Pattaya Visa Service

[malcoml]

I'm a long time lurker but my dad has an issue I'm hoping to get some advice on.

 

Happy to have a Pattaya visa shop pm me and we can meet them.

 

The situation is my dad a 60 year old Australian passport holder came over to visit arriving on the 30 day visa waiver program.

He does a lot of business in Asia and is happy to make Thailand his base.  Anyway I spoke to an old mate and he said something about a no questions asked retirement visa and quoted a ridiculous rate. I smell a scam.

 

So can someone give me some advice on this process.

 

From what I gather he should have arrived on some type of non immigrant visa and then they change this too a multi entry retirement visa once he shows proof of income or money in the bank. My questions is does he need to go back to Oz to get this non immigrant visa or can he get this in say Singapore when he goes there on business. Is there an easier option?

 

My mate said don't worry about the income as they have this slide of hand thing going on with the bank but truthfully he can get a letter from his accountant stating  monthly income exceeding the limit or he can transfer money to a Thai bank account if a bank will let him open one.

 

We want to get the ball rolling so happy to have a visa company contact me or happy for someone to recommend one.

 

Thanks for any advice....

 

 

[glegolo]

here is a personal advice from me. Please do this the legal way, and do not fall into the trap of these sammers (VISA-companies).

 

It is so easy to do it yourself,, free of charge, just ask for advise here, buy that non immigrant O in a neightbouring country here, and then apply yourself (your father),,, total cost 1.900 baht...

 

Thats all.....up to you...

Glegolo

[Munotlaw]

4 minutes ago, glegolo said:

here is a personal advice from me. Please do this the legal way, and do not fall into the trap of these sammers (VISA-companies).

 

It is so easy to do it yourself,, free of charge, just ask for advise here, buy that non immigrant O in a neightbouring country here, and then apply yourself (your father),,, total cost 1.900 baht...

 

Thats all.....up to you...

Glegolo

 

Why scammers? They provide real visas, issued by the Immigration. Hundreds of retirees in Pattaya can confirme and are more than happy with their service, especially because they also provide the necessary needed financial requirements.

Munotlaw

[malcoml]

3 minutes ago, Munotlaw said:

 

Why scammers? They provide real visas, issued by the Immigration. Hundreds of retirees in Pattaya can confirme and are more than happy with their service, especially because they also provide the necessary needed financial requirements.

Munotlaw

 

Can you recommend one to me by pm.

 

I want to try and get the ball rolling on this one for my dad tomorrow.

[evilebxxx]

confirmed also, excellent service

[glegolo]

31 minutes ago, Munotlaw said:

 

Why scammers? They provide real visas, issued by the Immigration. Hundreds of retirees in Pattaya can confirme and are more than happy with their service, especially because they also provide the necessary needed financial requirements.

Munotlaw

 

Why? Because it is not your money in the bank,,,, or your income-verification,,,. It is not your confirmation of your address,,,,,. NOTHING is really from you...Except your passport maybe...

 

It is from  a VISA-company constructing a false reality to the immigration,,,, that charge black money to put in their own pockets,,,,,  in order to turn an blind eye to this scamming-operation....

 

So yes it is a scam from a legal point of view.... And if hundreds are doing this, it doesn´t mean that it is legal,,,,,,, it is just showing that hundreds are here,,,,,, probably in spite of having any money to show for....

 

Glegolo

[BritTim]

It is a fact that a number of agents offer to arrange extensions on the basis of retirement, negating the need to apply yourself. Many of these offer to do so without you providing the normal proof of income or money in the bank. Unless you actually visit immigration with the agent when the extension is stamped into your passport, there is always a risk. Especially, those agents offering inexpensive extensions without financial proof might provide you with fake stamps.

 

Be wary of people who assure you that there is no risk. I can remember when people told me I was crazy making border runs when I could just give my passport to an agent who would arrange fresh (visa exempt) entry stamps. years ago. For quite a while, those border run services  appeared to work. Then, came the crackdown. It transpired that most of the stamps were faked, not properly backed up with records in the immigration computers. Many of the "smart" people who avoided the hassle of making a border run themselves found themselves in a world of hurt.

 

Most likely, the majority of the agents arranging retirement extensions are on the level. However, I would personally not use one unless I was present when the extension was actually granted at immigration.

[innerspace]

If you have the money to show do it the right way, no doubt about that.
But if you don't, the alternative works fine, bulk of the "fee" goes to the immigration officer who places money in your bank for the verification then processes the visa correctly as normal. Based on behind the scenes first hand knowledge.

[Lite Beer]

Don't go down the illegal route.
Go by the rules and sleep at night.

