Pib

OP, As Jingthing said, sounds like a communications disconnect.....your friend was probably confused/never clear as to why his SCB acct was frozen--if it ever was "really frozen." Your friend probably misunderstood something the bank or immigration (or maybe an agent) told him about income requirements to qualify for a visa extension. Before I switched to a LTR visa late last year I did around a dozen Non OA retirement/marriage extensions using the bank deposit method...and the acct I used always had a little more than 1 million baht in it as it served as my annual extension and emergency money pot. Now while immigration has requirements as to how long and how much money needs to be in a bank acct to meet the retirement/marriage extension of stay requirements those requirements had no effect on my bank acct....immigration does not reach out to your bank to freeze funds for x-amount of time when you renew your visa extension. A bank will only freeze an acct when a possible/actual fraudulent transaction is detected, the account goes dormant, police/govt agency submits a court order or other official govt order to freeze the acct because of some law violation, etc. Expect your friend who appears to be using the deposit income method vs monthly income method was told to ensure his acct does not drop before a certain amount for X-months after receiving his retirement extension of stay, otherwise, he would violate the extension income requirements and his next extension renewal will be disapproved because of it. But your friend misunderstood this requirement to be a freeze on his bank acct when actually it was not....just a heads-up to keep his acct balance above a certain level.

I have a Krungsri acct....I live in Bangkok. After getting the Krungsri SMS and also getting a notification when logging into my Krungsri acct, today/4 May 2023 I went to a small Krungsri branch in a Lotus Mail close to my home (not my my home branch which is in another part of Bangkok) and did the facial recognition thingie. The Krungsri rep first confirmed my phone number and passport number matched what is in their system.....the rep made a copy of my passport main/photo page and page showing my current visa/extension....had me sign those copies....took my picture.....typed some stuff into her IT system screen...and it's done. Fast and easy.....took about 5 minutes. Before accomplishing the facial recognition registration above starting about a week ago every time I logged onto my Krungsri acct via the mobile app I would get a notice about the upcoming facial recognition requirement. But right after the Krungsri rep finished my facial recognition registration the notice stopped whenever I logon which indicated to me my account had to been updated to show I had accomplished the facial recognition thingie. Yea, it turned out to be fast and easy.

I expect not just as you can not designate a bank account beneficiary with a Thai bank. Instead your desired beneficiary (ies) needs to be designated in your will for the Thai probate court to consider in accordance with the Thai inheritance laws.

I have a Krungsri acct. Got the SMS from Krungsri about the upcoming facial recognition requirement...and also when logging into my acct using the mobile app I would get the same notice. The notices said I could go to "any" Krungsri branch for the facial recognition thingie. My Krungsri home branch is the little hole-in-wall-branch in the Chaeng Wattana (CW) government complex building in northern Bangkok....the same building that CW Immigration is in. However, since I live in western Bangkok I just went to a Krungsri hole-in-the-wall branch in a Lotus's Mall close to where I live. All went fine. The Krungsri rep first verified my phone number and passport info matched what is in their IT system. The rep made a copy of my passport's main page and visa/extension page....and then took my picture. A minute or two later I'm done....the setup went fine. And now when I log onto my acct via mobile app the notice I was getting no longer appears so that indicates to me their system sees I have done the facial recognition thingie. Pretty painless and fast.

Did you contact Bangkok Bank to see if a payment(s) had indeed been sent to your acct "BUT" maybe Bangkok Bank rejected it back to SSA. Bangkok Bank will reject or place on hold a reoccurring U.S. govt payment sent via the ACH system (i.e., using the NY Branch ACH routing number) if the payment is sent to a Bangkok Bank acct that is not setup as a special/restricted acct to receive U.S. govt reoccurring pension payments via ACH. If Bangkok Bank did reject the payment(s) then the SSA will wait for you to contact them and/or they will send you a letter saying your bank rejected the payment and you need to work that issue....get back with SSA with a good payment account. Now if you setup your SSA payment as an International Direct Deposit (IDD) which uses the SWIFT system then the SSA payment can go into a regular Thai bank acct (any Thai bank)....even a regular Bangkok Bank acct. Since you do not seem to be a person who is "unbanked" (i.e., do not have any bank acct) going the Direct Express card route is kinda an expensive way to go due to card fee and foreign transaction fees. Going the Direct Express card if living outside the U.S. should be a last resort type affair.

