lscottbutler

Thank you everyone for your high quality insights and information.  This was just what I needed.  Cheers

This is a bit complicated so maybe one of the moderators knows the answer but I’m thinking I have to go out to Chang Wattana and get some answers there.

Anyway here goes.

• My Retirement Visa Expires on August 5th 2020. (4 Months From Now)

• I am planning on renewing it with the 65,000 baht per month international transfers.

• I currently have 8 months of verified internal transfers from Kasikorn Bank  (4 more to go until August).

• I would like to leave Thailand sometime in June or July (1 to 2 months before my Retirement Visa needs to be renewed) to return home to care for an ailing parent.

• I would be leaving 1 to 2 months before my renewal date.

THESE ARE MY QUESTIONS

• Can I renew my Retirement Visa 1 or 2 months early?
• If they will let me renew early what would they need to see an airline ticket?

• If Thai Immigration says that I can not renew early this would be my plan.

MY PLAN

• Leave Thailand in either June or July.
• I continue to make my monthly international transfers into my Thai bank account.
• I would return to Thailand in November on a Tourist Visa.  In November I would have 15 international transfers in a row.

BIG QUESTION

• Can I reapply for my Retirement Visa in November while on a Tourist Visa using my letter from Kasikorn Bank showing at that point, 15 months of internal transfers?

Thanking you in advance for your responses.

Cheers

*****UPDATE *****  

I have just spent the morning at Thai Immigration and here's what transpired.  Last night I gathered all of my supporting documentation showing that I had a guaranteed income that exceeded the monthly minimum requirement.   Original pension contract, bank statements and a two page list specially prepared by my bank in the US that showed the previous two years of pension deposits into my US Bank.  I had also drafted a 2 page letter explaining who I am and what I've been up to while residing in LOS for the last 16 years as well a breaking down all the supporting documents into bullet points so it was easy to comprehend.   The plan was to have these documents translated and then take them over to Thai Immigration and see if I would qualify for my Retirement Visa Renewal in August using the documents describe above.  Like all best laid plans it turns out that the good folks over in the Translation Department at Chang Wattana will not begin to translate any documents you have unless you have a letter from your home country embassy stating that the documents "are originals."  That was a bust. 

I then hop a moto taxi to Immigration which is on the other side of the complex in an attempt to plead my case without the translated documents.  It was only 8:30 by this time and not many people were there yet.  I politely asked one of the officers if I could have a minute of her time and told her my situation slowly and clearly and asked if my situation was worth of getting my visa extension using this method.  She nodded a lot but I could tell she didn't really understand what I was saying.  She then pointed to the back of one of their forms and showed me the 800K and 3 months in the bank reference but I said I want to do it the other way which is the monthly income.  The form was so outdated that it said the monthly minimum requirement was 50K baht.  After a minute or two she said when her boss arrives I could ask her.  

So the boss arrives and I patiently wait.  The place is starting to fill up and I don't have a number so I go to the front and get a number just in case.  Turns out there was only one person in front of me so I waited a couple of minutes until my number was called and made my way to a new officer at L8.  As I was handing my number to that officer's assistant the first lady I spoke with saw me and came over and got me and said no, wait for my boss she will help you.  So after a short wait I was called in and sat across from the boss who was doing some paperwork and laid out my case. 

I presented my guaranteed monthly income contract, bank statements and custom bank letter describing my deposit history.  Turns out she wasn't interested in any of that.  The only thing she said was do you have a letter from a Thai bank showing your international monthly deposits?  I said I did not but that I would start automatically transferring on April 1st.  I said specifically that I just found out about the Income Statement from my US Embassy no longer being a valid option and that at best I would be able to show deposits for April, May, June, July and August before I went to renew my Retirement Visa which expires on August 5th.  She looked at her fingers and did a little counting and then said yes that will be OK but next year you will have to show an official document from a Thai bank of 12 months of deposits.  I said as nicely as I could, "Are you sure, because I don't have the 800K baht and if this doesn't workout for some reason I'm in a totally bad spot, but she said no everything will be ok. 

So that was good news.  Tomorrow I will go to my main Kasikorn branch and get the information needed to transfer money from my US bank into my Thai Kasikorn account.  My ninety day report is towards the end of April.  I will get what Kasikorn bank is calling a "Credit Advice" document which officially shows all incoming international deposits, and required by Thai Immigration, before doing my ninety day report and then take it with me when I report and while I'm there double check again if this  "Credit Advice" letter is acceptable and confirm that when I show up to renew in August with three or four additional international deposits showing up on an updated "Credit Advice" letter that I will good for renewal.  (Boy can you say run on sentence) Anyway I hope this helps someone.  Sorry if I'm repeating myself and procedures to often.  I want to make it as easy to understand as I can.  Anyway, thanks again for all the great information I received on this great forum.  

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.  Wonderful information as usual.  I'll be headed out to immigration this week to state my case.  I have lot's of documentation and everything translated.  I'm feeling good about it. 

I think I've boxed myself into a corner here.  Any suggestions as to how to rectify my situation would be greatly appreciated.

I'm 55.  I've had a retirement visa for five years now.  [I used the US Embassy Income statements to satisfy Thai Immigration]  My Retirement Visa expires on August 08, 2019.  I have an annuity with a US bank but they will not deposit into a foreign bank.  

Aside from depositing the 800K, I'm thinking my only option would be to;

1.  Set up a Bangkok Bank Account here in Bangkok and have it linked to a direct deposit account at the Bangkok Bank New York Branch. 

2. Do you think this will work? 

3.  Does Thai immigration even recognize the monthly Bangkok Bank New York branch Direct Deposits as a legitimate way of showing the monthly minimum guaranteed income in order to keep my retirement visa. It will be about 80K per month.

4.  If Thai Immigration does accept the BBK Bank NY Branch Option, I will not have had the direct deposits going into my Thai bank account for the previous 12 month.  It will only have been five months if I get it all going before April 1st.  Does anyone know how

this will affect my visa renewal.  Will I be forced to go the 800K route because I didn't have the transfers going for the previous 12 months? Or will there be some lenience as they implement these new procedures.

5.  When is the cut off day to have the 800,000 baht in a Thai Bank?   ---Visa Expires on August 8th, 2019-- 90 days prior to my visa expiration date??

And do we know exactly what the 800K requirements are in terms of how long they can't be touched?

Thanks Everybody...