[steve187]

easy to do yourself, a conversion within Thailand from the visa exempt to a non immigrant 'o' visa, (2,000 baht)and then a yearly extension, (1,900 baht) coupled with a multi re-entry permit (3,800 baht) for trips abroad, 

 

will require financials of 65,000 per month income, or 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account in his name,

 

loads of threads on here do some research

Edited January 2, 2017 by steve187

[malcoml]

11 minutes ago, steve187 said:

easy to do yourself, a conversion within Thailand from the visa exempt to a non immigrant 'o' visa, (2,000 baht)and then a yearly extension, (1,900 baht) coupled with a multi re-entry permit (3,800 baht) for trips abroad, 

 

will require financials of 65,000 per month income, or 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account in his name,

 

loads of threads on here do some research

I did some research and went to Siam legals website and found a sticking point. Everything looked straightforward except the conversion from the visa exempt stamp to the non immigrant O. Many say it can be done but Siam legals site says it needs to be done from your home country.

[Lite Beer]

That is a commercial website that contains lots of wrong information.

[jayboy]

 
Why scammers? They provide real visas, issued by the Immigration. Hundreds of retirees in Pattaya can confirme and are more than happy with their service, especially because they also provide the necessary needed financial requirements.
Munotlaw

They do not "provide" visas; they are agents.Moreover the services they provide are illegal and possibly criminal in nature.

[trd]

I did some research and went to Siam legals website and found a sticking point. Everything looked straightforward except the conversion from the visa exempt stamp to the non immigrant O. Many say it can be done but Siam legals site says it needs to be done from your home country.

I had my visa exempt converted to non O and then to retirement extension all by immigration. No agent involved.

[trd]

They do not "provide" visas; they are agents.Moreover the services they provide are illegal and possibly criminal in nature.

Getting a visa via an agent isn't illegal.

[jayboy]

Getting a visa via an agent isn't illegal.

I didn't say it was - though it is completely unnecessary in the vast majority of cases.What is illegal is the fronting up of financial resources.

[Scott]

One post has been removed.   Discussing illegal activity is not permitted.   Using a visa service is not illegal, per se, although many are involved in illegal activity.  

 

Please post with care.  

[glegolo]

6 hours ago, jayboy said:

 

I didn't say it was illegal - though it is completely unnecessary in the vast majority of cases.What is illegal is the fronting up of financial resources.

 

 

Yes of course, but I would love to take one of all these unqualified men in their "hundreds", and present him to the military,,, or a judge,,, or the criminal-system here in Thailand,,, with all his credentials and see what is what.....

 

How will they judge in Thailand, when see this in my eyes 100% scam... A guy living here hardly being able to feed a gold fish,,, hav a pension way below the demands from Thailand, but still have an extension of stay based on retirement in his passport.

 

In my country at least, it is a criminal act;

a - To pay off an official in order to get him to stamp a unqualified persons passport with an extension.. which he certainly is NOT quaslified for.. So jailtime for VISA-Service....

b - In my country it is highly illegal for an official to accept pay offs (bribes) and then fraude the system 100%........ So jailtime for the officials who do this....

 

So what can we say really? It is not illegal to intentionally and knowingly use a "VISA-service" that are offering  illegal services???

 

I find it strange the reasoning here among some of you guys.... All bullshit aside, it is illegal from every point of view......

 

Glegolo

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, glegolo said:

 

Yes of course, but I would love to take one of all these unqualified men in their "hundreds", and present him to the military,,, or a judge,,, or the criminal-system here in Thailand,,, with all his credentials and see what is what.....

 

How will they judge in Thailand, when see this in my eyes 100% scam... A guy living here hardly being able to feed a gold fish,,, hav a pension way below the demands from Thailand, but still have an extension of stay based on retirement in his passport.

 

In my country at least, it is a criminal act;

a - To pay off an official in order to get him to stamp a unqualified persons passport with an extension.. which he certainly is NOT quaslified for.. So jailtime for VISA-Service....

b - In my country it is highly illegal for an official to accept pay offs (bribes) and then fraude the system 100%........ So jailtime for the officials who do this....

 

So what can we say really? It is not illegal to intentionally and knowingly use a "VISA-service" that are offering  illegal services???

 

I find it strange the reasoning here among some of you guys.... All bullshit aside, it is illegal from every point of view......

 

Glegolo

 

It's not illegal to use an agent to help secure a visa - as long as the laws of Thailand are respected.Obviously paying off officials is a criminal act - on both sides.Many international companies however in Bangkok use legal firms to expedite visas/work permits.The only motive in doing so is one related to convenience and no laws of Thailand are broken.In the case of extension visas there is very little effort/bureaucracy involved and as earlier noted it is hard to understand why agents are needed at all.Permanent residence applications for example are a different matter where the paperwork is extensive.

