Report Norway Halts Income Letters at Thai Embassy; Retirees Affected

[jaideedave]

9 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

You could do with some catch up research. 

Some time back Thai immigration wanted the embassies to verify the monthly incomes. 

Straight away UK, USA, and AU embassies basically NO. 

The embassies were only verifying the validity of what Oz call a "statutory declaration" and USA refer to as "affidavit" 

In recent times Canadian embassy has also stopped that service. 

And  now Norway. 

Suggest more added to that list in the future. 

Revenue dept in Thailand has nothing to do with this change. 

Nor does taxation. 

As a Canuck I only used the embassy confirmation of income once.It cost me 50$ in fees plus car fare Pattaya to Bkk. Last time I only showed immigration my downloaded Income tax file and Wise transfer receipts.Very well accepted. I saved money by not having the "affidavit" paper.  Didn't need the embassy paper.As someone else said it will only affect the bogus declarations.

[gamb00ler]

10 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

In a way it does, but this will only affect the ones who declared false level of income. So, in reality no change at all. Only a good thing to weed out the ones who does not have financial means to stay in Thailand. Another option is of course to continue the false way in life and use an agent.

A gross oversimplification.  Start over with the facts at hand about the two alternative methods that Imm. accept.

[gamb00ler]

4 hours ago, sandyf said:

This started long before any talk of changing the tax laws, about 7 years ago for UK embassy.

The transfers establish a positive net income rather than some paper indication of gross income.

A bit of an inconvenience, but the Thais always get bashed when they try and do the job more thoroughly.

The transfers actually don't establish a 'positive net income'.  I'll wager that somewhere someone is simply recycling the monthly transfers every 2-3 months.  The fees become annoying but significantly reduce the cash float required to create the 'proof' of monthly transfers.

[DrJack54]

16 minutes ago, jaideedave said:

As a Canuck I only used the embassy confirmation of income once.It cost me 50$ in fees plus car fare Pattaya to Bkk. Last time I only showed immigration my downloaded Income tax file and Wise transfer receipts.Very well accepted

You need to emphasize one thing.

You showed WISE transfers for 12 months.

That's all that was required.

The citizens of countries that do not provide income letter can show transfers. No problem 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, gamb00ler said:

I'll wager that somewhere someone is simply recycling the monthly transfers every 2-3 months.  The fees become annoying but significantly reduce the cash float required to create the 'proof' of monthly transfers

That has previously been suggested.

In reality it's a joke.

You need money to live in Thailand.

Recycling money idea is a nonsense.

[Gottfrid]

3 hours ago, Magictoad said:

Why assume that people who use agents are poor or broke? I use an agent who drives me around to the IO & bank etc. I have enough money but am too tired to jump through all the hoops. I'm 72 and have terminal cancer. ANYTHING to make my life a little easier-I'll pay for it.

A don´t expect everyone who use an agent to be broke. Only the ones that complain. You don´t need that, as you have the money. The ones who complain use the agent for no need to show money.

[Rob Browder]

13 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

In a way it does, but this will only affect the ones who declared false level of income. So, in reality no change at all. Only a good thing to weed out the ones who does not have financial means to stay in Thailand. Another option is of course to continue the false way in life and use an agent.

No - having 65K total income is not the same as xferring it all to Thailand, which was never required until the income-letters stopped.  Some folks have expenses at home - so now have to transfer-back funds to cover those.

[Rob Browder]

9 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The embassy is stopping the verification letter... that's all.

Any funds sent to Thailand would be taxed anyway, maybe now they will have to send the minimum required instead of living on the cheap?

Then xfer-back all the rest of un-needed funds, since living well in Thailand is inexpensive - is the primary reason people retire here - unless one has "expensive habits" of some sort.

[gamb00ler]

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

That has previously been suggested.

In reality it's a joke.

You need money to live in Thailand.

Recycling money idea is a nonsense.

For us, the 65K/month transfer requirement is crazy high.  Our home and vehicles are unencumbered, we much prefer home cooked meals, we have a significant solar installation, we are non-drinkers.... our monthly outlays are usually under 35K.  My last two extensions came via income letter but the embassy's notification came too late so this year I will have to switch back to 800K on deposit.  It's been 18  months since I needed the 800K for an extension and I still have some of it on deposit.  I will do the math on transfers/recycling for next year's extension.

