12 minutes ago, SnakeBite said:

The bad thing about getting any Social Security, pension or any other direct deposits to BKK bank is you cannot get an ATM card to get your money, You have to go to BKK Bank in person with your passport to withdraw  your money. If you are sick, your wife cannot go in to withdraw money and when you die, the bank keep the money or until your family takes them to court, I;m only going by what they told ne when I inquired about doin a direct transfer for my pension.

 

Two weeks ago, I went into my Bangkok Bank branch and opened up a second online account with ATM.  My social security account is "locked" without the passport/personal appearance.  But every month I intend to go and remove funds from the locked account to the ATM account.  Until it's time for the 3 month dead period before retirement renewal.

36 minutes ago, jmd8800 said:

Considering US / Mexico relations these days I'd be thinking twice about pulling up stakes and heading to Mexico if you are a US citizen.

 

Remember... it wasn't too long ago people could hop across the border and get another visa here in Thailand. Things change

If every political issue in the world was the determining factor on what people did and how they lived their lives, no one would go any place or do anything.

 

30 minutes ago, SnakeBite said:

The bad thing about getting any Social Security, pension or any other direct deposits to BKK bank is you cannot get an ATM card to get your money, You have to go to BKK Bank in person with your passport to withdraw  your money. If you are sick, your wife cannot go in to withdraw money and when you die, the bank keep the money or until your family takes them to court, I;m only going by what they told ne when I inquired about doin a direct transfer for my pension.

 

100% bogus and untrue.

I have everything with Bangkok Bank and use my ATM card twice a week including many cities in the country.

Just a heads up who knows what is going to happen.

If you have your extension due thru June and use the income verification from the US embassy, there are still appts. available now in December.  I booked for Dec. 31 the last day they will issue as mine is due in late June.  May be a waste of time but worth a try.

10 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

100% bogus and untrue.

I have everything with Bangkok Bank and use my ATM card twice a week including many cities in the country.

He is talking about a direct deposit account that you can't get an ATM with.

11 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

100% bogus and untrue.

I have everything with Bangkok Bank and use my ATM card twice a week including many cities in the country.

Bangkok Bank accounts for Social Security deposits are locked. I know people who have accounts with them for receiving their payments and they have to go to the bank with their passport to get their money. This was also mentioned recently when Social Security reps came from Manila - they stated this as well.

On 10/27/2018 at 10:57 PM, JackThompson said:

On 10/27/2018 at 7:14 PM, Suradit69 said:

Even better if deposits plus balance for 3 months equal to 780000.

From your keyboard to God's ears, Suradit69.  If done like the combo method, the total would be 800K (400K if married to a Thai).  That system would save many of us from worrying about "every-mo" xfers.

I was never sure if the combination method aimed to show Baht 800,000 total or an average of Baht 65,000 a month.

 

So currently it's 12 x declared monthly income plus money in bank for three months equal to or greater than Baht 800,000??

 

Presumably it would then be something like sum of actual deposits in a Thai bank plus money held for 3 months equal to or greater than Baht 800,000??  Potential issues ... deposits for the prior calendar year or 12 months prior to application date or ??

8 minutes ago, granuaile said:

Bangkok Bank accounts for Social Security deposits are locked. I know people who have accounts with them for receiving their payments and they have to go to the bank with their passport to get their money. This was also mentioned recently when Social Security reps came from Manila - they stated this as well.

That's 100 percent correct. Also, if SS hears about a death SS will of course stop payments and try to recover any payments made after death. There is apparently a way for married spouses of retirogrants to access the accounts when the retirogrant is medically indisposed though. 

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.

25 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

He is talking about a direct deposit account that you can't get an ATM with.

OK, but why do that?

To save a transfer fee?

Mine goes in Chase Bank and I have a certain amount transferred to BKK Bank from that account every month.

ATM no problem any where.

7 minutes ago, DogNo1 said:

There has been no announcement that the bank statement copies will not continue to be acceptable proof of income.

There is also no announcement saying they will accept your statements without the embassy letter.

40 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

If every political issue in the world was the determining factor on what people did and how they lived their lives, no one would go any place or do anything.

 

 I agree with your statement.

