Ozziepat

Please PM me with contact information of any competent, reliable builder in the Chiang Mai area you can personally recommend from experience(s) or recommend based on known and trusted sources. My wife and I are initiating a modest home build in Mueang Chiang Mai and would be very appreciative of this information. Some may already exist on the forum, but my efforts to find it failed. Links are also welcome. Thanks.  

3 hours ago, RocketDog said:

Your last sentence is precisely my final conclusion. My daughter will then deliver it by hand to the county ballot box. 

Please check on the rules in your state. It's possible that an absentee ballot must be returned by mail.

On 1/9/2020 at 8:22 AM, jeffandgop said:

Here is a copy of the list of requirements for extending stays based on marriage that CM IMM provided to us yesterday.

Have you completed the process, and could you tell me what was or was not required to satisfy the very last requirement listed, **In case of divorce...**? I asked this question several days ago on the last page of this topic and have received no responses. Thanks.

In Chiang Mai, regarding the first one-year extension to a Non-O based on marriage:

Immigration provides a list of required documents. At the very bottom of the list is this - 

**In case of divorce, must bring Divorce Certificate to show**

What the heck is that? I already have to provide papers, including the verification that I was single before I married, now attached to the Koror 2 required, showing a legal Thai marriage exists. Do they really want to see a copy of my American divorce papers from the 1980's? That requirement seems inexplicable and unique to this CM IM-generated document.  Has anyone been required to produce said divorce papers, or something else called a Divorce Certificate?

I may be misunderstanding. The OP is asking about end of visa this month, I am asking about end of stay this month on a visa still good for 9 more months. Sorry if I am muddying the waters.

36 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Immigration has not made it clear that the "automatic extension" will be considered as an extension of your non-o visa entry.

Best to apply for the 60 day extension so there is no chance of having a problem when you apply for the one year extension.

OK, that makes me a little nervous. I have a 1-year Non-O visa based on Thai wife, first 90-day stay ending tomorrow, May 20. We went to CM Immigration last week and were told by a "yellow shirt" that all I needed to do was wait until July 31. No action necessary before then, and he did look at my visa and entry stamp. None of us know yet, I believe, what rules will come out before July 31, but your reply ubonjoe seems to contradict what we were told. And let me be clear that we did not talk to a Thai Immigration officer, as part of the information we received was that we did not need to.   

On 4/22/2020 at 9:15 AM, Logosone said:

After much trial and error I have found that the best coffee in Thailand is Cafe Ronn, dark roast.

Would you please indicate where this coffee can be purchased, and whether it is pre-ground (if so, grind type) or can be ground to order? Thanks.

Sincere thanks to all for your information and advice. 

1 minute ago, john terry1001 said:

I can't comment on the US banking system which seems complex when compared for (most of) the rest of the world but there are definitely no hidden fees on any transfers from the UK and the rest of Europe, either the sending bank or the Thai receiving bank. The advertised TW fees are the only cost.

 

There have been several Americans who now use Transferwise successfully and, once set up properly, nobody has reported any hidden bank fees on this forum, unless I've missed it.

Thanks. That's good to know. I think if the US were an ugly exception somehow (extra hidden fees...), we'd have heard about it.

26 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

wonder if there would be any hidden costs of doing it such as fees from the bank it was sent to transferwise from.

I did a calculation using the fees I mentioned in my earlier post for having his payments direct deposited via Bangkok Bank in New York.

The are $1500 - $5 (NY fee) = $1495 X 30.11 (TT rate yesterday) = ฿45,014.45 - ฿200 (fee) = ฿44,814.45. That is only a ฿16.19 difference that is only about $.54 less than TW.

Yes. I worked through a similar computation for $1800 and came up with a 19 Baht difference, which nowadays is about $0.63. There are other differences that will require some further thought on my part. I just hate the thought of parking hundreds of thousands of Baht in an account that serves no useful purpose beyond meeting a visa extension requirement, so I'll pick one of the monthly deposit options and eat the cost.

1 minute ago, Max69xl said:

The exchange rate at TW will always be the mid-market rate and will always be better than Bangkok Banks. And the rate is guaranteed,while Bangkok Banks isn't. 

Good points. Thanks again.

1 minute ago, Max69xl said:

If you convert the 200 baht receiving fee into US$ and add the 5$ sending fee + the difference between the exchange rates, TW gives you the mid-market rate, and is better than you get at Bangkok Bank, you'll see that the fees will be almost the same. 

Thank you and yes, you are correct. I did that using an original transfer amount of $1800 along with the current TW and BKB rates and fees. The difference in favor of the BKB route came out to be 19 Baht, or an insignificant annual cost difference in the neighborhood of 230 THB assuming similar monthly differences. But that difference could easily disappear because the BKB route forces the full SSA payment to be sent and converted every month at the prevailing BKB rate, whereas the TW amount can vary and allows some discretion regarding when, or if, any "unneeded" difference is converted to Baht. 

