lot of hypocrisy from some good friends who criticize corruption in other areas, yet use an agent to secure their visa or pay the IO a few thousand baht so they don't have to inconvenience themselves travelling to Bangkok to get a letter from their embassy. Granted, they are being extorted to a degree but they could stand up for themselves and be consistent in their prioritizing of their personal values.  Many illegal immigrants here are ignorant that they are actually that, as they actually have a visa stamp, albeit gotten from another province by illegal means. 

If you have got a visa this way by paying an agent, best to keep quiet about it. 

I will post this a second time although it has been posted before:- 

 

This has been covered time and time again on forums like this and there are the two schools of thought, which I won't go into now, however, on one particular thread a poster was able to post part of the "rules and regulations" regarding the 800 K funds in the bank, and the paragraph read something like this, "the senior immigration officer at any immigration office has the discretion to grant an extension of stay based on retirement, without proof of funds being provided" (or words to that effect).

 

 This is actually written into the code of practice/rules and regulations and is therefore not illegal.

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, xylophone said:

This is actually written into the code of practice/rules and regulations and is therefore not illegal.

Not sure where the line specifically mentioning retirement extension came from.

This from immigration order 327/2557 for extension of stay.

[JimTripper]

19 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I will post this a third time although it has been posted before:- 

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by JimTripper

[xylophone]

13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not sure where the line specifically mentioning retirement extension came from.

This from immigration order 327/2557 for extension of stay.

In the paragraph which you posted UJ, "if an authorised competent officer is of the opinion that the alien has legitimate reason for staying in the kingdom of Thailand.........an authorised competent officer can view it for further consideration".

 

So it would appear that this is the loophole which the agents are using, if indeed it is from the same immigration order?

 

Looking back into the annals of aseannow would probably uncover the same subject, or possibly going back into Thai Visa records??

 

[Neeranam]

7 minutes ago, xylophone said:

In the paragraph which you posted UJ, "if an authorised competent officer is of the opinion that the alien has legitimate reason for staying in the kingdom of Thailand.........an authorised competent officer can view it for further consideration".

 

So it would appear that this is the loophole which the agents are using, if indeed it is from the same immigration order?

 

 

 

 This is not what I call a 'loophole', it is downright corruption. Granted, this loophole could prevent the alien, the agent and the officer going to jail. 

Do you think getting 20k baht from an agent is a 'legitimate reason'.  These senior officers don't even see the illegal immigrant. 

[Mac Mickmanus]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

 This is not what I call a 'loophole', it is downright corruption. Granted, this loophole could prevent the alien, the agent and the officer going to jail. 

Do you think getting 20k baht from an agent is a 'legitimate reason'.  These senior officers don't even see the illegal immigrant. 

Wasn't you earlier praising Thailand because "This is Thailand and there are no rules in Thailand "?

[Olmate]

10 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

 This is not what I call a 'loophole', it is downright corruption. Granted, this loophole could prevent the alien, the agent and the officer going to jail. 

Do you think getting 20k baht from an agent is a 'legitimate reason'.  These senior officers don't even see the illegal immigrant. 

The.20 is not the reason.. Its the seasoning time! Keep digging!! 

[Photoguy21]

Sounds very sketchy doing this but that is up to the individual. However, at some point it will be unacceptable then everyone who is doing it the correct way will have problems.

I have had both Retirement and currently Based on Marriage visas. Never have I done what is suggested and currently have left the full amount in the bank for my current visa.

[ubonjoe]

26 minutes ago, xylophone said:

In the paragraph which you posted UJ, "if an authorised competent officer is of the opinion that the alien has legitimate reason for staying in the kingdom of Thailand.........an authorised competent officer can view it for further consideration".

The last line means it would not be a local officer doing the approval.

"higher than inspector is of the opinion that the alien has legitimate reason for staying in the Kingdom of Thailand, the application shall be forwarded to the Commander of the Royal Thai Police or an authorized competent officer for further consideration of the alien's application."

 

 

In my opinion it is a officer signing off on the extension application that has unverified copies of a bank book attached to it making it appear the money was in the bank for the required amount of time.

[Neeranam]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The last line means it would not be a local officer doing the approval.

"higher than inspector is of the opinion that the alien has legitimate reason for staying in the Kingdom of Thailand, the application shall be forwarded to the Commander of the Royal Thai Police or an authorized competent officer for further consideration of the alien's application."

 

 

In my opinion it is a officer signing off on the extension application that has unverified copies of a bank book attached to it making it appear the money was in the bank for the required amount of time.

I think we all know exactly what is going on, but many pretend it is not happening. 

 

 

 

20 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Wasn't you earlier praising Thailand because "This is Thailand and there are no rules in Thailand "?

