Changes to Retirement Visa ??

[x in pattaya]

I've copied this (almost) in it's entirety from Thai Visa message board:


The topic title here is taken from the headline of an article on the front-page of the most recent issue of the Pattaya Today newspaper date Volume 6, Issue 21 16-31 July 2007

I post this to generate some discussions about this to see if anyone else has seen this article or one like it. Forgive me for any typing errors as I am the hunt and peck typist and I believe I have quoted the article in it's entirety.

I fall into the area of using the letter and partial money in the bank. I am an American over 60 with a full pension and this year I will be renewing for the second time. I just received a new letter from the US Embassy last month so I will easily be OK about the 12 month limit.

The article goes into detail to say:

"The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that effective October 1 this year, foreign applicants for the one year retirement visa, or those renewing, must take their embassy letter guaranteeing their income to the ministry of foreign affairs in Bangkok for a stamp of confirmation. They then return to the local immigration bureau with the letter and process the application as now."

The article goes on to say:

"The ministry emphasized that applicants need journey to Bangkok to do this only once and not annually. The letter they take to the ministry must be the original from the embassy and must not be more than 12 months old. This means that most applicants for a retirement visa, or a renewal, from October 1 this year will need a new letter from their embassy concerning his or her income."

It continues:

"Immigration sources stressed that all applicants for one year visas, whether farangs over the age of 50 or those with a Thai spouse or dependents, will need to register as a one-off with the ministry if they need an embassy letter as part of the process. "It's just one extra step and the immigration bureau will handle the applications as now provided that the embassy letter has to be stamped by the ministry," a senior police official said, adding that no other regulations have been changed."


"The exception to the new rule are those foreigners, aged 50 and above, who keep at least 800,000 baht in a Thai bank and can show it has been there for three months prior to the application renewal.
These long stayers do not need a letter from the respective embassy to apply for the yearly visa and thus do not have to appear at the ministry of foreign affairs in Bangkok. However, only a small minority of retirement visa holders keep such a sum in a Thai bank for the requisite period, most relying on a combination of pension income in their home country and a lessor amount in the Thai bank."

"Holder's of one year visas, whether retirement or the married man's variety, are asked to note the new regulation for the time being."

The article closes by saying, "Nearer the starting date on October 1,2007, there will be leaflets in English and Thai available at immigration bureaus, including currently ambiguous matters such as foreigners who are unable to travel long distances because they are incapacitated."

[x in pattaya]

I might add that an American I know in my building stopped to talk yesterday and he said a friend of his had over one million baht in the bank but his application for another year's extension on the retirement visa was denied in Bangkok.

Even if you have more than the required B 800,000 in the bank, I believe, Immigrations still wants to see that foreign originated deposits were being made, and of course the balance needs to have been maintained above B 800,000 for at least three months prior to the time of application so that you can't play moveable-bank-balances with all your friends.

He also said he went to Bangkok Bank for the manager's letter regarding banking balances and transactions, and the lady there told him that Immigrations has Internet access to all your bank account information. When he said that it didn't sink in, so I didn't ask for clarification. Only later that evening did the implications of that begin to niggle my brain.

Aside from the Big Brother issue, does anyone know if this means a letter is no longer needed? Not to be condescending, but I have a difficult time believing that they have every expat's banking info available at the tap of the Enter key.

[TrongpaiExpat]

Hard to fathom how the Pattaya Today newspaper got this scoop and not the Bangkok Post or the Nation.

Anyone know what office of the ministry of foreign affairs in Bangkok? They have a web page listing 5 differnet locations and 13 departments.
www.mfa.go.th/web/9.php (http://www.mfa.go.th/web/9.php)

This, if true, does not sound like fun. I wonder how much this "stamp" is going to cost?

He also said he went to Bangkok Bank for the manager's letter regarding banking balances and transactions, and the lady there told him that Immigrations has Internet access to all your bank account information.
Aside from the Big Brother issue, does anyone know if this means a letter is no longer needed? Not to be condescending, but I have a difficult time believing that they have every expat's banking info available at the tap of the Enter key.

Not quite as simple as tapping the Enter key.

The Thai Revenue is able to access the details of any banking information held by any Thai Bank in as much as they are able to view balances of accounts managed by those banks and movements of money. As under Thai banking regulations the accounts of non Thai persons or non-Thai companies must be easily identifiable as Foreign it is therefore quite feasible that they could check transactions in and out of a specific farang account should they so wish.

Whether they do so or not or how frequently they do so is a matter of conjecture, but the consensus of opinion in the Thai banking/financial sector is that they do.

I bet if the word sex was added to this thread more people would have paid attention.