New Immigration Fee?

Post by **kopkei** » July 28, 2015, 6:32 pm

on all the photo's you and your wife must be on them ...even when we did the last marriage extension , on the photo in front of the home, the home number had to be visible too...after doing this circus for 12 years i finally went to a retirement visa when i became 50 , way more easy ...and all the rules change depending what area you live , udon, nongkhai the most difficult ..., have a friend in gorath and till now he makes marriage extensions without any need of a witness ...in udon sometimes you will need 2 ...TIT...

Post by **rick** » July 28, 2015, 8:00 pm

Yes, i had to do a new photo for immigration as well for my marriage visa, as although i had a picture in front of the house showing number it didn't show the whole house .... so i took one from the side in the garden (In the front i couldn't get the whole house in due to a narrow road) and they accepted that.

it was a bit of a marathon and had to sign my name about 40 times and the pile of document copies they ended up with was about 2 inches high! I dread to think how big my file at immigration will be in 10 years time .... But all said and done, they were reasonably helpful. I had to wait 6 weeks to get it approved (Xmas and new year) but i could wait.... They did visit the house but i expect as close to Udon it was a chance to get out of the office for a couple of hours and still claim to be working ....

Post by **Hoopoe** » July 30, 2015, 7:37 am

Hoopoe wrote: just been looking on immigration sites required docs etc ,but cant find anything stating house pic must have you infront of house,(maybe I'm missing something ) besides the point of they can ask for anything they want, can anyone throw some light on this , on returning to IMM i was served straight away ,didn't have to wait again , dealt with quickly and politely 1900 bht ,

thanks for the input ,,,but the question remains ,anyone have web sites that have all the required doc's /photo request's etc for the marriage extension ,the sites that i looked on i can't find anything that covers the photo's ,

Post by **Khun Paul** » July 30, 2015, 8:09 pm

Ok heads up guys.
A friend of mine has just completed his yearly Retirement visa renewal and this is what he said. ( he is British by the way )
1, They required all pages copied from your passport of all the visas you have had, so basically copy every page, ( better to be safe than sorry )
2, fee of 1900 Thb as per usual.
3 They stamp your passport with a months extension ( they say free ) and give you your passport BACK , asking you to re\turn on date specified to collect a Years Visa stamp.
4 Letter of income from the UK Embassy was accepted with no comments and nothing was said about the monthly requirement for next year. . ( it is thought that applies possibly to the Americans and the Australians )

Apart from the wait all done with smiles and no problems.

it was noted by my friend that there appears to be a new BOSS in town a lady with 3 pips, sitting in the office and watching what is going on.

Post by **Jello** » July 31, 2015, 12:54 am

Khun Paul wrote:Ok heads up guys.
A friend of mine has just completed his yearly Retirement visa renewal and this is what he said. ( he is British by the way )
1, They required all pages copied from your passport of all the visas you have had, so basically copy every page, ( better to be safe than sorry )
2, fee of 1900 Thb as per usual.
3 They stamp your passport with a months extension ( they say free ) and give you your passport BACK , asking you to re\turn on date specified to collect a Years Visa stamp.
4 Letter of income from the UK Embassy was accepted with no comments and nothing was said about the monthly requirement for next year. . ( it is thought that applies possibly to the Americans and the Australians )

Apart from the wait all done with smiles and no problems.

it was noted by my friend that there appears to be a new BOSS in town a lady with 3 pips, sitting in the office and watching what is going on.

Are you talking about the Udon or Nong Khai immigration office?

The income letter issue was discussed on another thread concerning a requirement at the Nong Khai office only: http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/i ... 37469.html

And what does "a lady with 3 pips" mean?

Post by **pomps** » July 31, 2015, 1:04 am

They love their pips,maybe she reports back her findings to a four pipped lady

Post by **Jello** » July 31, 2015, 1:08 am

pomps wrote:

They love their pips,maybe she reports back her findings to a four pipped lady

Or if you don't have the right papers, they put you on that midnight train to Georgia.

Post by **Jello** » July 31, 2015, 1:56 am

pomps wrote:

They love their pips,maybe she reports back her findings to a four pipped lady

Couldn't find anything specific to Immigration Office rank, but I think its the same as police here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cate ... f_Thailand

Looks like the 3 stars (or pips) is a Captain and is the highest rank.

Post by **Khun Paul** » July 31, 2015, 6:03 am

Talking about the Udon office , I threw in the info about the financial side to counter the info coming from Nong Khai.
to allay fears for some that having to supply the required income stream on a monthly basis could cause problems.

Post by **kubotatim** » July 31, 2015, 6:08 am

I hope the monthly income has to be proven everywhere, the current american/aussi way is a total farce.

Post by **Hoopoe** » July 31, 2015, 7:18 am

The higher ranking lady was there when they questioned my house photo ,first the youngish man (far right desk ) took the pic's to glasses lady who then referred him to lady sat at the back desk ,there seemed to be a different atmosphere there , the glasses lady also questioned the wife about where we live (she was not dealing with my application) but because i can get the drift of the language ,,,i answered her questions instead of the wife ,, maybe expecting a home visit now , only my 10th extension ,ha

Post by **stereolab** » July 31, 2015, 9:20 am

it was noted by my friend that there appears to be a new BOSS in town a lady with 3 pips, sitting in the office and watching what is going on.[/quote]

Are you talking about the Udon or Nong Khai immigration office?

The income letter issue was discussed on another thread concerning a requirement at the Nong Khai office only: http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/i ... 37469.html

Any chance you could get the 3 pip lady to pop over to Nong Khai and tell them that they should not be making up their own rules viz-a-viz monthly income streams from overseas.As an ex military administrator, it makes my blood boil, when a simple process is made overly complicated.

