BREAKING NEWS Thai immigration reveals new requirements for retirement, marriage extensions (visas)

[Moonlover]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:33 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

16 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

A TransferWise transaction slip shows a clear 'paper trail' of the funds, starting from receipt of the home country funds (GBP in my case) to the payment of the THB equivalent into the payee's account in Thailand.

 

Matched to the same credit entry on the payee's bank statement should suffice I'm sure in proving that the funds came from abroad.

 

I'm downloading and saving all of mine in readiness.

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  On 1/6/2019 at 9:33 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

There's zero indication here thus far that Thai Immigration is going to want to be looking at a pile of Transferwise statements.

 

What they probably WILL want to be looking at is one's Thai bank book showing regularly monthly deposits in the required amount, and a letter from one's Thai bank confirming the applicant did in fact have the required monthly deposits  from abroad.

 

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It costs me nothing to download and save them and they might prove useful when I go to the bank to request my letter of confirmation from them.

 

I do hope that TI remember to let the banks know of this new requirement. ????

[zydeco]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:34 AM, ubonjoe said:

I have confirmed several times that is does not affect the money in the bank or the combination option.

The order only revises the the proof of income requirements. It mentions nothing else.

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Joe, what about proof of income for the income part of the combination method? I haven't used it before but may do so this time. Is the proof of income part for the combo less rigid than for the outright 65K monthly minimum?

[elviajero]

  On 1/6/2019 at 8:17 AM, zydeco said:

  On 1/6/2019 at 8:13 AM, ubonjoe said:

I think immigration would understand the missing month if showed them that normally the payment came in on the 3rd of the month unless there was a holiday or it was a weekend on the 3rd.

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I hope you are correct. But how do we explain all this to someone at Chaeng Wattana who has no idea of Labor Day or how SS processes payments early for holidays?

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The new rules appear to want a letter form your bank and a copy of your passbook. I imagine that as long as the bank letter confirms 12 transfers receive during the year and they appear in the bank book it will be accepted.

 

I think the key is 12 separate transfers. Otherwise some smart A will deposit 780K in one month and claim it's income.

[jimn]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:38 AM, Jackin1960 said:

It's the never ending immigration story. If you are living in Thailand as a retiree you would be best served if you have you pension paid into a British/EU bank and from there have a standing order (monthly/quarterly) made to your bank in Thailand. Or move it online. I don't see this being a problem. Try to keep a UK or EU residence where you can receive mail etc, no benifit in cutting ties with the UK.

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I agree totally. This new method of transferring 65k per month will not work for me. I keep a UK address because I spend around 4.5 months a year in the UK, the rest in Thailand. I normally just bring a lump sum of cash to live on whilst I am here. There is no way I will be able to transfer 65k per month into Thailand because I will need the money to live on whilst in the UK. I am seriously thinking of changing from the Retirement extension method to getting a Non O A visa obtained in the UK. May suit me better personally.

[elviajero]

  On 1/6/2019 at 8:40 AM, MJCM said:

  On 1/6/2019 at 8:34 AM, Sheryl said:

Not all bank statements show this. Kasikorn does nto. It shows only transfer.

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But surely you could go into your local KSK branch and ask them to print out that the money originates from abroad ??

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You will need to provide a letter from the Thai bank confirming receipt of 12 foreign transfers.

[albertik]

Just a side note.

Keep up the good work Ubonjoe; I don't know how you do it but thanks. I will eagerly look forward to the translation tomorrow.

[abizeus]

  On 1/6/2019 at 2:22 AM, Eligius said:

On the face of it, this looks EXTREMELY worrying for British retirees here. The irresponsible action of the British embassy in not confirming a retiree's income flow could be the death knell for many Brits here. Also, as far as I understand it, the British Government will not send pensions into a Thai bank account (only into a British one), and not every British bank will automatically forward a pension to a bank account in Thailand every month. Maybe I am wrong. 

 

Perhaps it is not as bad as I fear. What do other members think?

 

 

 

 

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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:40 AM, davhend25 said:

Same for me....