 

However, my point is: there is no panacea for expats. Just be aware that there may come a day when that 'just hop across the border and get another visa' disappears in Mexico (or any country) as well. Just like it did in Thailand not too long ago.

 

 

15 minutes ago, DogNo1 said:

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.

But you had a affidavit along with the copies of the statements. At this time the statements alone would not be accepted without an affidavit.

If Mexico gets a little tricky you can always try going a little further south to Honduras.......there’s always a haven somewhere.

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.

Irrelevant. You had an embassy letter.

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3 minutes ago, namatjira said:

If Mexico gets a little tricky you can always try going a little further south to Honduras.......there’s always a haven somewhere.

hahaha..no traffic jams in the southbound lanes?

22 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

OK, but why do that?

To save a transfer fee?

Mine goes in Chase Bank and I have a certain amount transferred to BKK Bank from that account every month.

ATM no problem any where.

A direct deposit account is the only way the American government will pay social security and VA benefit checks.  They want to check and see if you are alive when you withdraw the money.  If you are sick you can get someone else to withdraw if for you check with the embassy for details.

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Just a heads up who knows what is going to happen.

If you have your extension due thru June and use the income verification from the US embassy, there are still appts. available now in December.  I booked for Dec. 31 the last day they will issue as mine is due in late June.  May be a waste of time but worth a try.

No problem- you can go for your  extension 30=45 days ahead of the extension.  The letter is good through the application date. If you go 31 Dec for the letter- you can apply 30 days ahead and in some locations 45 days ahead.  The Embassy letter will expire 180 days from the date issued on the document. So if you apply early yo're good. Remember the Us Embassy Letter stated  Thai Imm will facilitate early EXTENSIONS.

4 hours ago, balo said:

As long as you can borrow 800k from agents and get an official bank document to show immigration , I do not see the problem here. Yes its been a grey area for years and some people will call it cheating. 

 

But where the 800k comes from is not anyones business , if you borrow from friends or an agent.  And immigration officials approve it. 

Borrowing the money will work unless they start enforceing the fact that the funds should come from abroad.

2 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

You are not correct.  Ask the embassy before you start passing off fake news.

Legally on the direct deposit of Social Security, you must appear in person with your passport to withdraw, no ATM for that account, they don't want someone collecting your money after you have passed and not been reported deceased. I do have on friend who actually did get an ATM card with his account but that was a mistake on the banks part. 

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

OK, but why do that?

To save a transfer fee?

Mine goes in Chase Bank and I have a certain amount transferred to BKK Bank from that account every month.

ATM no problem any where.

You are not doing a Direct Deposit from Social Security to Bangkok Bank, the only Bank Social Security will deal with in Thailand

2 hours ago, DogNo1 said:

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.

You dont get it do you and thats after 94 pages.

On 10/26/2018 at 10:27 AM, likerdup1 said:

Yea, it was convenient to not have to diddle daddle around with getting the money here or arranging monthly direct deposits etc.. now I've got to do that for the next one. IF I WANT TO STAY ... which I am beginning to think maybe I'll go elsewhere.

After all the issues we have came up with regarding this I decided to go with the direct deposit at Bangkok Bank today. This is what I was told had to happen:

My experience with Bangkok Bank.docx

14 minutes ago, jimn said:

ou dont get it do you and thats after 94 pages

He gets it and so do I who have had the same experience plus scores of others who reported. It is you who doesn't understand that it is possible. Will it be in the future? I don't know and either do you or anyone else. Your Crystal ball is as good as mine- completely worthless!

Kind of a ridiculous "verify the income" drill. Even if your income paperwork came with original raised seal documentation, it says absolutely nothing about whether or not it's "disposable income available for Thailand." After taxes, alimony for former wives, child support, whatever -- you may be a pauper. Thus, a wise Thailand would go the "show the money" route, which would most easily be accomplished by showing money deposited into Thai bank accounts, in some form or fashion.

 

Someone mentioned the Malaysian example. It's interesting. If over 50, your application for a 10 year visa (permission of stay) involves showing that you have $84000 in liquid or near liquid assets, i.e., current accounts, savings accounts, or CDs. Nothing volatile, like stocks or even bonds. Then, you must show a monthly income of $2400 (how verified, I don't know....). You then have to deposit $36000 into a fixed Malaysian account, which is frozen for one year, afterwhich you can take out only one/third for certain things like medical bills and child education bills. So for 10 years, you've got a frozen account of at least $24000 -- kind of a surety bond for Malaysia, should they find you wandering naked in the streets.

