Retirement Visa

[Ron]

there seems to be changes all the time about the retirement visa and its renewal. I have had one year extensions for 7 years. Last year it was only Pension paper from Bangkok Embassy and nothing about bank accounts or letters. Is it the same again for next year? Its very tiresome surely every new government have differing views about us. Some people say you need a new pension paper every year now. I hold three old pension papers from my embassy with about the same amount of money only changing with exchange rates. Now 69 years old . Been 20 years in Thailand now. One uptight officer told me it doesn't matter how long you have been in Thailand. I am surely from a different cultural background.

[Jingthing]

I think that is technically correct. Being here for decades doesn't change the rules, each annual application is a new one. I suppose its possible you can run across a softy who gives a veteran a break now and then.

Anyway, I have a question for you.

What exchange rate do you use to determine the Thai bank value of your pension? Is there a specific immigration rule on where to find the official accepted by immigration exchange rate? This can be a critical issue for some, especially those using the combo method (pension plus bank account).

[Ron]

I think that is technically correct. Being here for decades doesn't change the rules, each annual application is a new one. I suppose its possible you can run across a softy who gives a veteran a break now and then.

Anyway, I have a question for you.

What exchange rate do you use to determine the Thai bank value of your pension? Is there a specific immigration rule on where to find the official accepted by immigration exchange rate? This can be a critical issue for some, especially those using the combo method (pension plus bank account).

I don't really know, as I sort of lost it here in Thailand sorry but I think it the official bank of thailand rate.

[hhgz]

"there seems to be changes all the time about the retirement visa and its renewal."

I haven't had the same experience as you, and I'd love to know what has changed in the past 7 years that you've gotten your retirement visa renewed.

Every time that I used the "pension" route, I've used a conservative estimate. For example, if the official exchange rate was 34 THB/1USB, I used 33THB/1USD. At the Immigration office, they'd use the real rate.

Since pensions can change every year, I'd expect that Immigration would require an updated statement - it certainly has no bearing on "every new government have differing views about us". Lighten up.

[Ron]

"there seems to be changes all the time about the retirement visa and its renewal."

I haven't had the same experience as you, and I'd love to know what has changed in the past 7 years that you've gotten your retirement visa renewed.

Every time that I used the "pension" route, I've used a conservative estimate. For example, if the official exchange rate was 34 THB/1USB, I used 33THB/1USD. At the Immigration office, they'd use the real rate.

Since pensions can change every year, I'd expect that Immigration would require an updated statement - it certainly has no bearing on "every new government have differing views about us". Lighten up.

O' Aye, you must be in that millionairs club. A perfect upright expat without a secret past. Well thank God there a people liike you!

[SurfRider]

.

"I'd love to know what has changed in the past 7 years that you've gotten your retirement visa renewed"

There have been several changes that have come and gone in the five years that I've been doing retirement extensions.

The Embassy Letter was originally valid until the expiration date of your passport and a copy could be submitted every year-- but you were required to bring the original so they could check the Embassy Seal -- That changed about 3 years ago and they began requiring a new letter each year.

For a while, they required a copy of both sides of a valid Credit Card or Debit card, then they stopped that.

At one point, you had to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok to have a letter stamped, then they did away with that.

Probably also a few others that I've forgotten. Every bloated bureaucracy has to justify its existence by continually coming up with new edicts that it thinks makes itself look relevant. ( TiT )

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Edited November 28, 2009 by SurfRider

[jazzbo]

It would be nice if the form for the US Embassy Bangkok monthly income affidavit allowed you to "... also affirm that I receive in the amount of $US ____________ every month from the US Government or other sources" in Baht amounts instead of dollars. That way the net amount in Baht would not fluctuate every month and the Immigration folks would not have to pull out their calculators and start punching in numbers and conversion rates... i.e. that I receive 70K Baht each month. Period.

(Wouldn't It Be Nice? -- Beach Boys, 1966)

[longball53098]

I would suspect the US Embassy ACS affidavit is worded in USD because the income you receive is paid in US dollars not Thai baht.

[jazzbo]

... from the US Government and / or other sources could easily be in a currency other than $US. The US Embassy could re-word the document so you might have the option to list your income in Dollars or Baht; but I am resigned every year to watch them play with their calculators. In fact, I explained to the Thai Immigration Officer last month that my monthly income is pegged to the baht rate so that the dollar amount fluctuates each month.

[sinbin]

On showing a letter from your Embassy that you have a UK monthly pension, do you have to show proof that it is then transfered monthly to a Thai bank ?

