soisanuk

17 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

No.

First up Jomtien immigration does not record any return visit.

Often the "return in 3 months" notice is not given.

It's a haphazard nonsense..

Absolutely correct!  Jomtien (Pattaya) Immigration office as mentioned is haphazard giving this notice.  Further, they have no tracking system for who does or does not report.   I know several people who received the notice to report back after 90 days to show the 800k remained on deposit that did not do so. When they renewed their annual extension, no problems (of course they did have to show their bank book to prove they kept the 800k on deposit for those 90 days).

Although the OP only wants to extend his stay for another 30 days, that is not possible. As mentioned, the OP can extend his permission to stay for one year from the end of the 90 day permission to stay granted when he entered using the Non-Immigrant "O" Visa.

To receive the one year extension, he will need to pay the 1,900 baht fee and show he meets the financial requirement for extending his stay based on retirement, e.g. 800k baht in Thai bank.

Although one year may be longer than the OP currently needs, if his plans are to return within the one year extension period, he can get a Re-Entry Permit before he departs which will allow him to return without the need to get a new Visa (or enter Visa Exempt).

Holiday Inn Pattaya has handicap bathrooms on their lobby, meeting room, and restaurant floors in each tower (Bay tower fronts Beach Road, Executive tower is behind the Bay tower).

I attend the Pattaya City Expats Club's weekly meetings which can take place in either of the two towers and have used the handicap toilets in both.

I live in Pattaya and have at different times purchased two online from Invade IT.  Over the years, I have also purchased other computer accessories from them.

They are based in Hua Hin and will ship to anywhere in Thailand.  I pay with bank transfer and the items usually ship within 1 to 3 days arriving the following day.

In the 20+ years I have been living here with annual retirement extensions, I have missed the 90 day address report twice during that period. The result was a 2,000 baht fine. No other consequences.

As mentioned, online reporting is up to the due date, so trying to do it even one day late, will most likely see it rejected. 

Some US Expats here that do not have a US bank account set up a Wise (Wise.com) virtual account which provides an account number and ACH routing number (both needed by SS to set up direct deposit).  When they receive their deposit,  transfer all or part of the funds in the virtual account to their Thai bank account at their convenience.  But, a caution, the virtual account is not FDIC insured.  As mentioned, Wise has good exchange rates and fees are reasonable. Vist their website for details.

8 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Yes you can..... presuming you mean the confirmation letter and not the monthly income verification. Just seems to be a regular teller function in the Bangkok Bank branches I have used. 

For my last 3 retirement extensions, I have obtained both bank letters (verification of account required for all and listing of foreign deposits for the previous 12 months used for the monthly income method) from Bangkok Bank's service counter at Tesco Lotus South in Pattaya.  

Since I don't keep my passbook updated on a regular basis, I firs order bank statements for the previous 12 months which they have to obtain from HQ in Bangkok and takes about 5 business days.  I then return and they prepared both bank letters for Immigration for me, using the bank statements for the listing of foreign deposits which I then presented to Immigration the following morning along with my TM.7 and other required documents.

Next year I will need to use a different customer service location as Bangkok Bank closed their counter at Tesco Lotus South last month.

14 hours ago, franckpattaya said:

Hi,

 

I have to renew my one year visa (retirement) and I would like to know if

I can request the "letter" for immigration in a different branch from the one

where I opened my account.

Thanks

You should able to get the bank letter from any branch bank. The branch bank where I opened my account is in South Pattaya. As it is more convenient, I have been obtaining the letter from Bangkok Bank's customer service counter at Tesco Lotus South (just recently they have closed that counter).  I know several others that use the Bangkok Bank branch on Jomtien 2nd Road located near the Immigration Office. 

10 hours ago, BritTim said:

As I am sure you know, you are still charged an extra 0.25% by the Thai bank when transferring in baht. I have never heard a valid justification for this.

Bangkok bank charges the 0.0025% as a conversion fee, but it has a minimum of 200 baht and maximum of 500 baht for this fee.  It is not charged if funds are received in Thai baht.

10 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Please post this in "banking finance " forum..

Why do vast majority of USA guys use WISE. 

Because it is usually cheaper than using their US bank to do the transfer. Some banks do not offer international wire transfers as part of their online banking. My US bank charges US$45 for international wire transfers in US dollars.  Wise's fees are much less. My bank's online system will do international transfers for a fee of US$5, BUT require the funds be converted to Thai baht at a very lousy exchange rate - when they introduced that service, I did a comparison with Wise using US$2,500 as the transfer amount. The result was while my bank's fee was US$5 they deposited 1,600 baht less baht into my account than that provided by Wise.  

