Opinion Editorial: No, It Isn’t Time to Worry About RETIREMENT VISA Changes….Yet

[Karma80]

14 minutes ago, Robin said:

Careful about asking for a 'Criminal Record Check'  as my experience of this (in UK) is that you have to apply in person at your local police station and not that quick or easy.   If this was required for every extension (yearly?) how many of us retires would want to go back to home country every year?

Are we sure hat every M/c gang member has a criminal record?

AS ever it would be far easier for criminals to get round this that ordinary citizens.

Incidentially you ca download the form, email it, pay the fee and they send it back internationally. Takes about 2-3 weeks in my experience. There is no need to attend in person UK side. But good luck if you have for example resided in Hong Kong and need one from there also. You must go get fingerprinted at Bangkok police HQ so you can send the application to Hong Kong. A complete nightmare.

[CartagenaWarlock]

2 hours ago, stoner said:

i'm sure agents will help with a criminal record check if you cant provide one. 

Will a criminal record check in the home country will help? 

[bbko]

Is the top two exercises for AN posters jumping to conclusions and running their mouth?

[CartagenaWarlock]

2 hours ago, Gknrd said:

One year extension on old rules then your next extension will have to comply or out you go. My guess is the agents will have to be pretty well tied into immigration to help, and the fees will double or triple.

I think he indirectly hinted LTR type retirement visa. And if it is mandated to get it from home countries, many will say goodbye to Thailand. Then I will realize that my 20-year elite visa was a winner. 

[mokwit]

28 minutes ago, Karma80 said:

Incidentially you ca download the form, email it, pay the fee and they send it back internationally. Takes about 2-3 weeks in my experience. There is no need to attend in person UK side. But good luck if you have for example resided in Hong Kong and need one from there also. You must go get fingerprinted at Bangkok police HQ so you can send the application to Hong Kong. A complete nightmare.

Let's hope they don't ask for it dated 1 month prior to application (I think 3 months would be most likely, within one year unlikely). It will be required every year with current 1 year retirement extension IMO, perhaps not with 5 year visa.

 

It's the date juggling with any changes that concern me just as much - all the problems people had with OA visas and lining up the insurance dates to exactly coincide with extension (check holidays people).

 

As someone said, they just pull things out of their *** without care or consideration for the difficulty with complying.

 

I'm gonna be outta here anyway, but maybe sooner than later.

[mokwit]

24 minutes ago, bbko said:

Is the top two exercises for AN posters jumping to conclusions and running their mouth?

I am jumping to conclusions based on living here 25+ years and seeing the visa changes including those brought in by Hapkarn when he was IB head not deputy chief. A complete overhaul of the law requires Parliament passing it but everything suggested here can go through on a police order alone -  Criminal record check can be requested under the part of the law that says 'anything else deemed necessary by the Competent Official' The key to whether it goes through or not is how much it affects the vested interest of "the system".

[Emdog]

How about a "crackdown" on the criminal agents who are able to make the deposit/income requirement disappear (fraud) and the enabling Thai immigration officers (collusion), and those who finance these crimes and lawlessness, the farangs who pay for the enterprise

[proton]

18 minutes ago, Emdog said:

How about a "crackdown" on the criminal agents who are able to make the deposit/income requirement disappear (fraud) and the enabling Thai immigration officers (collusion), and those who finance these crimes and lawlessness, the farangs who pay for the enterprise

We live in hope, unless it's just to save time, and what little stress there is, the use of agents paying bribes to corrupt officers is indefensible.

[Olmate]

18 minutes ago, Emdog said:

How about a "crackdown" on the criminal agents who are able to make the deposit/income requirement disappear (fraud) and the enabling Thai immigration officers (collusion), and those who finance these crimes and lawlessness, the farangs who pay for the enterprise

Did that unique query just occur to you or has it been troubling you for some time? 

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, mokwit said:

It will be required every year with current 1 year retirement extension IMO,

And if your passport shows that you have not been out of Thailand so unable to 'add to' your, hopefully non-existent home country criminal record?

[foreverlomsak]

3 hours ago, mokwit said:

Fact is everybody had to bring in an additional 400k.

Not a fact in reality it's nowhere near true,

1. Those that retained 800k in an account year round were not affected in the slightest

2. Those that used some of the 800k after 3 months could use only half, resulting in bringing in only 400k for the next extension instead of the full 800k

3. Those that chose to use an agent to provide the financials, whether having the funds or not, did not need to either.

There's probably more but at the moment I can't think of them.

[mokwit]

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

And if your passport shows that you have not been out of Thailand so unable to 'add to' your, hopefully non-existent home country criminal record?

You expect them to think things through to that extent? The wording of the police order won't be "unless not been out of the country/criminal record check from 3 months before your last entry into Thailand". It will be criminal record check with each renewal same as marriage visa people have to supply the same things every renewal, including the same marriage certificate, you would think maybe they will accept a criminal record check from 3 months before your last entry into Thailand, but don't count on it - more likely 3 months before application ate every year.

[mokwit]

2 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

1. Those that retained 800k in an account year round were not affected in the slightest

all right all right, if you want to be over pedantic, but few kept 800k all year previous to that - i didn't, but now do. I used to draw down the 800k but had to make a one time addition of 400k.

