Two more CHANGES to Retirement Visa - effective Sept 1st!

[travelerjim]

TWO more extensions of Retirement Visa changes...
effective today - September 1, 2007

No More Dependent Extension Of Stay If The Host Foreigner Has A Retirement Extension Of Stay Permit

and

Map required

Sunbelt Asia ...a leading expert in Thai Visas has posted this message on ThaiVisa.com...
Two NEW changes to the retirement visa extension...
effective today September 1, 2007:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php ... pic=140252 (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=140252) .

"If a foreigner has been granted a extension of stay based on retirement, until now as per
7.19 of the Royal Police Office Order 606/2006 his or her foreign dependent ( Wife or husband, child, father, mother)
could get a extension of stay by being a dependent.

As of Sept 1st, no more dependent extension of stay permits will be issued if the foreigner has a extension of stay based on retirement.
This includes any тАЬgrandfatherтАЭ cases where the dependent applicant had the extension of stay before Sept 1st 2007.

Example. A foreigner husband is 53 years old and has a extension of stay based on retirement.
His wife is Japanese and they live together in Thailand. She is 43 years old and now cannot get a extension
of stay as a dependent.

Even if she was 51 years old, she does not qualify. She must meet her own set of criteria and not piggyback
off her husbands retirement extension of stay permit. If she is over 50 years old, she can get a extension of stay
based on retirement but must have her own 800K sent from outside the country to her bank account or qualify by having a pension of 65K per month.

Example: A foreigner has two children that are not Thai nationals. They are 16 years old and 12 years old.
They can no longer be a dependent to obtain a extension of stay permit by having a father who is over 50 years old.
They possibly can get a extension of stay permit or visa on a different criteria.
Perhaps they will qualify as a educational extension of stay permit.

This National Police Order will be dated Sept 1st 2007 and will be published in the Gazette in the next 10 days.
However this order is effective immediately.

This could be a U-turn next week but the odds are very high, this will continued to be the new law and interpretation.

If you are applying for the extension of stay based on retirement.
You now need to provide a map from Immigration to your house.

http://www.sunbeltasiagroup.com .

----------------------------

AMAZING THAILAND ....it never ceases to AMAZE!

TravelerJim

Amazing Thailand - foreigners not wanted

Some amusing additions to the visa conundrum.
First, a farang has to provide a map for the Thai Immigration dept so that they know where he lives. As any printed map I have seen in Thailand outside ones of Bangkok, all side streets, sois, new estates etc are completely left off. This means I asume they want something hand written. Do they want it written in Thai, or will Norwegian, English, Japanese do? Perhaps a Lat/Long coordinate will suffice, or will that test Thai Educational standards.
Second. exactly how many readers of this board have a wife with sons currently living in Thailand under current visa restrictions?

This is really a gay rights ruling!
You see now straight people can understand how it feels not to have our marriages recognized by the authorities!
Who knew?

What does the new rulings have to do with buying a house in Thailand?
Nothing.
You buy to live here. Right? thats the way I see it.

I don't have so much of a problem with them changing the requirements for renewing a visa extension, but what DOES bother me is that they are not grandfathering in people already here on a previous qualification.

In the past, when changes were made, e.g. raising the income/savings from B200,000 to B400,000 and later from B400,000 to B800,000, those folks who started under the previous amount continue to qualify on that amount today.

What they apparently are starting now, is that when they make a change, it doesn't matter on what basis you previously were qualified. They could raise the income/savings amount now to B10,000,000 and boot out most current retirees in one fell swoop.

I don't have so much of a problem with them changing the requirements for renewing a visa extension, but what DOES bother me is that they are not grandfathering in people already here on a previous qualification.

In the past, when changes were made, e.g. raising the income/savings from B200,000 to B400,000 and later from B400,000 to B800,000, those folks who started under the previous amount continue to qualify on that amount today.

What they apparently are starting now, is that when they make a change, it doesn't matter on what basis you previously were qualified. They could raise the income/savings amount now to B10,000,000 and boot out most current retirees in one fell swoop.
Yes, they don't give a hoot.
But they won't don't the one fell swoop way. That is not their style. Their style is the slow boil. Feeling kinda hot?

If you are applying for the extension of stay based on retirement.
You now need to provide a map from Immigration to your house.


TravelerJim

Having just renewed my extension of stay based on retirement was not asked to provide a map. Only 2 additional items were asked for:
1 there is no space on the offical form for a phone number, i was asked to write mine "anywhere on the form"
2 question - do you own or rent your house? No comments, no supplementary, just the question.

Whole process over in 10 minutes once at the desk - come back later to collect passport.

I just renewed my retirement extension yesterday at Pattaya Immigrations, and echo what gwm4asian wrote:

1. required to write my phone number on the application form, though there is no official space
2. female officer at the back who does the final authorization asked if I rented or owned my condo
3. no need for a map

BTW, weekdays at 1400h seems to be a good time to go to Pattya Immigrations to do this. Yesterday at that time I did my application and was first in line. Today at 1400h I picked up my passport and did the re-entry permit and again was first in line. Another fellow posted on ThaiVisa.com that he went at 1000 yesterday and had a considerable wait.

You had to wait a day to get the passport back? I always have gotten it before I left the building.

You had to wait a day to get the passport back? I always have gotten it before I left the building.I think if you submit it in the morning, you get it back in the afternoon. Last year and this year, I submitted my passport in the afternoon and was told to return the next day after 1000am.

Are you saying you have submitted for a retirement extension (not some other transaction) at Pattaya Immigrations and got your passport while you waited?

[Smiles]

As usual with this visa stuff, a dozen (+) different opinions and experiences.
Think I'll wait until the time comes to renew a 12-month visa and find out for myself. "About-All-This" ... GayButton is in his usual breathless and apoplectic mode over on GayThailand (pinning topics & spinning spinning spinning) , expressing his (royal) opinion on this and that and worrying whether he'll ever be able to find the Ministry of Immigration in Bangkok 'somewhere' over by Don Muang Airport.

Love it!

Cheers ...

[quote="bkk gwm
Are you saying you have submitted for a retirement extension (not some other transaction) at Pattaya Immigrations and got your passport while you waited?[/quote]

Yah, I always got it right away. In the old station I had to go back in the PM but not in the new place.

Are you saying you have submitted for a retirement extension (not some other transaction) at Pattaya Immigrations and got your passport while you waited?
Yah, I always got it right away. In the old station I had to go back in the PM but not in the new place.
Why... why... why, that's just not fair! (stomping my foot)

I wonder what the difference is between your extension process and mine (and a few others who I observed: a Norwegian, and a couple others whose passport color/design I didn't recognize)? We were all told to return the next day after 10am. Oh, well. <shrug>

[Smiles]

bkk gwm, I could have sworn there was a 'stomping my foot' smilie amongst the hundreds provided by The Boss, but after a long search, apparently there is not.

The closest was 'banging my head' :banghead: . . . slightly stronger in emphasis than 'stomping my foot', but not by much.


You're welcome, and cheers ...

Such as