OP, As Misty and khunjeff said earlier your current visa (like a Non OA visa/extension) is cancelled just before issue/inking of the LTR visa to your passport. With your current visa cancelled all requirements like an 800K baht deposit requirement are gone.... now irrelevant....you can immediately withdraw that 800K if desired. Then, once the LTR visa is issued/inked into your passport you now fall under the LTR income requirements. Typically to cancel your current visa (like a Non OA) a person would do that at the immigration office that issued it; "however," the BoI immigration office at Chamchuri Square in Bangkok can also cancel the current visa....as Misty said they have almost magical powers when it comes to transitioning to a BoI sponsored visa such as the LTR visa.

Yeap...that's the answer. While some Thais go to the unemployment office to register as unemployed in hopes of benefits (few to none) and a finding a job many do not and/or fall off the unemployed rolls after a few months because they do not keep the unemployed office informed they still don't have a job. Once they stop reporting to the unemployed office the govt then takes them off the unemployed roll---great for low unemployment stats....almost everyone in Thailand is gainfully employed if you believe Thai govt stats regarding employment.

How is the software fix coming? I sure hope not like most election promises.

I haven't flew out of Thailand in many years....it's my understanding the current "departure/exit" fee (tax) is included in the airline ticket vs a person paying the fee separately at the airport to to the govt when leaving like it use to be many years ago. Or said another way the airlines collect the departure fee when selling the ticket and later pass the fee the Thai govt versus the Thai govt directly collecting fee at the airport. Assuming the departure fee is collected by the airlines are there currently any exceptions? If none I can understand why airlines don't kick-and-bite too much about collecting such a fee as administratively/software programming-wise it's a lot easier than trying to collect a fee that may have a lot of exceptions....a lot of exceptions like the new proposed "entry" fee. Now if the govt can't convince/steamroll the airlines into collecting the new entry fee "with exceptions" (and remember the airlines don't doing such a fee with exceptions) the govt might delete the exceptions just to get the airlines to start collecting the fee OR the govt would have to start collecting the fee themselves as you entered Thailand....another obstacle to get thru....obstacles like immigration, customs, and now payment of any entry fee.....AND/OR the govt could collect the fee on everyone but then offer a refund process for Thai's and some other exceptions....a refund process nobody would probably like. OR the govt could ???????? Will be interesting to see what the govt and airlines finally agree to (or continue to disagree on). This entry fee has already been delayed several times due to problems--like how to collect the fee. Time will tell. Fortunately it's not an issue in the LTR application process....instead, just some folks wondering if the new fee would apply to those with LTR visas.

I expect you would be "if", repeat, if you got the Digital Work Permit with your LTR. Accepting or declining the work permit was an option when applying for the LTR. I expect authorities will be looking for a current/valid work permit stamp in a person's passport and/or however the new digital work permit can be shown to authorities. Like for me when I applied for my LTR Pensioner visa I declined the work permit since I'm retired, didn't want to submit the extra paperwork required, didn't want to pay the extra Bt3K per year for the work permit where if I understood a previous poster (Misty I think it was) a person had to pay Bt15K for the work permit since the LTR visa is issued in 5 year increments. One of main reasons of the date push back to Sep 2023 is because airlines don't want to get involved in trying to figure out which people would not have to pay the fee. Thai govt trying to get the airlines to do the govt's job.

