.. RETIREMENT VISA - Proof of Income (Americans)

[lolokalbo]

Here is my take on getting a retirement paperwork or any paperwork certified by U.S Embassy.  I had to do paperwork in Thailand and Philipines and the process works the same. 

First, you are swearing on OATH that what are supplying is the TRUTH. That is all the embassy really cares about and if something happens later you lied under oath.  They really do not look at the paperwork and I even once ask a person in the PI embassy if you are going to look at what I brought??? The answer was no because that is your paperwork. 

If you tell the US embassy you have 3,000 monthly coming in but only have 1,700 it is your issue and not the embassy. Honestly it is pretty simple to getting paperwork certified by the embassy.   

 

[lolokalbo]

21 minutes ago, davidge said:

I think he meant that the person's monthly income was below the required level so he would also need some money in the bank to combine with that to get to the required 800000 baht.

If your monthly income meets the requirements then it doesn't matter what you have in the bank.

 

Got is my mistake, but 60,000 seems low?  When I did mine a few months ago they still demanded 800K if I was below income level.  

[Garzan]

1 hour ago, lolokalbo said:

Got is my mistake, but 60,000 seems low?  When I did mine a few months ago they still demanded 800K if I was below income level.  

You are correct, 60,000 baht is low. 65,000 baht per month pension income, or 800,000 baht in a Thai bank, or a combination of the two (it is not either-or) is correct. It's easy enough to Google a Thai government site to verify without leaving something this important to some random internet forum. :-)

[Goolabert]

FYI. Here is the official criteria the immigration offices are supposed to follow. This is for the one year extension of stay for retirement (commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as a "Retirement Visa").

 

ORDER OF THE IMMIGRATION BUREAU  No. 327/2557
Subject:   Criteria and Conditions for Consideration of an Alien’s Application  for a Temporary Stay in the Kingdom of Thailand

2.22 In the case of retirement:
The alien:

(1) Must have been granted a non­immigrant visa (NON­IM).
(2) Must be 50 years of age or over.
(3) Must have evidence of having income of no less than Baht 65,000 per month: or
(4) On the filing date, the applicant must have funds deposited in a bank in Thailand of no less than Baht 800,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 60 days prior to the filing date: or
(5) Must have an annual earning and fluids deposited with a bank totaling no less than Baht 800,0000 as of the filing date.
(6) An alien who entered the Kingdom before October 21, 1998 and has been consecutively permitted to stay in the Kingdom for retirement shall be subject to the following criteria:
(a) Must be 60 years of age or over and have an annual fixed income with fluids maintained in a bank account for the past three months of no less than Baht 200,000 or have a monthly income of no less than Baht 20,000
(b) If less than 60 years of age but not less than 55 years of age, must have an annual fixed income with funds maintained in a bank account for the past three months of no less than Baht 500,000or have a monthly income of no less than Baht 50,000

 

[brutox]

Just processed my extension of stay yesterday at Thai Immigration in Chaeng Wattana .. the details of what is necessary are pretty well documented in the thread .. I thought I'd add a note on how to minimize the pain of the long processing time.

When I applied for extension of stay last year, I noted that the bureaucrats process the applications far, far faster in the late afternoon than earlier in the day .. while there yesterday, I calculated the processing times.

Here is the rate at which they called applicants from the queue:

• 08.30 - 11.00 ... 22/hour
• 11.00 - 12.00 ... 11/hour
• 12.00 - 13.00 ... none (lunch)
• 13.00 - 15.00 ... 15/hour
• 15.00 - 16.00 ... 31/hour
• 16.00 - 16.30 ... 44/hour

I arrived at 11.00a and was #128 in a queue of 154 applications submitted for processing that day .. by 11.00a, they were on applicant #56 .. I not was called up until 4.00p, and didn't get out of there until 4.30p.

So, if you arrive in the morning (when I suspect there is a crush of people waiting to get in), be prepared for a long wait unless you are amongst the first in line.

Alternatively, I think the call is to be last in the queue .. the last applications are accepted at 3.30p .. these guys are bureaucrats .. they are not going to work later than 4.30p, so they really crank them out when quitting time is close (there were a few stragglers being processed when I departed at 4.30p, but not many).

Conclusion:

• I arrived at 11.00a, and was #128 in the queue .. they were on # 56 .. I waited 5 hours before being called (lunch hour included).
• I could have arrived at 3.30p and taken queue number #154 (the last in line) .. they would have then been on about #111 .. I would have waited only 1-1/2 hours to be called.

          (Okay .., yeah .. I was just a little bored waiting my turn.)

The problem .. late in the day, no taxis are then available to get back to BKK .. 15, or 20 people in the taxi queue in front of me .. only 2 taxis in 10 minutes, although the motorcycle queue was faster.

The solution .. take the free shuttle bus from Door #1 (walk back through the building to get there), which will promptly deposited me on the main road in front of the complex (Chaeng Wattana Road) .. picked-up a taxi in minutes and made it to the Phayon Yothin MRT Station in 20 minutes and THB 100 fare, plus THB 15 road toll.

 

[Garzan]

Just did another 12 month retirement extension on Friday. Income letter from the US Embassy. No bank book required, no supplemental proof of income required. In and out in under an hour, and 1900 baht. (I haven't bothered purchasing a re-entry permit in four years.)

note: I clip exact change onto my paperwork bundle and pass the whole lot across all at one time.

[how122255]

1 hour ago, Garzan said:

Just did another 12 month retirement extension on Friday. Income letter from the US Embassy. No bank book required, no supplemental proof of income required. In and out in under an hour, and 1900 baht. (I haven't bothered purchasing a re-entry permit in four years.)

note: I clip exact change onto my paperwork bundle and pass the whole lot across all at one time.

Excellent !  That's the proper way to handle things.  Have all your paperwork,  that makes things move along smoothly.

[typhoon42]

2 hours ago, Garzan said:

Just did another 12 month retirement extension on Friday. Income letter from the US Embassy. No bank book required, no supplemental proof of income required. In and out in under an hour, and 1900 baht. (I haven't bothered purchasing a re-entry permit in four years.)

note: I clip exact change onto my paperwork bundle and pass the whole lot across all at one time.

Did you have to provide a long term lease contract or proof of condo ownership?

 

[Garzan]

7 hours ago, typhoon42 said:

Did you have to provide a long term lease contract or proof of condo ownership?

 

No, I have a Yellow House book for the house I rent. No other proof of address was required.

[typhoon42]

1 hour ago, Garzan said:

No, I have a Yellow House book for the house I rent. No other proof of address was required.

Thanks for the info.  

As a short term renter I suppose I'll have to pay the "tea money" for my next extension towards the end of the year when I'm back in Pattaya.

I had to pay extra last time because I didn't have at least a six month lease, yellow book or chanote.

 I was informed of this by the Filipinas that work the support office next door.

 

[Garzan]

2 hours ago, typhoon42 said:

Thanks for the info.  

As a short term renter I suppose I'll have to pay the "tea money" for my next extension towards the end of the year when I'm back in Pattaya.

I had to pay extra last time because I didn't have at least a six month lease, yellow book or chanote.

 I was informed of this by the Filipinas that work the support office next door.

 

Not to doubt anyone working next door, but were it me, I'd look for whoever took over Barry's job as the special English speaking liaison inside the Immigration office over someone outside trying to sell you a service.