Report: Successful retirement extension using monthly income, no consul letter

[pontious]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is unknown at this time. It should be allowed but they could require it to be in your name only like they do for the 800k baht in the bank option.

A much more reasonable reply. They should clarify what they want then. No point having money transferred that they will not accept. 

The money in the bank method says your account only. They have not said anything about the new rules for transfers.

Out of interest does the married 40,000 per month have to be in a sole account?

Edited January 23, 2019 by pontious
add

[JackThompson]

44 minutes ago, pontious said:

A much more reasonable reply. They should clarify what they want then. No point having money transferred that they will not accept. 

The money in the bank method says your account only. They have not said anything about the new rules for transfers.

Out of interest does the married 40,000 per month have to be in a sole account?

With "In the bank" money. double the minimum in sometime accepted - but not always.  I would not try it with the transfers, even though a married couple should logically be allowed to share the account where the deposits are made.

[HuskerDo]

19 hours ago, genobkk said:

Transferwise is the only way I can move money since we can not use Bangkok Bank New York branch to do ACH. My bank does not allow online transfers and I have no plans on traveling to the U.S to set anything up  I may be forced to use an agent but really I do not want too 

Geno - What's the issue with using Bangkok Bank for the ACH transfer? Why can't you use them? 

[ubonjoe]

19 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

Geno - What's the issue with using Bangkok Bank for the ACH transfer? Why can't you use them? 

Because they want all transfers done as international ACH transfers which has a special code of IAT. New transfers will be rejected without it and on April 1st all transfers will require it. 

Info is here on their website: https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch

[sumrit]

On 1/21/2019 at 5:47 PM, billd766 said:

I sent GBP 250 from TW to my new BKK bank account on Friday to arrive today Monday 21st.

 

I know how much TW sent.

 

I checked BKKB this afternoon and what arrived was the same amount that was sent and it was listed as an international transfer plus no charges from the BKKB.

 

I transferred most of it to my KBank joint account and again no charge from BKKB.

 

I have sent another GBP from TW today and it arrives tomorrow so I will check again.

I did the same via TW yesterday (Wednesday). Likewise, the full amount arrived in my BKKB  today as an international transfer, with no bank charges taken. 

Like you I transferred most of it into my 'everyday' Krung Thai account without any charges. I'll try again next week.

 

Checking back on my TW transfer receipts over the last 6-7 months, in all bar one of the TW transfers has BKKB as being the receiving Thai bank with the other one being TMB, using a SWIFT transfer. If that average continues, having 1-2 transfers a year going via a different receiving bank and showing a local transfer, so requiring a 'Credit Advice slip' to prove the money came from overseas is no big deal. Early days but I can live with that.

[KhunFred]

This is certainly encouraging. Maybe the agents aren't going to get rich off of us, after all.

[HuskerDo]

13 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Because they want all transfers done as international ACH transfers which has a special code of IAT. New transfers will be rejected without it and on April 1st all transfers will require it. 

Info is here on their website: https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch

Thank you Ubon!

[Isaanman]

On 1/22/2019 at 7:20 AM, LawrenceN said:

No. I got a letter from Bangkok Bank laying all of this out, not in the mail, but handed over the counter without asking for it. If you haven't seen that letter, ask for it. I had questions similar to yours. We called the phone number in the letter. It goes to the main office in Bkk. The nice lady there was able to check the details of our depositors. One of my depositors complies with the required IAT format, the other does not. That was a couple of months ago. I called this source of funds, and they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. To them, my info is complete, my local address, bank's address, everything. I'll raise the issue with them again, after I call BkkBk again to see if maybe the issue has been resolved. If not, I'll be looking for a Transferwise solution, as so many of you have done.

When the Bangkok Bank (BB) CSR lady in BKK informed you that "one of your depositors complies with the required IAT format," are you fairly certain that she understood your inquiry to be related to domestic ACH deposits from your home country into your NY branch BB account that you have been able to make withdrawals from here in Thailand?  Or, could she have possibly be confused and confirming that said foreign depositor simply makes IAT deposits--which might, in fact, only be SWIFT deposits and not the domestic ACH deposits with the FTT notations that the rest of us have been to transfer our money here? If the former is true, if I understand you correctly, this could mean that some domestic US (and other) banks can make non-commercial/non-business (i.e. consumer) IAT deposits into BB bank, thereby giving a glimpse of hope to those who bank with the right banks. Am I off target here?