I just saw this thread....they only need your latest 90 day address report; not all of them since last entry. When I was doing 1 year Non O/OA retirement and marriage extensions, Bangkok/CW immigration would usually ask for a copy of my latest 90 day report also. Just a request that's typical at most immigration offices. BoI Chomchuri Square Immigration requires your latest 90 day report for issue of the LTR. They will also ask for a TM6 although you may not have one....if not having a TM6 because one was never issued you just respond that one was never issued especially if your arrived by air over the last few years. Unless something has changed recently you are not required to upload a 90 day address report in the initial application although you can upload it as as Other doc during the application. But based on my experience (i.e., when I got my LTR Pensioner visa approved Dec 2022) unless BoI has your latest 90 day address report they will request it before final endorsement since immigration wants to see it. It's just your latest 90 day report they want to see; not all of them since last entry. And as mentioned by JackGats above it possible you may have recently entered/reentered Thailand and a 90 day address report is not due yet. You would just explain that to BoI in a memo pointing out your last entry date and a 90 day report is not due yet. And I see in the main LTR thread you got your LTR visa approved & issued....congrats.

Above I earlier said, "And I think it also shows Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank are putting out a welcome mat to LTR visa holders as they know BoI, Immigration, and other govt agencies will have thoroughly vetted LTR visa holders and the higher than average income an LTR visa holder often processes." When I was scanning thru the government "Elite Visa" website site I stumbled across an Elite visa FAQ talking about opening a bank account and apparently the Elite Visa folks have a contract with Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank which allows Elite visa members to easily open bank accounts (see snapshot/quote at bottom). I expect the BoI LTR agency just piggy backed on/duplicated the contract to also allow LTR visa holders to also easily open bank accts with Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn bank. https://www.thailandelite.com/faq/

HerewardtheWake, Congrats. Total time from application submittal to endorsement/approval was 1 month 4 days.....that's pretty fast considering the long Songkron holidays occurred during that time frame. Heck, a person couldn't even login into their BoI LTR online acct from 13-17 April due to BoI shutting down login capability supposedly "for maintenance" but I expect it was purely a manning issue/all employees on holiday. I'm assuming you got a LTR "Pensioner" visa since the BoI asked for some Form 1099R Pension/Annuity documentation? Congrats again.

https://thailand.acclime.com/guides/social-security-explained/

Yes....an overstay could be one strike against a person....but for Elite visa purposes it appears it would take two strikes within a 3 year period to result in disapproval of an Elite visa application assuming below is correct. See below weblinks/partial quotes to include a partial quote from the Thailand Elite visa application at the bottom. https://www.legal.co.th/resources/visa-immigration-law/thailand-immigration-law/overstay-and-thailand-elite-visa-program/ And a partial quote from the Thailand Elite application form...note they ask about overstays over the past 3 years. https://www.thaiembassy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Elite-Superiority-Extension-Application-Form.pdf

May/June

You can get the Pfizer (bivalent) jab at the Mahidol University Kanchanaphisek Golden Jubilee Medical Facility in Salaya in Nakhon Pathom province (i.e., just outside of western Bangkok city limits). This is a government hospital....but a modern hospital...part of Mahidol University. Very easy to make an appointment online and you get a confirmation of appointment via email within seconds. They give the jabs Mon-Wed in the mornings....it's free for COVID jabs. You can also get a variety of other vaccines like a flu jab for approx Bt250. I got my 5th COVID jab this morning....that is the Pfizer (bivalent) vaccine. Finding parking around the facility can be very challenging in the morning due to many customers and ongoing construction projects....lots of parking spaces around the facility but unfortunately there are more customers in vehicles than parking spaces during peak periods. The vaccine facility is on the 1st/bottom floor on the very east end of the facility....close to the pizza shop. The weblink should take you right to the COVID vaccination appointment page. Google Translate is your friend. https://form.jotform.com/223401762399459 Main medical faciltiy webpage....Google Translate is your friend. https://www.gj.mahidol.ac.th/main/ Map https://www.google.com/maps/place/Golden+Jubilee+Medical+Center,+Mahidol+University/@13.786799,100.290591,13z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x30e2947666364c5f:0x8ce4643415fd922f!8m2!3d13.786799!4d100.32149!16s%2Fg%2F1hdztc2np

