Nong Khai Immigration Warning

[astral]

I am on the marriage route and only need 400K in the bank, but I always

provide copies of the foreign exhange certificates from the bank to show the money came from overseas.

I should imagine the same will apply here.

[ray23]

HMM!!!! Guys HDB did get his visa and he got it with less requirments then the the norm in this area. Now if I were he I think I would be grateful, doesn't appear to be the situation.

I have been using the Nong Khia office for four years three annuals so far and yes they do have quirks, but nothing that is impossible to meet, if you prepare for it.

In reading these posts I probably woll in reality use them again next year for one simple reason maybe they are difficult but I know what to expect and what to prepare for. It is very clear on here that each ofice ha different thng they look for to determine if yuo are eleiglble for a visa or a renewal. On my last renewal three people went over my paperwork obviously looking for any error to reject it, so what I got the visa. They wanted a medical certificate for the first time again so what not that hard to comply with.

I have used the same embassy letter for four years now, I submit two copies and show them the original. I still have my original if they want the orginal next year, so be it.

Being prepared no matter what office you use to meet that offices standard is important, each is obviously different. If you don't like the offices policy then by all mean find the one you like and use it.

The very reason that there is a different standard at Nong Khia is also the reason the LDB got his annual, officers discretion

[gdhm]

2) You need to have a new medical certificate annually.

Thanks Jonnie,

With regard to the medical.

Surely this means that sooner or later your Retirement Visa will be rejected on health grounds because as you grow older you are likely to be less healthy.

The certificate says you do not have the 5 listed items AND at the end of it the doctor has to confirm that you are in good physical and mental health

How many of us (hopefully all) are likely to be in good physical health in our 70s or 80s (maybe younger).

Isn't the medical report not a license to get rid of you when you most need stability in your old age

(a time bomb) or am I missing something

Regards

Dave

[ray23]

Actually there is a thread running on that already so I won't go into to much, thus far that has not been the local experience

[gdhm]

Actually there is a thread running on that already so I won't go into to much, thus far that has not been the local experience

Thanks Ray, I will try to find it

[chingching]

IN ADDITION to the 'Letter of Certification' they want to see monthly deposits in a Thai bank account and also a letter from the bank verifying same.

Hi does this certification letter from the bank, is it mailed to you or to the consulate? I was just in Nong Khai. I had bank statements on 8x11 sheets. They said they needed passbook or cert letter from bank. My bank (U.S.A.) does not issue passbooks. If they sent me a certification letter would it be mailed to me or would it have to be mailed to the Consulate in question. If mailed to me then ..... Can anyone post a certification letter, as to what it is supposed to look like.

Thx

[lopburi3]

The bank money has to be in Thailand so it does not matter what your US bank does or does not do. The letter is issued, normally by the branch manager, to confirm the amount on deposit on a set date and your passbook should show the same amount. You go to your Thai bank to obtain the letter.

[LoveDaBlues]

IN ADDITION to the 'Letter of Certification' they want to see monthly deposits in a Thai bank account and also a letter from the bank verifying same.

Hi does this certification letter from the bank, is it mailed to you or to the consulate? I was just in Nong Khai. I had bank statements on 8x11 sheets. They said they needed passbook or cert letter from bank. My bank (U.S.A.) does not issue passbooks. If they sent me a certification letter would it be mailed to me or would it have to be mailed to the Consulate in question. If mailed to me then ..... Can anyone post a certification letter, as to what it is supposed to look like.

Thx

I'm talking about the 'Letter of Certification' of monthly income. This comes from a US Embassy and costs USD $30. It is actually a 'deposition' so no checking is done to verify what you say is your monthly income. You must swear that the amount you claim is factual. Lop is correct as always; they don't care about anything from a US bank; they want the statement from your Thai bank.

The wording to describe some of these forms is piss-poor. This 'letter' should more rightly be called 'Form to Verify Income' or something along those lines.

If you send me a PM with your email address I will email you a copy of the blank form. I seem to recall that there are a lot of steps to post an image here.

[wpcoe]

Here's a low resolution copy of a bank letter. I intentionally used low resolution with JPG artifacts because I did not want people printing it out. Although I was able to white out my personal information, it would have taken too long to blot out the bank manager's signature. It is just to give you an idea what the letter is, and looks like. Click here: Guarantee letter from SCB

[LoveDaBlues]

IN ADDITION to the 'Letter of Certification' they want to see monthly deposits in a Thai bank account and also a letter from the bank verifying same.

Hi does this certification letter from the bank, is it mailed to you or to the consulate? I was just in Nong Khai. I had bank statements on 8x11 sheets. They said they needed passbook or cert letter from bank. My bank (U.S.A.) does not issue passbooks. If they sent me a certification letter would it be mailed to me or would it have to be mailed to the Consulate in question. If mailed to me then ..... Can anyone post a certification letter, as to what it is supposed to look like.

Thx

I'm talking about the 'Letter of Certification' of monthly income. This comes from a US Embassy and costs USD $30. It is actually a 'deposition' so no checking is done to verify what you say is your monthly income. You must swear that the amount you claim is factual. Lop is correct as always; they don't care about anything from a US bank; they want the statement from your Thai bank.

