Retirement Visa - What are the new requirements.

[KittenKong]

17 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

To really beat a dead horse, no one has responded to how you deposit any money in a Thai bank if the Thai banks are refusing to open an account without the proper Visa and you can't obtain the Visa without the bank account.

I thought I covered this, at least partially.

 

If you go to the right branch of the right bank you will be able to open an account. You just need to persevere.

[Pilotman]

19 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

My experience also is not up to date. As I understand it what now may be required is certificate of residence (as you mentioned).  BTW for oz readers, the au embassy is no longer providing stat DEC to show your residence for things such as bank account, drivers license etc. Nothing gets easier. 

Just opened an account with SCB yesterday, all they asked for was my passport,  which shows an extension of stay, No C of R  was required and they were happy to accept the address printed on the back of my Thai Driving License, plus the 90 day paper stapled into the passport.  

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Which bank/s give any interest on anything other that fixed term deposit? 

Which banks do not pay interest on savings accounts is a better question. All of mine at Bangkok Bank earn interest.

[Pilotman]

2 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

I thought I covered this, at least partially.

 

If you go to the right branch of the right bank you will be able to open an account. You just need to persevere.

Yep, right of course, but what business have you ever heard of, where you have to persevere to give them your money? I don't know about persevere, it certainly is perverse. How the economy ever operates in this country is beyond me. However, it is what it is.   

[KittenKong]

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Which banks do not pay interest on a savings accounts is a better question. All of mine at Bangkok Bank earn interest.

Indeed. All banks, including BB, pay a tiny amount on savings accounts. But some (like Krungsri MTD) pay a lot more.

[Respectthailand]

41 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

You are describing the deposit method which I and many others use. This method requires no documentation apart from the Thai bank book showing the deposit and a covering letter confirming it from your Thai bank (usually 100B). It does not have to come from abroad, but it can if you like.

 

Also any such money only has to be on deposit for the three months immediately preceding the application, and so it can be used for other things if needed for the rest of the year. This method offers many advantages for those who have the 800kB available.

Thanks but maybe I didnt convey what I intended.

I meant leaving it there and never touching it again.

Thus whenever I go to renew the govt will see the same amount from a foreign bank albeit it has remained there eg for 5 years

[Thomas J]

1 minute ago, Pilotman said:

Just opened an account with SCB yesterday, all they asked for was my passport,  which shows an extension of stay, No C of R  was required and they were happy to accept the address printed on the back of my Thai Driving License, plus the 90 day paper stapled into the passport.  

Yes but you got a Thai drivers license which I assume required some sort of documentation to obtain?  I can assure you that the banks here were all requiring a 1 year visa to open an account.  They offered nothing other as an option.  Immigration would only accept deposits in a thai bank to obtain even the first 90 day 

O visa.  So even if you could get a bank account based on that, it would not have the required three months aging.  The Bangkok bank said if I used an agency that immigration would only require 2 months.  Sounds like a partnership to me. 

 

[KittenKong]

Just now, Pilotman said:

Yep, right of course, but what business have you ever heard of, where you have to persevere to give them your money? I don't know about persevere, it certainly is perverse. How the economy ever operates in this country is beyond me. However, it is what it is.   

I agree. Thai businesses generally have little notion of customer service. Mind you, UK banks are little better these days, and often seem to be totally bogged down with AML regulations and KYC rules.

[Thomas J]

2 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Yep, right of course, but what business have you ever heard of, where you have to persevere to give them your money? I don't know about persevere, it certainly is perverse. How the economy ever operates in this country is beyond me. However, it is what it is.   

Well that is not much of an answer.  I went to five different banks. Some more than one branch.  How does a foreigner coming here even know what the "right branch" to go to is? 

 

[KittenKong]

1 minute ago, Respectthailand said:

Thanks but maybe I didnt convey what I intended.

I meant leaving it there and never touching it again.

You can certainly leave it if you want. I do.

