Official Word From US Embassy

[kjun12]

U.S. Mission in Thailand to Cease Providing Income Affidavit

October 26, 2018

Bangkok, THAILAND

 

As of January 1, 2019, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and the U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai will cease to provide the income affidavit for the purpose of applying for Thai retirement and family visas and will not notarize previous versions of the income affidavit.  The Royal Thai Government requires actual verification of income to certify visa applicants meet financial requirements for long-stay visas.  The U.S. government cannot provide this verification and will no longer issue the affidavits. 

 

Please consult the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C. and Royal Thai Immigration Bureau websites for information on how to meet the requirements for a Thai retirement visa or extension.

[BiBottomBoy]

So what does that mean?

[kjun12]

This is most important to those who are seeking to extend a one year retirement visa.  Now they will have to have 800,000 baht in a Thai bank or prove that they are receiving 65,000 baht per month into a Thai bank account.

[TotallyOz]

Kjun,

I know many retirees may not have the 65,000 baht per month but won't most have 800,000 K in the bank as I thought that money was required to stay in the bank for the initial visa? 

[Latbear4blk]

If I am right, that is almost 2k U$S. I thought that is a lot of money as monthly income to live in Thailand. Am I wrong?

[TotallyOz]

2 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

If I am right, that is almost 2k U$S. I thought that is a lot of money as monthly income to live in Thailand. Am I wrong?

It depends on your lifestyle and what you want to do and how much you want to do it. Living in Bangkok is not cheap, but could be easily done on 2k per month but not with many trips to the bars. Short times on apps are about 60-70 USD. Food is cheap if done on your own but Western restaurants are more expensive.

[Latbear4blk]

58 minutes ago, TotallyOz said:

It depends on your lifestyle and what you want to do and how much you want to do it. Living in Bangkok is not cheap, but could be easily done on 2k per month but not with many trips to the bars. Short times on apps are about 60-70 USD. Food is cheap if done on your own but Western restaurants are more expensive.

Thanks for educating me. But I still do not fully understand. Based on previous posts in this thread, I had the impression that the 2K minimun requirement was considered too high by the posters. However, you are telling me that it is not. What am I missing?

[MsGuy]

Latbear,  I don't know shit about Thailand  but my best guess is that the authorities (for whatever reason) do not want to compete for foreigners with marginal incomes looking for a cheap place to retire.

Or maybe it's just an incompetent bureaucracy running wild. 

[Latbear4blk]

24 minutes ago, MsGuy said:

Latbear,  I don't know shit about Thailand  but my best guess is that the authorities (for whatever reason) do not want to compete for foreigners with marginal incomes looking for a cheap place to retire.

Or maybe it's just an incompetent bureaucracy running wild. 

What confuses me is that, based on @TotallyOz's report, the cap should be higher in order to do so. It is probably incompetency, you're right.

[kjun12]

MS, it is a little of both of those but, it is mostly the second.  The whole Thai culture is warped.