Retirement Visa Extension Experience Chonburi

[Tiger7Moth]

In short, I am from the US, have lived in Thailand for 5 years and I had all the proper documents - letter from US Embassy regarding my income, letter from my former employer upon my retirement, US tax form (1099, I think) showing my retirement income for last year, letter from my bank stating my account and balance, form TM7 and picture - no problems. Everything done fast and everyone very polite. Did a mulitiple entry as well. Again, no problems but a bit on the slow side. Just a note on declining $ and needed monthly income (which I believe is still 65,000 baht a month) - when I first came to Thailand, my income was about 90,000 baht a month, now 69,000 (I believe the rate used was 33 baht for the $). So, if it goes down any further, which I expect it will, next year, for the first time, I will have to use retirement income + some amount of money in Bank (now, since I am OK on retirement income, they do a cursory look at bank letter and balance and don't really care).

Just a side note on Immigration in Chonburi: I moved here several months ago and needed to get my Thai driver's license renewed - had to show various documents to prove my address for letter from Immigration to give to "Motor Vehicle (US name)" in order to renew my license. Since I had all the address info on hand, I tried to do my 90 day reporting. I was told - no, come back and do this when you renew your Visa. I don't argue with Thai police - so, that is what I did. However, when I did this, I was beyond 90 days. There is a falang who works at Chonburi - cordial pleasant guy and helpful regarding forms to fill out and so on. But, when i explained about the 90 day reporting, he turned into a Thai - "how do we know you are not lying?". Give me a break, I showed him my new drivers license - had to get a letter of address at Immigration before the 90 day limit for reporting had expired - isn't it reasonable that while I was at Immigration with the address information that I tried to do the 90 day reporting? Well, I am not great in Thai language but can talk a bit. The Thai Immigration guy for the 90 day reporting joked with me a bit and smiled - I don't for a minute think that he didn't believe me - but, kept smiling as I had to pay a two thousand baht fine for being late. No big deal - guess I am just disappointed in the falang guy who turned Thai and didn't back me at all. Surely, since I had proof I had been at the Immigration Office within the 90 days with my address verification, it would have been reasonable to give me the benefit of the doubt that I had tried to do the 90 day reporting - which is the absolute truth - jing, jing. But, when a Thai police officer says, "do this", I do it. Some Thai Immigration officer f...ked up and I paid for it. As I said, no big deal except for being disappointed in the falang who works there and the Thai guy who was friendly and smiled as he fuc_ked me for two thousand baht.

[lopburi3]

Actually you being in immigration or not has nothing to do with it. Only a TM.47 or arrival card counts as an address report after first extension of stay. That is normally treated as a hard and fast rule. There is a 7 day plus/minus window and in most places it is strictly enforced. You do not mention how early you extended your stay but that is normally allowed up to 30 days early so perhaps if you had done then the 90 day report then it would not have been overdue? Could also have been an error in counting days but it always boils down to our responsibility. See no reason to criticize the person helping in that office for following rules and pointing out the he says/she says factor. He had no way to prove what had been said.

As for documents did the office request bank account/letter or did you just provide? That is normally not a requirement if using Embassy letter of 65k pension at other offices from most recent reports.

[InterestedObserver]

A bit of overkill on the documents, others could get the idea that tax returns are required by immigration - not so. Embassy pension letter, bank balance letter, and bankbook are all that are required by immigration. I don't think immigration has the ability to decipher a US tax return, even if they wanted to, plus it's not a certified copy.

[beechguy]

Agree with your point, better to keep it simple as possible. But to clarify, the 1099 form he mentions, isn't a tax return. It's generally just a simple statement describing how much a company or other institution has paid someone.

[InterestedObserver]

Agree with your point, better to keep it simple as possible. But to clarify, the 1099 form he mentions, isn't a tax return. It's generally just a simple statement describing how much a company or other institution has paid someone.

Correct, Form 1040 is the actual tax return. The numbers blur as we get older.

[Tiger7Moth]

Actually you being in immigration or not has nothing to do with it. Only a TM.47 or arrival card counts as an address report after first extension of stay. That is normally treated as a hard and fast rule. There is a 7 day plus/minus window and in most places it is strictly enforced. You do not mention how early you extended your stay but that is normally allowed up to 30 days early so perhaps if you had done then the 90 day report then it would not have been overdue? Could also have been an error in counting days but it always boils down to our responsibility. See no reason to criticize the person helping in that office for following rules and pointing out the he says/she says factor. He had no way to prove what had been said.

As for documents did the office request bank account/letter or did you just provide? That is normally not a requirement if using Embassy letter of 65k pension at other offices from most recent reports.

Well, I suppose I was actually offended by the change in his demeanor - from friendly to definitely unfriendly. I expect I would have been fine if he had simply remained friendly and said something like, "I wish I could help but, I can't - you know how these Thai's do everything by the book". And, perhaps I didn't put enough emphasis on the fact that he is generally very friendly and helpful - a definite asset to the Immigration Office and I am glad he is there!

Oh, regarding the bank letter, in a previous year I had done everything except for the bank letter and I was told (at Pattaya, now called Chonburi) to get a bank letter and the guy who told me to get the bank letter also told me he didn't care about the amount in the bank. And, this time, I was asked if I had the bank letter, which I did. Guess as someone above pointed out, it really is unnecessary but they do ask for it at Immigration Pattaya/Chonburi.

[pontious]

The guy at the desk was probably the British Consul in Pattaya - he helps all nationalities.

This office (even using 65000 pm extensions) requires a copy of your bank book and a bank letter that must agree with the balance in the book.