Criteria For Granting Of Retirement Visa Extensions In 2020

[JimMorris]

With regards to the new criteria being issued by The Immigration Department for the renewal of visa extensions on the basis of retirement for 2020, I would like try to confirm one point as follows with regards to the requirement to keep the money in the account for the first 3 months of the extensions being granted in 2019.

 

I am assuming, if there is a balance in the account which exceeds 800,000 Baht, that one will still be permitted to withdraw money from the account during the first 3 month period of the visa extension, as long as the balance in the account still remains above 800,000 Baht at all times. Is this correct?

 

Thank you for any feedback you may be able to offer on this.

 

 

[DrJack54]

Correct. 

[ubonjoe]

If you apply for the extension after March 1st the rules are in effect for you now.

If not then when you apply for your next extension the 800k baht will only need to be in the bank for 2 months on the date you apply and then remain in the bank for 3 months after you do the application.

After 3 months you can lower the balance to 400k baht until the day you top up the account to 800k baht.

[borderhopper]

Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account

year round?

For many years, I have been keeping  the THB800000+ amount in my term deposit account.  And I do not touch it.

I make a fund withdrawal little by little from my saving account

to cover the cost of my living in Thailand.

I am far from being wealthy.

I have never earned more than $35000-40000/year while working.

And I am well under pension age.

But still I can do so.

 

 

 

[JimMorris]

Thank you for your replies. Just to clarify, my question was, if you have a balance in the account used for your visa extension that is in excess of the 800,000 Baht, whether you are still permitted to withdraw money from that account during the initial 3 month renewal period, as long as the balance of the account remains above 800,000 Baht at all times during that 3 month period? Thank you.

[Thailand]

42 minutes ago, borderhopper said:

Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account

year round?

For many years, I have been keeping  the THB800000+ amount in my term deposit account.  And I do not touch it.

I make a fund withdrawal little by little from my saving account

to cover the cost of my living in Thailand.

I am far from being wealthy.

I have never earned more than $35000-40000/year while working.

And I am well under pension age.

But still I can do so.

 

 

 

Congratulations.

[Thailand]

6 minutes ago, JimMorris said:

Thank you for your replies. Just to clarify, my question was, if you have a balance in the account used for your visa extension that is in excess of the 800,000 Baht, whether you are still permitted to withdraw money from that account during the initial 3 month renewal period, as long as the balance of the account remains above 800,000 Baht at all times during that 3 month period? Thank you.

Yes you can.

[graemeaylward]

Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account
year round?
For many years, I have been keeping  the THB800000+ amount in my term deposit account.  And I do not touch it.
I make a fund withdrawal little by little from my saving account
to cover the cost of my living in Thailand.
I am far from being wealthy.
I have never earned more than $35000-40000/year while working.
And I am well under pension age.
But still I can do so.
 
 
 

Bully for you! And how, pray tell us, does that answer the genuine question of the original poster?!!


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, borderhopper said:

Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account

year round?

For many years, I have been keeping  the THB800000+ amount in my term deposit account.  And I do not touch it.

I make a fund withdrawal little by little from my saving account

to cover the cost of my living in Thailand.

I am far from being wealthy.

I have never earned more than $35000-40000/year while working.

And I am well under pension age.

But still I can do so.

 

 

 

I can only infer, then, that you have succeeded in cultivating some species of money tree from which you can actually pluck the requisite amount in order to keep your bank account suitably topped up as and when needed. If this is, indeed, the case, I'm sure that we'd all appreciate your sharing your little secret with us!

[KhunFred]

No one mentioned the monthly income method. If I deposit 65 thousand baht into my checking account each month, am  I expected NOT to use that as part of my living expenses???  This system is insane.

Edited March 18, 2019 by KhunFred

[ubonjoe]

49 minutes ago, KhunFred said:

No one mentioned the monthly income method. If I deposit 65 thousand baht into my checking account each month, am  I expected NOT to use that as part of my living expenses??? 

Not mentioned because the question was about the 800k baht in the bank option.

You can do what you want to with the 65k baht you transfered into the country.

[lopburi3]

2 hours ago, borderhopper said:

And I am well under pension age.

But still I can do so.

But many of us have seriously large medical expenses that require upfront payments from such money savings, even if we have insurance that will pay it back in time.  But hope your wise money management or luck continues.

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, borderhopper said:

Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account

year round?

Of course not if you have it, and don't tell the wife. 

[crazykopite]

Before getting my extension of stay I was on multi entry which was great as I would take a trip every 90 days and I don’t mean a runto the border I would take a sight seeing trip to one of the neighbouring countries that was more than 10 years ago and although I have the required monies in the bank I am now considering going back down that route again rather than sitting at home moaning about all the changes immigration continue to do are there any others who are considering going down the multi entry route as I havnt left Thailand for over 10 years it might be time to take up a few sightseeing holidays once again.