 

But otherwise I agree with your post.There is a large group of expatriates, often Pattaya based but also Hua Hin. Chiangmai etc, who have become so used to illegal and shady visa agents that they have come to think criminality is normal, or that somehow Thailand's laws and regulations count for nothing.I don't necessarily blame them because somehow they have to make sense of a system which sets financial limits beyond their reach.But it draws attention to the reality that there are thousands of foreigners "resident" in the country who by any reasonable measure should not be here at all.In the past this wasn't really an issue given Thailand's free and easy system.But it doesn't take a genius to work out which way things are going.

[steve187]

I think the op has got the message on illegal agents, could we not keep the thread on topic and avoid all the bickering, it just makes the thread a hard job to follow, when you have to bypass lots of vegetables to get to the meat.

[JackThompson]

Step 1 - Option "A": With at least 15 days left on his Visa-Exempt entry, convert that entry to a Non-O based on retirement - only available in Bangkok and a few other offices.  This requires two trips to immigration - one to apply, and a 2nd to receive the visa.  If using the "money in the bank" method of qualification, he must show the money came from abroad.

 

Step 1 - Option "B" - Instead of getting the Non-O from a local office, requiring proof of the funds' origin, and a longer turnaround-time, he can obtain it from a nearby consulate - next-day service.

 

Both Options "A" and "B" provide a permission-of-stay with 90-days validity.

 

Step 2: Obtain a 1-year extension based on retirement from his closest Immigration office.

 

Total cost in visa-fees for the initial Non-O and 1-Year Extension is 3900 Baht.

[notamember]

i remember a visa agent based in the post office soi off beach road, was it called Cambodia travel?

he was reputed to do cheap no money retirement visas

anyone else remember them?

are they still there?

[Gary A]

Years ago I used a visa service called Thai Visa. It was located on Soi 23 in Bangkok. When my year was about to expire, I went there to find the door chained shut. After asking around, I was told the guy had been deported and the business closed because it was illegal. I seriously considered leaving the country but finally decided to go to Thai immigration and face the music. The Thai immigration officer had a stack of passports on his desk that were confiscated from the Thai Visa office. He asked me a number of questions and I told him nothing but the truth. He told me that my stamps were genuine but since I had never been to Brisbane, Australia , They were obtained illegally. He told me that he would straighten out my passport this time and make it legal. I really appreciated that. He then warned me that if my passport went somewhere that I MUST be going with it. I have stuck to the straight and narrow path since then.

 

These services have been in business for many years but I would guess that the hammer will fall sooner rather than later. No way would I ever consider using those services.

[glegolo]

46 minutes ago, Gary A said:

Years ago I used a visa service called Thai Visa. It was located on Soi 23 in Bangkok. When my year was about to expire, I went there to find the door chained shut. After asking around, I was told the guy had been deported and the business closed because it was illegal. I seriously considered leaving the country but finally decided to go to Thai immigration and face the music. The Thai immigration officer had a stack of passports on his desk that were confiscated from the Thai Visa office. He asked me a number of questions and I told him nothing but the truth. He told me that my stamps were genuine but since I had never been to Brisbane, Australia , They were obtained illegally. He told me that he would straighten out my passport this time and make it legal. I really appreciated that. He then warned me that if my passport went somewhere that I MUST be going with it. I have stuck to the straight and narrow path since then.

 

These services have been in business for many years but I would guess that the hammer will fall sooner rather than later. No way would I ever consider using those services.

 

Finally and at last, a guy with his sences in order..... Hope that the most stubborn expats in Pattaya and Bangkok reads this,,,, and start to think a little bit for once..

 

Glegolo

[billd766]

3 hours ago, Gary A said:

Years ago I used a visa service called Thai Visa. It was located on Soi 23 in Bangkok. When my year was about to expire, I went there to find the door chained shut. After asking around, I was told the guy had been deported and the business closed because it was illegal. I seriously considered leaving the country but finally decided to go to Thai immigration and face the music. The Thai immigration officer had a stack of passports on his desk that were confiscated from the Thai Visa office. He asked me a number of questions and I told him nothing but the truth. He told me that my stamps were genuine but since I had never been to Brisbane, Australia , They were obtained illegally. He told me that he would straighten out my passport this time and make it legal. I really appreciated that. He then warned me that if my passport went somewhere that I MUST be going with it. I have stuck to the straight and narrow path since then.

 

These services have been in business for many years but I would guess that the hammer will fall sooner rather than later. No way would I ever consider using those services.

 

I remember them. I used them once probably around 2000 and my "visa stamp" was also from Brisbane.

 

That must be about 2 passports ago.

 

I never went back to them again as I found the legal way to get a visa.