Retirement visa renewal at immigration without using an agent

[Mike Teavee]

5 hours ago, Moonlover said:

If you want to waste your money, that's your concern

Exactly, it’s my money & I choose to spend it making my life easier/more comfortable.

 

Some guys travel economy even though they can afford to fly Business, I choose to allocate 10K pm towards my annual trip to the Uk so I can fly in Business… I could add this to my drinking pot or maybe take up smoking but choose to spend my money like this… 

 

Live from the Man-Doh flight… 

 

 

 

[gamb00ler]

11 hours ago, kiaora1968 said:

passport: copy of front (photo) page. Copy of last entry stamp (with TM6 if you got one when you last entered Thailand). Copy of first non O visa. Copy of last extension.

For my Feb '23 extension the CM IO wanted a copy of all (2 for me) previous extension stamps in my passport.  I remember the requirement being as you stated.  I checked on the board outside and the new requirements are for copies of all previous extension stamps.

[Moonlover]

I wonder why it is that people who use agents get so uptight and defensive about it.

[scottiejohn]

12 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

I wonder why it is that people who use agents get so uptight and defensive about it.

I think you will find it is more a case of the other way round!

 

Look at the number of negative agent posts v positive posts in the various forums!

 

The majority seem to be against the use of agents on the assumption that those of us who use them legally are bypassing legal requirements rather than just spending our own money as we think best to get a better service and way of life!

 

I refer you to the public transport v limousine service analogy I posted earlier!

[Fairynuff]

So I got as far as the end of page 1. Didn’t bother with pages 2 and 3. The conclusion seems to be you’re an idiot if you use an agent, and you’re an idiot if you don’t. Then of course I’m an idiot for reading all this smuggery 

[CharlieH]

Off topic bickering removed.

 

Please refrain from using acronyms, not everyone will know what you are talking about.

[Moonlover]

9 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

9 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I wonder why it is that people who use agents get so uptight and defensive about it.

 

9 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

I think you will find it is more a case of the other way round!

 

Look at the number of negative agent posts v positive posts in the various forums!

 

The majority seem to be against the use of agents on the assumption that those of us who use them legally are bypassing legal requirements rather than just spending our own money as we think best to get a better service and way of life!

 

I refer you to the public transport v limousine service analogy I posted earlier!

Let's go back to the beginning shall we. This thread was started by a poster who declared that he was no longer going to use an agent. He's going to do it himself and I should point out that he received a lot positive support.

 

The very first response that came in, was the one by you, suggesting an alternative agent! that is not what he wanted and not what he asked for. You highjacked his thread from the get go.

 

Waste your money if you wish, that's your business but there is absolutely no reason why you have to be so damned evangelical about it. Live and let live.

 

End of conversation!

 

 

 

[MrBrad]

I have one question.  About the proof of money in the bank, one previous post made reference to a bank statement which takes a few days to produce.  Another post made reference to a letter from the bank regarding one's bank balance. 

 

I have always presented both.  If I remember correctly, Bangkok Bank charged me 200 baht for the 12-month bank statement--which took almost a week to obtain, plus another 100 baht for a letter confirming my account balance to date.

 

In your experience, at Chiang Mai Immigration, are both documents necessary?  How chancy might it be to opt to provide only the letter, and then find out that they want the 12-month statement also?  That would be a disastrous situation if one does not have the time required to obtain the statement.

[Mike Teavee]

5 hours ago, MrBrad said:

 

I have one question.  About the proof of money in the bank, one previous post made reference to a bank statement which takes a few days to produce

 

I go to Bangkok Bank & they give me a 3 month statement there & then which is enough for my (agent assisted) extension. 
 

This will be the 1st year where I’m using a fixed deposit account to support my extension so it will be interesting to see if I need the 3 month letter or whether a copy of the Bankbook (funds have been seeded since 1st July 2022) will do.

 

 

[NanLaew]

On 5/30/2023 at 2:54 PM, kimjohansen said:

Why pay an agent 7,500 + Baht ?  I would rather spend the money on a nice getaway weekend with the girlfriend !!

Why leave $23k sitting in a Thai account when I can fly myself and the girlfriend to Vegas with a Caribbean stopover on the way back.

