Phuket Immigration Deputy Chief Lt Col Archeep Jaroensuntisuk confirmed to The Phuket News that a letter confirming income is no longer required by any foreigner whose home country embassy no longer provides such official statements.
The news follows the UK and US embassies announcing that from Jan 1, 2019 they will no longer issue any statements confirming the income of one of their citizens, as is required in applying for many types of long-stay permits-to-stay (also called “long-stay visas”), such as the O-A visa for retirees.
The Australian Embassy in Bangkok has followed suit, effective Jan 7 (see here), and the Danish Embassy in Bangkok has ceased issued such statements with immediate effect
A letter confirming income previously served as a supporting document for obtaining a Thai retirement or marriage visa (‘permit-to-stay’), the British Embassy noted in its release announcing the news.
“The British Embassy Bangkok is stopping the certification of income letters because it is unable to fulfil the Thai authorities’ requirements to verify the income of British Nationals,” the statement said. (See story here.)
“Of course this letter is no longer needed if the embassy no longer issues it,” Col Archeep explained to The Phuket News today (Nov 22).
“However, the foreigner applying for the visa (or permit-to-stay) will still have to prove that they have the funds to stay in the country, such as by showing bank statements that prove the foreigner has B800,000 in a Thai bank account,” he said.
Col Archeep today also explained that Phuket Immigration are looking into ways to devise a system that will send notices to foreigners, reminding them that their visa is about to expire.
The move follows the Immigration office in Prachuap Khiri Khan starting to send such reminders as SMS messages to phones of foreigners register at that office.
“We are looking into this,” Col Archeep said. “But we need to come up with a system that suits everyone.
“The problem is that some foreigners want reminders sent to their phone, and others want the reminders by email,” he said.
“When we do come up with a system that suits everyone, we will announce it so the public will know,” he added.