 

Apparently, during the 10 year validity period, nothing needs further to be done. No annual check of income -- just a check, I assume, to see that your frozen account is still intact. And after 10 years, they review your situation, and apparently renew pretty easily, even dropping the requirement for the monthly income of $2400.

 

Thus, Malaysia takes a pretty hard look at your bonafide liquidity situation up front. Then, if you pass, you get a 10 year visa, with no annual renewal drill. But, they do have you by the short and curlies with their frozen account requirement.

 

Interesting, but I don't think I'll pack my bags just yet.....

 

 

 

Just now, Thaidream said:

He gets it and so do I who have had the same experience plus scores of others who reported. It is you who doesn't understand that it is possible. Will it be in the future? I don't know and either do you or anyone else. Your Crystal ball is as good as mine- completely worthless!

He did it with an Embassy letter. The rest was back up. As far as I know nobody has reported getting an extension without the embassy letter.

You do not get it either.

3 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

He gets it and so do I who have had the same experience plus scores of others who reported. It is you who doesn't understand that it is possible. Will it be in the future? I don't know and either do you or anyone else. Your Crystal ball is as good as mine- completely worthless!

No its you that dont understand. He clearly stated in an earlier post that you can get the extension with just 3 months bank statements. Wrong. He then posted again that he got the extension by showing the 3 months statements and an embassy affidavit. Correct. So his earlier post and his follow up posts are irrelevant because as it stands you wont get an extension without the embassy affidavit. So my friend before you make comments in reply please make sure you understand what you are saying before you make yourself look silly.

2 hours ago, namatjira said:

If Mexico gets a little tricky you can always try going a little further south to Honduras.......there’s always a haven somewhere.

Been going to Mexico a lot lately. 

 

For about 1600 dollars a month you can get a temporary residence visa, and after 4 years you are eligible for residency. I think the temporary visa now is good for three years. If you have about 100K in the bank or investments in investment accounts, you can skip the temporary visa and go for the residency visa right out of the gate.

 

 

 Merida in the Yucatan, and around that area,  was about like Thailand as far as safety goes. IMO 

Some of the other states are kinda of dicy.

 

I get the same double pricing there as I do here, but after there awhile, and they get to know you it gets better. Same as here.

 

Last time there I meet some Hondurans that were heading back home and they were some nice folks. 

 

I love the food there, but I am a native Texas and love the Mexican food there and well as the Tex-me in Texas.

 

Heading to BKK in a few weeks to the Mexican embassy to see what it will take, for a Thai citizen to live there with me. Temporary retirement visa? or what is needed. Or if it is possible. I don't want to wast a lot of time but if I can swing it I will take my partner here with me.

 

I have a home a few hours from the Texas Mexico border and have an old pickup I drive down, so easy for me. But, I know allot of people from Canada and America that fly into Mexico. I wouldn't like it, but they love it. Many many snow birds there in the winter. 

 

Also I was in Colombia last year and it was really nice. Not as safe as southern Mexico or Thailand for sure. But, it was extremely cheap. About like Thailand, maybe cheaper. And the scenery was breathtaking. IMO much better than Thailand hands down. 

 

If the Visa situation here is too much for you there are many very nice places I like better than Thailand for long stay. And the visa rules are much easier. I have had a retirement visa here for years. But, have about made up my mind to get a little closer to home. 

 

Regards

You are not doing a Direct Deposit from Social Security to Bangkok Bank, the only Bank Social Security will deal with in Thailand

For now. Starting next year SS will pay direct into any Thai bank.

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Quote

After all the issues we have came up with regarding this I decided to go with the direct deposit at Bangkok Bank today. This is what I was told had to happen:

My experience with Bangkok Bank.docx

You got the standard answer, dictated by the US Gov't, not Bangkok Bank. But search for the article PIB recently posted, which says Thailand will be let into the IDD community, and as such, you can now pick your bank of choice for your SS Direct Deposit -- and the account can be "normal," i.e., you can get an ATM card, and no need to show up in person. Timeline for this: dunno.