Bangkok Immigration weblink/document (in English and Thai) on how to convert from a Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa to a Non-O Retirement. https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

Will be interesting to see how serious BoI gets over tax returns especially for those who supposedly don't have any type of tax return due to whatever reason. But I expect BoI is getting smarter as time goes along as to which nationalities and/or in which situations an applicant should have tax returns to backup/support any other income proof they provide. Time will tell. I just looked at each of the LTR categories Required Docs Checklists dtd 16 March 2023 and for the Global Citizen, Work from Thailand, and Highly Skilled Professional checklist categories each has the following statement regarding income proof. That is, provide a tax returns for 2 years. Now the Pensioner category also talks 2 years of tax returns "along with" pension certificate or tax return. To me I'm still not sure if that means just providing pension certificates/letters/docs is good enough or they will also want tax returns. Yes, I do see the "or" in that statement. I do know for me late last year when I applied and was approved for a Pensioner visa I initially just submitted U.S. govt pension certificates/letters/statements proving required pension income but the BoI still came back to me with an additional document request asking for my tax return which I did provide. And the Dependents category did not have any income doc requirements. Hopefully we will see more feedback in this thread from those who recently applied for an LTR visa (say since 1 Jan 2023) and didn't initially provide a tax return. Feedback in terms of the BoI accepted/approved the application without a tax return OR the BoI also requested a tax return(s) before further consideration/processing of the application.

Long Term Resident (LTR) "Work from Thailand" Professional visa might be an option. https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html#what https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/LTRbrochure_EN.pdf

Yea....but the first bullet in the income evidence block still calls for a tax return. My gut feeling is sometime around the Nov 2022 time frame BoI changed their internal LTR application requirements to generally require a tax return even when having solid proof from pension certificates/letters...but that requirement is just now showing as mandatory in their published checklist. And I expect any inability to provide a tax return would require a very good reason as to why one could not be provided since folks with LTR visa type income would have an annual income tax return. And I'm sure BoI realizes pension amounts shown on pension certificates/letters will not always show up on a tax return due to some pensions being totally or partially non-taxable/non-reportable on a tax return. That was definitely the case in my LTR application since several of my govt pensions are fully or partially tax reportable.

You could be right but in those cases where an "OR" applied BoI seemed to be clear like regarding medical insurance where they clearly use "OR" to specify the three different options. But in the income area they did not use "OR" which implies to me in the case of a Wealthy Pensioner application they want a tax returns....and when a person is using the pension method they also want pension certificates/letters/docs also. Now whether the BoI absolutely now requires tax returns and pension certificates is something I'm not privy to. I do know when I applied for my pensioner visa late last year I only initially submitted pension certificates/letters....but about a month later I got an additional doc request from BoI asking for my latest tax return which I then provided....then a few weeks later I was approved. And although the checklist now says two years worth of tax returns for Wealthy Pensioner the official document June 2022 BoI announcement signed by the BoI director only requires one year of income proof "at time of application;" no requirements to look back two years....or even one year.....just prove you meet income requirements at time of application for wealthy pensioner. And I can see cases where a pensioner's latest COLA could put them over the top in meeting the income requirement when multiplying the new monthly pension income by 12 to get the new annual amount.....but if having to still using the previous year or two of monthly payments then that income averaging would put them back below the income requirement forcing them to wait another year or two to apply. I don't think that is what BoI wants/intended in case of a pensioner....that is waiting until you have a full year or two of required pension income when current monthly pension certificate/letters now meet the required income level.

