uK state pension statement letter

[docspinoff]

hi i know the UK embassy no longer issue UK state pension statement letters.  to show how much we get . but there must be another way of getting this information .. i do have a old letter saying how much i get .. but surely there must be away of getting an up to date statement for immigration . or will a letter from 4 years a go .   trying to  get visa based  on UK statement money ....   also i hear whatever money i get, it does not go up with inflation like if i lived in the UK ? is this correct? 

[ubonjoe]

Immigration will only accept proof of transfers into a Thai bank from abroad to apply for an extension of stay. If for an existing extension you would have to show 12 months of transfers. For the first extension only a couple of months would be needed.

I you are wanting to get a non-o visa it would depend upon where you are applying for it at.

 

[thetefldon]

"also i hear whatever money i get, it does not go up with inflation like if i lived in the UK ? is this correct?

 

Yes, UK age pension  is frozen once you inform UK Pensions that you reside overseas(Thailand). Not sure how this affects someone who spends time in UK and Thailand. Your original post which Ubonjoe answered is unclear whether you are here(Thailand) wanting an extension or elsewhere wanting a visa. If you are here on an extension, then as UJ says 12months income of 65K+ needs to be shown to immigration if you use the monthly income method. There are plenty of threads on here showing how you prove the monthly income.

Edited February 8, 2020 by thetefldon
add info

[Jip99]

5 minutes ago, thetefldon said:

"also i hear whatever money i get, it does not go up with inflation like if i lived in the UK ? is this correct?

 

Yes, UK age pension  is frozen once you inform UK Pensions that you reside overseas(Thailand). Not sure how this affects someone who spends time in UK and Thailand. Your original post which Ubonjoe answered is unclear whether you are here(Thailand) wanting an extension or elsewhere wanting a visa. If you are here on an extension, then as UJ says 12months income of 65K+ needs to be shown to immigration if you use the monthly income method. There are plenty of threads on here showing how you prove the monthly income.

Just for the sake of completeness, 40k p.m. if seeking to extend based on marriage.

 

...and to state the obvious, the UK state pension alone will not meet the criteria.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Jip99

[Surelynot]

400k

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, docspinoff said:

 also i hear whatever money i get, it does not go up with inflation like if i lived in the UK ? is this correct? 

I am afraid this is correct for those living in Thailand, no 'cost of living' increases.

[Mr Smithy]

I doubt a UK state pension would meet the income requirements for an extension of stay.

[jacko45k]

3 minutes ago, Mr Smithy said:

I doubt a UK state pension would meet the income requirements for an extension of stay.

It might if he had money on deposit too. 

[Moonlover]

I did a marriage extension using the income method in August. I satisfied the IO that I had meet the income requirements, however he did ask to see 'proof of sustainable income' which in my case is 3 pensions. Others have reported the same request at other offices.

 

Fortunately I had a letter from DWP stating my current pension as well as my annual statements from the other 2. The letter was a couple of years old. (it was one I'd used to get my embassy income letter) However he accepted it but he'll want to see a new one this year.

 

It's not a problem though. You simply write to DWP at the IPC requesting a 'proof of income' letter. You can explain, as I do, why you want it if you wish. The last time I asked for one it took 2 months to arrive, so allow plenty of time.

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Moonlover

[cauldlad]

I did mine at Jomtien 10 days ago. They accepted my state pension award notice which was dated

16.11.2016

[oxo1066]

Go on internet and register for government gateway you will get all the information you need and more, but not sure if you can register while abroad but worth a try 

[chilly07]

Yes you can obtain an up

to date statement from the DWP via the UK Government web site having registered 

[stouricks]

23 hours ago, Surelynot said:

400k

No, we are talking about MONTHLY income, not in the bank.

[stouricks]

49 minutes ago, cauldlad said:

I did mine at Jomtien 10 days ago. They accepted my state pension award notice which was dated

16.11.2016

So how much WAS your State Pension Award in 2016. Certainly not over Bht 40k for marriage extension, or 65k for retirement.

[cauldlad]

Of course the state pension is not enough by itself but I also have a works pension and the two together are well over the 65k requirment for my retirement extension.

[MrBanks]

I am just preparing everything for my first "retirement visa" / extension based upon retirement. A word of caution for those wishing to use the income method.

I have 2 different monthly incomes that are paid into Bangkok Bank, one is paid in Pounds sterling and converted to Baht when it gets here, the other is converted to Baht by my bank in UK and then sent.