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, Harry2 said:

Regarding the B800k for 3 months. I have just transferred B813k from UK (Transferwise shows as intl transfer &  saved me circa B6k over bank transfer), I will be sending smaller monthly amounts over to live, all of which will come into my account within the 3 month lockdown, so money will be going in & out over the 3 month period but I will always maintain at least B800k in the account.

 

Is that OK, or could they argue that I have 'spent' the original transfer money first on my monthly expenses & replaced it with transfers in that have not been in the account for 90 days. So are they just looking at a balance of at least B800k being maintained in the account for 90 days or do they look at it in a more sophisticated way?

The only look to see if your balance has been 800k baht or more for 3 months on the date you apply for the extension.

[KittenKong]

3 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

Yes but you got a Thai drivers license which I assume required some sort of documentation to obtain?  I can assure you that the banks here were all requiring a 1 year visa to open an account.  They offered nothing other as an option.  Immigration would only accept deposits in a thai bank to obtain even the first 90 day 

O visa.  So even if you could get a bank account based on that, it would not have the required three months aging.  The Bangkok bank said if I used an agency that immigration would only require 2 months.  Sounds like a partnership to me.

I suggest that you go back to Immigration and explain the problem slowly and politely. Get the Immigration officer's phone number and go back to the bank, and have the bank call him. He should be able to explain that they should open an account for you. Other people have done this.

 

Otherwise, call the bank's head office whilst you are in the branch and get the head office to explain. Other people have done this also.

[Thomas J]

7 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

I suggest that you go back to Immigration and explain the problem slowly and politely. Get the Immigration officer's phone number and go back to the bank, and have the bank call him. He should be able to explain that they should open an account for you. Other people have done this.

 

Otherwise, call the bank's head office whilst you are in the branch and get the head office to explain. Other people have done this also.

I tried that.  They gave me the form for Bangkok bank.  No forms for any other banks.  No one on this post seems to comprehend the original question.  The banks refuse to open accounts.  Even if they did open an account the most you can get on your first long term Visa is 90 days.  That means even if you got a Visa, went to a bank and deposited the same day $800K baht, it would not meet the 3 month requirement.  Now consider, I have been here 4 months now and have some knowledge of the local banking and immigration requirements.  What is a brand new person from another country to do when they go to several branches in 2019 all of which refuse to open an account and the person can no longer get an income verification affidavit from their Embassy.  I got my 1 year visa now but only because I made two trips to Bangkok to get two different income verification.  Now that that option is gone, I am thinking that new people will be put in an impossible position. No Visa - no Account.  No Account, No Visa. 

[NoshowJones]

20 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The new requirement is to show at least 65k baht transferred into the country from abroad.

That has been discussed in other topics already. This one has the new requirements shown in it.

 

 

Confirmed?? It will probably depend on which immigration office you go to.????

[KittenKong]

2 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

I tried that.  They gave me the form for Bangkok bank.  No forms for any other banks. 

I dont understand. The "form" you get from Immigration is a certificate of residence. It does not mention any particular bank by name. You use the certificate as proof of address when opening an account with the bank of your choosing.

 

3 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

No one on this post seems to comprehend the original question.  The banks refuse to open accounts.  Even if they did open an account the most you can get on your first long term Visa is 90 days.  That means even if you got a Visa, went to a bank and deposited the same day $800K baht, it would not meet the 3 month requirement.

I think that many people on here understand completely what you mean.

For your first extension the money only needs to be deposited for two months, not three.

 

So you could (just about) arrive with 90 days stay, open an account, deposit the cash, wait two months and still have time to apply for an extension within the 90 day window. Failing which you could just do a border run within the 90 days and carry on from there.

 

 

[Dante99]

20 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The new requirement is to show at least 65k baht transferred into the country from abroad.

That has been discussed in other topics already. This one has the new requirements shown in it.

 

 

My Transfer Wise transfer does not show as a foreign transfer in my Thai bank book, SCB.  Can I provide TransferWise documents to confirm the transfer was foreign or is there another way to satisfy Immigration that the transfer was foreign?