[Isaanman]

On 1/22/2019 at 7:20 AM, LawrenceN said:

I got a letter from Bangkok Bank laying all of this out, not in the mail, but handed over the counter without asking for it. If you haven't seen that letter, ask for it. 

Did that particular letter from BB have a title or subject heading? Was it in English or Thai? I am not sure what to ask for at the BB counter. 

[LawrenceN]

21 hours ago, Isaanman said:

Did that particular letter from BB have a title or subject heading? Was it in English or Thai? I am not sure what to ask for at the BB counter. 

It's on Bangkok Bank letterhead.

Ref: NMG.GPSD/017/61

Re: Direct Deposit Service

Dated 1 October 2018

Available in both Thai and English.

 

I saw your previous post. I believe I was clear in the first place. I have no obligation to respond to your presumption of the BB staff member's confusion or incompetence. You drew that from thin air.

[Isaanman]

On 1/26/2019 at 1:42 PM, LawrenceN said:

I saw your previous post. I believe I was clear in the first place. I have no obligation to respond to your presumption of the BB staff member's confusion or incompetence. You drew that from thin air.

I am neither insinuating that you were not clear nor that the BB CSR was confused or incompetent. Your inquiry and posted report was clear enough. I was merely noting that if the BB CSR confirmed that one of your "depositors complies with the required IAT format" that would be very significant for all of us wading through this mess and, given how complicated these new regulations can be (and are), anyone could have misread information or not looked carefully at the specific details to see if the compliance with IAT formats applies for individuals and not commercial accounts only. If it does apply to individuals, it would be something that has not been revealed anywhere else on these threads (that I have read) or the entire internet, for that matter. It only makes sense to me that clarity be sought for all of of our sakes.   

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/16/2019 at 5:55 PM, onera1961 said:

I read in TVF that banks are working with immigration to standardize the letter. We have to wait and see what it turns out. may be the same as 800K letter. 

 

That's what I had read here previously as well, and so had been thinking something like that might be in the works somewhere.

 

So, as I posted yesterday in another thread, yesterday, I went to my local BKK Bank branch at a major mall in central BKK and spoke with an English speaking staff at their international/transfers desk on the subject.

 

Bottom line: the staff member I spoke with, who did handle their past bank letters for Immigration, knew nothing about the new monthly foreign transfers rule from Immigration, and had received no information or instructions from BKKB HQ on any kind of new letter documenting monthly foreign transfers.

 

That encounter would seem, at least thus far, to fit with the notion that Joe and the OP have recounted earlier in this thread that the banks are just going to be issuing the same kind of bank letter has they have in the past that doesn't detail the foreign transfers. And the detailing of those transfers instead is being done by the official bank statements and/or official stamped copies of passbook pages showing same.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/25/2019 at 3:33 PM, Isaanman said:

When the Bangkok Bank (BB) CSR lady in BKK informed you that "one of your depositors complies with the required IAT format," are you fairly certain that she understood your inquiry to be related to domestic ACH deposits from your home country into your NY branch BB account that you have been able to make withdrawals from here in Thailand?  Or, could she have possibly be confused and confirming that said foreign depositor simply makes IAT deposits--which might, in fact, only be SWIFT deposits and not the domestic ACH deposits with the FTT notations that the rest of us have been to transfer our money here? If the former is true, if I understand you correctly, this could mean that some domestic US (and other) banks can make non-commercial/non-business (i.e. consumer) IAT deposits into BB bank, thereby giving a glimpse of hope to those who bank with the right banks. Am I off target here?

 

On the subject of BKKB and their soon ending New York branch ACH transfers system in terms of being accessible by private party senders like you or I, you need to distinguish between two entirely different things:

 

1. a scenario where you yourself are trying to do the ACH transfer from some personal U.S. account...

vs.

2. a scenario where some pension provider or government entity like Social Security is going to do a direct deposit payment to you in Thailand via the NY branch of BKKB.

