I went to the Buriram Immigration office today for my first retirement extension, having used Non Os from Savannakhet for several years.

I submitted the required documents which was fine until they reached the British Embassy letter. 

The I.O. told that he was unhappy with the embassy letter as proof of income as, although the embassy had seen the supporting documents, he hadn't.

He initially told me that I needed to supply a copy of my Thai bank statement showing the pension payments being received on a monthly basis; my wife later told me that he said to her that he wanted statements for the previous six months.

Luckily I had with me the documents that I had previously submitted to the embassy, and after some discussion he agreed to accept those; even though only one of the three was an original, the others being printed copies.

Following that everything went fine with the issue of the extension and re-entry permit.

Coincidentally, I heard last week of an American guy who lives locally to us, who was recently refused a retirement extension at Buriram for the same reason, even though he had previously had several extensions with no problems.Is this just Buriram Immigration? Is this just one I.O making his own rules?
 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/947743-Buriram-Immigration-Office

1 hour ago, kdugmore said:

American guy who lives locally to us, who was recently refused a retirement extension at Buriram for the same reason, even though he had previously had several extensions with no problems.Is this just Buriram Immigration? Is this just one I.O making his own rules?

Individual IO's can't/don't make up their own rules. They will be rules of the office.

 

Asking for proof of pension/income is not unusual and within their rights. The system is wide open to fraud, especially with the American embassy as they don't require the applicant to provide any proof.

 

How the office will want income confirmation will vary, but if the income is genuine there shouldn't really be any problem.

6 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Individual IO's can't/don't make up their own rules. They will be rules of the office.

 

Asking for proof of pension/income is not unusual and within their rights. The system is wide open to fraud, especially with the American embassy as they don't require the applicant to provide any proof.

 

How the office will want income confirmation will vary, but if the income is genuine there shouldn't really be any problem.

So what is the point of paying for a letter from your embassy when we can merely supply the evidence first hand to the immigration office?

Why should the income confirmation vary from office to office?  The Thai government is generally happy to accept documents certified by the British Embassy for many different purposes,  so why not Immigration?

Of course there will be problems, e.g.  having to make return visits, having to obtain additional documentation,  having your income assessed at net after tax instead of gross as at present

 if they require bank statements.

 

 

21 minutes ago, kdugmore said:

So what is the point of paying for a letter from your embassy when we can merely supply the evidence first hand to the immigration office?

I'm not here to defend the system, but the standard rules are that a letter from the embassy is all that's required. Evidence/proof of the income is a secondary and discretionary requirement.

 

Maybe your area has been found to have had some fraudulent applications and the office is under orders to confirm income.

29 minutes ago, kdugmore said:

Why should the income confirmation vary from office to office?

I imagine it's because each office is given autonomy to authorise these extensions, therefore, the boss of the office manages the applications the way they want on a case by case basis.

 

Having ridged criteria doesn't always help us, and it sounds like a certain amount of flexibility was given to your application.

if you are dealing with the wrong people, you will have visa and/or other problems in this wasteland. You need to network, establish contacts that can get it done for you. Its worked for me since 19XX, a long time. need to start thinking outside the box.

On 2/27/2017 at 8:28 PM, elviajero said:

Individual IO's can't/don't make up their own rules. They will be rules of the office.

 

At Buriram they do. I did my last 90 day report 3 months ago. I took along another farangs passport to do his report at the same time. Been doing this at Kap Choeng, Korat, Buriram offices for last 12 years. Officer refused initially asking why the other farang didn't come himself. I said 'he doesn't have to'. Officer said 'yes he does'. Luckily the officer next to him leaned over and whispered something to him, then the problem was not a problem.

Edited October 1, 20178 yr by sinbin

3 hours ago, sinbin said:

At Buriram they do. I did my last 90 day report 3 months ago. I took along another farangs passport to do his report at the same time. Been doing this at Kap Choeng, Korat, Buriram offices for last 12 years. Officer refused initially asking why the other farang didn't come himself. I said 'he doesn't have to'. Officer said 'yes he does'. Luckily the officer next to him leaned over and whispered something to him, then the problem was not a problem.

You've described someone not knowing the rules, not someone making up rules.

On 2/27/2017 at 7:15 PM, kdugmore said:

The I.O. told that he was unhappy with the embassy letter as proof of income as, although the embassy had seen the supporting documents, he hadn't.

So did you not have the supporting docs you provided to the Embassy on you when you applied for your extension?

 

I always include the supporting docs I provide to the Embassy in the general mass of paper I always take along with me at annual extension of stay time on a "just-in-case" basis.

Is this Buriram Immigration office still open in the Government Administration Building ?

Edited April 15, 20188 yr by Farang two dot zero