The lady at Bangkok Bank requested my 12 months statements from head office, she is now preparing a letter certifying that my income is in excess of 65,000 baht, BUT, here is the catch. The money that arrives here from the UK in Baht will not be accepted by Immigration, according to her, only the money that comes in Pounds and is converted here is acceptable.

So far it has taken 3 trips to the bank to get this far, I have been told to return on Tuesday when the letter will be ready, she cautioned me that the letter is only good for 3 days, if I don't go to immigration prior to that I will need to start again!!!

Honestly, it is no wonder that some go for the elite visa, I certainly will if this gets any more of a hassle!!!

So to the O.P.if you are going to use the monthly income as your method for getting approval, you now need 12 months bank statements showing the incoming funds plus a letter / certificate from your bank verifying that your income is equal to or in excess of 65,000 baht for retirement or 40,000 for marriage.

Also regarding your question about the UK state pension, yes Thailand is one of the countries where your pension will be frozen to whatever it is when you start, or tell them that you are living here full time. It is very unfair as this does not apply to all countries in the world and is something that many groups of people are trying to bring to the attention of the UK government, so who knows maybe one day it will change.

 

[Andycoops]

On 2/8/2020 at 12:55 PM, thetefldon said:

"also i hear whatever money i get, it does not go up with inflation like if i lived in the UK ? is this correct?

 

Yes, UK age pension  is frozen once you inform UK Pensions that you reside overseas(Thailand). Not sure how this affects someone who spends time in UK and Thailand. Your original post which Ubonjoe answered is unclear whether you are here(Thailand) wanting an extension or elsewhere wanting a visa. If you are here on an extension, then as UJ says 12months income of 65K+ needs to be shown to immigration if you use the monthly income method. There are plenty of threads on here showing how you prove the monthly income.

Your tax and pension status depends on if you have been declared by HMRC as a non resident or non ordinarily resident from the UK.

If you maintain a UK address for government correspondence but live in Thailand you can circumvent the requirements but at an obvious risk for a while.

So I have witnessed among other UK expats here.

[docspinoff]

so if get pension and de-cleared you live abroad and pension money sent over to a thai bank you cant return to UK for med treatment if needed ? .. so may be risky to stir up a honest nest ???

 

[Peter Denis]

4 hours ago, oxo1066 said:

Go on internet and register for government gateway you will get all the information you need and more, but not sure if you can register while abroad but worth a try 

When not able to register from abroad, you could try using a VPN-connection and selecting UK.

If you don't have one yourself, most probably one of your UK friends living here in Thailand will have one on their PC.

[zhorik]

if you are not already registered on government gateway, they send you a letter toa british address with login details. As for being in the Uk and thailand.  You are entitled to the increase in pension when you are in the UK. thus  if you stay a week or longer you are entitled to the current pension amount for that period.  If you were in the Philippines as they have a reciprocal arrangement (unlike thailand) then you would get full increase in the pension.

[UKresonant]

1 hour ago, docspinoff said:

so if get pension and de-cleared you live abroad and pension money sent over to a thai bank you cant return to UK for med treatment if needed ? .. so may be risky to stir up a honest nest ???

 

Absences from the UK lasting not more than 3 months (continuously), are disregarded for the purposes of NHS residency. Then you have to start reading all the rest of the Text....

In practice ????the Dr. would probably only investigate if mail they sent you, started getting returned as "not at this address" etc.

 

Also have you got, 'GOV.UK Verify is a secure way to prove who you are online''.

 

The UK state pension is not clearly worded in our double taxation treaty (unlike the US treaty), so IMHO I would never direct credit State Pension to Thailand, even though it would save some transfer charges. In practice the pension is not taxed (many threads debating this subject). State pension by itself probably is not enough to match any of their extension thresholds.

Edited February 9, 2020 by UKresonant

[Speedhump]

On 2/8/2020 at 10:59 AM, ubonjoe said:

Immigration will only accept proof of transfers into a Thai bank from abroad to apply for an extension of stay. If for an existing extension you would have to show 12 months of transfers. For the first extension only a couple of months would be needed.

I you are wanting to get a non-o visa it would depend upon where you are applying for it at.

 

Also two separate IOs in Hua Hin demanded separate monthly bank A4 printouts for every incoming monthly transfer, which showed more detail. 