[orchidfan]

I opened my account at BBL late 2015 in a large shopping center.

Was on a 30 days visa exempt stamp. Accompanied by my Thai wife who has long had a BBL account  ("person trusted by the bank???)

Several other banks there refused but when I said at BB I had B1 mill to deposit they nearly broke my wrist taking it!

Only had my passport and wife with me. Was no problem at all.

But maybe it's changed in 4 years.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

My Transfer Wise transfer does not show as a foreign transfer in my Thai bank book, SCB.  Can I provide TransferWise documents to confirm the transfer was foreign or is there another way to satisfy Immigration that the transfer was foreign?

I don't think anybody but your local immigration can answer your question. If they are willing to go through all the extra paperwork needed to do it it might be accepted.

[Thomas J]

10 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

I dont understand. The "form" you get from Immigration is a certificate of residence. It does not mention any particular bank by name. You use the certificate as proof of address when opening an account with the bank of your choosing.

 

I think that many people on here understand completely what you mean.

For your first extension the money only needs to be deposited for two months, not three.

 

So you could (just about) arrive with 90 days stay, open an account, deposit the cash, wait two months and still have time to apply for an extension within the 90 day window. Failing which you could just do a border run within the 90 days and carry on from there.

 

 

Wrong,  at Jomtien right from the immigration officer money needs to be on deposit for 3 months not two.  Also to get the 90 day 0 Visa the first time you need to provide income verification which you can't because you can't open a bank account. 

[wgdanson]

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think anybody but your local immigration can answer your question. If they are willing to go through all the extra paperwork needed to do it it might be accepted.

Your Bank are the ones who will collate all your foreign incomes and write a letter for the Immigration stating whatever is needed, ie 65k per month from UK, or 800k in account for 3 months. Hopefully the IO will believe the Bank.

[Lemonltr]

My 'retirement' extension ends 22nd November. As normally I bring in around 160 - 200.000 baht quarterly I brought no money in during December as I was unaware of any changes then. Although I will have about 300.000 baht in an account seasoned by November and assume to be allowed the combination method I have started to bring in 65.000 monthly as from January. My concern is that I will only have transfers for 11 months in November. Am I likely to have problems as if so I need to plan in advance. Thanks. 

[Thomas J]

2 minutes ago, Lemonltr said:

My 'retirement' extension ends 22nd November. As normally I bring in around 160 - 200.000 baht quarterly I brought no money in during December as I was unaware of any changes then. Although I will have about 300.000 baht in an account seasoned by November and assume to be allowed the combination method I have started to bring in 65.000 monthly as from January. My concern is that I will only have transfers for 11 months in November. Am I likely to have problems as if so I need to plan in advance. Thanks. 

I have read that immigration was instructed to be "lenient" during the transition period. However like most things at the Immigration office the rules vary from office to office and from person to person.  

[Lemonltr]

4 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

I have read that immigration was instructed to be "lenient" during the transition period. However like most things at the Immigration office the rules vary from office to office and from person to person.  

Thanks. 

[ubonjoe]

20 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Your Bank are the ones who will collate all your foreign incomes and write a letter for the Immigration stating whatever is needed, ie 65k per month from UK, or 800k in account for 3 months. Hopefully the IO will believe the Bank.

Only if the transfers are shown to of come from abroad. I was replying to a post about about a transferwise transfer not being shown as coming from abroad.

Also not sure if the bank will do anything more than write the standard letter and stamp copies of your bank book. You might even have to request a one year statement and wait for it come from Bangkok as well after paying a fee to get it.

[Jingthing]

8 minutes ago, Lemonltr said:

My 'retirement' extension ends 22nd November. As normally I bring in around 160 - 200.000 baht quarterly I brought no money in during December as I was unaware of any changes then. Although I will have about 300.000 baht in an account seasoned by November and assume to be allowed the combination method I have started to bring in 65.000 monthly as from January. My concern is that I will only have transfers for 11 months in November. Am I likely to have problems as if so I need to plan in advance. Thanks. 