1 hour ago, CMBob said:

You have all you need if they ask for proof that the funds came from abroad.

Correct. As I read the OP, the money has already been transferred by the foreign bank in Thai baht, thus the sound advice to better have had it sent in foreign currency is moot.  The question was whether sending it in baht vs foreign currency will be acceptable for Thai Immigration.  It should be, as they want to see the funds are in the bank in Thai baht and that the funds came from outside of Thailand, the fact it was in baht should not be a problem.  I use the monthly income method for my extensions which requires 65k be transferred monthly to my Thai bank from outside of Thailand.  I use Wise for this purpose and they they do the conversion and supply the funds in Thai baht - Immigration has no problem with it being in baht instead of foreign currency.

However, as mentioned, if Pattaya Immigration (Jomtien) is the location where you plan to apply, then it will need to be seasoned for 2 months before applying for the Non O Visa (it is contrary to the rules as seasoning is only required to obtain the later extension, not the Visa itself, but that is what Pattaya Immigration is now requiring.

9 hours ago, Dan O said:

Any subsequent will invalidates prior wills as long as the new will can be produced and is dated and notarized and has confirmable signatures

Most new wills will include a statement that all previous wills are revoked, which should be sufficient.  If you put that statement in your latest will, that should be sufficient for the probate judge to bar any claims to your estate based on the prior will. 

11 hours ago, treetops said:

Send it via Wise early enough in the month that if it doesn't get coded correctly you have time  to use a Swift transfer as a fall back.  Win-win.

That is assuming one has sufficient funds to make a second transfer of 65k for that month. I suspect that many may not be able to do this.   However, if you can do two such transfers in a month, it is good advice. 

I use the 65k per month method for my annual retirement extensions, have a Bangkok Bank account, and have been using Wise ever since the Bangkok Bank New York Branch had to quit accepting domestic ACH transfers which they forwarded on to Thai accounts, leaving only international ACH transfers as acceptable (most US banks do not provide for retail customers to send international ACH transfers). As mentioned, Bangkok Bank, if Wise sends the transfer through them, records the transaction as FTT (foreign source). 

On two separate occasions, one a few years ago, Wise did send my transfer through Kasikorn - not only mine, but many others. Based on the uproar that caused, Wise added the Long Stay Thailand option in the reason for the transfer drop down menu. This was supposed to assure that the transfer went through Bangkok Bank.  And it did for a long period of time. Then, a about a year or so ago, there was a glitch and one month many using that reason, including myself, received the transfer through their other partner bank, Kasikorn, and it was recorded by Bangkok bank as being domestic.  It was apparently fixed after a month or so and since then all my transfers from Wise have been recorded FTT.

When the glitch happened this last time, I still had sufficient funds to send a second transfer. To ensure FTT coding, I used Bangkok Bank New York Branch's "Baht remittance service" (does not involve ACH transfer and you transfer funds by snail mail). You email an application to the NY Branch and send a check using your USA bank online service - they will accept those, but not a personal handwritten check.  When they receive the check and it clears, they then transfer the funds in baht to your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand - the exchange rate was the same as if converted by Bangkok bank here and the NY Branch fee was same as they charge for ACH transfers - in my case, US$10.  It took about 11 days to receive the funds in my account here, but it was guaranteed to have the much needed FTT code for Immigration. I usually receive my Wise transfers on the same or following day unless a weekend or Thai government holiday intervenes.

Because of the potential for another glitch, I choose to do two separate transfers through Wise - the first for at least 65k.  I then send a second transfer which may or may not be 65k depending on my need. But, if there is another glitch, I still have sufficient funds to send another 65k+ through Bangkok Bank's NY Branch.  

14 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

TM7 should always be printed two sided in Bangkok and believe most places - supporting documents single side.

Not an issue at Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration.

They have accepted the TM.7 single sided from me at least for the past 10 of the 20  years I have been doing my extension renewals there.

I can only speak for doing my annual retirement extension at Pattaya Immigration (Jomtien).

I usually get two photos taken at the shop adjacent to the Immigration Office and they know the size to of photo needed.  Jomtien Immigration has always only required one photo. So I save the second one and used it the following year with no problems.  They also attached it to the TM.7 which I handed to them separately.

I have never seen them look up paperwork from the previous year or look up anything on their computer screen for me or anyone else they were processing ahead of me - so I would say they are not comparing the current photo with the previous one.

This year in June I was using the second photo I obtained last year. This year the Immigration Officer kept all the documents, but gave the photo back to me. She did take my photo with her phone camera.

16 hours ago, kinyara said:

I find the Visa Section of the Pattaya City Expats website a useful reference point in keeping up with the actual local office situation. They seem to have enough members that any real changes consistently affecting applicants are highlighted.  https://pcec.club/.  I always check it in advance of doing anything in Immigration for latest requirements and paperwork.

