Jump to content

U.S. Mission in Thailand to Cease Providing Income Affidavit


Flashermac
 Share

Recommended Posts

Bangkok – October 26, 2018: Effective January 1, 2019, the United States Embassy in Bangkok and the U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai will no longer provide an income affidavit and will not notarize previous versions of the income affidavit.

The Royal Thai Government requires applicants to meet a minimum income threshold to obtain a non-immigrant long-term stay visa. While the Thai government has previously relied on income affidavits to demonstrate this fact, the U.S. government has no mechanism to confirm individual incomes and cannot legally claim to do so.

Because the U.S. government has no means of confirming a U.S. citizen’s income, a notarized affidavit from the U.S. Embassy has never met the requirement to prove a minimum income level for a non- immigrant “O”, “O-A”, or “O-X” long-term stay visa. There are other methods for U.S. citizens to demonstrate they are eligible for this Thai visa category.

U.S. citizens residing in Thailand should refer to the Thai government for information about verifying their income moving forward. For the most current information, U.S. citizens should check with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C., or their local immigration office.”

For more information on Embassy services to U.S. citizens, visit https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen- services/

 

By U.S. Embassy Bangkok | 26 October, 2018 | Topics: News, Press Releases

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No surprise there I guess. Australia and Canada next no doubt.

Beyond the keeping of 400/800k in a local bank for the necessary period, are there any other ways to demonstrate eligibility?

Given that governments generally don't have the ability to provide an unquestionable guarantee of proof of income, which I presume is what is being sought what organisation might qualify to do that? Or is it perhaps that the means of establishing income validity need to be re-examined so as to be more appropriate, or not, if you're not interested in who will or who wont meet the requirements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Flash said, many do not want to store money in Bangkok. It can be because they might be older and at the end of their life span.

If they pass away in Thailand, have Thai bank account(s)...how can any family in their home country get access to the money? It would be difficult with the outcome, the money will not get back to their home country.

I have seen a Thai general "help" the family of a Canadian who passed away in Asia. He had bank accounts in Thailand but the family never saw one baht of the money that was in the accounts....but the Thai general was able to use his influence to access all the available money...TIT

I was the executor of my friend's estate when he passed away. My friend had his will in both Thai and English and properly signed, witnessed and notarized. I appeared in a US court so as to get appointed as the "sole executor" for the estate. I was able to access all the money in the USA, no problems.
In Thailand I was told that the US issued legal order appointing me as the sole executor was not recognized in Thailand, meaning I would have to go thru the Thai court system so as to be able to access his accounts. My friend had his accounts without his wife as being a joint owner, so that added another layer of problems in Thailand. He did not have any family in the USA so again, no problem there as to some parties trying to take the money.

By a stroke of luck, his Thai wife could take money from his account using his ATM card.

In conclusion, it may be prudent not to have large sums in Thailand unless you have a set process to get the funds back to family in your home country otherwise the money will be lost.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree to disagree, 800,000 THB is approx USD24,000 it is not as if they are asking foreign citizens to transfer their life savings into Thailand, just sufficient to support them for the validity of said visa. (That being said slight anomaly Married is 400K Single is 800K),

As I previously stated, if one is retired and can’t afford a paltry USD24,000 upfront, since that is all it is, not as if a visa fee, free to spend it, then maybe you should reconsider your options. There is no way I would even considered retirement with less than USD500,000 to back me up and all they want to see is 5% of that. 

It is a “Retirement Visa” not a 12 month pass to hedonism, Too many people .IMHO take the Retirement Visa as an easy option with no intention of actually retiring in Thailand

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...