Bank Letter for Extension: Kasikorn will only give you yesterday's balance now!

[partington]

I am in the process of renewing my retirement extension (for the last time-I'm leaving for good in a month or so) and just encountered a strange change in Kasikorn's balance letter.  I took out some cash then went into the bank to get my "letter for immigration".  

 

On checking it over I found the total balance did not match the bank book figure because they had given the balance at the end of yesterday, the 28th, and not the 29th. So the figures in the letter and the bank book for the first time ever, didn't match.

 

I asked them to put today's date and today's balance as the letter had to match the bank book. Cannot do, must come tomorrow.  In vain I showed them the last seven year's letters, (photocopies kept in my immigration file) where the date on the letter and the balance date were the same, and said it has been like this for the last 7 years.  

-Sorry mister cannot do, you might take money out today and it would be wrong.

 -But the total on the letter and the book have to be the same.

-No, no problem.

 

But...OK I come back tomorrow.

 

Isn't this a bit nuts?  I know for sure mis-matching figures will be blocked at immigration, so now I have to bring them a letter with yesterday's balance, but today's date.  Is this what everyone is experiencing with Kasikorn now??

[crazygreg44]

I think you can relax on this matter. When I did my extension of stay in December, the Immigration sent me to the nearest ATM outside their office, in order to draw a small amount and show them the printout from the ATM machine.  The printout will show your actual account balance.  

 

Just be confident and trust all is well.

[Pattaya46]

4 minutes ago, crazygreg44 said:

 the Immigration sent me to the nearest ATM outside their office, in order to draw a small amount and show them the printout from the ATM machine.  The printout will show your actual balance.  

 

That would be a problem for many people I know. For safety reasons they only keep "little money" on their main account, and keep their 800'000 baht (or more) on a second account that can't be accessed using a card or ATM.

[lopburi3]

When I did letter more than a decade ago Bangkok Bank put a hold on account until midnight to prevent any withdrawal for the day of letter.

[partington]

6 minutes ago, crazygreg44 said:

I think you can relax on this matter. When I did my extension of stay in December, the Immigration sent me to the nearest ATM outside their office, in order to draw a small amount and show them the printout from the ATM machine.  The printout will show your actual account balance.  

 

Just be confident and trust all is well.

Where was this, though?

 

 Chaengwattana in Bangkok is where I have to fulfill the criteria, which differ from office to office and region to region.

 

Kasikorn have just changed the format that has been successful for me for 7 previous years, and as TIT, this worries me.

[crazygreg44]

5 minutes ago, partington said:

Where was this, though?

in Sisaket. 

 

You can search in the forum, many others on other Immigration offices had to do the same . . . go outside and withdraw 500 Baht and show them the slip, which will state the up-to-date balance of the account.

 

I am aware Chaengwattana and Chiang Mai like to make up their own rules . . . .

[partington]

2 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

When I did letter more than a decade ago Bangkok Bank put a hold on account until midnight to prevent any withdrawal for the day of letter.

This doesn't really matter when you have to update the bank book on the day of the application as I always do. The bank book shows your balance: Kasikorn don't have to somehow guard against you taking money out.

[partington]

2 minutes ago, crazygreg44 said:

in Sisaket. 

 

You can search in the forum, many others on other Immigration offices had to do the same . . . go outside and withdraw 500 Baht and show them the slip, which will state the up-to-date balance of the account.

 

I am aware Chaengwattana and Chiang Mai like to make up their own rules . . . .

On the contrary, Chaengwattana is the main government Immigration Office in Bangkok, and follows the  written rules to the letter.  

 

It is going outside and withdrawing money from an ATM and showing a slip that is made up. The usual procedure is to update  your bank book on the day of the application, and completely removes the need to show ATM slips!

[crazygreg44]

can you not update your bankbook on the UPDATE machine outside of the Kasikorn Bank ??

 

ah, sorry, I just realize this is not the problem. The problem is the balance of yesterday in the letter of today

[tgeezer]

The bank letter is an historical document and shows the balance on close of business of the previous day it is only needed to prove that the passbook is not fake.  The passbook provides all the information Immigration needs. 

