New HH Immigration ruling about visa guarantee money?

[Dannie Boy]

I'm with youBB, never had any real problems, although like you, I always have my Thai wife with me. Hope I am not jinxed as I am doing my 90 day report on Friday

[sateeb]

Never ever had a problem at HH and I go alone.......

[lomuamart]

Ditto above.
I'm always on my own. Arrived to do my extension last week at 8.25am and the lady outside looked through my papers (that's never happened before) and my passport was duly stamped by 8.45am. Then there was a 15 min wait for the boss to turn up and initial everything off.
However, back to topic - if I were to turn up and be faced with a change to Imm rules that I wasn't prepared for then it could be a bit more difficult with my limited Thai (although the officers seem to have reasonable English).
As always, the trick is not to lose your cool if faced with these situations. That goes for anywhere if dealing with officials. They do have a fair amount of latitude when dealing with individual situations so a cool approach can make a big difference - ie a new rule might be waived for that year if it has been enacted recently.
It happened to me last year when the officer asked for copies of our houseowner's ID. "What?". Anyway, explained that the owners spent a lot of time in Rayong and I had no idea if they were in HH (bit of creative thinking when puy on the spot). My extension expired in another 3-4 days. She let me off saying remember it next time. (This time, last week, the need had disappeared - didn't have the copies anyway.

[magobligin]

I have had a retirement visa since 2003 and was informed clearly by HH immigration that the required funds had to be in a savings account; a fixed deposit account was not acceptable. Also, during one visa renewal the officer checked that funds were being deposited and withdrawn from this same savings account to prove that I was using it for living purposes. Happily this has not happened at my visa renewals recently but it seems to be a grey area.

[hhfarang]

Ditto both of the posts from Lomu and Sateeb above, I go alone, do not speak Thai and have always been treated well and never spent an excessive amount of time waiting.... and I've been here for so long that the first year I had to go to Bangkok Immigration every 90 days because there was not an office in Hua Hin.

Lomu, that remark in your post about a copy of the landlord's ID worried me a bit. For the first time this year (in the next few days) I'll be extending while living in a rental property as we owned and I had a yellow book before. I understand that a copy of the rental agreement is required (and apparently maybe the owner's ID), but are there any other requirements that I am not aware of as a renter, or could you please list everything you needed to get your extension. I use the monthly income method by the way and picked up my affidavit from the U.S. Embassy last week. One of the reasons I think I've never had any problems with them is that I always turn up with everything I needed and filled out properly so that everything runs smoothly so it would be good to hear a list of what is needed as a renter.

Richard, it would also be interesting to hear more about these new passport expiry rules instead of just a teaser. Tell us what you heard. Mine expires in a little over a year.

[Homer]

Heard about but not observed by someone who doesn't use the office in question?

I have used the HHI extensively, that is the very reason I no longer use their services. I offered this piece of,,, well,,, let's call it "Hua Hin Immigration lore" for the benefit of the forum crowd never stating this as a fact. Please feel free to ignore this altogether. Further, should you be so inclined, you are welcome to check my message history for the rest of the wind-ups.

If my post was aimed at you it would have been explicit.. The post was aimed at those who traffic in or are swayed by rumors. When the content of the rumor is non trivial, it can wind people up, regardless of the rumor spreader's intent.

[lomuamart]

hhfarang,
In your new situation, take along everything that you have in the past. Obviously you won't have a yellow book so take the lease agreement and hand draw a rudimentary map of where your house is (that's always fun).
I wouldn't worry about the owner's ID. That was a curve ball that was thrown at me last year and I got around it anyway. There was no mention of it last week. Indeed they didn't even want to take my map or even copy of the lease but you'd better take them anyway.
You should find it painless.

[Nereus]

So what happens if, like I am intending to do, I front up with the funds in a "fixed" account, when from the immigration website that I posted above, it is clearly written how the funds have to be shown?

