Additional proof of income needed to renew one year retirement visa?

[Guest buckeroo2]

I suggest that you download anything available online that shows some income. For example, if you have a brokerage account or money in the bank, print it out. The more stuff you print out the better if they ask for some documentation.

 

I would also suggest that you leave your "Good boys go to heaven, bad boys go to Pattaya T-shirt at home. Dress respectfully, wear a Buddha string around your wrist, and smile.

 

It seems that the immigration officer can exercise discretion so even if what you download doesn't look as official as a mailed statement it "might" be good enough.

 

After I wrote that statement about not bringing anything with me to Thailand as proof of income I realized I live in a paperless world. I have not received a bank statement or broker's statement in years. All of my statements and correspondence is online. So printing these statements from the internet is my only option anyway. All statements are on bank and Fidelity letterhead - just not original copies - is that an oxymoron or what?

[Gaybutton]

So printing these statements from the internet is my only option anyway. All statements are on bank and Fidelity letterhead - just not original copies

I would guess that is perfectly acceptable. The Immigration people are well aware of things like that.

 

Again, I'd bet money that very few people are going to be asked to produce additional proof. If Thailand all of a sudden came up with an excuse to start booting out farang without a damned good reason, the embassies would be screaming and the negative publicity about it would be quite harmful. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Thailand is trying to attract farang now. They're not looking for reasons to deny people a retirement visa. They simply want people to comply with their laws. I see nothing unreasonable about that.

 

I really believe this is nothing more than an option available to Immigration if they have reason to suspect the farang applicant is lying. I'm not sure, but I would imagine they have had this same option available to them all along. It certainly doesn't sound like anything new to me. If anyone is having a panic attack over this, again I think you're blowing this way out of proportion. At least postpone your panic attack until we find out whether they actually are asking people for additional proof and what they will accept.

[Guest Astrrro]

Will I encounter any problems trying to renew the visa one month in advance because I do not intend to be physically in Thailand on the date of expiry of current visa?

 

I was told by Barry Kenyon, the British Consul, that you can renew up to 90 days in advance.

 

I tried to renew 180 days in advance and I was denied.

 

Probably helps if you bring your plane ticket showing you're departing in May.

[2lz2p]

I was told by Barry Kenyon, the British Consul, that you can renew up to 90 days in advance.

 

I tried to renew 180 days in advance and I was denied.

 

Probably helps if you bring your plane ticket showing you're departing in May.

 

Barry has mentioned this several times when updating Immigration matters for the Pattaya City Expats Club. He also announced that Immigration prefers renewals be done at least 7 days before expiration so, if any problems, it can be corrected before the foreigner winds up in an overstay situation.

 

A good friend of mine renewed almost 90 days in advance, no questions were asked by Immigration on why he wanted to renew so early (at that time, there had been a notice that beginning Oct 1 that year, one would have to have their Embassy letters also certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, his visa expired a couple months after the effective date, so he wanted to renew to avoid the hassle -- fortunately, that requirement was rescinded before it became effective )

 

Myself, I usually renew 4 to 6 weeks in advance and have never been questioned about why so early. One time I renewed early, I was going to Hong Kong between the date I renewed and the expiration date of my retirement visa. After renewing about 5 weeks before the expiration date, I then got a reentry permit -- the expiration date on it was my "new" expiration date some 13 months later.

 

[Guest buckeroo2]

After I wrote that statement about not bringing anything with me to Thailand as proof of income I realized I live in a paperless world. I have not received a bank statement or broker's statement in years. All of my statements and correspondence is online. So printing these statements from the internet is my only option anyway. All statements are on bank and Fidelity letterhead - just not original copies - is that an oxymoron or what?

 

OK, I did the retirement visa renewal this morning. There is a moderator on thaivisa.com forum who corrects people when they call it a "retirement visa". He always says Thailand does not offer a retirement visa but rather an extension of your stay in the Kingdom for retirement purposes. Anyway, when I entered Pattaya Immigration and went to the machine to get a service #, number 8 is clearly marked "Retirement Visa".

 

As it is a Monday and supposedly a busy day at Immigration, I arrived early - at 8:10AM for an 8:30 AM opening. There were about 15 people already waiting when I arrived. I got in line and by the time they opened the doors at 8:30 AM there were approximately 50 people in line. As I said, I got a service ticket pressing #8 - marked "Retirement Visa" Even with 15 others entering before me, I was still #E002 - the second person applying for a retirement visa. I waited about 5 minutes and my # was called. I checked everything thoroughly and had copies of everything I figured they could possible ask for. But, of course, they always want something else. They told me I needed another copy of one page in my passport. It had the original Retirement visa stamp from 2007. I had already copied the page with the latest current/expiring retirement visa stamp but they still wanted a copy of the page with the 1st original retirement visa stamp. I went to the copy shop, had that made and returned to the desk to complete my application process.