 

I think the above is likely what most did.

 

I would have thought it was self evident that those using an agent didn't have to.

[Jingthing]

To be clear, I have nothing against agents or the people that use them.

I've never used an agent but I like that's it's an option in case of a desperate situation.

I'm talking of course about how most clients use the agents -- to get extensions WITHOUT financially qualifying.

Obviously this doesn't apply to the small number of people that are complying but just need convenience.

Anyway IF the authorities actually believe that MO MONEY means NO CRIMS, then surely their very first target would be these agents and the people that use them where people everyday are getting extensions showing NO MONEY.

Yet not a peep about that!

Something is very rotten. 

Don't tell me they don't know what's going on with the agents.

That would be an insult to their intellegence.

But I can't for the life of me understand what's the real motivation to basically punish the expats that have been qualifying following all the rules to the letter.

 

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

No, as I don't see how I could live in Thailand on less than 100k a month.

Yeah understand my service bills on my helicopter have increased. 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah understand my service bills on my helicopter have increased. 

My butlers are on strike. How can I cope?

[mokwit]

6 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

But I can't for the life of me understand what's the real motivation to basically punish the expats that have been qualifying following all the rules to the letter.

Make things so difficult they opt into "the system". That's how it works here.

[Jingthing]

Just now, mokwit said:

Make things so difficult they opt into the system.

Yeah that's a very old conspiracy theory and I find it hard to believe it. 

[Doctor Tom]

Now is certainly the time to assess your own position should the financial requirements change for the worst, that's just sensible planning.  My opinion, based on not a lot of hard evidence, bar history over the past 20 years,  is that it is almost inevitable that the banking requirements will be increased at some point and, maybe changed so that the monthly amounts no longer count. History shows that Grandfather rights have been applied previously, but who knows this time. I think that people who use not quite legit agents should at least note a recent report ( reported by Integrity Legal on U Tube)  that retrospective checks on bank accounts may be enforced in some cases to check past compliance.  Its certainly in Big Jokes Play Book. 

[Kwasaki]

11 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

My butlers are on strike. How can I cope?

Get one from an agency. ????

[mokwit]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah that's a very old conspiracy theory and I find it hard to believe it. 

At it's best it can mean we will do what we can with the resources available, or you can get a special effort from us if you make us happy.

 

CW is so hassle free that there is no real reason to use an agent, other offices I hear are so difficult that people do as with an agent things suddenly aren't an issue anymore.

 

As for conspiracy theory: The first one year extension for work required me to make multiple visits to Immigration in person. The HR people told me they are making it difficult so that we pay to expediate things, but we know you tick all the boxes and they can't ultimately refuse, so we are doing it this way rather than pay.

 

 

[Scottie12]

Big Joke is the guy who put the kybosh on pension confirmation letters from your Consulate, he doesn't give a damn about pensioners,decent or otherwise.

[Jingthing]

I think any increase will probably be grandfathered but that puts a lot of pressure on people to never mess up or they break the chain.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Get one from an agency. ????

But they know what I like and have all signed NDAs.

.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Scottie12 said:

Big Joke is the guy who put the kybosh on pension confirmation letters from your Consulate, he doesn't give a damn about pensioners,decent or otherwise.

Yeah maybe he wants to shake masses of us out?

 

[Kwasaki]

5 minutes ago, Scottie12 said:

Big Joke is the guy who put the kybosh on pension confirmation letters from your Consulate, he doesn't give a damn about pensioners,decent or otherwise.

Maybe a retired falangie ran off with his wife. ????

[Olmate]

4 minutes ago, Scottie12 said:

Big Joke is the guy who put the kybosh on pension confirmation letters from your Consulate, he doesn't give a damn about pensioners,decent or otherwise.

Must be lots of countries dont speak kybosh then!! 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, DILLIGAD said:

As usual, they deal with the problem, instead of the cause. 

I'd rephrase what you wrote as follows:

 

"They (the RTP) are the problem and the cause."

 

They're the ones who have failed to effectively police and prosecute the dreaded farang motorcycles gangs, which ultimately culminated in the recent high-profile murder, despite them having been a big presence here for many years.

 

And, they're the ones (the corrupt among them) who have facilitated the whole range of bogus / illegitimate visa issuances to various criminals (as with the Chinese triads scandal).

 

[HappyExpat57]

3 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

If money requirements are adjusted to 1.2 mil or 100,000/mo. Would you start using an agent? I use the monthly requirement. If the exchange rate was to take a steep dive I couldn't make the 100K/mo. It would be an agent for my extensions. I can't see the agent's cost going up over 50% more. Still not a bad way to go.

It was a stretch for me to come up the the 800k. I did it, but it ate up almost all my cash reserves and I was NOT going to take out a mortgage if I could help it.

 

If they start tinkering and raise that amount substantially, I'm going straight to an agent. The going rate my friends quote me is ~12k/year. Even if that annual cost goes, let's say, to 40k, that 800k will last 20 years, and I damn well don't expect to last that long myself.

[freeworld]

5 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

BINGO

And insist on a comprehensive health checkup and medical practioners certficate to be presented at immigration on arrival.