[CharlieH]

Flame/response removed

[jesimps]

4 hours ago, borderhopper said:

Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account

year round?

For many years, I have been keeping  the THB800000+ amount in my term deposit account.  And I do not touch it.

I make a fund withdrawal little by little from my saving account

to cover the cost of my living in Thailand.

I am far from being wealthy.

I have never earned more than $35000-40000/year while working.

And I am well under pension age.

But still I can do so.

 

 

 

"Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account

year round?"

 

It is for people less rich than you, obviously. You can't judge others by what's ok for you.

[Jim7777]

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

If you apply for the extension after March 1st the rules are in effect for you now.

If not then when you apply for your next extension the 800k baht will only need to be in the bank for 2 months on the date you apply and then remain in the bank for 3 months after you do the application.

After 3 months you can lower the balance to 400k baht until the day you top up the account to 800k baht.

I’m on a marriage visa extension but I am retired here and if I was on a retirement visa extension I definitely would not want to use that option unless I was rich, I’d still use my monthly income option because I would not want anyone telling me when I’m allowed to access my own money.  I make more than enough monthly income to qualify for either marriage or retirement maybe I’ll switch to a retirement visa someday when I hit the big 50.  But I don’t really have any reason to switch even if I were over 50 now.  I think the marriage visa extension is just as good to retire on as long as you are married to a Thai citizen of course.  

 

If I wasn’t on a monthly pension I would not be retired unless I was rich because I definitely would not want to live on my savings either unless I was a lot older like maybe in my 70’s.  But everyone has different financial situations.  I’m just lucky I was able to retire in my 40’s.  I never thought I’d be totally retired this early I always thought I’d be working into my 60’s.  It’s just because I’m retired military and a disabled veteran so I retired young.  If I were not receiving my monthly pension payments I’d still be working for sure because I make more income a month than most military retirees since I’m rated at 100% Disabled Permanent and Total.  I’m very lucky but it was bad luck that allowed me to retire in my 40’s.  

 

The curse is that I can’t do all the extreme physical stuff that I used to love to do so much like marathons, climbing mountains, sky diving, and lots of other stuff.  Although I can still swim really good.  Sometimes I try to do some of the physical stuff and I end up getting injured like I did yesterday because I attempted to go white water rafting yesterday that was a bad idea.  Now my shoulder is dislocated I was in the hospital last night all night long and my whole body hurts including old injuries that I aggravated.  I still had fun yesterday regardless of the pain I try not to let it hold me back to much.  But there are just some things I can’t do anymore.  I wish I could go hiking trekking and running again but at least I can still walk and I’m alive and happy.  

 

Anyway I definitely would not like that option if I were on a retirement visa unless I was rich because I would not want anyone telling me how much I’m allowed to withdraw and when.  That’s probably the only Immigration rule that I totally disagree with.  That’s really gotta suck for people who use the money saved option on a retirement visa extension.  

 

For the most part I think the new immigration changes have made things easier for us except for people on retirement visas who go by the 800K in the bank option depending on their financial situation obviously.  

[CMBob]

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

If not then when you apply for your next extension the 800k baht will only need to be in the bank for 2 months on the date you apply and then remain in the bank for 3 months after you do the application.

Given you are the guru of visa/extension information, I respectfully ask if are you sure about the start of the 3-month "after" period?  I would guess that the 800k has to remain in the account for 3 months after the date your renewal takes effect (versus the date of application which could be 30-45 days earlier).  Would appreciate your comment on this.

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, CMBob said:

Given you are the guru of visa/extension information, I respectfully ask if are you sure about the start of the 3-month "after" period?  I would guess that the 800k has to remain in the account for 3 months after the date your renewal takes effect (versus the date of application which could be 30-45 days earlier).  Would appreciate your comment on this.

The police order states what wrote but say when permission is granted for the after which means when the extension is approved.

 

Also the recent dates given to people to show their bank book that have applied since the 1st have been 3 months after they applied for the extension.

[TGIR]

Lest someone gets carried away......note the requirement that you have to get permission to take some of the funds out.  

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, TGIR said:

Lest someone gets carried away......note the requirement that you have to get permission to take some of the funds out.  

Not what is says - the permission is your extension of stay so at set time from then you can take out.

[The Boss]

For the 800K method , any particular type of bank account, savings, fixed deposit, current account, etc?

[DefaultName]

2 hours ago, The Boss said:

For the 800K method , any particular type of bank account, savings, fixed deposit, current account, etc?

As far as I'm aware, as long as you can get instant access to your money, the type of account doesn't matter.  If you pay a penalty for that instant access, that's still OK. it's the instant access that matters.