[partington]

Just now, tgeezer said:

The bank letter is an historical document and shows the balance on close of business of the previous day it is only needed to prove that the passbook is not fake.  The passbook provides all the information Immigration needs. 

Clearly this is quite true, and it shouldn't therefore be a problem.

 

However the fact remains that in all previous years my letters showed the balance on the day the letter was obtained and not the balance on the previous day, and this year it is different.

 

Hopefully this is not a branch specific weirdness, and all Kasikorn's letters are now like this, which is what I was really asking.

[Mattd]

42 minutes ago, crazygreg44 said:

go outside and withdraw 500 Baht and show them the slip, which will state the up-to-date balance of the account.

Why not just request the balance and print out, there should be no need to actually make a withdrawal?

[HampiK]

48 minutes ago, partington said:

On the contrary, Chaengwattana is the main government Immigration Office in Bangkok, and follows the  written rules to the letter.  

 

It is going outside and withdrawing money from an ATM and showing a slip that is made up. The usual procedure is to update  your bank book on the day of the application, and completely removes the need to show ATM slips!

I was as chaeng Wattana.. and my Bank letter was dated 1 day before the extension... and I not updated the Account at all. I used a deposit account which I not touched in the last few months... And the Immigration "Chaeng Wattana" not cared. They only checked, that the amount was in the book at least 2 months (First application).

[chang50]

29 minutes ago, partington said:

Clearly this is quite true, and it shouldn't therefore be a problem.

 

However the fact remains that in all previous years my letters showed the balance on the day the letter was obtained and not the balance on the previous day, and this year it is different.

 

Hopefully this is not a branch specific weirdness, and all Kasikorn's letters are now like this, which is what I was really asking.

I've always had a sealed letter from Kbank which I present unopened and made an earlier small withdrawl on the day of my extension and presented the up to date passbook.I assumed naturally the letter included the small withdrawl.I am due to extend soon perhaps I'll skip the small withdrawl to avoid confusion?This is Jomtien.

[Mattd]

Would it actually matter if the balance in the passbook and the letter are different, so long as the balance is above the required amount on the day of applying and has been above for the needed length of time??

[chang50]

1 minute ago, Mattd said:

Would it actually matter if the balance in the passbook and the letter are different, so long as the balance is above the required amount on the day of applying and has been above for the need length of time??

I'd like to know that as well,I always thought they had to tally now I'm not so sure.

[partington]

I always assumed the bank book total and the bank letter had to agree, and have always arranged so they agree exactly.

 

I always assume the worst, and would see two different totals as a possible reason for objection if an official was in a bad mood, therefore I never give this any chance to come up.

 

This year, as in all previous years I will:

 

1. get letter with total xyz the day before application, then deposit 1000B giving xyz plus 1000.

 

2. on day of application withdraw 1000B and update passbook, giving me updated passbook with total xyz on day of app, plus letter saying I have xyz in my account dated one day before application (but now saying I have xyz in my account on a date two days before day of application rather than on the same day the letter is dated as in all previous years, thanks to Kasikorn's new policy.)

[chang50]

3 minutes ago, partington said:

I always assumed the bank book total and the bank letter had to agree, and have always arranged so they agree exactly.

 

I always assume the worst, and would see two different totals as a possible reason for objection if an official was in a bad mood, therefore I never give this any chance to come up.

 

This year, as in all previous years I will:

 

1. get letter with total xyz the day before application, then deposit 1000B giving xyz plus 1000.

 

2. on day of application withdraw 1000B and update passbook, giving me updated passbook with total xyz on day of app, plus letter saying I have xyz in my account dated one day before application (but now saying I have xyz in my account on a date two days before day of application rather than on the same day the letter is dated as in all previous years, thanks to Kasikorn's new policy.)

I do it all the same day..get to the bank early withdraw 200baht,get my letter,update and copy passbook,then go to Immigration.That has always sufficed.I'm beginning to think we have been under a misapprehension about the balances tallying.Unless someone tells me otherwise I will do as before,

[Mattd]

14 minutes ago, chang50 said:

I'd like to know that as well,I always thought they had to tally now I'm not so sure.

