DogNo1

Maybe TI just decided to stop taking people's word that they received the specified income amount and to require proof which is completely reasonable from my point of view.  It means more work for the immigration officers but necessitates no change in the wording of the requirement which now allows the maximum flexibility to retirees.  Remarks attributed to embassy employees and TI officials do not necessarily mean that the retirement income proof requirement will be changed.  

As of January 1, 2019, Thai Immigration cannot reasonably require an affidavit of income from the US Embassy so I will not have one.  I will have proof of 65,000 baht equivalent deposited into my American checking account when I attempt to extend my stay at the end of March.  Under the present requirements, that should be acceptable.  

I think that the withdrawal of the embassy affidavit has caused consternation among people who cannot show proof of the required 65,000 per month in retirement income.  Unless immigration announces a change, proof of receiving that amount monthly should suffice.  If it doesn’t, I will return to Japan before my present extension expires and arrange to meet any new requirements but I can’t imagine Thailand kicking anyone out without giving them an opportunity to meet new requirements if there are any.

As yet, there is no indication that an immigration officer will not accept proof of retirement income into a foreign bank account.  The police order has never mentioned that an income affidavit from an embassy is required.  The assumption that the proof of retirement income accepted thus far will not be accepted without an income affidavit is not supported by fact.  Without the income affidavit, the types of income paid into the foreign bank account may now be more closely scrutinized to ensure that they are regularly paid into the foreign bank account from legitimate retirement sources such as Social Security, state retirement systems such as CALSTRS, retirement annuities, etc. but there has been no official change in the proof of income requirements.  

When I was a recruit in the US Army, my drill instructor, whom I remember well, had a colorful phrase that he used when he chided us not to assume anything.  So I don't. I will follow any newly issued instructions from the Thai government regarding the proof of retirement income amounting to the equivalent of 65,000 baht or more per month; however, in the absence of new instructions, Immigration cannot reasonably expect me to present an affidavit of income, nor to have had 800,000 in a Thai bank for three months nor to have 65,000 per month deposited in a Thai bank after January 1, 2019.  It seems likely that immigration will continue to accept the same proof of income that they have been accepting all along and that is, in my case, evidence of the required amount being deposited into my foreign checking account on a monthly basis.

There is, as yet, no evidence that the required retirement amount cannot be paid into a foreign bank account and that copies of statements from that bank account won't be accepted as proof of income.  Immigration has at times, in addition to my affidavit of income, required additional proof and the bank statements from my American bank have been examined and accepted.  The affidavit of income from the embassy has never constituted the sole proof of income.  Additional proof was always required at the discretion of the immigration officer.  It seems that many people have assumed that because an immigration officer did not request additional proof from them, the affidavit of income alone was sufficient.  It never was.  The new proof requirements have not yet been promulgated but it is premature to assume that statements proving that more than the equivalent of 65,000 baht is being paid monthly into a foreign bank account will not continue to be accepted.

For my one-year extensions of stay, I always presented my embassy-notarized affidavit of income showing that I received more than 65,000 monthly and had copies of three months of bank statements showing that It was deposited into my American checking account each month.  There has been no announcement that the bank statement copies will not continue to be acceptable proof of income.

SnakeBite:  The most recent three months of my American bank statements have been accepted at Chaeng Wattana for the past ten years.  Unless the proof of income requirements are changed, you should be OK just presenting them.

You may be OK for 2019 until July 1st but on that date and after, all income affidavits will be older than six months since the embassy will not notarize any income affidavits after Dec. 31st, 2018.

It seems apparent that many, if not most, posters reside solely in Thailand so it made sense for them to open Thai bank accounts and bring their retirement funds into Thailand.  I split my year between Bangkok and Tokyo so I have not brought any significant amount of money into Thailand.  All of my money is kept at my American Bank and at the Fidelity brokerage.  I pay all of my expenses with my Visa credit card and use it to obtain cash when I need it through a cash advance through Bangkok Bank which costs me nothing.  My Social Security payment and pension payments are deposited in my American checking account.  For the past ten years, I have used copies of my American bank statements to show that I receive over 65,000 per month in retirement income.  There has been no certification, notarization or original bank letter required.  Sometimes the immigration officer just took my US Embassy-notarized affidavit of income and didn't ask to look at my bank statements but I always had them with me just in case.  Immigration policy may change but the immigration officers never had difficulty understanding my bank statements.

Posters write that the embassy-notarized affidavit of income is still required but beginning July 1st nobody will have a less-than-six-month old affidavit to present.  It seems likely that after January 1st, if not sooner, Thai immigration will stop requiring the affidavits.  Unless it is announced otherwise, they will continue to accept proof of retirement income paid into accounts in other countries.  

The FATCA and FBAR reporting are done by you, the owner of the foreign bank account.  They must be submitted regardless of where you are residing.  FATCA goes to the IRS and FBAR goes to Treasury.  There are some TV threads discussing this if you search for them.

Copies of my American bank statements showing an amount equivalent to over 65,000 baht being deposited in my account on a monthly basis have been accepted by Thai immigration since I started doing extensions more than ten years ago.  I can envision a scenario in which Thai immigration might find the variety of documents of proof submitted terribly confusing and change the proof requirement to a Thai bank book and letter from that bank.  Actually, various forms of proof have always been required in addition to the embassy affidavit of income at the discretion of the immigration officer.  It doesn't seem likely that they will require a new type of proof of income unless they find understanding the forms of proof of income newly submitted overwhelming.  If they start to require only Thai-based proof of income, for many of us the 800,000 in the bank will be the most simple to manage, as Cheryl says.  Some warning or grandfathering clause would be needed to allow those of us without the money in the bank to get it in three months before the date of our extension renewal.  Let's hope that immigration will consider the impact if they suddenly rule that only money held in Thailand will be accepted as proof of income.

