Pension Letter From Embassy!

[Pormax]

Recently I contacted the British Embassy to enquire what documentation they required for them to issue a confirmation of my pension.

During the conversation I was told that the Embassy had been issued a directive by Thai immigration that in future they would only be issue letters with the pension amount quoted in GBP and NOT in Thai baht due to fluctuations in the rate and that the conversion would be done by your immigration office at the time of your application for renewal.

This made sense to me, however:

Yesterday I had to go to immigratrion for a residency letter and as my Visa is due for renewal shortly, enquired about the Embassy letter for pensions and was told "Embassy will tell us on letter in Thai Baht". When I explained the directive issued to the British Embassy and that they were now supposed to do the conversion on the day of application, they could not understand this and said " We not been told this and that they have no tables/rates for conversion so cannot do".

Confusion again where no one seems to talk to each other re change of policy.

Anybody been through this recently (last month).??

[Colabamumbai]

All immigration offices have the currency conversion tables, to Thai Bhat. Not last month but last year bank statement printout/embassy letter in all in Canadian Dollars, monthly method, immigration does the conversion. Maybe some misunderstanding. Lopburi may have more to add.

[lopburi3]

Normal for any Embassy is to quote amount in local currency AFAIK (and I do know that is the case of USA). It should not be any problem as officers do have computers and can easily find the current rate of exchange if they do not accept what you tell them (normally they have asked and anything they feel is reasonable is accepted but lately seems they often have exchange rate available).

[IMA_FARANG]

Don't know about the British embessy, but just did my statement for immigration at the U.S. embessy three days ago.

They quote whatever figure you tell them in U.S. dollars as your income and that dollar rate is on the Income declaration form.

In Chaeng Wattana I've personally seen the immigration officials using a calculator to convert what is on your income statement to Thai Baht.

They use the daily dollar/baht rate from the Thai newspapers for the previous day as the conversion rate.

However they will "narrow down" to the lowest baht, normally,

So, for dollars, a rate of 31.(something) often ends up as 31.

[techno]

l did my annual retirement extention last week in Chiang Mai and the British Consulate's letter was in GBP which was accepted by Immigration as they converted into Thai baht at the time

[beano2274]

I actually give the Embassy a letter quoting the amount in Thai Baht, so they use that.

[wayned]

The income affidavit that you are provided by the US Embassy is a form that you fill in in USD and swear that it is correct. Immigration then coverts the USD to baht at the rate on the day that you apply for the extension. The embassy does not d the conversion.

[glegolo]

Hi Pormax!!!

I do happen to have first hand experience from this at the Khon Kaen office that I belong to. Immigration have their conversion based on the following homesite:

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

Take note that you shall click and use the "notes"-value, than look at the "Bangkok Bank numbers and laso the day in question is of course the day you appear on the immigration.

I.e. if you showed up yesterday friday, your rater of exchange would be: THB 49.32

This is the way the operate, very easy to remember in fact. As long as your letter ALSO consists of BOTH the currencies it is OK, in your case GBP AND thaibaht....

glegolo

[Pormax]

Thanks for replies.

I attend Kap Choeng immigration which has recently been re-opened so perhaps they are not up to speed yet.

I do not require a letter though for a monthly income as I am doing the 800,000K combined method split between pension and money in Thai bank as at present my pension by itself is not enough. So I just require an annual pension amount from UK and show the difference in my bank book.

Again a point to note:

In previous posts it has been said for this combined method the money does NOT have to stay in your account for 3 months prior to the new visa date as in the money only method. Though the police regulations do not apparently state this is so, that is what my immigration office (yesterday) has said I must do. So again it depends on your attending office, so best to check beforehand then you are prepared

Just wish everyone would read from the same book as it would make life so much easier for all of us.

Glegolo,

The Embassy will not however do the letter giving pension amounts in both curriencies only the currency in which you are paid.

Anyway I though I would raise these minor difficulties just so that one understands that again things are not as straight forward as we should expect.

[ubonjoe]

Police order 777/2551 clause 2.22 does clearly state that money does not have to be in the bank for any amount of time. Download: Thai Police Order 777/2551

(5) Must have an annual earning and funds deposited with a bank totaling no less than Baht 800,000 as of the filing date.

If you think you will have a problem at immigration for not having the amount in Baht on your income letter. Go to any Thai bank website (http://www.bangkokba...s/FX_Rates.aspx) and print out the the current exchange rates just before you go to immigration and show it to them.

Edited September 29, 2012 by ubonjoe

[lopburi3]

However an Embassy letter should be required for any use of income outside of Thailand.

[Pormax]

Police order 777/2551 clause 2.22 does clearly state that money does not have to be in the bank for any amount of time. Download: Thai Police Order 777/2551

(5) Must have an annual earning and funds deposited with a bank totaling no less than Baht 800,000 as of the filing date.

If you think you will have a problem at immigration for not having the amount in Baht on your income letter. Go to any Thai bank website (http://www.bangkokba...s/FX_Rates.aspx) and print out the the current exchange rates just before you go to immigration and show it to them.