I do not have a problem showing the savings account, with regular withdrawals listed, which in addtion, shows where the funds came from and were transferred to the fixed account.

What happens if I take a copy of the website and the regulation? Or would that immediately incur a "saving face" reaction, such as I have been informed peviously about another clear regulation: "oh that not right, mistake"!

[Dannie Boy]

I'm with youBB, never had any real problems, although like you, I always have my Thai wife with me. Hope I am not jinxed as I am doing my 90 day report on Friday

As planned, I arrived at Immigration at exactly 8.30 this morning, went inside and obtained my ticket and immediately my number was called out, processed and out in less than 5 minutes!!

[Majestic Creek]

My one year retirement visa is due for renewal next month, and I had intended to show my savings account to prove I had over the 800,000 thb requirment. But it is a fixed bond account, high interest, but the funds cannot be drawn down for another six months ! Kasikorn assured me it was OK to use as for my renewal, but now it seems there is a change in the rules and I have to find a different way.

First option seems I have to go to the British Embassy with my pension letters, to get them verified. I have looked at the web site, but cannot find any information on what I need to do. Has anyone had recent experience of this, and what is required. Do you need to make an appointment and is there any documentation to complete.

My second option, not prefered, is the 'visa run'. How does this work ? Can I do this by myself, or must I go on one of the trips you see advertised in town? What is the durationof this visa and will it be a problem to extend my current retirement visa when the funds are cleared from my fixed account into a savings account in the future.

Sorry to appear uneducated in this, but I had assumed there would not be a problem with having the funds in Thailand ! Thanks for any directions.

[dtaai-maai]

I would suggest that before you do anything else, you find out if this change of rules is specific to Hua Hin immigration or is nationwide.
If it's just HH immigration making life difficult, get your next extension done in Prachuapkhirikan.

[dtaai-maai]

Heard about but not observed by someone who doesn't use the office in question?

I have used the HHI extensively, that is the very reason I no longer use their services. I offered this piece of,,, well,,, let's call it "Hua Hin Immigration lore" for the benefit of the forum crowd never stating this as a fact. Please feel free to ignore this altogether. Further, should you be so inclined, you are welcome to check my message history for the rest of the wind-ups.

On another forum which can not be named there are many users who seemingly hang out all day ready to pounce on the slightest misstatement of facts about visas. That forum has a history of jokers winding up everyone with a seemingly innocent post about alleged policy changes at the local immigration office.

On this forum there are those, who won't be named, who seemingly hang out all day ready to pounce on any matter about visas meant to help and inform. This forum has jokers winding up anyone with deliberate insinuation and trying to connect the dots that are not there.

[terry+carmen]

I did my annual extension last month using a one year fixed deposit account.

The funds were deposited in different months about a year ago so have different maturity dates. The officer spent at least 10 minutes checking every page of my bank book and eventually said I had withdrawn some the money with in the last three months. Yes I had but it was a roll over the funds had been taken out and redeposited at a better interest rate on the same day. Another 5 minutes and he asked the "chief" she must have said OK because I got my one year extension.

This kind of detailed examination of my bank book had never happened before. It appeared that he was looking for errors or omissions even though the bank letter confirmed I had the funds for the required three months.

[Nereus]

The following is still no garantee as the next officer may well put his own ruling on it:

I went to do the 90 day BS this morning and took along my "fixed deposit" bank book. It is a different colour to a "normal" savings account book. I gave it to the officer and asked him if this account is acceptable. He opened it up and counted up the dates and replied: "no problem, you can renew your extension up to 30 days before the last one expires". (it is not due until November)

I beleive that there may be some confusion concerning the different types of accounts. With my account the funds can be withdrawn at anytime, but as it is a 90 day account, if withdrawn before 90 days the interest paid will only be at the ordinary savings account rate, even if it has been on deposit for 89 days.

With the account mentioned above where the funds are deposited in a form other than cash, then I doubt that it is acceptable.