BertM

On 12/26/2019 at 4:18 AM, SoonOh said:

she told us that sometime next year Non-O will require medical insurance.

I heard that too from my Visa agency, but he told us not to worry that it will only apply to retirement extensions.

3 hours ago, Mbaki said:

Pay no attention to these scare mongerers about bringing large amounts of cash into the country, I brought in $A100k cash and all I did was declare at customs before leaving Australia and declare again at customs when I entered the country, I then went straight to SuperRich for the exchange to Baht and then to my bank to deposit. I kept the exchange receipt to show immigration and copies of my Australian bank book just incase they were needed, but they weren’t asked for anyway.

The OP is from the US. It's not a problem for him to bring large amounts of cash into Thailand. The problem is him getting it out of the US legally. That's a completely different situation than you coming from Australia. He has to report to US customs any cash over $10,000 and believe me, customs will want verifiable documentation from where the money came from. Worse case scenario, it would be confiscated. You would never be allowed to leave the US with $100k in cash unless you hid it and they didn't find it. And, that would be breaking the law.

47 minutes ago, Genericnic said:

LOL. If I was a money launderer, I would not be bringing it in myself. I would find some unsuspecting soul to do it for me. As for proof of where it came from, I am pretty sure the documentation from TD Ameritrade account would be sufficient. And yes, the funds would be declared in both the US and Thailand.

 

David

 

If the money was reported and came from your TD Ameritrade account, then I don't understand why you would want to bring $27,000 in cash when you can simply make an international wire xfer for less that $50 USD after your Thai bank account/s are open. I don't pay any wire xfer fees with Chase bank. I send USD to my Citibank Thailand USD account and then convert to THB at my convenience. So, I don't understand your reasoning, but you must have one for risking bringing that much cash when it's not necessary.

1 hour ago, Genericnic said:

I am planning on bringing back cash (US$) from the US in January to convert to baht and deposit in my Thai bank account to satisfy the financial requirements for converting a visa exempt entry to a non-O visa based on retirement.

Bad idea. There is a $10,000 USD limit on carrying money out of the US without reporting it to US customs and $20,000 limit on bringing into Thailand without reporting to Thai customs. You would need about $27,000 USD to convert for the 800k THB that's required, so it would be better just to bring enough to open an account and then pay the ~ $50 international wire transfer fee once your account is open. That way you will have proof the money came from abroad. If the reason for bringing that much cash is because it hasn't been reported in US for tax purposes and you bring it thru US customs and by chance you get stopped, then you will have a difficult time explaining to them where that cash came from.

Just wanted to add... sorry to hear you were denied... 

9 hours ago, arjunadawn said:

She brought The Thai and English 21 Dec 18 Immigration Memo authorizing one year flexibility window, and asked why they would not consider less than 12 months income wire proofs when I’d only had 10-11 months time to even comply?

You didn't say exactly how many monthly xfers you made this year, you only said that you "only had 10-11 months time to even comply?" As I said in a previous post, I thought IM would be lenient, but I wasn't willing to take the chance by going all year long until Oct 2019 only to find out they wouldn't accept 10 monthly xfers, so I did the bank method to be safe. Many people posted over the past several months that IM only accepted 12 mths, so I was glad I decided to do the bank method. Hope you can figure an easy way out of this... Good night...

5 hours ago, arjunadawn said:

There is a key point missed in your comment. The rule is from Dec18/Jan 19. Other means of proof were accepted prior. Few can prove 12 months wire until Jan 2020 (Unless they formally expensively Wired each month). Most used embassy income verification. In my case, I also always showed us bank deposits and local ATM with draw exceeding 65000 / month. 
 

I nearly feel I <deleted> someone off, but... I don’t know these folks.

There is a key point I think you are missing. The notice from US embassy was in Oct 2018. So, if you would have started in Nov 2018, then you would have 12 monthly xfers thru Oct 2019 and you wouldn't have a problem. I understand the Thai police order was issued later, but anyone counting on using less than 12 mths and going all year long hoping that IM would accept less than 12 xfers was taking a big risk. Sometimes, things work out and sometimes they don't. So, it's always good to have a back up plan. That's news to me that Thai immigration would accept US bank deposits & ATM withdrawals as proof for 65k per month method. I always had to get an income affidavit from US embassy even though I had a US pension way more than the 65k. They wouldn't accept my US bank deposits, pension letter or statement. See notice from US Embassy website:

Bangkok – October 26, 2018: Effective January 1, 2019, the United States Embassy in Bangkok and the U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai will no longer provide an income affidavit and will not notarize previous versions of the income affidavit.

