Pib

I was not asked for my bank passbook. I just went with the Stamps Transfer form completed, my new & old passport, and the other docs listed on below stamps transfer form. Weblink to Bangkok Immigration Stamps Transfer Form as of 10 May 2023 https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Transfer-Stamp-to-New-Passport-Form.pdf

When I transferred stamps to my new U.S. passport mid last year at CW I did not make an appt. When I arrived in the morning around 9:30am CW was FULL of customers. When getting my queue number I first went to the L section desk that does a quick check of your docs and the officer then took the docs to another L section immigration officer's desk who already had a customer. I was told to wait in the queue section which was FULL until called...but when the officer finished with their customer I was called in. About 5 to 10 minutes later I done....stamps transferred....out the door. Transfer of stamps is a quick process.

Applicants need to understand also that a will CA charge their own fee which is "above and beyond" the basic BoI/Immigration LTR visa fee of Bt50K. I only took a very quick look at those CAs providing a website for more info and one of them lists their fee as Bt85K.

BoI has just announced on 9 May 2023 an initial list of LTR Visa Certified Agents (CA)....that is, visa agents approved by BoI to assist people in the LTR Visa application process. See below post for more info.

In late 2022 the BoI published a request to interested parties to become Certified Agents (CA) for the LTR Visa to assist people in applying for an LTR Visa. Interested parties had to submit an application to BoI by 31 Jan 2023 to be considered. I noticed the LTR Visa website as of 9 May 2023 now has a webpage listing current LTR Certified Agents....as of 9 May 2023 four CA's are listed. Below is the weblink to the BoI LTR Visa CA webpage and a couple of partial snapshots from those pages. Go to the CA webpage for more details....list of CAs. BoI LTR Visa Certified Agent webpage: https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/ca.html

Yea...good point. Then maybe Savannakhet would accept a U.S. govt Social Security Administration (SSA) Benefit Letter/Statement which a beneficiary gets once a year via mail "or" if having an online SSA account just login and immediately download a fresh/dated today statement. Below is a snapshot of Savannakhet webpage guidance regarding a Non 0 Retirement visa....I put some arrows next to the income requirements...line items 4 and 5. To me line items 4 & 5 are somewhat unclear as to if a bank statement/Certificate of Income/Pension letter is adequate "OR" that bank statement/certificate of income/pension letter must be accompanied with a letter from a person's home country embassy validating the income. Plenty of "or's" in line times 4 & 5 but I'm now of the opinion the embassy letter would not be required....and the US, UK, and AU no longer issue such letters. https://savannakhet.thaiembassy.org/th/publicservice/non-immigrant-visa-o-visa-retirement-in-thailand?page=5d84a44c15e39c26b400453e&menu=5d84a44c15e39c26b400453f

I think what you will find from posts in the LTR mega thread is some applicants where able to use their investment/brokerage/IRA type accounts to meet the $100K USD self-insure medical requirement while BoI told other applicants it must be a "cash" account like a checking/savings acct in a bank. And from looking at posts in the LTR mega thread BoI "may" have initially accepted $100K from investment/brokerage/IRA type accts for the first 3 to 4 months of the LTR program but now may only accept bank cash accounts like a checking/saving/money market/etc., type account. The BoI regulation regarding health insurance is below....I underlined the self-insure part.

I doubt it because they are looking for a "letter from your home country embassy validating your income"....and the U.S. Embassy stopped issuing such letters back in 2019.

The 10 year LTR visa (i.e., really a 5 year + year 5 visa) is "not" reviewed each year. After its initial issue where you get the first 5 year permitted to stay and 5 year multi-entry stamp it is not reviewed again until it's time to apply for the 2nd 5 year stamp of the 10 year visa. No fee for the 2nd 5 year stamp if approved (or disapproved) as the entire 10 year LTR visa fee is paid when getting the 1st 5 year stamp.