 

1. At present, AFAIK, no one knows of any retail U.S. bank or CU that offers IAT compatible transfer to their personal banking customers. So if/when BKKB starts enforcing that new rule on April 1, or later if a rumored possible extension occurs, the NY route will basically become dead for private party senders.

 

2. That notwithstanding, entities like Social Security and perhaps some other government payers DO have the ability to send IAT compatible payments that still can be transmitted to your BKKB account in Thailand by being routed thru the NY branch. That aspect is expected to continue, though right now, not ALL Social Security payments are showing up at IAT compatible. But in general, that method should remain alive for the future. Whether in will work in any particular case will depend on the policies and transfer technology being used by the individual sending entity.

 

For example, my state pension provider in the U.S. is fine to direct deposit my pension to any of my U.S. bank accounts every month. But, they also have a standing policy that prohibits them doing any electronic direct deposits to any account OUTSIDE the U.S.  So in my instance, BKKB NY to Thailand is a dead issue for me, period, and especially so once the IAT system requires very specific info about the ultimate receiving entity being a bank in a foreign country (and not just BKKB's NY branch).

 

 

Edited February 27, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm late to this thread... (you think you have them all covered, and then one escapes you....)

 

But now having read all 17 pages, I would just comment.....

 

It seems that the reports here of people actually doing monthly foreign bank transfer extensions at Immigration thus far are fairly few.

 

But from that admittedly small sample, I haven't seen much to suggest that the IOs are focusing on or getting hung up on the peculiar coding that's attached to the transfers.... Clearly they want to see a bank letter, and bank passbook pages or bank statements showing the required money showing up into the account each and every month.

 

However, I can't recall reading anything here thus far wherein an IO was kicking back or pushing back on documented incoming transfers of the required amount into a Thai bank account because they didn't recognize the coding on the transaction or weren't sure it was foreign vs. domestic.

 

Have I missed anything in that regard somewhere?

 

 

 

[Isaanman]

On 2/27/2019 at 2:07 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

On the subject of BKKB and their soon ending New York branch ACH transfers system in terms of being accessible by private party senders like you or I, you need to distinguish between two entirely

different things:

 

1. a scenario where you yourself are trying to do the ACH transfer from some personal U.S. account...

 

At present, AFAIK, no one knows of any retail U.S. bank or CU that offers IAT compatible transfer to their personal banking customers. So if/when BKKB starts enforcing that new rule on April 1, or later if a rumored possible extension occurs, the NY route will basically become dead for private party senders.

I just wanted to report that I made an ACH transfer on April 3rd from my US based Wells Fargo account to the Bangkok Bank NY branch, as I have been doing for almost 2 years. The money came into my account today (the 5th) and shows up on my Bualuang MBanking app as an "international transfer." I have not yet updated my BB passbook to see whether or not it lists the transfer as an FTT transfer yet. But, the funds are in my account and accessible clearly on the other side of the April 1st deadline . . . At least, for now. For this, I am very grateful! ????

[mosan]

1 hour ago, Isaanman said:

I just wanted to report that I made an ACH transfer on April 3rd from my US based Wells Fargo account to the Bangkok Bank NY branch, as I have been doing for almost 2 years. The money came into my account today (the 5th) and shows up on my Bualuang MBanking app as an "international transfer." I have not yet updated my BB passbook to see whether or not it lists the transfer as an FTT transfer yet. But, the funds are in my account and accessible clearly on the other side of the April 1st deadline . . . At least, for now. For this, I am very grateful! ????

It has been recently reported by several members here that Bangkok Bank, NY was granted an extension on processing ACH transfers.  The only unknown factor is how long the extension was granted for as there has been no official memo posted by Bangkok Bank of Thailand or New York as of this moment...

[gmmarvin]

Just received a international deposit (Transferwise) to my Bangkok Bank account via Kasikorn Bank.  I went to my Bkk branch for a Credit Advice letter.  Was informed to go to Kasikorn Bank to obtain letter since they are the original receiving bank. Went to Kasikorn Bank for Credit Advice letter.  Kasikorn Bank needs more account information from my Bkk Bank.  For 5.5 hours both banks were talking to each other and nothing resolved.  I sat at my branch for two hrs before I was sent to K-Bank for a 3.5 hr wait.