[NanLaew]

23 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I wonder why it is that people who use agents get so uptight and defensive about it.

I see more member's citing the illegality of using an agent and claiming that those that do somehow "make it worse" for their law-abiding souls.

[proton]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

I see more member's citing the illegality of using an agent and claiming that those that do somehow "make it worse" for their law-abiding souls.

They have made it worse when the attempt to limit the fraudsters led to us having to keep the 800k in for 3 months then 400k after until it has to be 800k before the next extension. 

[Moonlover]

11 hours ago, proton said:

13 hours ago, NanLaew said:

I see more member's citing the illegality of using an agent and claiming that those that do somehow "make it worse" for their law-abiding souls.

 

11 hours ago, proton said:

They have made it worse when the attempt to limit the fraudsters led to us having to keep the 800k in for 3 months then 400k after until it has to be 800k before the next extension. 

Yes I agree with that @proton. It's a harsh 'punishment' on those who do their extensions quite legally. This was a Big Joke idea during his brief tenure as head of Immigration, in a failed attempt to weed out the rampant corruption that prevails in the department.

 

The only way they'll ever sort it is to ban the use of the agents completely. And then watch the sparks fly!

[jimgilly]

So let's see.  The visa fee is 1900 baht and someone is willing to pay

On 5/30/2023 at 10:21 PM, scottiejohn said:

I think you will find it is more a case of the other way round!

 

Look at the number of negative agent posts v positive posts in the various forums!

 

The majority seem to be against the use of agents on the assumption that those of us who use them legally are bypassing legal requirements rather than just spending our own money as we think best to get a better service and way of life!

 

I refer you to the public transport v limousine service analogy I posted earlier!

Curious.  Does the 7500 paid to the agent include the 1900 baht annual fee or is that separate?

[mokwit]

On 6/1/2023 at 10:46 AM, Moonlover said:

It's a harsh 'punishment' on those who do their extensions quite legally. This was a Big Joke idea during his brief tenure as head of Immigration, in a failed attempt to weed out the rampant corruption that prevails in the department.

A VERY bad precedent of changing the terms without grandfathering was set. Even Thaksin govt grandfathered when they made changes.

[Moonlover]

29 minutes ago, jimgilly said:

So let's see.  The visa fee is 1900 baht and someone is willing to pay

Curious.  Does the 7500 paid to the agent include the 1900 baht annual fee or is that separate?

Yes I believe it does include annual fee, plus the rake off that goes into the corrupt officer's back pocket. 

[amexpat]

On 5/31/2023 at 9:17 PM, NanLaew said:

Why leave $23k sitting in a Thai account when I can fly myself and the girlfriend to Vegas with a Caribbean stopover on the way back.

Yep you can redirect a lot of money by not complying with the law. 

[Mike Teavee]

On 6/1/2023 at 10:46 AM, Moonlover said:

Yes I agree with that @proton. It's a harsh 'punishment' on those who do their extensions quite legally.

There is nothing illegal in using an agent to facilitate your extension if you meet all of the requirements (e.g. have the 800K in the bank).

 

But what did cause a "Harsh Punishment" were the guys who were fraudulently getting letters from their embassies claiming to earn 65K+ per month which resulted in the AUS, US & UK embassies no longer providing Income Letters so now people using the "Income" method have to transfer at least 65K every month, this obviously needs to be net of any taxes/expenses in their home country (previously it was Gross Income) so there will no doubt be some guys who were 100% legal & now aren't. 

 

Ironically I'll bet most of the guys using those income letters were doing their extensions themselves & those who didn't really meet the 65K+ requirement are now using "Agent Assisted Finances" with their extensions. 

 

 

Edit to Add: It was only AUS, US & UK who stopped providing the income letters (Denmark stopped for a while but then started providing them again) so am sure there are guys from other countries who don't meet the income requirements but are able to obtain a letter from their embassy saying they do which lets them go to immigration & do their own extension (Agents won't do extensions based on income even if you do xfer >65K pm). 

[Bill97]

38 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Agents won't do extensions based on income even if you do xfer >65K pm). 

Absolutely false.  Your misinformation is disgusting 

[KannikaP]

On 5/30/2023 at 1:21 AM, liddelljohn said:

When I use an agent  she does it all for me  I dont even go to immigration , only letter I need to obtain is from the bank

So the IO doesn't take your photo?