BoI has not yet published anything on the BoI LTR Visa website about how to accomplish the 1 year address report but they have published guidance on the BoI "SMART" Visa website as the SMART visa also requires 1 year address reporting. I expect the same guidance will apply to the LTR visa which will be to report in-person (or authorized rep) to the BoI Chamchuri Sq Immigration Office "or" by mail. See below post for more info. And the BoI "SMART" Visa website seems to be down at this moment in time...but I expect it will be backup soon.

She does stress the funds can't be in just any ol' account but must be in a "pension/annuity" type fund. To me she is saying say if a person say has $500K (or whatever big amount) in a standard mutual/equity fund, bank savings account, stocks, chest of gold coins, etc., that would "not" qualify for the Wealthy Pensioner category...but if that $500K was in a "pension/annuity" type account in would qualify. A pension/annuity type account would be somethings like a traditional/Roth IRA, Beneficiary IRA, 401K, insurance annuity, etc.

Sounds like your Vietnam bank is rejecting the payment back to SSA for some reason. SSA sees payments that are bounced back as incorrect bank info. What has your Vietnam bank told you as to why they started rejecting/sending back the SSA payments....OR, has the bank confirmed to you that no SSA payments have been received to send back? Until you find out what your Vietnam bank says about the issue you are probably spinning your wheels with the SSA.

I would think that Jontiem branch is convinced you are who you say you are (i.e., satisfied with your passport/documentation proof) otherwise they would have frozen/closed your bank account by now....could use the account for anything. To me, there is still some Bangkok Bank miscommunication/misunderstanding regarding your authorization to receive the SSA payment (or any incoming foreign transfer). It could be as simple as a spelling mismatch between your passport and bank account information because Thai banks will sometimes reject incoming foreign payments if the first and last name do not match....been plenty of AseanNow posts stating such over the years. I think when such a reject occurs due to name mismatch it's usually due to an actual manual review (human eyes used) of an incoming transfer versus just letting the computer scan for problems with incoming transfers. I would recommend you call the Headquarters Bangkok Bank phone numbers/section I gave you earlier and ask for specific information as to why your SSA payments are being rejected (i.e., name mismatch, passport/ID on file problem, address problem, etc). I would also recommend you say the Jontien branch recommended you. This particular section is the one all Bangkok Bank branches deal with regarding problems with such foreign remittances/payments. I highly recommend you DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT explain all the conversations, phone calls, emails, etc., you have had with your Jontien branch or SSA as you may "lose your cool" and the bank rep you are talking to may be scared-off or simply not want to offer any detailed help. Ask to talk with a rep who deals with incoming U.S. govt payments such as Social Security payments....and be sure they understand your payment is via the IDD method (comes via SWIFT) versus the ACH method since the ACH method involves a special/restricted bank account but the IDD method does not. And be sure they understand the SSA is saying Bangkok Bank has been rejecting the payments back to SSA so the rep you are talking to can't use the excuse of "has the SSA actually been sending your payments?" Purely focus on finding out "why has Bangkok Bank been rejecting/returning your SSA payments?" What is the specific problem on the Bangkok Bank end? From your various posts where each one seems to reveals a few month details it seems your payment problem is not on the SSA sending end but the Thai bank receiving end....so, focus on fixing that issue with the Thai bank versus trying to get SSA Baltimore/Manila to fix the Thai bank problem for you because SSA is not going to be able to fix any problem on the Thai bank end. Good luck. P.S. And since you are happy with using IDD this means you could have your SSA payment sent to "any Thai bank".....maybe the bridge between you and Bangkok Bank has been burnt down and it'stime to try opening a new bank account says with Kasikorn Bank, Krungsri Bank, etc., which a lot of foreigners use in Thailand.

