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Am I being ripped off


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I have been living in Udon Thani for 13 yrs now and have been on a Retirement Visa renewed every year with an extension,but now this yr I have gone to do my extension and told that the new rules are that as I have not got 65000 bt to show as my pension it is not enough and I have to pay 18000 bt for something i do not understand.I have got more than enough in my bank,than the 800,000 required ,so I have never been asked for anything like this before. I have checked everywhere and get the same story,If you have the 800,000bt then the 65,,000 bt does not come into it,but my wife tells me he said it was some sortof insurance??????? to compensate for the shortage in my pension.I was desperate to get my Visa done this week before any more problems with the Virus so I payed but have I been a victim of some sort of scam.If possible I would like to find a way to re-claim that 18,000 back The application was done on the usual TM7 form------- HELP

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what visa did you receive all those years ago was it a 'O''A' visa ( requires a medical and a police report to obtain) issued in your home country or a 'O' visa issued locally or in your home country, look in the first page of your latest passport, immigration should have stamped something there to help you.

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I know Udon Thani office well. I used it for 4 years. This sounds to me as if the I/O is/was  suggesting that you can use the combination method of income plus capital in the bank. The same thing happened to me in 2016 when the pound fell. But you would not hand any money over for that.

 

Have I got this right that you actually handed over 18,000 Baht to an I/O in the office?

 

 

 

 

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I would let it go. I know it feels bad but, at this point, you will not get your money back and causing a fuss now can only endanger your ability to stay in Thailand.

If you get confused in these situations, consider using an agent to handle the entire interaction with Immigration. The agent will know what he is doing and there will be no opportunity for the IO to scam if you have the required 800k in your account for the required time.

You will, of course, have to pay a fee to the agent, I don't know how much but surely it would not be much. Other retirees in your area will be able to tell you which agent is good and how much you should pay. Probably worth it to avoid the stress anyway.

 

Edited by donnacha
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To me, it sounds like the OP, biplanebluey, wanted again to get the extension based on income but for some reason the incoming monthly remittance was less than THB 65k for one or more months and the immigration official suggested the combination method, which would have needed 18k in the bank in addition to the income to make a total of 800k for the year.

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Try "Squires Agency"...off of ring road near the Big-C on hwy 22.

 

Google them...lady attorney speaks excellent English and will give you the straight scoop...

 

I have used her services in the past and have complete confidence in her judgement.

 

Word to the wise...when money gets in Thai hands...it is difficult to get back even if you should.

 

Good Luck!

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15 minutes ago, Maestro said:

To me, it sounds like the OP, biplanebluey, wanted again to get the extension based on income but for some reason the incoming monthly remittance was less than THB 65k for one or more months and the immigration official suggested the combination method, which would have needed 18k in the bank in addition to the income to make a total of 800k for the year.

You are right. OP  have less than 65.000.- Per month,  so must to show the difference to 800.000.- from his account.... but not to pay the 18.000.- to any police! Enough to show that have the difference to 800.000.- (Combination method).

And pay nothing ! He was ripped off, is clear. IMO

 

 

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OP, as some one else has asked, was your original visa an OA visa, if so, then this now requires the approved health insurance to renew the extension of stay, loads of topics on that one.

As far as the 65k versus 800k in the bank part, again, as others have stated, why not renew on the 800k in the bank, instead of using income, if the minimum 800k is in the bank year round, which is what you suggest, then no problem to do this and a lot easier than income.

Good luck getting your 18k back, if you are on an OA extension, then this is cheaper than buying the insurance!

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If your original visa was an O-A visa from home country, then you need Thai health insurance to extend your permission to stay. In that case the 18,000 baht was a bribe to ignore the insurance requirement. Otherwise, it was a straightforward scam, but you cannot prove it.

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7 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Try "Squires Agency"...off of ring road near the Big-C on hwy 22.

 

Google them...lady attorney speaks excellent English and will give you the straight scoop...

 

I have used her services in the past and have complete confidence in her judgement.

 

Word to the wise...when money gets in Thai hands...it is difficult to get back even if you should.

 

Good Luck!

Thank you for the best reply.It seems I made a big mistake and was a victim of a scam.

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Like so many posts the OP failed to mention exactly what type visa he used as a basis for extensions. If the visa was O-A then he needs health insurance to get a new extension as I understand the rules and 18,000 baht is very cheap for insurance. Also he failed to tell if he received some sort of documentation to show the insurance. Scam-maybe, great deal on insurance?? 

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