Jump to content

BrandonJT

Advanced Member
  • Posts

    595
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by BrandonJT

  1. Not credible, and makes zero sense. The Bank of Thailand has no interest in banks writing letters.
  2. If you're considering METV you buy time, you might want to decide if just getting a DTV is better. Then you don't have to worry about insurance or anything really for 5 years. If you travel as much as you are planning to, you won't have to worry about 90-day reports and such regardless of the visa you have. But with a DTV you won't have to worry about extensions either. But if you really want to get the LTR, then the METV is probably a better option since it will bridge the gap for the $100k fairly easily.
  3. 100% reliable. They will not accept your case if they cannot get you in. You contact them, they ask for every page of your passport. They send that to their contacts at the airport who will then review and give a price. They will tell you the price and if you accept there will be an immigration officer that will meet you (you even send a photo of the clothes you are wearing when you board the plane) and they will walk you to a counter and open it just to stamp you in. You can either contact Thai Visa Centre (click "Apply for TDAC", fill out the first page, then select the VIP/Fast Track entry on the 2nd page) https://tdac.agents.co.th/ Or you can get in touch with the agency in this thread:
  4. It's never taken me more than 15 minutes to open a US Bank account online. 1-2 months? How? If you are willing to accept long van rides depending on where you are located, you can just use land border bounce agencies until you're ready to apply for DTV. Else you can do air bounces and pay for a safe entry service to guarantee your entry at the airport.
  5. Or option 4: Fine you for failing to report as legally required before leaving Thailand.
  6. Easy to do, but still not what the law says.
  7. When you finish the process, you get an "endorsement letter" which is your approval for LTR. They then ask you, do you want to apply for an embassy, or do you want to pickup your LTR in Bangkok? You can decide what to do, and that's the only thing that matters. You either apply for the LTR from an embassy, and the visa the embassy sends you is your visa for 10 years. Or you make an appointment with them and go to their office in Bangkok, and you get the visa in your passport that's good for 10 years.
  8. This information is badly outdated. There is no in person. You won't even be allowed into the embassy. It's ALL done online through the e-visa portal.
  9. Some have tried. VERY few have succeeded. Even Bangkok makes it more difficult than the official list. For example in Chiang Mai, you're required to have 500,000 in a Thai bank account. Yet you cannot open a bank account on a DTV. The immigration officers are straight up telling people to do a border bounce. I know an immigration volunteer in Phuket and he says the success rate for DTV extensions is around 1-2%. Often times, even if you can meet their requirements, when you go back into the office, there's magically a new requirement or two. Rinse and repeat until you give up and do the border bounce.
  10. Not difficult at all if you work with your dentist. First thing that comes to mind is orthodontics, which can easily take 2-3 years. But something like implants can take months, and even a few crowns or veneers can be spaced out to many months, especially when you take into account temporary placement, lab time, etc.
  11. Based on current reports from people who have had this happen, this is what the policy is. No promises it will be the same policy this time next year. If the money has been in your account for 4 months at the time you request the bank letter, then there are no issues. You can get the letter as usual. If the money has not been in your account for 4 months at the time you request the bank letter, then they will freeze the money in your account for 4 months after that. I've seen people report that their account shows the full balance, but the "available" balance is their full balance amount, minus the frozen amount. NOTE: This is ONLY Bangkok Bank, but been reported at branches across Thailand, from Far South to Far North. But there have also been reports of people at branches who have not experienced this. So it's hit or miss, same as everything in Thailand.
  12. Somebody messed up or miscommunicated somewhere, because Thai wife has nothing to do with DTV. You either get it based on remote work for a foreign company, or you get it based on a soft power activity in Thailand. Being married to a Thai person is not a qualification for DTV. Many people have already reported getting DTVs from London.
  13. Why the media blitz against mule accounts then? Posters all over BTS stations. Etc. Because most of the accounts are opened by Thai people with a Thai ID card. Should be more difficult now with the SIM card requirements etc, but they figure out ways around everything.
  14. On a flight from Sapporo to Thailand I had the check-in agent ask me if I had "money." I just said yes and she let me on my way. But it's not unheard of to be checked on other requirements than the onward travel.
  15. Many reports of people being interrogated after they stayed in Thailand for 60 days, got a 30 day extension, and then left for a short time and returned. I haven't seen any reports of anyone actually denied entry after only a single bounce though. But don't be surprised if you get pulled out of line and grilled. Might want to make sure you can meet the 3 proofs just to be ironclad: Proof of funds (20,000 baht or equivalent in another major currency IN CASH) Proof of onward travel (a ticket out of Thailand within the 60 days that you'll be stamped in for) Proof of lodging (a hotel reservation for at least the first few days)
  16. You don't need to show 5 years. You just need to show a treatment plan ideally more than 6 months long. Otherwise you might risk getting a multiple-entry tourist visa instead of the DTV.
  17. Has nothing to wo with riff-raff or with agents. This all stems from the new law that just went into effect. Now banks are responsible for the funds lost in scams and fraud. The banks are no longer willing to take any chances that could potentially hold them liable for such losses. So they're making it really difficult for foreigners to get bank accounts. Same as always happens in Thailand, foreigners are getting the finger pointed at them for things that are majority Thai. Most of the fraud and scams are from Thai opened accounts.
  18. No, why would you be deported? You would be fined 2000 baht, and get a stamp in your passport that is no matter. Then you'll be on your way with whatever you were trying to do at immigration. Even some people on annual extensions never do a 90-day report and just pay the 2000 baht fine every year and consider an additional fee to absolve themselves of the burden.
  19. You can skip the insurance part. They give you an opportunity to upload the insurance as part of the end steps after you receive provisional approval.
  20. No. Did you not read Tod's post? He spells it out clearly. The grace period is just the period for reporting. The law specifically says you MUST report if you are in Thailand for 90 days. The grace period does not relieve you of that requirement.
  21. Excuse me, but what? Visas are issued by embassies, which is under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Immigration is a completely different agency (Department of the Interior), they aren't getting anything from DTV applications. In fact, immigration hate the DTV visa, as the DTV program was created without consulting immigration. That's why they almost refuse to issue extensions to it. They make the extensions very difficult to get on purpose, and just tell everyone to do a border bounce instead of extending.
  22. You're sleeping in the van? That sounds horrendous
  23. There's no such thing as going to Thai embassies anymore. All Thai visas are handled through the online e-visa system. But you're putting the cart well ahead of the horse. This is the absolute last step and is trivial. You need to go through the entire BOI application process and get your approval letter before you even start considering about getting the visa itself. That process can take 1-2 months and require a lot of paperwork.
  24. All of the airports have free wifi.
  25. Withdraw the funds yes, close the account no. People do not open an account, get a bank letter, then close the account. That doesn't even make sense. But that's what the bank manager said. And the entire policy is bull<deleted> anyways and only punishes people doing it the legal way. This policy won't stop anything with agents. Bank managers that are willing to take bribes will continue to do so. There is no mechanism except the teller following policy that freezes the funds in the account. The teller can just make the letter without doing that part if they are instructed to, or if they accept a bribe to do so.
×
×
  • Create New...