Assuming you can no longer get an embassy letter.

The leniency in the memo refers to telling officers not to be so strict about demanding the full 12 months of transfers as this is a new scheme (income method without embassy letter) with the understanding that next year the full 12 monthly imports will be a hard requirement.

The memos about these changes refer to FULL income method only. That means monthly transfers of at least 65K baht every month.

They don't mention the combination method at all.

Ubonjoe and others are convinced that this new scheme for income method without embassy definitely is meant to include combo method applications.

Combo method applications with embassy letters remain definitely unchanged.

As there are no explicit mechanical guidelines on what constitutes a valid combo application without embassy letter (as there is for the full 65K) so far reports are indicating such combo applications without embassy letters are likely to be problematical. 

That could all change tomorrow, next month, or by the time you need to apply based on further  memo from immigration explicitly explaining the specific rules for combo applications without embassy letters.

But even then, yes, obviously, there would likely still be inconsistent enforcement at various immigration offices. We see that for rules that have been in place for several years, so such messes on something so new are entirely predictable.

That is why I am suggesting the following, especially to people that plan to do a combo application without embassy letter THIS YEAR --

If you are able and if you want to avoid a high risk of rejection, consider doing a full 800K baht seasoned full bank account method until this fogginess with combo/no embassy letter gets better resolved. 

It's one thing to tell people it should be OK based on our rough interpretation of the written rules, we hope it's going to be OK, but I'm saying that is not good enough.

We need better assurance than that and for the time being anyway, that assurance can be found with a full 800K seasoned bank method where embassy letters have never been required in the first place.

Good luck.

[steve73]

1 hour ago, Harry2 said:

Regarding the B800k for 3 months. I have just transferred B813k from UK (Transferwise shows as intl transfer &  saved me circa B6k over bank transfer), I will be sending smaller monthly amounts over to live, all of which will come into my account within the 3 month lockdown, so money will be going in & out over the 3 month period but I will always maintain at least B800k in the account.

 

Is that OK, or could they argue that I have 'spent' the original transfer money first on my monthly expenses & replaced it with transfers in that have not been in the account for 90 days. So are they just looking at a balance of at least B800k being maintained in the account for 90 days or do they look at it in a more sophisticated way?

 

Last year I had made a couple of domestic deposits into my account during the 3 month seasoning period.  One was for c. 45k using Transferwise, the other was from selling 10k bt worth of bitcoin locally.

When I did my extension the I/O asked me about these transactions, and I responded money sent from UK using a Fx transfer service.  He was happy with my explanation, with no additional documentation required (which I didn't have).

 

This year I topped up my account with some extra funds prior to the seasoning period so my account won't show any deposits at all.  I'm hoping the I/O won't have a problem with this when I do my extension in the next 3-7 weeks.  

(As it turns out, adding the extra funds during Oct/Nov was a significant benefit to me as the GBP rate is much lower now, so that's my explanation if they do ask..)

 

To answer your question, you will have no problems, but be prepared to clarify if your additional TW deposits do not show as international.

 

 

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, Respectthailand said:

Just a 'for instance'

If I put 800000 in the account ( from an overseas bank) but never spent it, just left it would that cover me henceforth?

Yes, it is acceptable. Although I do hear reports that some regional offices want to see the money being used and replenished over the year, it is not mandated. One has to sometimes bend with it!

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I dont see much attraction for anyone else though.

I am very shallow, some of the teller girls at BKB Pattaya are really cute!

Do you get a Credit Card without having a work Permit?

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, Harry2 said:

Is that OK

Yes, that is fine.

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Indeed. All banks, including BB, pay a tiny amount on savings accounts. But some (like Krungsri MTD) pay a lot more.

Crikey, give it a rest! It's 1.3 %, if you put in 800k in you get enough for one GGB beer each week if you claim the tax back!

My FD is paying 1.25 so hardly worth the swap!

Edited January 26, 2019 by jacko45k