Based purely on above it seems the problem is not with the SSA but your identification (ID) credentials onfile with Bangkok Bank are outdated/incorrect. The SSA does not need to know your passport number to setup a pension payment via ACH or IDD; all the SSA needs to know is the bank account information. If using ACH (via Bangkok Bank NY branch) the SSA only needs to know the ACH routing number of the NY branch and you in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch account number. If using IDD you need to have your Thailand address onfile with SSA (which I expect you do) and then the SWIFT code of the Thai bank (any Thai bank) and your acct number at that bank. The SSA could care less less about a passport number....a passport number is not part of ACH or IDD direct deposit forms/setup. So, once SSA has your ACH or IDD bank account info that is where they will send your payments. Also, U.S. SSA payments can go to non-U.S. citizens also when those folks paid into the U.S. SSA system for at least 10 years since many non-U.S. folks work part of their work career in the U.S. and pay U.S. taxes/social security while working. The SSA makes payments to U.S. and non-U.S. folks with non-U.S. folks not having a U.S. passport but a passport from another country. Passports are not an issue with the SSA. "BUT," when the Thai bank receives the SSA payment the bank can/will reject the payment if the information they have on file if your account is outdated/incorrect, especially if your passport is expired or there is some other issue/problem the bank has with your account which appears to be the source of your problems. Once the bank rejects a SSA payment then the SSA will suspend future payments until the problem is resolved which in your case requires "you" (not SSA), repeat, you (not the SSA)" to resolve the banking ID/visa problem you are having with your bank which is Bangkok Bank in your case. And whether you have a U.S. or other country passport should make zero issue with Bangkok Bank regarding incoming payments "as long as they have your current/valid passport on file. With outdated ID info on file with your Thai bank you are just begging for problems especially when it comes to money transfers. You can cuss, scream, etc., all day and night about Bangkok Bank rejecting your SSA payment(s) but the SSA can not fix the problem you have having with Bangkok Bank. You and Bangkok Bank need to resolve the problem and once resolve notify the SSA the problem is resolved which would probably require submission of a new direct deposit form "signed by/sent from the bank" to the SSA which signifies to the SSA the account information provide is correct and the bank will accept the payment. Probably best to send the new direct deposit form to the Manila FBU with a memo the bank account issue as been resolved with Bangkok Bank. If you haven't done so yet I recommend you call HQ Bangkok Bank in Bangkok and ask to be collected to the section which deals with U.S. govt pension payments such as SSA, military retirement, etc. Either one of the following phone numbers should get you into that section: 02- 230-2457 or 02-230-1323....and they will be able to look into their system to see why your payments are being rejected. In fact, this particular headquarters section may have first seen the invalid passport info and notified the Jontien branch to take action. You may or may not know this but incoming foreign payments like SSA payments first go thru HQ Bangkok Bank before being relayed to your particular branch anywhere in Thailand....it's possible the Headquarters Bangkok Bank is the one that started rejecting the payments and just notified your Jontien branch of the reason.....and you should have got a letter from Bangkok Bank explaining why your payments were rejected and how to fix the problem. Talk to Bangkok Bank again....tell them you don't think what your Jontiem branch told you about not being able to accept your EU-type passport & visa for U.S. SSA payments is correct. Or switch to another Thai bank and provide a new IDD direct deposit form to the SSA. Good luck.

It's not till the end of June....the 27th I think...that the banks have to implement the BOT directive.

I'll say it again, the Direct Express card is EXPENSIVE to use outside the U.S. and is a card probably best suited for an "unbanked" person. While opening a bank account in Thailand can be challenging at some banks and for some people, the opening of a Thai bank account is still quite doable for the great majority of folks. And by EXPENSIVE I mean if you use it in a Thai ATM there will be a Direct Express card fee of $3 "plus" 3% of amount withdrawn and then you also have the Thai bank ATM fee of Bt220. This means if a person used the card to withdraw Bt30,000 then another approx Bt1,222 in fees would be applied---OUCH!!!!! But if the person had their SSA pension direct deposited to their Thai bank acct (assuming they want the pension paid to their Thai bank acct) a Bt30,000 withdrawal would cost zero in extra fees. Sure, if you do an in-depth/in the grass cost analysis to include the ACH and IDD transfer fees into your Thai bank acct there are some fees there also, but those fees are far less than what a person will incur using the Direct Express card. I'm sure the Direct Express card will work fine in Thailand....but it's laden with heavy fees when used outside of the U.S. Up to the individual whether they want to have pension payments deposited to a U.S. bank acct, Thai bank acct, some money service like Wise acct, etc....each one will have its costs, pros, and cons.....but a major con of the Direct Express card is high fees when used outside the U.S. https://www.usdirectexpress.com/faq.html

I predict election predictions will continue to be all over the board.....like a 10 meter dart throw.

