new head of immigration

[Suradit69]

23 hours ago, Rally123 said:

Crazy? Why is it 'crazy'?

The only thing that's crazy is that honesty is punishable by immigration. Do everything illegal ie money wise and life is good.

Many of the changes that have taken place came about because of dishonesty on the part of applicants or because of abuse of immigration policy that often was quite easy.

 

I agree that honest people were penalized collaterally, but the blame lies with those who abused the system as well as those who profited by catering to those who were intentionally bending the rules.

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, GalaxyMan said:

Since when does the head of immigration set the rules? I thought that the government made the rules and the head of immigration was supposed to enforce them. Or am I living in lala-land?

You’re sort of right. The head of immigration has very little say other than enforcement. It’s the Minister of Interior and the Immigration Commission that set the rules and propose changes that may or may not need government approval or change in the law

[csmith]

No problem for me updating 90 days online.

 

See help at

https://sites.google.com/site/ccccrecent/home/immigration-online-reporting-help

 

 

[J Town]

I've only been here 15 years and have never seen any easing other than the 90 report. Has anything else changed to accommodate immigration?

[Dave98]

Glad I left Thailand after 8 years.  Much happier at home and not needing to deal with all of the nonsense related to living there long term.

 

[Quack]

In the last 15 years, every single new change to immigration laws has made things harder, not easier. So no.

[Orton Rd]

1 hour ago, csmith said:

No problem for me updating 90 days online.

 

See help at

https://sites.google.com/site/ccccrecent/home/immigration-online-reporting-help

 

 

Had 5 tries and gave up. After filling all the details in on the page and clicking on next a box comes up telling me to contact my IO for more information. They don't do postal so it;s the bus again

[tropo]

In my experience, new bosses wants to a make a difference to be noticed, always has been harder requirements. 
Never ever has there been an ease to the requirements. 
 
Only wishfull thinking on Thaivisa. 

That would depend on the reasons why the old boss was let go. There’s obviously a lot going on behind the scenes,


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[marcusarelus]

1 hour ago, J Town said:

I've only been here 15 years and have never seen any easing other than the 90 report. Has anything else changed to accommodate immigration?

I'm going to change to the income method so will have less money in the Thai bank now that I don't have to go to Bangkok to get a letter from the Embassy. 

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, tropo said:

That would depend on the reasons why the old boss was let go. There’s obviously a lot going on behind the scenes,

Rumour has it that it was down to a 'personal relationship', rather than job performance.

[onera1961]

12 hours ago, Small Joke said:

Chinese retirees In

Western 'kee noks' Out

I don't see any reason why Chinese want to retire in Thailand. They can inhale all the smog they want in their own country. They already live under authoritarian rules and love it. They can marry (or keep multiple mia nois) twenty years younger girls in their own country. So I don't see any reason for a Chinese to retire in Thailand. 

[GalaxyMan]

8 hours ago, Dave98 said:

Glad I left Thailand after 8 years.  Much happier at home and not needing to deal with all of the nonsense related to living there long term.

 

Funny, that's exactly how I look at the USSA under President Little Hands and his moronic supporters.

[chris_samui]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:11 PM, Pib said:

If you last entered Thailand before Jan 13 you can not report online....you will get the response you are getting now.

I entered Thailand April 2011 and never left the country. I have been able to report online, the moment the system was available, before that I did it by post.

[jacko45k]

15 hours ago, legend49 said:

Thai wife told me new law in today all bank accounts over 20,000 baht will now be taxed.

I have had withholding tax taken from my interest for many many years now, only recently I claimed it back as I have no other income. 

[GalaxyMan]

13 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I have had withholding tax taken from my interest for many many years now, only recently I claimed it back as I have no other income. 

How exactly does that work? I have no 'income' per se and they are taxing the interest I am earning on my money in the bank here.

[wobalt]

At least he was yesterday at immigration 1 at Suvanabhumi airport welcome arriving Travellers


Gesendet von iPhone mit Thaivisa Connect

[jacko45k]

11 minutes ago, GalaxyMan said:

How exactly does that work? I have no 'income' per se and they are taxing the interest I am earning on my money in the bank here.

It's a pain in the ass, and you have to decide if the amount of money is worth the effort.

Step one, get a Thai tax identification number (TIN) and yellow card from your regional revenue office. (They may require a residence certificate from immigration).  Also get receipts from your bank(s) which show the tax you have paid in the previous year. Then see if you can get someone at the revenue office to fill in a tax form to reclaim the money and supply copies of everything.  Two months later you get the refund in the post and you will likely have to open a Krung Thai bank account to put it in as it is just a bit of paper. Start the process in January to claim the previous years taxes. 

Edited April 20, 2019 by jacko45k

[marcusarelus]

5 hours ago, onera1961 said:

I don't see any reason why Chinese want to retire in Thailand. They can inhale all the smog they want in their own country. They already live under authoritarian rules and love it. They can marry (or keep multiple mia nois) twenty years younger girls in their own country. So I don't see any reason for a Chinese to retire in Thailand. 

Economic stability. 

[marcusarelus]

11 hours ago, J Town said:

I've only been here 15 years and have never seen any easing other than the 90 report. Has anything else changed to accommodate immigration?

You don't have to get a letter from 4 embassies to confirm income any more.  A bank statement will do.  This is a savings 4 or 5000 baht. 

[dcnx]

Let’s say he does (he won’t). The changes are only good until the next guy comes in, and then the guy after that, and the guy after that, and so on until you die or can’t meet requirements.

