Jun wrote:I am presuming the embassies required some form of proof of income to issue the letters.
I don't know about other embassies, but the USA embassy never required any form of evidence at all, other than your word for it. That is how many American farang who didn't have 800,000 baht and also could not meet the 65,000 baht per month requirement got away with it for all these years - until now.
Thai immigration knew this all along, but now Thailand's new immigration chief is taking a hard line stance and made it clear that if the embassies are going to issue proof of income statements, then they must start requiring actual proof. The embassies say they have no way to do that, although I really don't understand why. If you can bring documented proof with you to the embassy, I don't know what the problem is.
Nevertheless the embassies are going to stop issuing the statements and Thai immigration will soon no longer accept them, if they haven't already stopped accepting them, whether the embassies issue them or not.
Thai immigration law does say that proof of a monthly income of 65,000 baht or more is acceptable for meeting the financial requirement for the retirement visa. They had always accepted the embassy letters. The problem for people who can meet the requirement is what Thai immigration will now accept as actual proof. To date, Thai immigration has not said what, if anything, they will accept.
So, the position those who want the retirement visa are currently in is the only thing we
know for sure immigration will accept in order to obtain the visa is 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account for a minimum of three months.
We're getting conflicting reports about whether Thai immigration will accept anything else. So, at this point we simply don't know where things stand on that.
There is an old American saying that when you find yourself in an impossible situation,
"You're up Shit Creek without a paddle." However, yesterday Dodger posted that he spoke with a Pattaya immigration officer who told him the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account for at least three months is now mandatory,
BUT for those who can't meet that requirement, but can meet the 65,000 baht requirement, they will be handled on a case by case basis.
See:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9338&p=90794#p90791
Even so, we still know nothing about specifically what immigration will or will not accept, but at least now there is some hope for those who can meet the 65,000 baht requirement, but cannot or simply do not wish to keep 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account.
In other words, if what Dodger was told is indeed correct, now you've at least got the paddle, but you're still up Shit Creek . . .