The info in below 31 Dec 2022 post and a BoI LTR weblink may answer your question. Additionally, for a LTR Pensioner application you only need to meet the income requirements "as of the LTR application date" which means you don't need to have 12 months worth of pension/annuity statements under your belt to apply/to be approved for a pensioner visa. However, the BoI will still want to see your latest income tax return which may or may not reflect any pension/annuity you started receiving after your last tax return. Also, BoI understands some pensions/annuities may be partially or completely tax free which means they would only partially or not appear at all on a tax return. And this means the pensions/annuity amounts shown on your tax return may not match-up with pension/annuity periodic statements which show the taxable and/or non-taxable amounts....higher amounts than might be shown on your tax return. Example: people who draw Veteran Administration (VA) pensions receive those pensions totally tax free....no 1099R are issued....VA pensions are not taxable/reportable on income tax returns. Heck, even a Social Security pension is only partially taxable. In cases like this your pension/annuity statements provide the primary and accurate income proof versus your tax return. . https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html#what

No need to go to BoI immigration and have a multi-entry stamp entered since your evisa states multi-entry. Misty entered on an LTR evisa like you just did and visited with BoI on the question you are asking. See Misty's 19 Dec 2022 post at the bottom and a partial quote from her post regarding your question. Misty's 19 Dec 2022 post below.

What BoI will require is documents from the entity that pays the annuity/pension income and associated tax docs that entity will issue each year. Example: your annuity paying entity is going to issue some statement/benefit letter once a month/quarter/semi-annually/yearly where they state how much they are paying you "AND" each year they will issue a tax document (like a form 1099R Distribution from Pensions/Annuities) unless the payment is totally tax free where no tax doc might be issued. Below is weblink is to the BoI "required docs" for a LTR Wealthy Pensioner application and snapshot from that weblink regards Evidence of Income. In the first statement they are talking tax returns from various countries like PND 90/91 which is a Thailand tax return, Form 1040 which is a U.S. tax return, SA100 that is a UK tax return, etc. In the second statement they start talking statement/benefit letters, specific tax form like the U.S. 1099R. Take a thorough look at the BoI LTR website especially under the Application Process pull down menu....lots of detailed info there like the info in below weblink/snapshot. In closing in my particular case when I initially submitted my LTR Pensioner application is just submitted pension statements showing my monthly pensions payments from several U.S. agencies....these statements gave very detailed info, but about a month after submitting my application BoI asked for my latest U.S. tax return in an Additional Document Request. I provided my last tax return and shortly after doing so the BoI approved my LTR Pensioner visa. https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Required-Documents-for-Qualification-Endorsement-for-Wealthy-pensioner-16-03-66.pdf