 

Thailand is a terrible long term option unless you’re going for PR, Thai citizenship, or die by the time your 20 year elite visa will end. Anything else is a gamble and the odds are not remotely close to being in your favor.

[GalaxyMan]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

It's a pain in the ass, and you have to decide if the amount of money is worth the effort.

Step one, get a Thai tax identification number (TIN) and yellow card from your regional revenue office. (They may require a residence certificate from immigration).  Also get receipts from your bank(s) which show the tax you have paid in the previous year. Then see if you can get someone at the revenue office to fill in a tax form to reclaim the money and supply copies of everything.  Two months later you get the refund in the post and you will likely have to open a Krung Thai bank account to put it in as it is just a bit of paper. Start the process in January to claim the previous years taxes. 

Many thanks. It will definitely be worth the effort.

[MickeyDelux]

On 4/19/2019 at 7:47 PM, Chodi25 said:

I've been here a long time and it has been my observation that nothing happens quickly in this country.

I would suggest it depends... I went out for a drive and literally 3 days later I had a speeding ticket in my mail box.  I thought that was incredibly quick.

[Orton Rd]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:09 PM, Rally123 said:

How long in advance of your report date are you applying?

The 15 days they say you have to do it, using firefox

[tifino]

30 minutes ago, MickeyDelux said:

I would suggest it depends... I went out for a drive and literally 3 days later I had a speeding ticket in my mail box.  I thought that was incredibly quick.

wow! the new Immihead is very efficient in doing the work of other depts!

 

and, was it also the new head that forced things to happen quickly to the 'Goodies Pirate Radio Station' type fiasco off phuket?

 

 

[JackThompson]

21 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

I’d hardly consider people falsifying immigration required documentation, and using scam agents, and there are likely hundred to thousands of foreigners who’ve been doing this as “honesty”.

Yes.  Those people have no problems.  Immigration rewards this, because they get a cut of the action.  The ones doing it honestly - "cheap farangs paying just 1900 Baht" - are the ones who are more likely to have problems. 

 

They don't care if you "really qualify" for whatever extension; the qualifications / silly (often unpublished) rules piled on, and airport-hassling are to make "honest" paths a PITA - to push to you an agent/payoff, instead

 

18 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

Many of the changes that have taken place came about because of dishonesty on the part of applicants or because of abuse of immigration policy that often was quite easy.

 

I agree that honest people were penalized collaterally, but the blame lies with those who abused the system as well as those who profited by catering to those who were intentionally bending the rules.

No, the blame lies with Immigration, who created a system to reward themselves via agents, then crafted / modified pointless rules (serving no logical purpose), to force people to use their agent-partners.

 

On 4/20/2019 at 1:49 PM, dotpoom said:

What crazy requirements?

  Wanting to assert whether foreigners who want to live here long term have the means to do so?

if they didn't, they would be homeless and hungry.  The entire "prove you have the money" thing is pointless, given no social-safety-net to be drained.   They can deport vagrants, if need be, but the IDC-pit serves as a powerful incentive to "Go be homeless somewhere else."

 

Immigration try to emulate foreign-systems which don't have any practical application to their country - not only the money-qualification rules, but also being hard-a__es at the airport to people from countries where the min-wage for the poorest worker exceeds is multiple-times what they could earn in Thailand working illegally.

 

When there is no logical explanation for something, simply follow the money, and the real explanation reveals itself.

[JackThompson]

23 hours ago, Small Joke said:

Chinese retirees In

Western 'kee noks' Out

Ask people who work in the areas where we live which they prefer.  They will tell you who better fits that description (rude, never tip, etc - I won't repeat the really low insults they've used to describe them).  I don't think many are retirees, though.

 

[JackThompson]

23 hours ago, natway09 said:

I have not seen any crazy requirements that are any worse than my home country

Are you from a xenophobic country, or a country which has higher wages and social-programs for citizens, which your immigration is trying to protect? 

 

It can only be one or the other. 

[tlandtday]

19 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

Many of the changes that have taken place came about because of dishonesty on the part of applicants or because of abuse of immigration policy that often was quite easy.

 

I agree that honest people were penalized collaterally, but the blame lies with those who abused the system as well as those who profited by catering to those who were intentionally bending the rules.

And let's see your data proving this... you have none you are simply taking Big Joke at face value you need to do better than this... much better to have any validity in your argument.

[Thaidream]

4 hours ago, tlandtday said:

And let's see your data proving this... you have none you are simply taking Big Joke at face value you need to do better than this... much better to have any validity in your argument.

Agree-  All the Embassies except 3 are still issuing income letters and the majority are not checking from source but looking at letters or other proof supplies by the applicant.  The US and Australian Embassy could do the same but they refuse to do it.

 

The majority of people are honest and try their best to follow the law. However, at times they are asked to provide items not normally required by the law. I would agree that this then feeds into the agent system- because surprise to no one -all the issues seem to go away once an agent is involved.

 

If Big Joke or any other  head wanted to stop the agent system- all they have to do is  never waive the seasoning and require all applicants appear in person and present income  proof.

[5633572526]

On 4/19/2019 at 7:47 PM, Chodi25 said:

I've been here a long time and it has been my observation that nothing happens quickly in this country. I also hope they ease the requirements but I don't expect anything to happen for several months if at all. Hope I'm wrong.

Article 44 ?? The authoritarians not so secret weapon