[scottiejohn]

5 hours ago, jimgilly said:

So let's see.  The visa fee is 1900 baht and someone is willing to pay

Curious.  Does the 7500 paid to the agent include the 1900 baht annual fee or is that separate?

Included!

[Mike Teavee]

42 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Absolutely false.  Your misinformation is disgusting 

Can only go off the 2 people I know who xfer > 65K pm so could use the income method but the (Pattaya) agents they asked told them they would only help if they use the 800K in the bank method.

 

Hardly a large sample I know, if you know from personal experience that Agents will help facilitate you with Income letters / xfer > 65K pm then obviously I was wrong (but Not disgusting). 

 

 

 

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

so now people using the "Income" method have to transfer at least 65K every month,

Not if your IO allows the Combination Method, which mine does @ 40k per month = 480k plus a sum in the bank to bring it up to 800k.

[amexpat]

15 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Not if your IO allows the Combination Method, which mine does @ 40k per month = 480k plus a sum in the bank to bring it up to 800k.

What imm office, please?

 

[amexpat]

21 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

(Pattaya) agents they asked told them they would only help if they use the 800K in the bank method.

Whether they have the 800K in the bank or not. 

[Mike Teavee]

1 minute ago, amexpat said:

Whether they have the 800K in the bank or not. 

Yes... I use the Agent & have the 800K in the bank (costs 8K) they use the same agent but don't have the 800K in the bank (costs 12.5K). 

 

[Bill97]

32 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Can only go off the 2 people I know

Time to move along to a different bar and hopefully meet some new people who have some useful information 

[KannikaP]

21 minutes ago, amexpat said:

What imm office, please?

 

For me, Phitsanulok is good as gold.

[Mike Teavee]

8 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Time to move along to a different bar and hopefully meet some new people who have some useful information 

LOL... I don't hang around in Bars & almost everybody I know who's here on a "Retirement Visa", uses the 800K in the bank method (Some have it, some don't).

 

 

But it is time to move along so I'll apologise again if I shared incorrect information, the point of the post was supposed to be to highlight the impact that the removal of AUS, US, UK Income Letters had on some people... 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

There is nothing illegal in using an agent to facilitate your extension if you meet all of the requirements (e.g. have the 800K in the bank).

 

But what did cause a "Harsh Punishment" were the guys who were fraudulently getting letters from their embassies claiming to earn 65K+ per month which resulted in the AUS, US & UK embassies no longer providing Income Letters so now people using the "Income" method have to transfer at least 65K every month, this obviously needs to be net of any taxes/expenses in their home country (previously it was Gross Income) so there will no doubt be some guys who were 100% legal & now aren't. 

 

Ironically I'll bet most of the guys using those income letters were doing their extensions themselves & those who didn't really meet the 65K+ requirement are now using "Agent Assisted Finances" with their extensions. 

 

 

Edit to Add: It was only AUS, US & UK who stopped providing the income letters (Denmark stopped for a while but then started providing them again) so am sure there are guys from other countries who don't meet the income requirements but are able to obtain a letter from their embassy saying they do which lets them go to immigration & do their own extension (Agents won't do extensions based on income even if you do xfer >65K pm). 

I have not suggested that using an agent per se is illegal, expect when using 'Agent Assisted Finances' of course (good term that)

 

The irony of this new 800k in the bank rule is that those who were quite happy to park their cash in the bank for 3 months and then were able to draw down on it to live on for the rest of the year, now have to virtually forfeit their capital AND find an income to live on. And I do have sympathy for those folks, which is why I used the term 'harsh punishment'.

 

Like you said many folks could well have been forced into using 'Agent Assisted Finances' illegally or leave country.

 

On the embassy letter front, I was quite comfortably in the black financially and was able to get a myself a retirement extension. Then came the double whammy of the loss of the UK embassy letter (which showed gross income) and the Brexit referendum which saw the Pound nose dive. I went from around 72k per month (on paper) down to 52k per month. Fortunately I'm married and was able to switch horses, but had I been single, I too would have been 'up the creek without a paddle'.

 

Yes, it has all caused a lot of bitterness which still seems to rankle many people.