mudcat

I have been with Pacific Cross for a few years - at first it was to protect my assets and guard against immigration requirements should Non-IMM O require insurance in the future. Once I obtained a Long Term Resident visa I considered continuing the same policy, but the LTR initial requirement was for ten-months validity would have delayed my visa application for a few months. I decided to demonstrate ability to cover medical expenses through retirement assets. Once I was able to take another look at my policy and options I decided to move from the highest level of Premier to the lowest level of Maxima while retaining outpatient coverage but increasing my deductible from ThB20K to Thb40K.. I understand the aversion to outpatient cover here as typically outpatient costs are quite low and the cover in many of the lower level plans restrict number of visits and maximum per-visit charges. Once I looked at the outpatient provisions in the Premier plan I realized that should I ever need continuing outpatient treatment such as Chemo, radiation, or physical therapy I could easily exceed my deductible and but exceed my outpatient allowance. It made more sense to move to the Maxima plan which has much better outpatient cover and allow the deductible (and no-claim discount) to control my costs until I really need care.

My check status tab gives my application date, visa type and number, staff, and complete. Speak to your contact at BOI when your process is complete

On what screen or tab?

I don't remember - I think after my visa was in my passport I went through and deleted everything I could. I brought this up with my BOI Sherpa and I remember him telling me that they would do that as well. When I just logged in there was no personal data to be seen, so I am pretty certain that external snooping directed towards me or other applicants is secure. The real exposure is a system hack or the months between application and either granting or denying - during that time anyone who has access to your username/password has access to a lot of your personal data.

In terms of insurance and substitution for insurance. You must understand that the group of applicants they are considering are solidly middle or upper class with income and assets they have earned saved over a lifetime or are currently employed here or from overseas. Of course the vicissitudes of life can change most of that rapidly, but requiring pension income for wealthy retirees, stringent requirements for overseas employers, or a large hostage investment seemed to give assurance to the bodies that approved the program that the class of applicants would be a net benefit to the Kingdom. The requirement for health insurance is much more reasonable than the requirement for OA visas and there is the option for 'self-funding' as many here maintain they choose to utilize. I, like most middle-class people, have always had private health insurance through work or privately (as a U.S. citizen there is no public health plan as in Europe or the U.K.). Even with insurance in place, I chose to demonstrate assets in my retirement accounts well in excess of their $100,000 requirement both because of their now waived 10-month validity and because Thai insurance companies faced with large claims are liable to constructively cancel by large increases in rates or cancel outright. As a U.S. senior who has maintained my Medicare premium payments I always have the option of returning to the U.S. and establishing coverage immediately. I understand the frustration with the two-track process - wealthy under BOI and Hoi Polloi under the immigration laws and officer. This is the world we live in both here and in our countries of origin. BOI can make a case that their applicants present no risk of becoming a burden on the Kingdom unlike many who barely qualify for a spouse or retirement visa based on a bank deposit and survive the pittance of a pension from their working years and possibly some savings for retirement. There is a wide band of persons in the middle who feel aggrieved by the laws they need to comply with and who do not qualify or choose not to apply for one of the LTR visas because of age or income source. I applied and received a LTR visa for personal reasons and lack of faith that I could remain in the Kingdom over the medium to long-term given that the current requirements are subject to arbitrary changes that might trap me into actions I may not choose to take such as moving more money into the Thai financial system or changing my health insurance to their idea of adequacy.

The requirement file f8938 would apply my wife as she an classic Thai small saver with a few passbook accounts with an important exception After I pass her assets would otherwise require filing, but Possible requirement to file f8938: If your combined Thai bank accounts dollar balance is more than $200,000 on the last day of the year or more than $300,000 at any point during the year you need to file f8938, but only if you need to file taxes*. The requirement to file Form F8938 comes with significant penalties, so you must keep track of your income and assets, so you do not fail to file. * TIP Exception if no income tax return required. If you do not have to file an income tax return for the tax year, you do not have to file Form 8938, even if the value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than the appropriate reporting threshold. (from i8938 instructions)

As you browse I would pay attention to seating height and forward visibility, especially if your spouse is on the short side.

Sorry for not reading your first reply - unless you can demonstrate offshore residence for more than 330 in one of the previous three tax years you use the domestic version of streamlined compliance: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/u-s-taxpayers-residing-in-the-united-states One difference is that the 'domestic' version assess a 5% penalty on offshore balances you failed to report over the past six-years - the IRS tax lookback is still only three-years. The penalty and back taxes may be niggling or may be significant. We got out of compliance when we failed to report some accounts my wife held prior to our marriage/her citizenship - the damage was minor but the work was significant.

Given that you mention FBAR and amended returns you probably are going to file under what is called streamlined filing which requires filing years of missing FinCEN 114s and three years of amended returns that report and pay taxes on the accounts you failed to report. If you have time and good records you can do it yourself as I did. Send a pm if you want. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/streamlined-filing-compliance-procedures

Like many successful applicants my application to approval was ~4-weeks and another 2-weeks to arrange travel to Bangkok for my stamp (and Halloween and our 10-year anniversary). I renewed my U.S. passport for another 10-years to cover the entire LTR period prior to applying so the timeline looks like this: Passport date 09/01/2022, received 09/15/2022 Off to Immigration to transfer stamps - 09/16/22 Application submitted 09/17/2022 Back and forth with BOI re use of Roth IRA as substitute for insurance Approval notice 10/16/2022 Appointment for receiving visa in passport 10/31/2022 Some notes I have read that BOI is getting sticky about insurance substitution accounts - YMMV There were problems with adding documents after initial application - this may be fixed by now. I did delete my application support documents after approval - not a bad idea with any Thai site. I substituted my Roth IRA for my Pacific Cross policy as they required 10-months validity - this has changed, but as my Roth is part of my estate planning it is likely to be usable at five-years and at ten-years (if I live to 84-years old and the program is still available). Since I got my visa stamp I have missed two 90-day reports and one Non-O extension - I did not miss the IO or the office.