 

They did not ask for any additional income verification other than the U.S. Embassy proof-of-income letter.

 

Also, I bank at Siam Trust and last week I decided to go to a different branch here in Pattaya to get the bank letter but I was told I had to get that from my original branch where the account was opened. I was trying to avoid that as I bank at Siam Trust at Tuk Com. While their hours are usually convenient as they are open 7 days a week until 8:00 PM they do not open until 10:30 AM. The bank from which I tried to get the letter opened at 8:30 AM. Anyway, I did not want to wait until 10:30 AM - wait in line for a service agent to draft the letter and then head off to Immigration. I figured by that time Immigration would be closing for lunch and I would have to be there all afternoon. So I took a chance and got my bank letter on Sunday - the day before I applied for my retirement visa. I figured the most Immigration could do was tell me they would not accept it and then I would just go back to my bank and get another letter and return the same day. Anyway, no one questioned the date on my bank letter - it was just one day earlier than the application.

 

While I was there, a farang came over to the Immigration officer who was waiting on me - they exchanged pleasantries as if they knew each other. They shook hands and the farang placed 1,000 baht in the palm of the hand of the immigration officer who in turn put the money in a cup on his desk - and not in the same box where he put my 1,900 baht fee. This farang handed the officer some sort of form and the officer stamped it, the farang thanked him and out the door he went.

 

After I finished this first process I was directed to another lady officer who had me sign all of the copies I presented and told me that I can pick up my passport tomorrow after 2 PM. I looked at my watch as I was leaving and it was 8:55 AM - so the entire process took 25 minutes once the doors opened.

 

But to the question at hand, I repeat - no one asked me for any income verification other than the proof-of-income letter I presented from the U.S. Embassy. And yes, I dressed properly this time - dress shirt, khaki slacks, and loafers.

[Gaybutton]

There is a moderator on thaivisa.com forum who corrects people when they call it a "retirement visa". He always says Thailand does not offer a retirement visa but rather an extension of your stay in the Kingdom for retirement purposes.

 

I was told I had to get that from my original branch where the account was opened. no one questioned the date on my bank letter - it was just one day earlier than the application.

 

no one asked me for any income verification other than the proof-of-income letter I presented from the U.S. Embassy.

Thank you for your detailed post. First, the moderator at Thaivisa is both right and wrong. Only within the past couple of years did Immigration start referring to it as a retirement visa and now they also stamp the word "retirement" on the visa itself. However, the form you fill out to obtain the visa is an 'extension of temporary stay' application. I've attached a copy of it below.

 

Yes, most banks do require you to obtain the 'letter for Immigration' from the branch at which you originally opened the account, so it does help to try to open your account at a convenient location. If you move, you can always close your account and open a new one at another branch. It is my understanding that Immigration accepts the bank letter up to one week prior to the day you apply for the visa, although they do prefer the letter and bank passbook update to be dated the same day you apply for the visa.

 

Ok, that's two people so far, lvdkeyes and buckeroo2, who went through the process and were not asked to supply anything other than the proof-of-income statement from the embassy.

[Guest buckeroo2]

I was told to pick up my passport with the new retirement visa stamp after 2 PM today. I needed to have that retirement stamp in my passport before applying for a re-entry visa so the re-entry visa would be good for one year and not just for a few weeks when my old retirement visa expires. So I filled out all of the paper work and took it with me today and applied for the re-entry visa after I picked up my passport at 2 PM. I was called by the Immigration officer 10 minutes after arriving and set to go in 15 minutes. I was told to pick up my passport with the re-entry visa tomorrow. I am not positive but it seems to me that in the past I simply had to wait a short time after applying for a re-entry visa to get my passport returned to me - maybe 15 minutes or so. I asked if I there was a time I needed to pick up my passport tomorrow and the officer told me to pick it up before noon. Am I mistaken or is this a new procedure? Since I have to go again tomorrow it will be 3 days in a row I will be visiting the Immigration office.

[Gaybutton]

Am I mistaken or is this a new procedure?

Not really. Whether they'll do it immediately or tell you to come back the next day normally depends on the time of day you submitted your paperwork and how big the pile happens to be of passports waiting for the permit.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

There are some things that are nicer out here in the wilds of Eastern Thailand. I have to drive 50 km to get to the immigration office, but a new retirement visa and a multiply re-entry stamp took about 45 minutes total, all one stop shopping. They said it will be faster next time, as this was the first time I acquired a visa at this office, and next time it will be quick. Hope So!!

[Gaybutton]

There are some things that are nicer out here in the wilds of Eastern Thailand.

Unfortunately for some, another new regulation that apparently is being enforced is, with the exception of 90-day address reports, you have to take care of any other Immigration requirements in the office closest to your place of residence.

[Gaybutton]

Now that the brouhaha about this seems to have settled down, I'm wondering if anyone who recently renewed was actually asked to provide additional proof of income, beyond the embassy statement.