1 hour ago, arjunadawn said:

The colonel who spoke with my wife today insisting I was not the intended population for such a directive- he paused, then returned the call to wife saying Bangkok confirms- only for first time applicants. 
 

I tire of this.

Maybe what he means is that you are not newly retired and have been on extensions in the past so that means 12 mths for you whereas someone who recently retired and is applying for their first extension only needs a few monthly xfers. I'm just guessing... I thought also, that IM would be lenient the first year due to the Embassies canceling the income letters/stat decs/affidavits. Maybe you could make a border run and start over with a Non-O based on just a few mthly xfers.

If both bank accounts are in your name only, then you may have a good chance of Immigration accepting your income. If one of the accounts is in your son's name, then no way. If that's the case, it would be best to have the monies deposited in US bank account, then you make one transfer per month of 65k+ to your Thai bank account. Immigration wants to see a bank book and a signed letter/statement from Thai bank showing the monthly xfers.

1 hour ago, Jasper4one said:

The first payment is in my name but the other one is in my son's name whose only 6 years old. So, basically there will be 2 bank statements. Will immigration accept this as income?

Good luck convincing Immigration...

6 hours ago, cyclone6 said:

So the advantage to an FCD account would be what?  Fewer international transfers from the States to Thailand?

You can open up 2 accounts at a Thai bank. In your case, one would be a USD account and the other a THB account. You then xfer USD from your US bank account to the USD Thai bank account and let it sit for as long as you want. Then you can convert the USD to THB at your convenience. You don't have to do that. You can just have a THB account, then the bank will automatically convert to THB when they receive your USD xfer at whatever the going exchange rate is that day. It's up to you if you want to let money sit in your USD account to try and play the exchange rate game. It works for me... You can get your US bank to convert USD to THB and send THB, but the exchange rate is usually worse than sending USD to your Thai bank and letting the Thai bank convert it. That is why I always send USD.

Someone just sent me this link of a first-hand report that this person was not required to have insurance to get his extension at CW in Bangkok on Nov 7 with a previous O-A. It would be nice to see more reports of people getting their extensions without insurance. But, for those who go ask ahead of time and are told it's needed, then they go buy it, we will never know if they could have gotten their extension without insurance like this person. See post below...

2 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

Does this help?

 

Yes. That's close enough. He went in Nov to ask if he would need insurance for his extension in Dec. Looks like everyone with a past O-A should plan to buy insurance or plan to get a Non-O.

And for those who don't follow TVF, they will be in for quite a surprise when they go in to get their extension and are told the bad news.

2 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

Switching to a Non-O seems like the best option for those that already have good health insurance, are self insured or do not wish to buy a Thai policy but I am worried that this will turn out to be a temporary solution or loophole (which might soon be addressed or closed).

You may be right in the end. Let's hope not for everyone's sake...

It would be nice to hear from someone first-hand who went for their extension in Nov 2019 who previously came in on an O-A and was told that they could not renew without insurance. It is an inconvenience, but it is not the end of the world to have to leave Thailand and get a new Non-O from an outside consulate, or a Tourist visa from an outside consulate or just come back in visa exempt and then apply for a 90-day Non-O in-country to start over. I would like to see some reports from people who were turned away and actually did one of the things I mentioned to get a Non-O.

11 hours ago, cyclone6 said:

3) Open a Thai bank account and have the 4,000 $/mo annuity payments deposited there for a few months before I apply?

You cannot do option 1 & 2. Without an income affidavit from US embassy, Thai Immigration wants to see foreign xfer deposits in a Thai bank account using a bank book & bank letter from the Thai bank. You can check with your annuity companies, but they may not be able to make xfers to overseas accounts. So, your best option may be to just xfer from your Schwab bank account. That way you can xfer just enough to cover the > 65k. With Schwab you will pay $25 for international wire xfers, but if you have > $100k balances, you get 3 xfers free per Qtr. Just a tip: Better to xfer USD and let Thai bank convert to THB.