I considered my LTRWP visa as part of my estate planning and Thailand annoyance reduction program. There was only a minor up front cost to obtain a visa as I leveraged my current pensions and assets to free up my 800K hostage account and choose my medical insurance based on my needs. My life got easier and my wife's headaches were less when I die or become disabled.

I would suggest submitting a tax transcript rather than a 1040 and pointing out pension and social security line numbers you are using to qualify. The transcript is protected with names and addresses truncated and the first digits of your social security numbers masked. It is more of a government document than a 1040 as submitted.

Another form needed for income rental property is f4562 where you list your depreciation - for TurboTax that always sent us off into a more expensive category of software - the one advantage was TurboTax did the calculations and remainder of depreciation available.

Ah, tax season - comes after the holiday season to wipe away that smile. My wife is a U.S. citizen and, as a Thai, is surprised at the U.S. government's intrusiveness. As my wife plans to move all her financial assets to Thailand when she inherits if I pre-decease her, we have been working together for her to file her FinCEN114 (FBAR) report. She will not need to file taxes as her interest earnings will be below her standard deduction even after beginning Social Security. As there is no tax filing she is also exempts from filing f8938 even though her Thai assets would otherwise require it. To prepare and file her FinCEN114 she updates her Thai bank books and identifies her interest earnings and high balance in each account. She enters each payment and balance into a spreadsheet using the appropriate December 31st exchange rate from the U.S Treasury (below) to convert her total baht interest and high balance to U.S. dollars (rounding her interest total and rounding up her high balances). She then opens a a template FinCEN114.pdf that has each bank account with their address already entered. She enters a new filing name for the year e.g. XXXX2022 on page 1 and enters the tax year on page 3. She then transfers the high dollar balances for each account. She saves the file as FBAR XXXX2022.pdf, moves to the home page and completes the filing information (name, email, and phone). She saves all the spreadsheet and pdf into a single folder along with all emails from [email protected] After receiving my LTR-P visa last year I no longer maintain enough of a Thai bank account to need to file FBARs any longer and took the ThB830K and bought us a new car. As I am a >20-years older and my finances in the U.S. have a number of moving pieces we are using a tax service (MyExpatTaxes) because they will hold my wife's hand to complete our married filing jointly if I am unable to help. I have stressed the importance of staying compliant for the day when she can file for spouse or survivor Social Security benefits. Get the correct exchange rate for FBAR (and we use if for Schedule B as well) https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/treasury-reporting-rates-exchange/treasury-reporting-rates-of-exchange

If you have a camera and a photo shop to print 4x6 photos you can prepare photos at: https://epassportphoto.com/ Their free service produces a properly composed and framed 4-photo 4x6-inch jpg that you can crop or print to cut. I always print the following sizes for various Thai requirements so I have them at hand and don't need to run around. Looking for 2x2 inch - try Thailand or almost any country. Looking for 4x6 cm - try Greece - visa or passport Looking for 4x3 cm - try Japan - alien registration

I believe that this observation/question can be answered with my wife's universal response: "People Say"

The passport expiration issue led us to renew our U.S. passports for the next ten-years and then transfer my extension to the new passport the day after we received the passports back. I remember some people reporting that it was impossible to change passports in the middle of an application. Not a problem as there is no cost until you are successful.

Sorry, here is the blank TM95 TM.95 blank.pdf

The TM95 has one clear reference the need to report if resident for more than a year and what I consider a clarifying statement that a report is due each year

The Daikan inverter unit we have has Powerfull setting to get the temperature down sooner. I believe this forces the compressor to run at maximum. Check to see if the model you are considering has a similar option.

Has anyone received from BOI the allowable methods of >1-year in the Kingdom notification? Other 1-year reports allow mail in and the Royal Gazette states any IO can accept the notification. Sorry if I missed it, somewhere in the 57-pages.

Stop the rampant wage theft (paying less than minimum wage, violating work hours, late checks, and phony 'deductions). Make it clear to the worker that they and their co-workers have the right to the 10% Service charges we the customers have been paying.

For myself, the benefits of a LTR visa far outweighed the modest costs. Known Costs: Submit Agency Pension letter, Social Security Benefit Verification, and Brokerage IRA statement. Pay one-time 50,000 Thai Baht fee. Two trips to Bangkok (initial and at 5-years) Sign, date, and submit TM95 annual address report (assume they get yearly addresses by mail set up) As I am 74-years old possibility for an agent to do annual notifications and/or extension at five-years. Benefits: No more 100 km round trip to the immigration office to extend my Non-IMM O stay with all that entailed. No more keeping track of 90-day reports and wondering if the application is working today. No more running to the local immigration office for a re-entry permits or hoping the airport office is open. Cash out the 800,000 Thai Baht Bangkok Bank account term account and buy a new car. Adjust my health insurance to protect my assets rather than any future immigration requirements. I am assuming that use of an agent for those with 'simple' cases will be at a reasonable cost for reporting and extensions.

Rouge is what your maiden aunt colored her cheeks with. Think you mean Rogue as in the Nissan SUV and other miscreants.

If she won't agree to reason some late afternoon park it near the market with keys in the ignition and the windows open. Problem car is now hers to deal with and you can move on.