The wording to describe some of these forms is piss-poor. This 'letter' should more rightly be called 'Form to Verify Income' or something along those lines.

If you send me a PM with your email address I will email you a copy of the blank form. I seem to recall that there are a lot of steps to post an image here.

EDIT: FYI.....a friend in Bangkok emailed me a scanned copy of the 'Letter of Certification' he obtained from the US Embassy there. I went to the US Embassy in Laos and hand-wrote the 'body' of the Bangkok letter into the US Embassy (Laos) form. Thai immigration accepted this form. This saved me a trip to Bangkok.

[chingching]

IN ADDITION to the 'Letter of Certification' they want to see monthly deposits in a Thai bank account and also a letter from the bank verifying same.

Hi does this certification letter from the bank, is it mailed to you or to the consulate? I was just in Nong Khai. I had bank statements on 8x11 sheets. They said they needed passbook or cert letter from bank. My bank (U.S.A.) does not issue passbooks. If they sent me a certification letter would it be mailed to me or would it have to be mailed to the Consulate in question. If mailed to me then ..... Can anyone post a certification letter, as to what it is supposed to look like.

Thx

I'm talking about the 'Letter of Certification' of monthly income. This comes from a US Embassy and costs USD $30. It is actually a 'deposition' so no checking is done to verify what you say is your monthly income. You must swear that the amount you claim is factual. Lop is correct as always; they don't care about anything from a US bank; they want the statement from your Thai bank.

The wording to describe some of these forms is piss-poor. This 'letter' should more rightly be called 'Form to Verify Income' or something along those lines.

If you send me a PM with your email address I will email you a copy of the blank form. I seem to recall that there are a lot of steps to post an image here.

EDIT: FYI.....a friend in Bangkok emailed me a scanned copy of the 'Letter of Certification' he obtained from the US Embassy there. I went to the US Embassy in Laos and hand-wrote the 'body' of the Bangkok letter into the US Embassy (Laos) form. Thai immigration accepted this form. This saved me a trip to Bangkok.

Well what happened to me in Nong Khai was that I applied for a non-imm-O. On the bulletin board it was clear they wanted financial proof. I showed the guy my bank monthly statement (obviously from a u.s.a. bank) He said that was no good and I needed a letter from the bank guaranteeing the funds were there. He made no mention of the bank being either u.s.a. or thai. I'm now on a tourist visa and saw the other post to convert to a retirement, so this point is rather moot to me now, (at least for time being.) But it just seemed it would be "easy" for me to get a guaranteed funds letter from a u.s.a. bank, if anyone is in that situation

[ray23]

Well I almost hesitate to even answer anymore but I will try. Do you have an account in Thailand, if not they are easy to obtain.

Yes I have been asked for a letter from my Thai Bank, Bank of Bangkok in Udonthani everytime. The banks are familiuar with what is needed. But waht I'm seeing in thid thread is you don't have to present this in some locations, true not true I don't know.

I will say this at the time I applied for my first annual I was aware of this I sit up an account with a bank that was going to be user friendly in helping getting the right information for immigration. I did not have a long track record of making depsoits only three months. I did not have the 800 K balance nor could I provide taht, but I could and did make the 65K per month depsoits for that persiod and have contnued on with it. That is the money I use to live here each month. I have never had 800K in the bank here. Yest I get renewals each year.

Now the truth is it is not us that you have to satisfy, it is immigrations and if you choose to use Nong Khai then it is them you need to talk to not any of us.

Your answer based on the inforamtion that has came out on this thread maybe not to use them but find the one that is more compable with the approach you choose to take. I woudl research that and again ask that immigration office, no one here has a approaved or deneid stamp for your passport.

I know it's confusing and stressful good luck to you.

[JonnieB]

With regard to the medical.

Surely this means that sooner or later your Retirement Visa will be rejected on health grounds because as you grow older you are likely to be less healthy.

The certificate says you do not have the 5 listed items AND at the end of it the doctor has to confirm that you are in good physical and mental health

Isn't the medical report not a license to get rid of you when you most need stability in your old age

(a time bomb) or am I missing something

Regards

Dave

I think you are reading too much into it. I don't even know what the letters I get say as they are in Thai I assume it says the person doesn't have any deadly/communicable diseases (maybe AIDS. yellow-fever, typhoid, stuff like that). (The whole thing is a joke anyway as most exams consist of maybe, at most, a blood pressure test. Even that is usually dispensed with and it's just "can see passport" and "100 baht please" and "see you one year" ) The Thais are aware that farangs grow old like everyone else and more feeble. In Thai society (unlike most of the West these days), there is still great respect show to older people (including farangs IMHO) and the older one gets, my expectation would be that you would receive more consideration not less from Thai officialdom rather than less (assuming you still met the basic criteria for staying).

I think too many farangs are paranoid that the Thai immigration folks are just looking for a reason to deny someone permission to stay. Therefore, fears like the one you raise regarding declining health and being denied on that basis. Rather, I feel that they are generally pretty neutral and if you meet the requirements they are more than happy for you to stay (and continue to spend your accumulated life savings in their country). Elderly and sick farangs are money spinners too (more medical and hospital bills) and finally, at the end, the local wat usually makes out well when it's time to fire-up the barbie and bid the nice farang his final farewell.

Edited September 28, 2006 by JonnieB