marstons Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Simple answer to OP post yes many people do it, majority of people i know over 50 do it and advise me to do like wise. I dont need to do it but many have been doing it for years, it seems to be deep rooted and immigration obviously involved all the way up to the top. ED visa cost a bit more but its legal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simple1 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I recently came across one of these visa services companies. Out of interest I asked him where his main services income came from. He said the the overnight loan/deposit scam. Is the bank not also involved as you have to show the 800k baht statement seasoned for 3 months or does this no longer apply. Also where does the paperwork end up; is there not a paper audit trail that would expose this fraud if audited? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visarunner Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 to sum it up. Many people stay here with visas they received via "fixers". Means the stamp, etc is all real, just they are not qualified to hold that visa. I assume that there are different agents around, the serious ones and the more dogy ones. I also assume that some Immigration offices are easier deal with, other are notorious, Pra Nakhorn Ayuthaya is dogy and stamps from there will lead you into trouble. To send passport out is a different story and is higly illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkoid66 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 (edited) If you analysis the situation, these Retirement fix are NOT ILLEGAL. If they were, many people would complain, it would be advertised like the Jet Ski scams. There is a loophole in the Thai immigration and it is very typical of Thai culture. Forget your culture for a moment. - the law say that you need to have 800.000 bath on a Thai bank account for 3 months. OR - 65,000 baht / month pension OR a mix of the 2. For example if you have a pension of 40,000 / month you only need to have 320,000 bank on your bank account. The law does not explain or limit how you can get this money on your bank account. You might loan it to someone, it is legal. It just have to be here 3 months on your bank account. Now if the money is here for only 2 days, the immigration office should not accept your application. If it does (whatever the reason, and that's the 'Thai flexibility') you get a real stamp and you are good to go. There is no forgery, no illegal process, you go with the lawyer at the immigration office and get the stamp. Once you have been accepted by the immigration office, there is no turning back, investigation or anything that can get you in trouble. You have the papers in due forms and can enjoy 1 year in Thailand. The only risk you take is before you get approved. The immigration could reject your application. But the lawyers apparently have a way to get through this and again, once the immigration stamp is on your passport, no one can undo this process. It is not official, but it is generating too much money, no one will touch this loophole as it is too profitable for everyone, and it does not generates any crime or inconvenience for anyone. So if you have the money, go for it, you are a good person. If you don't have the money it will cost you 20,000 and you will get the same. The lawyer takes the risk for you. If you are rejected, you will not end up in jail as you never did anything wrong, except borrowing the money from the lawyer firm to get accepted... what's wrong with that? And if the immigration officers stamps your password are you responsible of something illegal yourself? He just made a mistake, sorry. It can happen. All the process has been managed by the law office, you did nothing else than giving them the paper they asked and pay them for their advertised service. Now... it is a good thing to keep this secret and not talk about it widely because the only thing that Thais are not liking is advertising of their Thai culture applied to the law. We call that corruption, they consider that otherwise. Thais always want to arrange people around them so that they are happy and like them... who can complain about that? Edited February 8, 2013 by nikkoid66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krisb Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 why do people allways look for an edge, just have the money in your bank when you go for your visa, simple, then no one gets in trouble,, only asking. If you cant get 800k baht in the bank then your not ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Legal schmegal. If people are comfortable thinking that extension stamps obtained though dodgy schemes will never be challenged, you're free to do so. It's a comfort level thing really. If you do go that route, no guarantees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Bound Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Krisb, first thing I thought when I read the OP as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinrada Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Only 400 k with a Thai wife.....could be worth it and not illegal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWorldwide Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Guys, I'm curious - do retirees in Vientiane simply take a trip over the border to Nong Khai every month, get a new 30-day visa and go back to ;Laos ? I cant get anyone to give me a straight answer on this - beginning to wonder if there is some tea money changing hands at the border. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritsSikkink Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Now if the money is here for only 2 days, the immigration office should not accept your application. If it does (whatever the reason, and that's the 'Thai flexibility') you get a real stamp and you are good to go. There is no forgery, no illegal process, you go with the lawyer at the immigration office and get the stamp. The immigration office would only accept your application when the money is there only 2 days if money is being paid. This is illegal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carib Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Now if the money is here for only 2 days, the immigration office should not accept your application. If it does (whatever the reason, and that's the 'Thai flexibility') you get a real stamp and you are good to go. There is no forgery, no illegal process, you go with the lawyer at the immigration office and get the stamp. The immigration office would only accept your application when the money is there only 2 days if money is being paid. This is illegal. Right you are, and it can never be accompanied by a letter from the bank stating that the money has been in that account for the required period of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nana Cowboy Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 prize winning thread here that's been dredged up. there has to be a better way to get a visa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moe666 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 A few years ago my old girlfriend says you need a retirement stamp, I have friend Hau Hin immigration only 20,000baht, I says no thanks sweetie I am qualified Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommoPhysicist Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 How the fixers do it. Bank statement and letter is forged, immigration officer is bribed to not check carefully. No need for anyone to borrow any money or have it in any account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Bound Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 How the fixers do it. Bank statement and letter is forged, immigration officer is bribed to not check carefully. No need for anyone to borrow any money or have it in any account. Roll's your dice and takes your chances but one day someone will check and then what happens. Someone will get caught in a bad situation motorcycle wreck or something bad and they will check his so called account at the bank to see if any money left to cover any of his expenses owed to a local and they find things were faked and then all hell will break loose and all the papers will be checked for most. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonfarang Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritsSikkink Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 yes Could you explain this post, i am not sure i get the plot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Bound Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 yes Could you explain this post, i am not sure i get the plot. I am going out on a limb but could it be a reply to my post just above his? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritsSikkink Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 yes Could you explain this post, i am not sure i get the plot. I am going out on a limb but could it be a reply to my post just above his? Could be. Could be one of the 44 before or ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatboy Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 How the fixers do it. Bank statement and letter is forged, immigration officer is bribed to not check carefully. No need for anyone to borrow any money or have it in any account. yesterday i picked up my stamp for my yearly exstension,there were many putting in their applications,at the end after the officer had put all the relevant stamps in my passport he told me they have a new system that all exsten.have to be signed off by the boss and the applications,thats ok maybe to cut out what we have been discusing but the boss was almost 2hrs.late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyL Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Yes, people are indeed "caught" when they have a medical emergency and then go to the hospital claiming they have no money. Of course, the obvious question is "what about the funds used to justify your retirement extension?" The hospital may report them to the local immigration office if they fail to pay a medical bill. As mentioned by a previous poster, if the extension stamp is valid, then there aren't any immediate repercussions, but that person is definitely "on the radar" -- both at their consulate/embassy (if they've falsely obtained an income letter) and at the local immigration office. In the future, it becomes more and more difficult for that person to continue whatever games they played previously. I've known of people deported for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 (edited) If someone had a legit 65K monthly income or 800K in the Thai bank and then had a 5 million baht medical bill, they'd still be in big trouble while still being totally compliant with immigration rules. I don't think there is a direct relation with dodgy visa applications and running into impossible medical bills. There is a sometimes relation. That's all. Edited February 9, 2013 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beano2274 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Agree that seasoning rules were introduced to stop the 'overnight' borrowing (sometimes offered by immigration officers themselves) and, yes, the stamps are probably real. A few years back when some people were giving their passports to agents for entry stamps they also thought their stamps were real, some, especially with Phuket stamps, if I remember correctly, found out later that they were bogus. Edit to add.. Expect at least one or more of these agents/assisting companies will get extra greedy sometime and go for the bogus stamp route, reasoning 'why should they share the income'. Maybe a cynical view or I've been here too long. I had one of those bogus stamps from Phuket, luckily enough my boss, whilst getting my work permit done lost my passport, so I applied for a new one, then hey presto the old one turned up again, but since I had the new one, it was cancelled, lucky for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lite Beer Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 A nonsense post and an off topic post have been removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommoPhysicist Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 How the fixers do it. Bank statement and letter is forged, immigration officer is bribed to not check carefully. No need for anyone to borrow any money or have it in any account. yesterday i picked up my stamp for my yearly exstension,there were many putting in their applications,at the end after the officer had put all the relevant stamps in my passport he told me they have a new system that all exsten.have to be signed off by the boss and the applications,thats ok maybe to cut out what we have been discusing but the boss was almost 2hrs.late The boss gets a cut too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeijoshinCool Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 A Lawyer practice in Phuket actually advertises this service in a popular newspaper for those folk that don't have the 800k!! How does that work?? Maybe he's giving you a retainer to be his client by putting money in your escrow account and then months later you decide not to be his client and ... um, what Jingthing said. There is no corruption in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAS21 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Now if the money is here for only 2 days, the immigration office should not accept your application. If it does (whatever the reason, and that's the 'Thai flexibility') you get a real stamp and you are good to go. There is no forgery, no illegal process, you go with the lawyer at the immigration office and get the stamp. The immigration office would only accept your application when the money is there only 2 days if money is being paid. This is illegal. Right you are, and it can never be accompanied by a letter from the bank stating that the money has been in that account for the required period of time. Actually when I got my letter from Bangkok Bank last year it only stated the amount of money in my accounts on that day ... immigration looked at the books for the date. I actully know somebody who pays ... apparently 800,000 appears in his bank book for a day. He says cheaper than flying back to his home country to get a new visa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritsSikkink Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 He says cheaper than flying back to his home country to get a new visa If he doesn't have the 65000 a month or the 800000, he probably can't afford to fly back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAS21 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 He says cheaper than flying back to his home country to get a new visa If he doesn't have the 65000 a month or the 800000, he probably can't afford to fly back. I think that the economics on this are .... get visa via 'agent' 20000ish baht ... fly home and back 35000ish baht Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 But flying home would result in a legal visa - paying for false paperwork could have unfortunate consequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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