4 hours ago, Max69xl said:

This is a screenshot from TransferWise January 10. 

Thank you.

4 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You will get the T/T transfer rate that Bangkok Bank is using for the day your transfer arrives here.

Thanks, yet again. Have great year.

12 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

No change for the direct deposit from to the SSA to the New York branch other than the coding for the transfer had to be in the IAT format.

A final bit (I hope, before I become intolerably tiresome.) Exchange rate USD to THB: Fees aside, does the NY Bangkok Bank route yield a mid-market rate, or near that (similar to what TransferWise advertises or can be found on xe.com, for example)?

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

No change for the direct deposit from to the SSA to the New York branch other than the coding for the transfer had to be in the IAT format. If using a Thai address for the SSA there was not a problem with them.

No problem with my transfers since they apparently have been in the IAT format for a long time.

Sounds like maybe the key is having a Thai address on file with the SSA, or at least that will ensure correct coding throughout barring some future change I don't need to worry about now. Thanks again for blazing trails and sharing the knowledge gained.

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

i have been using the direct deposit via New York for over 7 years and I am very pleased with it.

Thanks, ubonjoe. I saw some recent references to a change in the NY Bangkok Bank process that adversely affected the coding of transfers on the Thai end, so I had written off that option. Sounds like that's not a problem?

14 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

TIP: When you initiate the monthly transfers, choose a date for arrival of the transfers that is not at the very beginning or at the very end of the month.  Due to delays in transfers, weekends, official holidays, that might result in 2 transfers arriving in same month (and none in another). 

Ridiculous, petty and childish to make a point of this, but there have been cases reported of retirees having their extension denied because 'no transfer in EVERY month'.

Not ridiculous... This is exactly the kind of detail that helps to prevent potential problems. Thanks.

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

1. Yes

   But you will need proof they were transferred from abroad.

2. You have a couple of option to transfer your SSA payments into the country.

    One is to open a direct deposit account at Bangkok Bank have them transferred visa thier branch in New York. The fee will be $5 deducted in New York and 200 baht here. Every transfer will be shown as a foreign transfer.

Info here: https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch

The other is to have your payments done by the the SSA using international direct deposits done into your account. The problem is that the payments will come in via the Bank of Thailand and will be shown shown a BahtNet. You would need to get credit advices to prove they came from abroad. IDD sign up form is here. https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-1199-op107.pdf  There is no fee for it but the exchange rate may not be a good as other options since the conversion is done in the US.

Thanks. Never quite simple, is it? Well, I should be able to manage one of these methods. I'll probably look into Transferwise also and compare all the pros and cons.

General apologies for all of my questions. Every layer of the immigration onion seems to reveal a new layer. A response from someone who has recently attempted exactly the following in Chiang Mai, with result, would be very much appreciated: 

1. Will 12 consecutive monthly transfers (of at least 40,000 THB equivalent each) from the US Social Security Administration into my personal savings account in Bangkok Bank (to be established) satisfy in every way Immigration requirements for a Non-O (based on marriage) annual visa extension?

2. What will be the total costs per month to me? I believe these to be Bangkok-Bank-specific and consist of both fees and potentially sub-optimal exchange rates (USD to THB). For example purposes a monthly transfer amount of $1500 will do. Please correct me if I am wrong about anything, and please note whether or not the bank branch location in Chiang Mai is relevant.  

8 hours ago, Russell17au said:

The other option that you can think about is that if the Immigration office will not accept less than the full 12 months deposits then you could go to Savannakhet, Laos and get a 1 year Non-Imm "O" Multi Entry Visa based on marriage and you do not need any financials there and that would give you the time to get you full 12 months deposits into your Thai bank account. Just be prepared for the unexpected and always have another plan just incase

Thanks.

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

A credit advice for the transfer would show the original source of the transfer.

Thanks. "Credit advice" was a new term for me.

30 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Normally yes for the international direct deposit but you may need to get credit advises to prove it.

Thanks ubonjoe. Would you elaborate on this. Not sure I understand.

18 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Yes it should show FTT which is a transfer from a foreign source. 

No, they couldn't care less what you do with your money after that.

 

Coincidentally,  I did this process last week in Khon Kaen. They looked at my SSA proof of income, said it was not necessary but kept it in their file.

All they wanted was the proof of transfer of funds from my bank here in Thailand.

I had Bangkok Bank print a one year deposit statement and attach proof of bank account ownership the day before.

Thanks for your reply. Good to know all of this.

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The only proof immigration will accept is transfers into a Thai bank account from abroad to prove a income of 40k baht.

Thank you ubonjoe and other respondents. I thought that the case, and I appreciate your confirmation - which raises two related questions:

1. Will a direct US Social Security transfer into a Thai bank account show the allowable transfer code in the bank book such that Immigration will accept these as meeting the income requirement? and

2. Assuming I put an approved foreign transfer of some kind in place, does Immigration care what happens to funds in the account after the transfer, e.g., are they all immediately available for withdrawal with no running balance requirement?