I know the person that provides the information on Immigration matters for their website.  He relies on reports from expats of their first hand experience to keep the site updated.  I did my renewal in mid-June at Jomtien Immigration office using the 65k monthly income method (from USA, so no Embassy letter) - I used the checklist from their site for the documents needed (as I have done for the past several years) and encountered no problems at Immigration in doing my renewals.  

15 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Am thinking maybe I should take a more "Grown Up" (None of us wants to think about our deaths) approach to what happens when I die...  So would appreciate any recommendations for a Thai Lawyer (Pattaya) who can help me put a Will together for my Thai Assets...

 

I used Triple888 Law in Pattaya. It is in both Thai & English.

 

They have also done wills for several friends. Two of those have since passed away and they handled the probate in the Pattaya court with no problems.   They also handled the probate for my Thai partner who had no will and passed away a year ago November.  The fee was 22,000 baht and took 2 months to complete.  They offer a discount on wills for Pattaya City Expat Club members - was 5,000 baht when they did mine, now that discount price is 6,000 baht. At the time I did my will, other lawyers were charging at least 10,000 baht for a will.   After my partner passed, I had my will changed to name a new executor and beneficiary - their fee for the updated will was 2,000 baht.      Their website URL --  https://thai888.com/

 

  The managing director is Australian - his Thai wife is the lawyer that does the legal work including handling probate.

 

 

 

 

16 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

The 12 months bank statements may well not be enough.

 

I am with Kasikorn and last month I had to go to the main Pattaya Klang office to get a certificate from them re the 22 x 65,000 Baht. The boy at desk 8 gave me an Immigration template to take to Kasikorn.

When I did my first renewal after the US Embassy quit providing the monthly income letter, Pattaya Immigration would not accept my certified bank statements.  Instead, as mentioned, they wanted a letter from my bank listing the foreign source deposits to my account for the past 12 months (I use Bangkok Bank, so they were all coded FTT on my statements, which the bank branch used to prepare the letter). The listing showed I had met the requirement for transferring at least 65k baht per month into my account.

For all my subsequent renewals, I have used the bank letter listing the FTT deposits (which is in addition to the one from the bank verifying the account that is required by Immigration for both 800k in bank or 65k monthly income). 

As I understand it, the bank staff could prepare the letter from my passbook provided it has been kept up to date. Since I do not regularly update my passbook, the bank branch needs my account statements to prepare the letter. I went yesterday to Bangkok Bank's customer service counter at the Lotus on Sukhumvit Road and ordered the bank statements for the past 12 months - the fee was 200 baht (if for more than 6 months, they have to order them from the main office in Bangkok which takes at least 5 business days to arrive).   Next Monday, I will go back and get them to prepare bank letters and do my renewal on Tuesday (Pattaya Immigration wants the account verifying letter to be on the day of application or the day before if renewing early before the banks open).

Why is it many posters with information on Immigration issues never state the Immigration Office where it occurred?   Although the overall rules are supposed to apply to all, each Immigration Office has their own policies.  From reports I have seen, it appears that most Immigration Offices have no such requirement, but a few do such as the Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration Office.

However, Pattaya Immigration in Jomtien requires a report back with bank book only one time - 90 days from date if extension, but even that has been hit or miss as some are told to do so and others are not.  Further, as noted by other posters, not complying with the report back has no consequences as they have no tracking system to record who does or does not report back. 

Also as mentioned, which appears to be the policy at all Immigration Offices, your bank book will be examined at the time you apply to renew your extension to verify that you met the requirement to keep 800k for 3 months and before renewal application but never letting it fall below 400k in the interim period.

I have been using the online system for my previous 4 reports. I did my 5th one yesterday receiving confirmation of successful delivery almost immediately and the receipt about 3 hours later.  When I did my first report, it was about 3 days before I rec'd the receipt.  Since then it has usually taken about 2 to 3 hours.

However, this time I did not receive an email reminder as in the past that it was now due (6th April was due date shown on last report).   

3 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Open the link;

8. FOR PROVIDING SUPPORT TO OR BEING A DEPENDANT OF A PERSON WHO HAVING RESIDENCY IN THAILAND (NON-O)

It is possible that the term "Residency" means someone who has obtained Thai permanent residency rather than those residing here on the basis of continuing annual extensions of stay.  

As mentioned by Dr Jack 54, a dependent spouse or child must have entered Thailand on a Non-Immigrant Visa in order to be granted an extension of stay based on your having a retirement extension.  It is my understanding that the dependent cannot apply for the Non Immigrant Visa within Thailand.