Don't know why but cannot download/open Police Order 777/2551. is the URL correct?

[Mario2008]

URL is correct, it is a PDF file so you must give permisison to open it or save it.

[ubonjoe]

Link works for me.

What problem are you having with download?

[Tywais]

Police order 777/2551 clause 2.22 does clearly state that money does not have to be in the bank for any amount of time. Download: Thai Police Order 777/2551

(5) Must have an annual earning and funds deposited with a bank totaling no less than Baht 800,000 as of the filing date.

If you think you will have a problem at immigration for not having the amount in Baht on your income letter. Go to any Thai bank website (http://www.bangkokba...s/FX_Rates.aspx) and print out the the current exchange rates just before you go to immigration and show it to them.

Don't know why but cannot download/open Police Order 777/2551. is the URL correct?

The URL is correct and it is a pdf file. You can not right click and save and you need Adobe reader on your computer. When you click on it a box should come up to download it.

[Pormax]

Police order 777/2551 clause 2.22 does clearly state that money does not have to be in the bank for any amount of time. Download: Thai Police Order 777/2551

(5) Must have an annual earning and funds deposited with a bank totaling no less than Baht 800,000 as of the filing date.

If you think you will have a problem at immigration for not having the amount in Baht on your income letter. Go to any Thai bank website (http://www.bangkokba...s/FX_Rates.aspx) and print out the the current exchange rates just before you go to immigration and show it to them.

Don't know why but cannot download/open Police Order 777/2551. is the URL correct?

The URL is correct and it is a pdf file. You can not right click and save and you need Adobe reader on your computer. When you click on it a box should come up to download it.

Hi, Twais,

Could not click and download but did manage to put details in 'google' and found the relevant article and see what you mean, but again if the local immigration officer has not read or has misinterpreted the article then you've had it. No good showing a a paper in English as they will just do what they believe is right. If it had stated 'For this method the money is not required to be held in a bank account for a specified time but only has to be in the account at the time of applying for the visa' then it could not possibly be open to misinterpretation or misunderstanding (hopefully)

This at the moment is not a problem for me but might be for others.

[evadgib]

Perhaps the OP could amend the thread title to reflect the real nature of his enquiry.

[lungbing]

I received my letter back from the British Embassy two days ago.

In the letter the pension I receive is stated in pounds per year, as per my original evidence to them.

But for the first time the embassy have divided that by 12 and also quoted a monthly amount, again in pounds of course.

[true blue]

i am on my seventh,retirement visa income method,and consulate always have stated income in pounds,relevant to evidence produced by me,noticed this year though they itemisied each company by name.

[allen123]

hello,

i'm planing to retire in thailand next year and i'm wondering is it better to apply for a retirement visa from thai consulate here in oz or apply in thailand. i know the requirments when applying here in oz but don't know the ones when you apply in thailand.

any iformation would be much appriciated.

[lopburi3]

Being age 50 and having 800k baht in your name account here for 2 months or 65k monthly income as listed in Embassy letter or a combination of both to meet 800k per year. You also require a non immigrant visa entry so get that from an honorary consulate such as Brisbane and after 60 days here apply for one year extension costing 1,900 baht. If entry on visa exempt or tourist you would have to convert first at extra 2,000 baht.

[Maestro]

.No good showing a a paper in English as they will just do what they believe is right. If it had stated 'For this method the money is not required to be held in a bank account for a specified time but only has to be in the account at the time of applying for the visa' then it could not possibly be open to misinterpretation or misunderstanding (hopefully)...

Here is the link to the original Thai text of Police Order 777/2551: http://www.thaivisa....ttach_id=143308

It is, of course, common practice for laws and regulations to state what is required, not what is not required. (It is a bit like a text book on mathematics, which would state that 2+2=4, but would not state that 2+2 does not equal 7, or 11, or 45, etc)

On the practical side, though, it is often counter-productive to continue an argument with an immigration official who has made a wrong decision and refuses to acknowledge his error. Asking for referral to a superior official is the advice I see often given on this forum. As a last resort, would one possible solution in such situation be to apologise for one's inability to read Thai, call the immigration hotline 1178, and hand the phone to the immigration officer?

[Bpuumike]

I went through this about 5 weeks ago. We had a lady Immigration officer with a very helpful approach. I had an income statement from the British Embassy giving figures from different sources stated in GBP and USD. She didn't refer to tables, just guesstimated the exchange rates of the day and no problem.

Depends on the luck of the draw who you deal with I think.

[Pormax]

Perhaps the OP could amend the thread title to reflect the real nature of his enquiry.

Meaning!!!

My post was to let others know what the situation was regarding immigration requirements in certain offices even though there are rules set down.

I believe I have done this

Trying to be helpful is not appreciated by some!!!!!

Edited September 30, 2012 by Pormax

[billd766]

When I renewed my retirement visa at Nakhon Sawan the embassy figure was quoted in GBP only and the lady dealing with it went online to the Bangkok Bank exchange rate of that time and day. A simple one minute job and she wrote it down and showed me as well.

A good friendky office with very nice people staffing it.