I honestly do not know myself, logic says that it should not matter, however, given how pedantic some IO's can be, then who knows!

The important information to satisfy is that the account exists and has a balance in excess of the required amount and that it has been for xx amount of time. 

Is it a requirement that the bank letter is actually dated on the day of the application, surely K Bank can write a letter that is dated on the day of the application, with the balance stated from the previous day, with either an update of the passbook or an ATM slip that shows the balance on the day of application?

[partington]

6 minutes ago, Mattd said:

I honestly do not know myself, logic says that it should not matter, however, given how pedantic some IO's can be, then who knows!

The important information to satisfy is that the account exists and has a balance in excess of the required amount and that it has been for xx amount of time. 

Is it a requirement that the bank letter is actually dated on the day of the application, surely K Bank can write a letter that is dated on the day of the application, with the balance stated from the previous day, with either an update of the passbook or an ATM slip that shows the balance on the day of application?

Yes they can, but this does mean you have to go into bank  on the day of the application, and wait for your letter/update and some days at CW there are 70+ people waiting before the doors open to get numbers for the extension counters.

 

However I am tempted to try this same day update/letter at CW.
 

One thing I will not be doing is trying mismatched totals in passbook and letter, I just see no advantage in risking it. Don't fix what isn't broken!

[chang50]

2 minutes ago, partington said:

Yes they can, but this does mean you have to go into bank  on the day of the application, and wait for your letter/update and some days at CW there are 70+ people waiting before the doors open to get numbers for the extension counters.

 

However I am tempted to try this same day update/letter at CW.

Luckily you can turn up mid morning or after lunch at Jomtien and wait less than an hour.Always had good experiences there.

 

[Mattd]

1 minute ago, partington said:

Yes they can, but this does mean you have to go into bank  on the day of the application, and wait for your letter/update and some days at CW there are 70+ people waiting before the doors open to get numbers for the extension counters.

 

However I am tempted to try this same day update/letter at CW.

Yes, this I can see as an issue, others will know better, but I would have thought that there would be no problem to have a bank letter dated from the day before applying with an update passbook or ATM slip showing the actual balance on the day of applying, especially considering the usual long queues in CW and the percentage of those there early would also be applying for an extension and therefore have to provide the same info?

[Sir Dude]

Kasikorn would be one of my last choices for opening a bank account here. Unreliable and some of the others are way better with international transfers and exchange rates...not to mention Kasikorn has hit the news lately for having IT problems with there network that has left thousands of people without banking services like at new year.

[chang50]

So in the absence of a definitive answer to this it's down to trial and error.It's always wise to go 3 or 4 weeks early for retirement extensions just in case,Worst case scenario you have to go back to your bank and start again ho hum..

 

[partington]

Just as follow up information in case anyone ever wonders the same thing as I did about the date of the balance on the bank letter.

 

I  did my retirement extension at Chaengwattana this morning, and there was no mention or notice taken of the Kasikorn bank's letter being dated yesterday, but giving the balance in my account the day before yesterday. So this is fine and nothing to be concerned about.

 

As usual my bank passbook was updated the morning of the application, and showed the exact figure mentioned in the bank balance letter.

 

I arrived at 8am, and there was a huge crowd, but scanning for grey heads revealed very few, and in fact once I got in I was number 25 in the queue for retirement extensions. I was finished with extension in hand at 10:30, and also managed to get my re-entry permit before the lunch break at 12:00.

 

Painless (as usual at CW I have to admit).

[ChouDoufu]

not an expert at this, and this in only my anecdote/data:

 

800K goes into a fixed account at bangkok bank, and

passbook gets an update.  no need for additional deposits.

three months later head to CW for retirement extension. 

 

bank in lower level opens same time as immigration. 

head to bank first, no line.  get passbook updated and

bank guarantee statement.  done in under ten minutes.

couple more minutes to get copies made.

 

up to immigration, get number for retirement counter.

just before number called, get number for reentry visa.

both procedures completed before lunch break.