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Being a Tallguy, I can't buy clothes in Thailand, can't buy shoes in Thailand, do most of my non-food shopping via Amazon in the U.S.  When my Thai wife wants to buy something special for shopping, it's invariably from someplace in the U.S., not from Thailand.

 

My U.S. credit cards and bank cards have better consumer protections and better terms than their Thai counterparts, and no foreign currency fees when used in other countries, unlike most Thai bank cards. Likewise with my bank accounts and CDs that earn better interest in the U.S. than they would at Thai banks. My retirement accounts and pension funds are all in the U.S. and paid there.

 

I withdraw all the local cash I need each month from my U.S. accounts at a Thai bank ATM and pay no ATM or foreign currency fees in doing so. From my perspective, and for my life, there are almost zero reasons for me to keep funds in any Thai bank account -- except to satisfy Immigration and keep some local funds available in case of some emergency needs for local cash and a few local misc bill pays.

 

 

[elviajero]

  On 1/6/2019 at 8:48 AM, wonder6281 said:

I receive my Superannuation pension fortnightly. 

 

I make 26 transfers annually. 

 

Divided by 12 months gives me my average monthly income. 

 

If this fails to meet the new requirements then nothing will and I'm out of here. 

 

Some Common sense does reside here I hope. 

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If it doesn't, which I think it will; you could make 12 transfers instead of 26!?

[Jackin1960]

I got the balls with all the Thai rules and requirement changes and took the family to the UK, happy days!! Now we can visit once and a while happy in the knowledge that we will return to normality and the girls back to a great school. 

[abizeus]

The extremely worrying thing I see for Brits is: I don't know any Brit getting this amount pension for a MONTH ... The average state pension in the UK is £165 per week

Infact, bet there's not many other Countries where retiree's that amount!!

Maybe the Thai's don't want farangs there anymore - best of luck to them without tourism

[jacko45k]

  On 1/6/2019 at 3:35 AM, cyberfarang said:

So in fact this could mean immigration will cease the lump sum in a Thai bank option and insist on monies being brought over monthly from credible sources. 

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Please, no unfounded rumours. Off topic and scaremongering.

[elviajero]

  On 1/6/2019 at 8:56 AM, ginjag said:

Understanding all the complex visas for long stay is difficult.....elite 5 year visa hassle free 500,000 bht fee.   so why on earth Thai immigration have a standard charge for a one year visa of 60,000 baht, 90 day reporting.  verifying address/lease/deeds.   think about the income Immigration would get, and long term ex pats etc  content.

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There is no "standard charge" for a one year visa. The fee is 1,900 baht.

 

5 year PE visa holders have to make 90 day address reports too. Immigration only receive a small fee from Thailand Elite to provide the PE visa.

[elviajero]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:07 AM, Jackie66 said:

So if i would transfer 2000 Euro every month from my European bank account to my bank account in Thailand would that be enough to qualify or does it have to be from a company?

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At current exchange rates yes. It doesn't have to come from a company.

[Pilotman]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:13 AM, Pattaya46 said:

So why are they making new rules easier than the previous one, with more options to qualify ?

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They are not 

[nasa123]

can you choose and show pension income from an embassy, or you must also have a letter from the bank (from those who have it). 

[elviajero]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:10 AM, Pilotman said:

They don't want us here, smell the coffee. 

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Complete and utter nonsense. They've just come up with a solution to enable people that can't get embassy letters to stay!!!!! 

[Pilotman]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:32 AM, SheungWan said:

 

Forget the cod psychology. Just work out the options. And then choose one. Or not.

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Or leave to go somewhere that actually values expats and their contribution, both financially and culturally, the Thai authorities don't value either;  their loss.  

[Pilotman]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:57 AM, elviajero said:

Complete and utter nonsense. They've just come up with a solution to enable people that can't get embassy letters to stay!!!!! 

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so now you have no choice but to transfer money, not leave it in the home country and transfer only what you need. hardly helping some people is it? 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:56 AM, nasa123 said:

can you choose and show pension income from an embassy, or you must also have a letter from the bank (from those who have it). 

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If your embassy is still issuing income letters, then that alone should suffice for financial proof.