No, why would I praise the lack of rules, especially in regards to immigration? 

[rott]

12 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Interesting. Do you really think the immigration officer is not getting some of this 38k for the visa?

Any money given to a police officer is illegal. 

 

Sorry but I obviously missed a bit. Where does 38k come from, new one on me.

 

Oh I see you are talking about a visa, different thing entirely, we are discussing an extension of permission to stay. 

[hotandsticky]

37 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

 This is not what I call a 'loophole', it is downright corruption. Granted, this loophole could prevent the alien, the agent and the officer going to jail. 

Do you think getting 20k baht from an agent is a 'legitimate reason'.  These senior officers don't even see the illegal immigrant. 

 

 

He can't be an illegal immigrant because he has a 'legitimate' extension stamp in his passport.

 

 

That stamp is as legitimate as yours , and mine, that were legitimately obtained.

[rott]

4 hours ago, LarrySR said:

I read in the news about a year ago, Dragon VISA Service in Pattaya 3rd Rd. (near Buffalo Bar) ran off with a bunch of passports and baht.

 

Tourist Police caught up with him after the Pattaya Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant on May 18th for the suspect over alleged fraud.

"The suspect reportedly took 45,000 baht from the Japanese victim for a visa service & disappeared with the victim was unable to contact them.

Pattaya Tourist Police later reported that there were more than ten foreign victims who were defrauded for an estimated hundreds of thousands of baht."

 

 

 

 

Got as much or as little chance of getting anything back as those who were defrauded by people at Kasikorn bank in Pattaya. 

[rott]

41 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

 This is not what I call a 'loophole', it is downright corruption. Granted,, . 

Similar to Nicola and the ferries, or is that simple inefficiency and incompetence.? 

[skatewash]

10 hours ago, JimTripper said:

Most banks let you invest the money in a mutual fund within your account. Is there some reason a Thai Bank does not allow this?

 

It seems like immigration would only care about the balance, not what your invested in, although I have never asked about it.

Thai immigration has an interest in your principal.  If you put the money in a savings account there is no possible loss to your principal.  If you put the money in a mutual fund loss of principal is very much on the table.  Thai immigration will not accept putting your money in anything that is not immediately available or anything that risks your principal.

[Neeranam]

25 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

He can't be an illegal immigrant because he has a 'legitimate' extension stamp in his passport.

No, it's a fake one and there are serious repercussions if found out, especially if the passport has been sent to another province.

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Neeranam

[Lemsta69]

33 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I think we all know exactly what is going on, but many pretend it is not happening. 

 

 

 

No, why would I praise the lack of rules, especially in regards to immigration? 

I'm confused, I thought you were Thai? pretending it's not happening is how things work here and if the law was so sacrosanct then half the country would be in jail. this is pretty much the main reason I came to retire here, I can't really see the attraction if this place becomes all squeaky clean like you want it to be.

[JetsetBkk]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Looking back into ....  or possibly going back into Thai Visa records??

Is that even possible?

 

I've been looking for stuff on AseanNow, that I'm sure was discussed on ThaiVisa, and can't find it.

 

[xylophone]

1 minute ago, JetsetBkk said:

Is that even possible?

 

I've been looking for stuff on AseanNow, that I'm sure was discussed on ThaiVisa, and can't find it.

 

It was a suggestion made in good faith JetsetBkk, as I thought that previous posts in ThaiVisa would be archived somehow/somewhere??

 

Perhaps someone like UbonJoe or Charlie H, who are much more knowledgeable than I am with regards to the workings of the forum, would know where to/how to look?

[hotandsticky]

20 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

No, it's a fake one and there are serious repercussions if found out, especially if the passport has been sent to another province.

 

 

Not fake at all.

 

A legitimate stamp, stamped by a legitimate immigration officer.

[Neeranam]

20 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

I'm confused, I thought you were Thai? pretending it's not happening is how things work here and if the law was so sacrosanct then half the country would be in jail. this is pretty much the main reason I came to retire here, I can't really see the attraction if this place becomes all squeaky clean like you want it to be.

I don't want it to be all squeaky clean. 

[LarrySR]

Years ago one could drop the passport off at Washington Square and get the stamp. 
Those stamp were fake. 
The agent/immigration stamp we are discussing here are legitimate fake stamps. 

[Neeranam]

6 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Not fake at all.

 

A legitimate stamp, stamped by a legitimate immigration officer.

I'm not sure if you are naive or trolling. 

 

https://www.legal.co.th/resources/visa-immigration-law/visa-news/thai-immigration-officer-allegedly-issued-fake-visa-entry-stamps/

 

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2020/08/05/american-thai-wife-arrested-operating-an-illegal-visa-business-in-bangkok-using-fake-stamps/