Question:  Does anyone in the Chiang Mai know what Bkk Bank and K-Bank where I can get this simple matter resolved?

[Pib]

19 minutes ago, gmmarvin said:

Just received a international deposit (Transferwise) to my Bangkok Bank account via Kasikorn Bank.  I went to my Bkk branch for a Credit Advice letter.  Was informed to go to Kasikorn Bank to obtain letter since they are the original receiving bank. Went to Kasikorn Bank for Credit Advice letter.  Kasikorn Bank needs more account information from my Bkk Bank.  For 5.5 hours both banks were talking to each other and nothing resolved.  I sat at my branch for two hrs before I was sent to K-Bank for a 3.5 hr wait.

Question:  Does anyone in the Chiang Mai know what Bkk Bank and K-Bank where I can get this simple matter resolved?

 

In closely related matter just yesterday I was at the Bangkok Bank branch in the HQ Bangkok Bank building getting a Credit Advice on a US govt pension payment made to Bangkok Bank....all I wanted was the Credit Advice....and I got it no problem in just a few minutes although the payment was coded BTN/Bahtnet vs FTT/International Transfer. 

 

As a curiosity question I asked "if, repeat if came to get the letter for immigration because I was using the monthly income method" and since the Credit Advice clearly shows it was an international transfer from Uncle Sam in the U.S. although you have it coded as BTN/Bahtnet would Bangkok Bank still reflect that transfer on the monthly income letter for immigration as an international transfer because supposedly on these monthly income letters they list each of the transfers that were international.

 

The rep said No, while being able to provide the Credit Advice they would not include it on the income letter for immigration since it was not coded "FTT/International Transfer" in the Bangkok Bank system....would have to go to other Thai bank (Citibank Thailand in this case) that relayed it to Bangkok Bank to get a immigration letter for that transfer that ended up being coded Bahtnet when it arrived the Bangkok Bank account.  The rep also suggested maybe just pointing out to the immigration officer the Credit Advice shows the payment came from the US would suffice....but the rep said she wouldn't put the transfer on the letter if I needed such a letter.

 

Makes no sense since the Credit Advice clearly shows it was an international transfer originating from Uncle Sam in the US.  But since I don't use the monthly income method--I use the Bt800K deposit method--I didn't press the issue anymore.  Maybe the Bangkok Bank rep was just wrong in that answer...maybe we had a Thai-English misunderstanding although the rep spoke good English....or maybe that truly is current Bangkok Bank policy.   

 

Various (and increasing) possible transfer methods and routing possibilities along with the associated transfer coding/descriptions sure can complicate things especially to satisfy immigration office requirement for "Thai bank docs" to be used to confirm a transfer was international.   

 

 

[doctormann]

I'm still trying to sort out if the EXIM code that TMB shows for SWIFT transfers will be acceptable to Immigration.  This is the code that shows on any online statements that I download.  I don't know if the same code would appear on statements ordered from the bank itself but I don't see any reason why they would be different.  My bank passbook shows an entirely different code - NT - which, apparently, just signifies 'transfer without book'.

 

I contacted the TMB helpline - by email - but they were less than helpful.  Their only advice is to sort it out with my branch which, I guess, I shall have to do.  I just know that it will be a PITA though.  Even sorting out online banking was a tour-de-force!

[cassde]

My extension was undertaken on the basis that I completed a TM30 form (I am a condo joint owner with my Thai wife) and had to supply copy of my chanote. The IO didn't want copies of the yellow book. I paid 800 baht fine and received the paperwork that satisfied the IO who issued my Extension stamp in my passport.

[gmmarvin]

I believe Credit advice letters are only issued at banks where you have a account at.  My July deposit came to Bkk bank via K-Bank.  I went to the main branch of K-Bank in Chiang Mai and received the following letters. One is a letter to immigration stating information is to be used for extension of stay or something like that. 2nd letter is a watermarked certificate showing transfer amount thru K-Bank.  Documents needed:

TW receipt pdf copy

Bkk Bank Book

Passport

K-Bank will do this every time requested.  Fee:  200 baht for both letters.

Hopes this helps

Request&Certificate.pdf