[SurfRider]

.

"have a UK monthly pension, do you have to show proof that it is then transfered monthly to a Thai bank?"

Don't know about UK specifically, but for U.S. income, the answer is no.

It would be reasonable to assume that they could not require anyone to do anything with their own private finances. They've not yet become THAT draconian, but TiT, so we should probably refrain from giving them any new ideas!

.

[Jingthing]

No, for a retirement visa in Thailand, they do NOT require you to transfer in a specific amount of your pension (it could be none). However, it is interesting to note that some other countries DO make such requirements for their retirement visas. So lets remember for all its fickleness and lack of long term security, Thailand's retirement visa program remains rather liberal.

Edited November 28, 2009 by Jingthing

[lopburi3]

.

"I'd love to know what has changed in the past 7 years that you've gotten your retirement visa renewed"

There have been several changes that have come and gone in the five years that I've been doing retirement extensions.

The Embassy Letter was originally valid until the expiration date of your passport and a copy could be submitted every year-- but you were required to bring the original so they could check the Embassy Seal -- That changed about 3 years ago and they began requiring a new letter each year.

For a while, they required a copy of both sides of a valid Credit Card or Debit card, then they stopped that.

At one point, you had to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok to have a letter stamped, then they did away with that.

Probably also a few others that I've forgotten. Every bloated bureaucracy has to justify its existence by continually coming up with new edicts that it thinks makes itself look relevant. ( TiT )

.

Actually none of those issues were Immigration rules but were specific office requirements.

[SurfRider]

"Actually none of those issues were Immigration rules but were specific office requirement"

How would anyone know at what level of the massive bureaucracy the latest new-new edict originated? They never provide that info - it just pops up one day when you arrive to be processed.

And what difference would it make if you did know? You still need to comply with the silly new rule until the absurdity of it becomes evident to so many people that they can no longer find a way to save face over it.

Another day, another hurdle placed in the existing row, another new hoop to jump through. What's the point of knowing where inside of the sausage-machine the edict originated?

. . .

.

[Mario2008]

Immigration does publish (most) of it's police orders, which set the criteria under which you can get an extension of stay. It means you can check if your immigration office is applying the rules or adding its own rules.

[Jingthing]

That's one of the reasons we need this website. It isn't easy to keep track of the specific enforcement policies at your specific immigration office. That applies of course to all kinds of visa issues including policies of Thai embassies and consulates.

[Ron]

That's one of the reasons we need this website. It isn't easy to keep track of the specific enforcement policies at your specific immigration office. That applies of course to all kinds of visa issues including policies of Thai embassies and consulates.

maybe coffee or tea has something to do with it all? I am not sure about that really.

[SurfRider]

.

"maybe coffee or tea has something to do with it all"

More than likely it's deeply entrenched bureaucracy. Thousands of people who probably would have a hard time finding and filling a productive job and supporting their families if they didn't have the Imm. bureaucracy to cling to.

I read somewhere that the original Thai Immigration law is based back in the 1920s -- when there were no jet airplanes, no airports -- Very few people traveled because the masses couldn't afford the time or money. Travelers were very wealthy and probably came to Siam by large passenger ships and by rail from other ports.

A 30 day Visa was all that was needed and it was unlikely that these travelers would ever come back, and certainly not immediately after their 30 day pass had expired. The concept of a "visa border run", marriage or retirement status, work/employment status, could never have been imagined back then.

Every modification to that basic law since those days has been a TiT kludge to the original law.

All other neighboring Asian countries have seen the light and modernized their immigration laws. Thailand, sadly, NO . . .

.

[Jingthing]

That's one of the reasons we need this website. It isn't easy to keep track of the specific enforcement policies at your specific immigration office. That applies of course to all kinds of visa issues including policies of Thai embassies and consulates.

maybe coffee or tea has something to do with it all? I am not sure about that really.

On second thought, the reason this website is so popular is clearly the information on where to find the best hamburgers in Thailand!

[kikoman]

Having been in Thailand over 9 years,but using the retirement visa for 5 years now, I have done extensions on my visa in, Pattaya,

Bangkok and now Nakhon Sawan. I found all have the same requirements, except for Pattaya that required a extra copy of the

retirement Visa extension paperwork.

My 1st visit to Bangkok required a larger copy of my picture than was acceptable in Pattaya.

I have never received any surprises are actual extension review.

Every year I am required to submit a income letter from my Embassy and a letter from my Thai bank, Re bank balance.

Cheers: