Yet Another Immigration Question

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Undaunted
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Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by Undaunted »

lvdkeyes wrote:I don't think it's a good idea to be posting comments regarding "liar letters" be fraudulent.
Agree 100%
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
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Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

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fountainhall wrote:ichLB could easily clear this up by checking with his friend and adding the reply to this thread.
RichLB and I spoke about this. What a friend says doesn't mean very much. RichLB is soon going to immigration and will ask the person who goes through all the paperwork when applying for the retirement visa. What that gentleman says will be the most reliable.

Undaunted wrote:
lvdkeyes wrote:I don't think it's a good idea to be posting comments regarding "liar letters" be fraudulent.
Agree 100%
I disagree. Do you think we're revealing some sort of secret the Thai authorities don't know about? Why do you think they're cracking down?

The cheaters hurt the rest of us who don't cheat and make it all the more difficult for us to obtain our visas. I, for one, don't want to have to tie up 800,000 baht or jump through a lot of hoops because people are out there cheating the system. The Thai authorities are tired of putting up with it and so am I.

Remember how Thailand nearly forced all of us to hold a Thai outpatient insurance policy? Farang living in Thailand below the 65,000 baht minimum probably don't even have medical insurance or if they do, it sux. Thai hospitals are required to at least try to stabilize emergency patients, even if they are farang without money. If that wasn't adding up, they would not have had a reason to propose the rule.

That's just one example of rule proposals partly because of cheating farang. Some rules came to be and some didn't, but when immigration comes up with new rules and new proposals, it's usually because of people trying to circumvent or flat out cheat the system, whether it is lying Americans or people from other countries. But you can for sure include lying Americans as part of the equation.
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Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by RichLB »

fountainhall wrote: RichLB could easily clear this up by checking with his friend and adding the reply to this thread.
I only see this friend sporadically, but will certainly seek to clarify his reportage. I had occasion to go to the bank today and asked the bank manager about this new "rule" and she had never heard of it and assured me the letter from the bank was sufficient. Of course I could also check at the immigration office, but the place always confuses me. I suspect that fountainhall's notion of immigration wanting to make sure no one has emptied the account after receiving the bank letter is correct. At least that makes sense as to why they'd want to see some activity in the account prior to visiting immigration.
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Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

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RichLB wrote:I suspect that fountainhall's notion of immigration wanting to make sure no one has emptied the account after receiving the bank letter is correct. At least that makes sense as to why they'd want to see some activity in the account prior to visiting immigration.
It doesn't make much sense to me. Someone who has been able to keep 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account for three months, or more, would hardly have an urgent need to withdraw it right after getting the bank letter. If anything, he could do that right after he receives the visa.

In any case I won't be satisfied until it is immigration telling us about this activity rule and all that goes with it. If it's now a matter of policy, I want confirmation of that from immigration. It could just as easily been the whim of the officer or simply the officer mistaken.

I think most of us who have been on the boards for any appreciable length of time remember the story about the farang on the retirement visa who wanted a reentry permit when he was going to travel from Thailand to Laos, but an immigration officer told him he doesn't need one when traveling to Laos. Remember what happened to him when he returned to Thailand? Just like anyone else, immigration officers are human and can make mistakes.

In other words maybe it really is a matter of policy now and maybe it isn't, but the definitive answer needs to come from immigration.
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Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by Undaunted »

If people are unable to keep the minimum of 800,000 baht here perhaps they shouldn't be here and perhaps they should not have retired when they did also I see nothing wrong with making retirees show proof of medical ins. in the kingdom.
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fountainhall

Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by fountainhall »

Gaybutton wrote:I won't be satisfied until it is immigration telling us about this activity rule and all that goes with it. If it's now a matter of policy, I want confirmation of that from immigration. It could just as easily been the whim of the officer or simply the officer mistaken.
I can assure you that this has been policy at the Bangkok Chaengwattana Immigration Office for at least the last 5 years - or as long as I have been doing the Bt. 800,000 route. Every officer has asked for the update on the date application is made and has put a photocopy of the update in the file of paperwork after chopping it and signing it. But then I’m not an Immigration officer and so my assurance needs verification!
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Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:I can assure you that this has been policy . . .
I suppose I am missing something. WHAT has been the policy? Exactly WHAT are you required to do?

"Explain it to me like I'm a 4 year old"
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Undaunted wrote:I see nothing wrong with making retirees show proof of medical ins. in the kingdom.
I agree with you on that. My problem with it was when they wanted retirees to hold outpatient insurance, but it had to be via a Thai insurance company - and what they offered was lousy.

As far as I know, nothing ever came of that proposal. At least I have never been asked to show proof of any form of medical insurance. But in my opinion, anyone living in a foreign country without medical insurance is taking a huge risk.
Jogger

Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by Jogger »

fountainhall wrote:I can assure you that this has been policy at the Bangkok Chaengwattana Immigration Office for at least the last 5 years - or as long as I have been doing the Bt. 800,000 route. Every officer has asked for the update on the date application is made and has put a photocopy of the update in the file of paperwork after chopping it and signing it. But then I’m not an Immigration officer and so my assurance needs verification!
I am getting confused now. An applicant with 800,000 in a fixed account for more than 3 months satisfies the requirement, but is unable to add to his fixed deposit. So how can the fixed deposit be updated?
fountainhall

Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by fountainhall »

Gaybutton wrote:I suppose I am missing something. WHAT has been the policy? Exactly WHAT are you required to do?
I’ll try. For those using the Bt. 800,000 route, everyone needs a document from their bank written in Thai confirming that there has been a minimum balance in their savings account for not less than 90 days prior to the application. Since almost everyone applies earlyish in the morning, they can not get that bank letter on the day of application. So it has to be the day before - or I believe Immigration will accept 2 days before. That letter can only confirm the balance at the close of business the day before it is written. So there is a gap of at least 40+ hours between the bank’s written confirmation and the time of application.

Bangkok Immigration requires that immediately prior to meeting the Immigration officer to apply for the annual retirement renewal, the bank book is updated as some form of secondary confirmation that the Bt. 800,000 is still intact. That is done by going down to the bank machines in the basement, taking out or depositing an amount that can be as low as Bt. 100 and then going to the passbook update machine. That updated page then needs to be photocopied and added to the other papers presented to the Immigration officer.

That’s the procedure. But please don’t ask me why! I have learned it is best to do what is required without asking why.
fountainhall

Re: Yet Another Immigration Question

Post by fountainhall »

Jogger wrote:An applicant with 800,000 in a fixed account for more than 3 months satisfies the requirement but is unable to add to his fixed deposit. So how can the fixed deposit be updated?
I am told by the Immigration lawyer who helps me that a fixed account does not satisfy Bangkok Immigration. It has to be a savings account. Friends have confirmed this is what they have also been told. But I can not swear to it as I have never tried any method other than the savings account route.

For info, this is the online advice from G.A.M Legal Alliance which specifically refers to your bank book -
If you have the 800,000THB in a Thai account then you will have to bring the Thai bank book again which has been updated to show that you still have the 800,000THB in a bank account again. Note that you do not need to keep the 800,000THB in your bank account permanently however you need to be able to show it at renewal and that it has been there for 3 months prior to the renewal application.
https://gam-legalalliance.com/services/ ... a-renewal/
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