Immigration offices look for Bt65K/month "international" transfer for a retirement extension....Bt40K for a marriage extension....that is proven by the coding on your statement/passbook like "FTT" (Foreign Telegraphic Transfer) which Bangkok Bank uses. Immigration offices know Bangkok Bank FTT coding means it was an international transfer. And if necessary a person can obtain a Credit Advice from Bangkok Bank for each transfer.....a Credit Advice is just a document which shows in detail where the money came from like starting it's trek in the U.S. (or whatever country) and coming over to Thailand. Now if using the IDD method which results in BAHTNET coding (typically BNT) since BAHTNET can be used to transfer funds domestically/intra-Thailand "AND" BAHTNET can also interface with the SWIFT system for incoming international transfers, a person's particular immigration office may ask for proof a person's monthly transfers coded as BAHTNET did indeed originate from outside Thailand....like from the SSA in the U.S. versus the transfer just being an intra-Thailand domestic transfer where you might be sending money to yourself via BAHTNET, a friend in Pattaya is just sending you money in Bangkok via BAHTNET, etc. Getting a Credit Advice for a BAHTNET transfer is most likely going to be problematic because your receiving bank just sees the incoming BAHTNET transfer as a domestic transfer and they will not/can not issue you a Credit Advice but will tell you that you need to contact the Thai bank that handled the leg of the international transfer where it was input into the BAHTNET system for the final leg to your receiving bank. That particular Thai bank that input the last leg into the BAHTNET system might be the Bank of Thailand, Citibank, etc....which is bank a person would have to contact to get a Credit Advice because that bank is the one that received it thru the international SWIFT system just before handling it off to the BAHTNET system. It would depend on a person's immigration office as to what will satisfy them the funds originated from outside Thailand....some will accept separate documentation like you showing them SSA docs that they pay you X-amount per month along with your Thai bank statement/passbook showing that amount in baht arriving each month........other immigration offices will simply be hardcore and require "Thai bank documentation" the transfer was international. Then there are those money transfer company transfer slike Wise (Transferwise) which use a peer-to-peer transfer system (not SWIFT, not ACH, etc) where they have partner banks/companies in Thailand (like Bangkok Bank, K-Bank, DeeMoney) who relay funds to a person's Thai bank acct (any Thai bank) which might receive international coding or might now....depends on which Thai partner bank Wise used for a transfer, reason for transfers, and if it's going to a partner bank or non-partner bank. Like if you are using Wise to send to your Bangkok Bank acct and you have your Wise transfers to use Bangkok Bank as the partner bank for the transfer then you will receive FTT/international transfer coding; but if another Wise partner bank handles that particular transfer you will not get international coding...it will just appear as a plain ol' domestic transfer. Once again it would depend on a person's immigration office as to what will satisfy them the funds originated from outside Thailand....some will accept separate documentation like you showing them SSA docs that they pay you X-amount per month or Wise PDF Receipt showing you transferred the funds from your home country; other immigration offices will simply be hardcore and require "Thai bank documentation" the transfer was international. Summary: receiving FTT/international transfer type Thai bank coding or being able to easily get a Credit Advice provides the proof "any" immigration office will accept that the transfer originated from outside Thailand....some offices will accept alternate/non-Thai bank documentation as proof of international transfers....some offices simply only accept Thai bank documentation.....various immigration offices in Thailand who handle this issue a little differently....not shortage of AseanNow posts over the years describing the different problems people have had with their particular immigration office regarding proof of monthly transfers....some immigration office are anal strict; others not so strict.

While I guess it's possible Wells Fargo provides you a waiver maybe because your have a BIG balance of financial assets with Wells Fargo under some type of premier account, the normal Wells Fargo international wire/SWIFT fee is shown below. And there will also be the K-Bank international transfer (i.e., SWIFT) "receiving fee" of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) applied before posting to your account which is pretty common for Thai banks. Snapshot from Wells Fargo Fee Schedule.

That is indeed true in most cases for folks using U.S. banks to fund a transfer. I did it many times for numerous years to ACH "push" funds from the particular U.S. bank I use for such purposes. However, but, when Wise switched to their new U.S. partner bank for the Wise multi-currency acct late last year and issued new multi-currency bank routing/account numbers while I could set up/validate the ACH transfer link when I attempted an actual push of funds the U.S. bank would reject the transfer the next day. After the first reject I actually deleted the validated transfer link and set it up again....trial deposits arrived Wise OK...were pulled back from Wise OK....ACH transfer link validated with my U.S. bank....but when attempting an actual transfer the bank would reject the transfer next day and freeze the transfer link. Talked to both the U.S. bank and Wise about the issue....what it boils down to is apparently my bank considers Wise new partner bank as a pass-thru bank into an acct actually "owned by" Wise and not me---which is correct....therefore, the bank ends up rejecting an actual push transfer. The push transfer worked fine with Wise's previous partner bank; but not with the new one with the particular U.S. bank I use. However, I can use Wise to ACH "pull" funds from my U.S. bank.