 

TH banks offer very poor interest rates so the income we lose will have about the same effect on our monthly out of pocket as a 6-8% annual inflation rate.  Most people would howl about that rate of inflation.

 

You're right, we need money to live in Thailand.... but not that much.  We also have a debt free business in Thailand which has a much better return than a TH savings account.  So far we've been re-investing the business earnings in growth.

 

Maybe I'll collaborate with a good friend when recycling funds to reduce the total expense of repatriating our combined funds.  Meanwhile our higher investment returns will likely more than cover the recycling costs.

 

A quick back of the envelope calculation shows my extra expense for recycling funds every 2 months would come to about 1800 ฿ in fees (300 for each of 6 transfers) but I would gain about 4% investment income on 360K ฿ or 14K ฿.  Time required to use the mobile app to repatriate the funds is about 4 minutes every two months.  The exchange rate loss on each repatriation of 30K ฿ would be about another 400  ฿ X 6 = 2,400฿.  So 4,200 in extra costs to gain 14K.... pretty obvious to me but maybe nonsense for you.  24 minutes of 'work' for almost 10K ฿ per year.

[BrandonJT]

3 hours ago, TruthinThailand said:

Thai immigration ate going to have to start accepting bank statements and entitlement letters as proof of income. If they don’t then the main beneficiaries will be Vietnam and Cambodia who are actively trying to attract retirees with 3 and 5 year visas and attractive health benefits. 

I can guarantee with 100% certainty that the immigration officers don't care.  It's not their job to care.  It's their job to enforce the law.

[Rob Browder]

3 hours ago, TruthinThailand said:

Thai immigration ate going to have to start accepting bank statements and entitlement letters as proof of income. If they don’t then the main beneficiaries will be Vietnam and Cambodia who are actively trying to attract retirees with 3 and 5 year visas and attractive health benefits. 

If they cared about the well-being of Thailand - yes - and would scrap "verifying your money" entirely (like Cambodia and Laos), as there are no "benefits" here for foreigners, so any here are either self-funded or homeless.  But, they only care about maximizing brown-envelope income from their agent-partners.

[norsurin]

The whole thats idiotic is that Thailand have this stupid rule about fex 800k in a thai bank or proof of monthly income.How many other countries request this?My friend lost about 600k when the banks in Thailand broke down years ago.They have so many stupid rules that people fleing to nearby countries.Taxes..crazy strong thai baht etc etc ..but they just continue with more and more rules.Its a neverending story.

[DrJack54]

6 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

. pretty obvious to me but maybe nonsense for you.

Pretty much sums it up. 

[Andytheburiramman]

I didn't know anyone that actually went through this pathetic process, when all you have to do is go to a visa shop and they do everything for 15,000 baht.

[Gottfrid]

7 hours ago, Rob Browder said:

No - having 65K total income is not the same as xferring it all to Thailand, which was never required until the income-letters stopped.  Some folks have expenses at home - so now have to transfer-back funds to cover those.

Ok, there is one thing here, that you don´t understand. The so called income letter, was not a proof of money. It was just a confirmation by yourself that your embassy blindly put a stamp on. Many people took advantage of this, but now their lies are biting them in their arse. Totally justified!

Another thing you say, that amazes me, is that now some folks have to transfer back money to cover expenses at home. I just have one advice for that. If living on such small margins, then it´s the right choice to stay back in home country instead. This is not sarcasm. It´s only a way to protect people from doing things they actually have no buffer for if something happens.

[Presnock]

17 hours ago, digger70 said:

What Tax Return?    None

I'm an American - US has the tax hooks in no matter where I become a tax resident too - I can get tax credits if I pay elsewhere as any American can do.  Also the DTA with Thailand helps some Americans too but IMHO no way to totally avoid paying tax somewhere but realize some folks have done that for years here and now they are probably congratulating themselves by moving every 6 months or so to another country.  As the Thais say - (translated ) be my guest/as you like/up to you.

[jerrymahoney]

11 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

The transfers actually don't establish a 'positive net income'.  I'll wager that somewhere someone is simply recycling the monthly transfers every 2-3 months.  The fees become annoying but significantly reduce the cash float required to create the 'proof' of monthly transfers.

