The annual trip to Immigration/Canossa is over again
A corridor to Canossa, I can't call it anything else. Every year I have to go to Immigration to extend my retirement visa.
Reader question: A Thai visa for my Filipino girlfriend
I have been living in Thailand since 2006, together with my Filipino girlfriend. At that time (when a Shinawatra was also in power) I also had problems obtaining a visa. I got retirement visa but my girlfriend didn't because we weren't married. I am still married to another Filipina who refuses to divorce. My current girlfriend was allowed to stay in Thailand for three months on and off during that time. …
To find out how to get a retirement visa in the Netherlands, the Non Immigrant OA visa for people aged 50 and older, Rob van Vroonhoven first went to the Thai embassy in The Hague and then to the consulate in Amsterdam. And guess what? There are absurd differences in the demands they make. The Thai embassy in The Hague gave him a paper with the requirements. This paper is titled: www.imm.police.go.th …
Dutch embassy: applying for a retirement visa now easier
Because the changed procedure for obtaining a 'declaration of income' has raised quite a few questions for us (and many readers), we asked the consular department for clarification. According to Jitze Bosma, head of operations and consular affairs, the new approach makes it easier for the Dutch to apply for a retirement visa. Many Dutch people have the impression that the embassy is in direct contact with Dutch government agencies. That is not the case. The embassy checks the…
What about extending a 'retirement visa'?
Now that the Thai Immigration is going to check more closely whether retired foreigners have sufficient means of support, the confusion is increasing.
The Thai immigration service is raising a new threshold for foreigners who want a retirement visa based on monthly income. Until now it was sufficient to submit a statement from the embassy that a (gross) amount of the converted THB 65.000 per month was credited to the foreign bank account, applicants must now be able to demonstrate that this amount has recently been transferred to a Thai bank account at least twice. The measure applies to new visas, but also…
An 'outing' to Immigration in Bangkok
A holiday in Bangkok, because a day out. To Immigration that is, on Chaeng Watthana Road in the north of Bangkok near the old airport Don Muang. This to get a new retirement visa. Actually, I should leave early in the morning, but then I'm in a very long traffic jam from my home. So only got into the car at a quarter to nine. First on the route planner the …