Yes, the LTR webpage info is changing/being updated like the info in the Application Process, "Required Documents" area. The Required Docs Checklists are now dated 16 March 2023 although I'm pretty sure although dated 16 March they have only been uploaded over the last week or so. The 16 March 2023 Checklists seem to be more detailed, explanatory of the type of acceptable docs....gives examples of docs they are looking for like tax return form number examples (e.g., 1040 tax form if filing a U.S. tax return, etc). And where the tax return used to be in the "optional" category it's now in the mandatory category. Also, for the Wealthy Pensioner the 16 March 2023 checklist seems to say a applicant will need to show "two" years worth of tax returns to prove at least $80K USD in income per year for the last "two" years. But when you look at the BoI 30 June 2022 Formal Announcement of Requirements (still in effect) it only shows a "one" year requirement for Wealthy Pensioner income proof. When I applied and was approved late last year I only needed to provide my latest U.S. tax return....not two years worth of tax returns. Maybe it's just how I'm reading (misunderstanding) the latest pensioner checklist or maybe BoI now wants to see two years of tax returns for pensioners although the official announcement and brochures/briefings did not? See BoI weblinks/partial snapshots below Wealthy Pensioner 16 Mar 2023 Checklist https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Required-Documents-for-Qualification-Endorsement-for-Wealthy-pensioner-16-03-66.pdf BoI LTR Requirements Announcement 30 June 2022 https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Announcement_of the Office of the Board of Investment No.2-2565 (EN).pdf

Now don't be surprised if BoI asks you submit your latest tax return from whatever country you are a tax resident of....Netherlands, Thailand, etc. As mentioned earlier I went the Pension income route, submitted pension certificate/letters from the U.S. govt pension paying agencies, but the BoI around a month into my application asked for my U.S. tax return in an Additional Docs Request maybe for secondary proof of the pensions payments, maybe to give them a warm fuzzy I was a law-abiding, tax paying person, etc. So, if you don't have any tax return from any country just be prepared to explain why not if, repeat, if the BoI asks for your tax return. Although submitting a tax return was previously an "optional" document to submit" in LTR checklists I just noticed on the LTR website" it seems as of 16 March 2023 LTR Wealthy Pensioner Checklist the BoI has included a tax return as an example of mandatory proof of income. Yea, BoI has updated/tweaked the wording of the Mandatory Docs Worksheets....I just noticed it in preparing this post. For example in the updated Pensioner and Work from Thailand categories the worksheets are "more wordy/detailed" in trying to explain what type of docs are needed. I don't think there is really in major changes, but instead the BoI is just trying to "explain better/give more examples" of acceptable proof docs. LTR Pension Req'd Docs Checklist https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Required-Documents-for-Qualification-Endorsement-for-Wealthy-pensioner-16-03-66.pdf LTR Work From Thailand Req'd Docs Checklist https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Required-Documents-for-Qualification-Endorsement-for-Work-from-Thailand-16-03-66.pdf Good luck in your application.

I'm sure there will be some (maybe many) immigration offices who will "initially" insist on the embassy certificate/letter because they will still be under the impression the American Embassy is one of the foreign embassies that still provides such a certificate/letter and the immigration office did not get the memo that the American Embassy has stopped insuring the form as of 10 Apr 2023. Hopefully HQ Immigration will pass along a memo to its immigration offices. However, it's probably best for Americans to take along a printout of the U.S. Embassy Bangkok webpage saying the embassy has stopped insuring the form as of 10 Apr 2023. Based on the Bangkok/CW Immigration Office Stamp Transfer from the embassy apparently is "not" a hard core requirement since the transfer form has said for years include the Certificate from Embassy "(If available)." Therefore, since it's no longer issued, it is no longer available. Yea, this may be an issue for some over the next few months until all the immigration offices become aware the U.S. Embassy is one of the embassies no longer issuing the certificate/letter. If it's an issue on the day a person goes to transfer the stamp he/she will just have to clearly point out that the U.S. Embassy no longer issues a transfer certificate/letter. https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Transfer-Stamp-to-New-Passport-Form.pdf