[JimMorris]

4 hours ago, CMBob said:

Given you are the guru of visa/extension information, I respectfully ask if are you sure about the start of the 3-month "after" period?  I would guess that the 800k has to remain in the account for 3 months after the date your renewal takes effect (versus the date of application which could be 30-45 days earlier).  Would appreciate your comment on this.

It is a good question and I believe ubonjoe's answer to you on this is already is correct.

 

Also, looking at the document I was given by The Immigration Department in Chaeng Wattana in regards to this issue (containing slightly different wording), which was given to me this month (see scan of the document below), it states "after the permission is given for 3 months, the funds can be withdrawn".

 

So I assume that means the 3 month period that the 800K must remain in the account is based upon the date of your application and not when the renewal takes effect, assuming the application date is also the same date that the permission was granted and your application for extension was approved.

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by JimMorris

[Ashto]

9 hours ago, TGIR said:

Lest someone gets carried away......note the requirement that you have to get permission to take some of the funds out.  

The term “permission” is the permission to stay in Thailand on a retirement extension. It’s not permission to withdraw funds. Funds withdrawal never requires any permission, but withdrawals leaving a balance below the required minimum at that date will have consequences for the continuance of the granted extension. 

 

Jim Morris above has posted a page of the Rules and you can see there what the term “permission” refers to.

[ubonjoe]

9 hours ago, DefaultName said:

If you pay a penalty for that instant access, that's still OK. it's the instant access that matters.

Loss of interest is acceptable but a penalty will not be accepted since it could cause the balance to go below the required amount.

[JimMorris]

It would seem to me that you could now place 400,000 Baht (or foreign currency equivalent) in a fixed deposit which doesn't have instant access since it is now expected (as of March) that 400,000 Baht of the 800,000 Baht remain in the bank for the full duration of the 1 year visa extension.

[Henryford]

On 3/18/2019 at 11:56 AM, borderhopper said:

Is it that difficult to maintain THB400000-800000 in a bank account

year round?

For many years, I have been keeping  the THB800000+ amount in my term deposit account.  And I do not touch it.

I make a fund withdrawal little by little from my saving account

to cover the cost of my living in Thailand.

I am far from being wealthy.

I have never earned more than $35000-40000/year while working.

And I am well under pension age.

But still I can do so.

  

 

 

I am in a similar position and yes it's easy to keep 400-800k under normal circumstances. My fear is that maybe a medical emergency may require quick access to these funds and i am faced with the choice of funding my care or losing my visa.

[Ashto]

Regarding the minimum period the 800,000 baht must be maintained in the bank account, Rules 2.22(4) and (5) are somewhat repetitive, but fortunately don’t contradict each other. The primary Rule 2.22(4) provides the two key periods, ie the period before application is made, and the period after permission is granted. 

 

For 2 months before application is made a minimum balance of 800,000 must be maintained. 

 

For 3 months after permission is granted, the minimum balance of 800,000 must be continued. 

 

As Jim Morris points out above, the date of the application and the date of the permission will be the same if permission is granted the date you apply. The trap is if that doesn’t happen and permission is granted at a later date. A delay between application and permission can occur for various reasons as with any application of any kind anywhere, so you do have to be aware of the two key periods. 

 

Lastly, of course, Rule 2.22(4) deals with the remainder of the year after the 3 month period following grant of permission. For the remaining 9 months a minimum balance of 400,000 must be maintained. 

 

This 400,000 minimum for the whole year means it can never be touched if you want an extension the following year. So it’s not available in emergencies, and extra money is needed for that. It’s an onerous extra obligation. 

 

It it may be the authorities have the power to make an exception in the event of an emergency, but I have not looked to see if there is an express Rule providing for that. And I’m not aware if anyone has ever reported the exercise of such a power in the past. Ubon Joe May well know if there such a power. 

[JimMorris]

The question still remains though how, people who renewed their visa extensions after 1 March 2019, will be obliged to prove, at their next renewal in 2020, that they maintained all the required account balances for all the required periods, prior to their renewal in 2020.

 

The only possible way I see to enforce this will be to require renewal applicants in 2020 to submit monthly bank account balance statements dating back to the time of the approval of the previous renewal in 2019 and up until the time of the new application for renewal in 2020.

 

This could amount to needing to provide up to 12 months of bank statements printed by the bank on the date of the renewal application submission. This is not a problem I guess, but more time, cost, and paperwork involved in requesting printed statements from the bank in the morning and then submitting all this added documentation in the afternoon, along with the need for all the documents to be studied and reviewed during the application renewal process.

 

I assume, as the time gets closer to 2020, more guidelines will be released about what will ultimately be required on this issue.