It seems to be assumed that for someone applying for an extension of stay based on retirement without the notarized affidavit of income from an embassy, documents in English proving a retirement income of 65,000 or more per month will no longer be accepted and that the retirement income will now need to be remitted to a bank in Thailand, not a bank in the home country.  Where is the evidence for this change in policy?  

So far as I know, you only have to show proof of a retirement income of 65,000 or over.  You do not have to bring money into the country unless you need money in the bank here to make up the shortfall if your retirement income is less than 65,000. When I first started doing one-year extensions, I showed several months of statements from my bank in America to prove that the monthly amount was actually deposited into my account.  I also presented the required notarized affidavit of income.  The requirements might be changed to compel you to bring the retirement income into Thailand each month but so far I have not seen this.

Regarding the current gender slander practiced by the Dems, there is a very good YouTube channel out of Ottawa that debunks the issues and philosophy very neatly: Studio Brûlé.  Give it a look, I think that you will be pleased with its content.  Just search for Studio Brule on YouTube and then subscribe for all of their great videos. Enjoy!

I have it from a friend of friend of Kavanagh’s mother that he once spoke harshly to his mother and then left the dinner table without permission when he was 12.  Do we really want a child (man) on the SCOTUS who would abuse his mother in a flagrantly sexist way such as this?  The mother and son should be called in for hearings so that we can really learn about Kavanagh’s character in the home setting and get the mother’s account of the abuse.  If she doesn’t remember the incident we can use a psychotherapist who specializes in memory reconstruction.  This ought to delay Kavanagh’s confirmation until pat the November elections. 

n

The graying of the population is a problem everywhere that the birth rate is low and immigration numbers are low, especially in Japan.  I have the forlorn hope that The US Congress will enact sensible immigration reform to keep immigration numbers fairly high.  We are going to need a lot of young people before long.

Unparalleled greed and selfishness is not new.  For a real eye-opener, check out the You Tube piece on the party commemorating the 2,500th year of the Persian Empire put on by the Shah of Iran.  The reaction to it set off a chain of Islamic revolutions. 

Thanks Sheryl.  I have tried to get a quote through the April website and encountered two problems.  Apparently the trip length cannot exceed sixty days and, although I am a US citizen the site won't continue if I say that I am not a resident of the US.  If I shorten the trip length to under sixty days and say that I am a resident of Washington State, I can get a quote but I don't understand the requirement that I enter the cost of the trip and the initial and final payment for the trip.  Perhaps I have the wrong website (?) https://us.april-international.com/en

Rather than post links to the negative reviews of April International that I found, I will pursue your other recommendations.

If you Google April Global, besides their website, you will see blogs containing severe criticism of April.

The travel insurance offered by Tokio Marine to Japan residents is nearly useless.  Myocardial infarction and CVA are not covered at all and other specific exclusions limit the effective coverage to falls and perhaps to traffic accidents.  What is covered is injury or damage that you cause to third parties, loss of baggage, trip interruptions, etc.  For people over 74, self insurance still seems to be the best option.  If you have a return ticket to your country of residence, so long as your doctor will authorize you to fly, you can return for treatment there.  As I keep a permanent residence in Japan, I can be treated immediately upon return under my Japanese health insurance which limits my monthly co-pay to 8,000 yen and hospitalization co-pay to 24,500 per incident.  The room charge needs to be paid personally and can be $100 per day.  Still if my illness is serious enough to keep me in Thailand, 3-5 million would have to be in the bank, probably.

I have read through various travel insurance policies' coverage and exclusions details and, with my preexisting conditions, it appears that all a policy would be good for is traffic accidents or accidental falls.  I'm not really sure that I would be covered if riding on the back of a motorcycle taxi.  A policy that I examined says that only acute worsening of preexisting conditions would be covered so chest pains leading to the installation of additional stents wouldn't be covered - only a full-blown heart attack.  Does anybody have experience submitting claims for travel insurance coverage?  Oh, yes. The policies only cover medical care if it is delivered within the first fifteen days.  I'm looking through more travel insurance offerings but none of them seem promising to provide me with the broad coverage that I would like.

I have found travel insurance which wiil sell me $250,000 coverage for my six-month stay in Bangkok for $1,000 if I select a $2,500 deductible. Now I must check the coverage exclusions carefully.  I have recovered from cancer,   have six stents in my heart and use motorcycle taxis.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into travel insurance right away. I leave for Bangkok in three weeks for a six-month stay.

My six-month winter stays in Bangkok are risky because at the age of 75, with six stents in my heart and successfully cured throat cancer ten years ago, I can't imagine that any affordable insurance is available to me.  I keep my house in Tokyo to which I can retreat for quite cheap treatment under the Japanese National Health Insurance system, if, that is, I can make it back to Japan for treatment.  I used to think that I could self-insure in thailand but with major hospitalizations now costing from 3-5 million that is not possible any more.  I still like to spend the Tokyo winters in Bangkok but one serious illness or accident could be disastrous if I were not able to fly back to Japan for recovery.  Fortunately, I am a permanent resident of Japan so qualify for immediate care when I return, if I am able to do so.  Japan will pay a portion of the cost of emergency care abroad but don't like it if you are gone for an extended period of time.  I guess that there may come a time when extended vacations in Thailand will be too risky, unless, that is, I suddenly die there in which case there  would be no problem - just my ashes to repatriate.  Any comments are welcome.