Maybe as long as your IMM officer does not ask for a "source of funds" letter.

[Pouatchee]

On 5/25/2025 at 7:30 PM, webfact said:

This change means retirees must adapt to Thai visa rules, which require direct financial proof.

 

when i tried to do extension based on marriage i got a letter from canadian embassy attesting to my earnings... it was refused as i had to provide direct financial proof and this was over 5 years ago... surprised some immi offices just accepted letters from embassy without proof... didnt go over so well for me

[Andycoops]

Welcome to the club, I suspect more will follow.

[arick]

As I stated on here a few months ago ''All income letters will be stopped from all embassies.''

[arick]

44 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

 

when i tried to do extension based on marriage i got a letter from canadian embassy attesting to my earnings... it was refused as i had to provide direct financial proof and this was over 5 years ago... surprised some immi offices just accepted letters from embassy without proof... didnt go over so well for me

You you always had to show them direct proof in order to get an affidavit.

[OJAS]

13 hours ago, Deerculler said:

 It only the Embassy’s doing there own thing

 

"Embassys doing their own thing" = "Embassys doing SFA" IMHO.

[EVENKEEL]

13 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

And that's why it's a very good option.

Personally I'm still using the 800k in Thai bank. 

Often feeling stupid about that. 

I had issues with deposits at Bangkok Bank. Seems something called Credit Advices from the bank is needed to show gov money is a foreign transfer. If this works then fine I'll continue doing myself but if there's any hiccups then I'll start using an agent.

 

My main reason for not going the 800K route is not being able to put my daughter's name on account. For me it's either monthly deposit or an agent.

[EVENKEEL]

21 hours ago, Hummin said:

Really do not need to use agent, just limit my visits to 90 days pr time as it is for now. I have feeling of one day, the agent route will not be "legal" anymore because of abuse and corrupt officers. 

 

When wife get her visa, se can only leave Norway 60 days a year I think until she gets her citizen ship. Then I might use Marriage visa instead. 

Everyone's situation is different. Agents will always be around. What you call corruption is simply a way of life here. Everyone gets a piece of the pie.

[Hummin]

Just now, EVENKEEL said:

Everyone's situation is different. Agents will always be around. What you call corruption is simply a way of life here. Everyone gets a piece of the pie.

I know how daily life is, but my main point, nothing is predictable when it comes to sustainable visa solutions including use of agents. 

 

If I do not need an agent, why use one? 

 

For me who travels back and forth, it is convenient to have retirement visa, and also easy to get especially with embassy letter proof of income.

[OJAS]

8 hours ago, norsurin said:

The whole thats idiotic is that Thailand have this stupid rule about fex 800k in a thai bank or proof of monthly income.How many other countries request this?My friend lost about 600k when the banks in Thailand broke down years ago.They have so many stupid rules that people fleing to nearby countries.Taxes..crazy strong thai baht etc etc ..but they just continue with more and more rules.Its a neverending story.

 

So what about the equally - if not considerably more - stupid rules which the powers-that-be back in your home country no doubt impose on Thai nationals who want to settle there?

[Hummin]

12 minutes ago, OJAS said:

 

"Embassys doing their own thing" = "Embassys doing SFA" IMHO.

Embassy following instructions from your country foreign ministry! 

 

If you didn't know

[OJAS]

13 hours ago, TruthinThailand said:

Thai immigration ate going to have to start accepting bank statements and entitlement letters as proof of income

 

I was under the impression that most immigration offices were already accepting - nay insisting on - bank statements. And what an earth do you mean by "entitlement letters"?

 

[OJAS]

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Embassy following instructions from your country foreign ministry! 

 

If you didn't know

 

Yep, instructions to do SFA as I stated, thank you very much.

 

[Hummin]

8 hours ago, norsurin said:

The whole thats idiotic is that Thailand have this stupid rule about fex 800k in a thai bank or proof of monthly income.

Rightfully they can do, and you imagine if they did not had any requirements.

 

I'm sure you love russians, Indians, Africans with little or no resources coming to Thailand, or any nationality for that sake.

 

Every country have some kind of proof of income and requirements of insurance, founds or investments. 

 

Thailand is one of the cheapest and easiest option still when it comes to retirement visa. 

 

I would like to know which cou try is easier for one 50 years or above to gain legal stay?