Post by **Khun Paul** » July 31, 2015, 11:18 am

As I have said previously, the British Embassy I know will NOT ISSUE any letter regarding income unless they have VISIBLE proof that the income is being paid by a pension provider be that a company or the Government, therefore NOT to accept their letter would say we do not believe you , which of course the Embassy can prove the facts as stated. What other countries do I know not, but I do know that the American and also I believe the Australian Govts do NOT follow the British criteria, hence the problem I assume, maybe I am wrong , but that is what I can gather

Post by **stereolab** » July 31, 2015, 11:39 am

Khun Paul wrote:As I have said previously, the British Embassy I know will NOT ISSUE any letter regarding income unless they have VISIBLE proof that the income is being paid by a pension provider be that a company or the Government, therefore NOT to accept their letter would say we do not believe you , which of course the Embassy can prove the facts as stated. What other countries do I know not, but I do know that the American and also I believe the Australian Govts do NOT follow the British criteria, hence the problem I assume, maybe I am wrong , but that is what I can gather

The British Embassy has provided me with letters twice now, and they do indeed require original evidence, overall an easy experience. If Nong Khai are going down the "income stream from overseas route" at 65k per month, then I will not need this years letter, but just have to show the income stream letter from the bank, quite a saving.

BTW , I am very happy with the service I have received in the past from Nong Khai, additionally, I am one of the lucky few who were able to 90 day report online.

Post by **Jello** » July 31, 2015, 12:18 pm

stereolab wrote: BTW , I am very happy with the service I have received in the past from Nong Khai, additionally, I am one of the lucky few who were able to 90 day report online.[/color]

As a comparison to the Udon Immigration office,

Does the Nong Khai office have a 30-day waiting period for the retirement visa extension?

Do they charge a fee for transferring a visa to a new passport or address verification letters?

Post by **Jello** » July 31, 2015, 1:08 pm

kubotatim wrote:I hope the monthly income has to be proven everywhere, the current american/aussi way is a total farce.

It appears that you have little understanding of the process. So lets take a look at this "farce" as you call it.

US AFFIDAVIT:
From the US Embassy website:

The Embassy takes no responsibility for the content of affidavits; however, persons who knowingly make false statements in an affidavit sworn before a U.S. Consular Officer may be subject to perjury charges under U.S. law.
http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/index.html

From Cornell law website:

in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true; is guilty of perjury and shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. This section is applicable whether the statement or subscription is made within or without the United States. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1621

The fee for the US affidavit is $50. USD

AUSTRALIA STATUTORY DECLARATION:

Intentionally making a false statement as a statutory declaration is a crime equivalent to perjury, and punishable by fines and/or a prison sentence of up to four years.
The states of Australia each have their own laws regarding statutory declarations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_declaration

From the final statement on the Australian statutory declaration form:

"Note 1 A person who intentionally makes a false statement in a statutory declaration is guilty of an offence, the punishment for which is imprisonment for a term of 4 years — see section 11 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959.
Note 2 Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code applies to all offences against the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 — see section 5A of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959."http://thailand.embassy.gov.au/bkok/consular.html

Both affidavit and statutory declaration must be made with both a sworn verbal and written statement before a consular official and includes a signature block on the documents for both the officer and applicant to sign.

(On a side note, both conduct Consular outreach visits. The US sends Consular staff to multiple cities in Thailand. The Australian to only Chiang Mai and Phuket at this time.)

UK STANDARD LETTER:
The UK Consular Section issues what is called a "standard letter".
As with the US affidavit and Aus declaration, the standard letter will feature a official seal proving it came from the respective Consulate.

The process is done through the mail and the form requires no signature or sworn statement. Cost 2,475 Baht (+100 for postage).

From the UK Consulate website:

Requirements
· Photocopy of your current British passport data page (page with photo)
· Evidence of your current pension/income which will be returned to you
· Your local Thai address to be typed on the letter
· Completed form as below. Please note we will use the financial figures provided on this form and will not check or amend any financial amounts.

Please ensure the pension/income evidence you provide is in a form that is simple and easy to understand and shows clearly the key financial amounts that are required for inclusion in the letter.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... Master.pdf

The US affidavit and Aus declaration both list serious penalties for false statements. I cannot find anything that states penalty for falsifying documents to the UK Consulate.

The opportunity to falsify income exists in all three methods above. The difference from what I can see is there is no legal penalty for falsifying your income at the UK Consulate.

So Citizens of the UK, if you know of a penalty please post a reference here. Please post fact rather than hearsay, speculation and assumptions.

Or you could pose the question to a UK Consulate Officer during there next outreach visit to Udon.

Post by **kubotatim** » July 31, 2015, 2:43 pm

We cannot falsify in UK consulate as we have to prove our income, and so should everyone else, UK do not come to Udon, we have to go to Bangkok, you lot can lie as much as you want and immigration has finally cottoned on, good in my opinion we all know the rules.

Post by **wazza** » July 31, 2015, 2:52 pm

Maybe the US and Aust Embassies trust their citizens more as all they have to do if a false declaration is made in their presence and found under law to be proved is cancel your passport.

Post by **pomps** » July 31, 2015, 2:54 pm

Can add Canada to the list where affadavit is required,just checked on the siamlegal website,according to your quote, the word evidence is referenced with regards to UK

Am sticking with cash in bank

I presume while the three pipped lady is in attendance there are no requests for cash to expedite a service

Post by **kubotatim** » July 31, 2015, 3:01 pm

wazza wrote:Maybe the US and Aust Embassies trust their citizens more as all they have to do if a false declaration is made in their presence and found under law to be proved is cancel your passport.

And have they ever bothered, so many brag about it??????? Immigration now want proof, good on them.