Latest Visa Rule Updates

[nam-thip]

Latest visa rule updates

It’s best to make your enquiries at Pattaya immigration office for the latest visa information and related matters.

The ministry of foreign affairs has now cancelled its instruction that the letters issued by foreign embassies to “guarantee” the income necessary for one year retirement visas must be submitted to its Bangkok office for verification.

The ministry had earlier announced that applicants for this particular visa from October 1 upcoming would need to journey to its office in Bangkok at 123 Chaeng Watthana Road in order for officials there to rubber-stamp the embassy letter. Expats aged over 50 with retirement visas were overjoyed at the news as the looming requirement was causing confusion and it was not clear whether the pensioner would need to go to Bangkok in person or could send someone else with power of attorney.

The ministry did not cite any reasons for its change of heart, but the sheer volume of applications and the unpopularity of the move have been suggested.

However, immigration officials stated that the embassy letters now had a validity of only 12 months and could not be reused. This means effectively that retirees will now need an embassy letter every year unless they choose to keep 800,000 baht in cash in an accessible account in a Thai bank. In this case, there is no requirement to show income via an embassy letter, provided the 800,000 baht was deposited not less than three months before the first application was made. There is no time constraint on subsequent applications.

But other categories of one year visa holders, such as those holding the “married man’s” extension or foreigners with work permits issued by the labour office may still need some documentation stamped by the ministry of foreign affairs in Bangkok.

They are advised to consult their local immigration bureau or their legal advisers if they are in doubt about their individual status and the documentation required.

In recent days, a separate matter has been posted by individuals on some internet sites and chat rooms. It has been claimed variously that the foreign wives or foreign dependants of a retirement visa applicant will now need to submit their own separate applications and no longer be able to “piggy-back” the main retiree.

The suggestion on the internet was that even the foreign wife of an applicant for a retirement visa would need her own income or cash lump sum in her own right.

But immigration sources say they have no information on any new ruling. As of mid September, Pattaya immigration office was processing such applications in the normal way and without any changes. “We have had no new instructions,” said one officer who handles visas for retirees.

In other words, foreign wives of applicants for retirement visas can continue to “piggy-back” provided they can show their marriage certificate and have a valid non-immigrant visa at the time of application for the extension.

An immigration source said “To put it simply, there appear to be no changes to retirement visas at present except that embassy letters now need renewing every year on the instruction of the ministry of foreign affairs.” People who are applying for one year extensions because they are married to a Thai or have Thai dependants, or those who have Thai work permits issued by the Labour office, need to check their personal position with the immigration bureau to make sure they have their paperwork spot on. Generally speaking, it is not immigration bureau policy to react to messages posted on the internet.

[Maestro]

The OP is a copy of information that was already posted here.

Nam-thip, when quoting from a newspaper article, it is polite to cite the source.

Topic closed.

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Maestro