 

My bank (KBank) will give three months free, but charge 500 Baht each for any before that, so I need to go to the bank at least once a quarter to get the last three months income statements free.

 

I think I read someone also saying this a few months ago. 

[Moonlover]

19 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

Also two separate IOs in Hua Hin demanded separate monthly bank A4 printouts for every incoming monthly transfer, which showed more detail. 

 

My bank (KBank) will give three months free, but charge 500 Baht each for any before that, so I need to go to the bank at least once a quarter to get the last three months income statements free.

 

I think I read someone also saying this a few months ago. 

For my last extension (my 1st without an embassy income letter) I had no choice other than to use bank statements because I do not keep my passbook up to date, so I downloaded the whole year's worth via my on-line account.

 

The IO asked if they were original and I said they were, which in my view was quite true. I do not know whether a downloaded statement looks any different to one obtained from my Krungsri bank branch. But neither does the IO.

[sandyf]

11 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

The IO asked if they were original and I said they were, which in my view was quite true. I do not know whether a downloaded statement looks any different to one obtained from my Krungsri bank branch. But neither does the IO.

Mine are certainly different but that would be academic. Immigration wants to see a stamp and signature from the bank on the statement dated within the last 24 hours.

[Moonlover]

2 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Mine are certainly different but that would be academic. Immigration wants to see a stamp and signature from the bank on the statement dated within the last 24 hours.

Not in my case. The standard bank letter (which was a week old) kept him happy. And obviously so were the rest of those up the chain. As I am on a marriage extension, my documents had to go up to the regional HQ (Khon Kaen) for approval so it obviously passed their scrutiny as well.

[Vascoda]

22 hours ago, cauldlad said:

I did mine at Jomtien 10 days ago. They accepted my state pension award notice which was dated

16.11.2016

You mean they accepted this as monthly income witout showing monthly money transfer to a Thai bank?

[sandyf]

14 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Not in my case. The standard bank letter (which was a week old) kept him happy. And obviously so were the rest of those up the chain. As I am on a marriage extension, my documents had to go up to the regional HQ (Khon Kaen) for approval so it obviously passed their scrutiny as well.

Different office, different requirements.

Couple of years ago at Sri Ratcha I had a problem with my visa ref extension and immigration sent me to the MFA. I asked about the bank letter and she said it would be ok, if back by this time tomorrow. This was about mid day and MFA closes at 15.30, it was tight.

It really is time there was some sort of uniformity across the offices.

[Moonlover]

19 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Different office, different requirements.

Couple of years ago at Sri Ratcha I had a problem with my visa ref extension and immigration sent me to the MFA. I asked about the bank letter and she said it would be ok, if back by this time tomorrow. This was about mid day and MFA closes at 15.30, it was tight.

It really is time there was some sort of uniformity across the offices.

It has already been discussed several times. The problem is, I'm sure, is that there is no 'how to' guide neither for the IOs or for us. Both they and us know the rules, but not how to implement them.

 

And in reality how can there be? There cannot be a 'one size fits all' any more. Different banks with their own coding systems, many different ways of transferring money and pension payments that don't always comply with their rigid 'once a month' requirement.

 

IOs have been used to following a rigid set of rules which eases the decision making process. But there is now a situation where flexibility and judgement is required. It's a difficult transition for them.

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Moonlover

[sandyf]

11 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

It has already been discussed several times. The problem is, I'm sure, is that there is no 'how to' guide neither for the IOs or for us. Both they and us know the rules, but not how to implement them.

 

And in reality how can there be? There cannot be a 'one size fits all' any more. Different banks with their own coding systems, many different ways of transferring money and pension payments that don't always comply with their rigid 'once a month' requirement.

 

IOs have been used to following a rigid set of rules which eases the decision making process. But there is now a situation where flexibility and judgement is required. It's a difficult transition for them.

 

There are certainly some awkward issues but surely a time validity on the various documents would be a fairly easy one to deal with. That shouldn't be a judgement, it never was with the embassy letter.

[Speedhump]

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

Mine are certainly different but that would be academic. Immigration wants to see a stamp and signature from the bank on the statement dated within the last 24 hours.

In Hua Hin Kbank say that people have been asking for a bank letter also, to present to immigration, confirming that you hold the account and confirming the current balance. Very strange. And the bank statements anyway should be stamped by the bank. 

 

Ironic (or just annoying) considering HH is one area where they have little trouble due to most of us being retirees with at least a bit of money behind us. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Speedhump
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