 

But if they aren't or you don't want to go that route, you now can also document monthly income via monthly deposits into a Thai bank account, showing Immigration that history in your Thai bank book,, and getting a letter from your Thai bank confirming that you had the required monthly deposits coming from outside Thailand.

 

[ginjag]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:53 AM, elviajero said:

There is no "standard charge" for a one year visa. The fee is 1,900 baht.

 

5 year PE visa holders have to make 90 day address reports too. Immigration only receive a small fee from Thailand Elite to provide the PE visa.

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My point being scrap the bank deposits /income.   CHARGE a yearly fee for retirement visa 60,000 baht.   with guarantee residence /deeds and maybe medical insurance.  think of the massed income Thai immigration would inherit and TAT more than happy with extra tourism

 

[mirage]

  On 1/6/2019 at 2:59 AM, colinneil said:

I get my UK pension paid directly into my Krung Thai account every 13 weeks, have done now for nearly 5 years, never had any problems.

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Is there a cost benefit having the pension paid every 13 weeks as opposed to every 4 weeks ?.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

  On 1/6/2019 at 10:00 AM, Pilotman said:

so now you have no choice but to transfer money, not leave it in the home country and transfer only what you need. hardly helping some people is it? 

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That's just on the monthly income side of things.  There's still the fixed Thai bank deposit of 400K or 800K as an available alternative, same as existed before.  But obviously, not everyone has the available funds for that or perhaps doesn't want to put those amounts into a Thai bank account.

 

 

[lagavulin1]

  On 1/6/2019 at 2:22 AM, Eligius said:

On the face of it, this looks EXTREMELY worrying for British retirees here. The irresponsible action of the British embassy in not confirming a retiree's income flow could be the death knell for many Brits here. Also, as far as I understand it, the British Government will not send pensions into a Thai bank account (only into a British one), and not every British bank will automatically forward a pension to a bank account in Thailand every month. Maybe I am wrong. 

 

Perhaps it is not as bad as I fear. What do other members think?

 

 

 

 

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DWP UK are more than happy to transfer into a Thai Account. IT goes via Citibank so You lose the chance to play exchange games. Pay in day varies a little depending on UK holidays I presume.

On your other point neither of my private pensions will pay into a foreign account. I round them up in Barclays and use the BKK bounce procedure so Barc to BKK London is show as internal. BKK London to BKK Bangkok is exchange rate variable but I save 50 quid by using this method. 

[Ebumbu]

I like that word, "average"! 

[Maestro]

  On 1/6/2019 at 3:00 AM, sometimewoodworker said:

Certified by?

 

I ask as immigration may not translate in the same way as an independent translator, however skilled they are. 

 

It is only a translation from immigration (if they provide one) that will be correct.

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 I have often seen inaccuracies in English translations of laws, police orders and immigration orders published on the website of the Immigration Bureau and elsewhere. It would be useful to get not only a "certified version in English" but also the Thai text that has been translated.

[Surasak]

Although not stated specifically, I see no reason to worry about a deposit of ฿800,000 or ฿400,000 sat in a Thai bank for 12 months being rejected. I could of course be wrong knowing the immigration offices put their own interpretation on almost anything. However, as more information my be forthcoming in the near future, I am quite prepared to wait and see.

[Delight]

  On 1/6/2019 at 2:25 AM, Dmaxdan said:

Presumably the money deposited in a bank Thai account method (400,000 and 800,000) hasn't changed?   

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 Suspect that this option may have finished.

It is impossible to 'fiddle ' the new rules

Money in the bank for 3 months  can be achieved via a 3 month loan from friend

[JLCrab]

  On 1/6/2019 at 9:57 AM, elviajero said:

They've just come up with a solution to enable people that can't get embassy letters to stay!!!!! 

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So I posted earlier but what is your take on this:

 

So given the verbiage as in the OP, when will be the first persons who will actually get an extension under the new 65K+ international-sourced monthly deposit scheme?

[Cereal]

"The requirements for opening a Bangkok in Thailand are likely to be the same for most foreign nationals,..."

 

I have no idea how difficult transferring money from the UK to Thailand will be or proving you have the funds. However, I am willing to bet opening a Bangkok in Thailand will be infinitely more challenging!