39 minutes ago, cyclone6 said:

Intriguing.  So if I kept $7500 USD in an account the year round (trying to avoid US FBAR reporting requirements), and deposited another $20000 USD sporadically through the year while I am here, would that suffice?

Just so you know, filing FBAR is not hard. It only takes me about 10 minutes to file. I wouldn't worry about going over the limit if you wanted to xfer more. The one-time 800k xfer is easier if you have the money, but "it's up to you".

Also, the US gov't will still know you have a foreign account even if you don't file FBAR because all foreign financial institutions are required to report those accounts. See below:

Starting July 1, 2014 Foreign Financial Institutions are required by the US government, under FATCA, to report information regarding accounts of all US citizens (living in the US and abroad).

28 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

1. Not possible.

Yes, I kind of figured that, that is why I said "may" and to check with Ubonjoe. So the man will have to leave the country, but could come back in on 30-day visa exempt and start over with Non-O.

Item 2 is what I did. I came in first time on 30-day visa exempt and got a 90-day Non-O based on retirement and a 1-year extension at Jomtien.

1 hour ago, BertM said:

maxx58,

2. Leave the country and then come back using 20-day visa exempt entry and apply for Non-O in-country 15 days prior to your 30 days expiring

maxx58,

Sorry for the typo. It's "come back using 30-day visa exempt entry". I'm sure you guessed that. That's how I got my Non-O in-country at Jomtien and have been on extensions ever since.

maxx58,

There are several ways of doing it. In general you could do the following:

1. You may be able to apply for Non-O in-country 15 days prior to your existing extension expires (need to ask Ubonjoe)

2. Leave the country and then come back using 20-day visa exempt entry and apply for Non-O in-country 15 days prior to your 30 days expiring

3. Leave the country and obtain a Non-O outside the country, then come back in

In all 3 cases, if granted the Non-O, you then would do your yearly extension in the last 30 days of the 90-day Non-O and you would need to meet the financial requirements for marriage.

31 minutes ago, Toadie said:

So the gist of the compliant is, "I cannot provide evidence of income as a required and my embassy won't verify my income for me". Hence everybody is not looking after me as they should.

It's called the victim mentality. Some people are victims and some people take responsibility for their own situation and adapt. I personally think it's a waste of time to complain about something that happened a year ago, but apparently it makes some people feel better to blow off some steam and do the blame game. Good night...

50 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I have a friend who complains about the 400k required in the bank for an extension based on marriage while driving around on 1.5 million bht SUV. Is it only me or does anyone else think he should have bought a less expensive vehicle? Do you suppose some of the ones complaining in this forum might be a bit of the same?

I'm sure some people complaining on the forum now and during the past year are in similar situations, short on cash in the bank, but with some assets and find themselves having to xfer each month. That's a hassle. And, I'm sure many others probably never had the required income in the first place and was using income letters & affidavits fraudulently. I know one person who's pension was only 34k THB per month and was getting the income letters. He even told me to just put a fictitious number down, but he didn't know my pension was 3 times the required amount and I wasn't going to tell him either. So, when the embassy stopped, it wasn't a problem for me. Now, I just use the money in the bank for convenience instead of having to xfer each month.

1 hour ago, DannyCarlton said:

British Embassy income letters were verified. US affidavits and Aus stat decs weren't.

Not doubting you, but just wondering exactly how did the British Embassy verify income? Did they contact the private pension providers? Did they contact the gov't pension agencies or the financial institutions? Or, did they only review the pension & income documents that was provided by the expats requesting the income letters?

The US embassy never verified income and refused to even look at the pension letter issued by my employer. They only notarized an affidavit which was just a sworn statement.

5 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Google "Australian Statutory Declaration" to see the blank form.. When they did them, you just wrote "my name is fred smith I make 1 million baht a year" You signed it and the consulate stamped it.

Great post... But, I think the person you replied to was just being pedantic about someone using the term "income letter" instead of using the actual term "Statutory Declaration". I don't believe he was really asking to see what an income letter looks like...

21 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Please post what an "income letter" looks like.

I'm sure he's using "income letter" as a general term to describe an Income Affidavit from the US embassy or a Statutory Declaration from the AUS embassy or whatever was being used by the UK embassy. He's welcome to use income letter as a general term if he wishes...