Agree with gamb00ler...a person can login into their online acct without a VPN connection....just a plain ol' Thailand connection. The wife and I have logged into our SSA acct quite a few times like that when we forgot to use a VPN connection "which we like to do"....don't have to do...but just typically use a VPN connection with U.S. IP address. However, some people using certain Thai Internet service providers do sometimes have a problem connecting to the SSA website with a Thailand IP address....but that's a Thai internet service provider problem and not the SSA blocking the connection. Heck, it even happened to me around a half dozen years ago when I was with True internet and for about a six month period I simply could not reach the SSA public website or SSA acct logon unless using a U.S. VPN connection. Then the problem just went away. It was just a "True" problem; not the SSA blocking Thai IP addresses. Now for the last half dozen years or so I have been with AIS Internet and never experienced such a problem. Like below SSA login page is reached with a plain ol' Thailand IP/non VPN connection a minute ago.

OP, Two ways to have a person SSA pension direct deposited to a Thai bank such as Bangkok Bank. Method 1: Transfer via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer method which uses an ACH/ABA routing number such as the Bangkok Bank New York branch routing number to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account number. Info on the Bangkok Bank acct. Only, repeat, only Bangkok Bank has ACH receiving capability among Thai banks. But basically it boils down to the Bangkok Bank NY branch slicing off a fee as it flow thru them to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank acct...typically a $5 or $10 fee depending on the amount. So, say your monthly payment is $2,100....the NY branch will slice off a $10 fee and forward $2,090 on to Thailand. Once it arrives your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branch they will first use their "TT Buying Rate" exchange rate (usually the bank's daily opening TT Buying Rate) to covert those dollars to baht....then they apply their fee of 0.25% (Bt200 min, Bt500 max) and the remaining amount is posted to your acct. IMPORTANT NOTES: above mentioned fees are applied "prior to" posting to your acct and will not be reflected anywhere which fools some folks into thinking no fees were applied but the fees were indeed applied. And for reoccurring U.S. govt payment like social security they must be direct deposited into a special/restricted Bangkok Bank acct which require the acct owner to physically visit any Bangkok Bank bank branch to withdraw/transfer-out funds and no debit card allowed. Bangkok Bank Fees for ACH transfer....whether for govt payments, personal transfer from a U.S. bank, etc. https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch Method 2: Payment of the SSA pension via "International Direct Deposit (IDD)" which does not use the ACH transfer system but uses the SWIFT transfer system. The U.S. Treasury/Federal Reserve Bank sending the SSA payment will convert to baht on their end....Thai baht is sent to your Thai bank where the receiving Thai bank will charge a Bt100 BAHTNET receiving fee and possibly another bank inter-region transfer fee of another Bt50 to Bt100. My wife receives her SSA pension via IDD...we live in Bangkok....only a Bt100 BAHTNET fee is applied. Remember IDD does not use the ACH system like routing it thru Bangkok Bank NY branch....it sent via the SWIFT system.....there are no intermediary/correspondent bank fees on its way to Thailand......but since the last leg of the SWIFT transfer uses the BAHTNET system which is a Bank of Thailand transfer system there is the Bt100 receiving fee. Additionally, the Thai bank receiving the IDD will code it as a BAHTNET payment (typically BTN) which is considered a domestic transfer vs coding as an international transfer where Bangkok Bank uses FTT coding to indicate the transfer was international. And one last thing, since the ACH and IDD methods use different "exchange rates and fee structures" at around $1,150 or less a person would receive slightly more baht to their Bangkok Bank acct (or any Thai bank) when using IDD.......and if using the ACH method to their Bangkok Bank acct at around more than $1,150 they would receive slightly more via ACH than IDD due to how the exchange rate and fees work out. Cheers