Criteria For Granting Of Retirement Visa Extensions In 2020

[Kelsall]

A visa agent today told me that if the balance drops below the 800k/400k minimum, the visa is considered expired on the day the balance went too low.  At that point you are considered to be on overstay and subject the the applicable fines, blacklist from Thailand, etc.  Someone please tell me I'm wrong.

[baansgr]

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.

 

 

 

Not difficult but not wise investment either....far better returns elsewhere.

[baansgr]

14 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

A visa agent today told me that if the balance drops below the 800k/400k minimum, the visa is considered expired on the day the balance went too low.  At that point you are considered to be on overstay and subject the the applicable fines, blacklist from Thailand, etc.  Someone please tell me I'm wrong.

Which agent?...

[Kelsall]

9 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Which agent?...

One in Chiang Mai.

[JohnnyBD]

42 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Not difficult but not wise investment either....far better returns elsewhere.

Maybe, some people have no choice but to keep the money in the bank if they don't meet income requirements. Also, some may not want to gamble with their savings if that's all the money they have in the world. It's not like they will be getting super rich by investing 800k somewhere other than a 2% fixed deposit bank account. Or, some people may be very wealthy and don't need to invest that 800k just to make a few thousand baht extra per year. You just don't know someone's situation.

Edited March 20, 2019 by JohnnyBD

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, JimMorris said:

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.

Or copies of the bank book(s) going back 12 months rather than the previous 3 months. I already am in the habit of updating more regularly.

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

A visa agent today told me that if the balance drops below the 800k/400k minimum, the visa is considered expired on the day the balance went too low.  At that point you are considered to be on overstay and subject the the applicable fines, blacklist from Thailand, etc.  Someone please tell me I'm wrong.

You, and I hope your agent, are wrong!

[Sheryl]

On 3/18/2019 at 12:35 PM, 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.

Correct.  Yes. You can.

[Sheryl]

On 3/19/2019 at 1:16 PM, Henryford said:

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.

 

If you put 800K into a Fixed Deposit, you can obtain a quick bank loan from the same bank using it as collateral. A better option than withdrawing money and losing your permission to stay (unless you are planning in leaving Thailand anyhow).

 

Of course, 800k doesn't go very far for medical costs here.....especially in private hospitals.  Stick exclusively to government hospitals if this is your situation.

[marcusarelus]

3 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

If you put 800K into a Fixed Deposit, you can obtain a quick bank loan from the same bank using it as collateral. A better option than withdrawing money and losing your permission to stay (unless you are planning in leaving Thailand anyhow).

 

Of course, 800k doesn't go very far for medical costs here.....especially in private hospitals.  Stick exclusively to government hospitals if this is your situation.

Wouldn't the loan mean that the FD could not be withdrawn and used as funds for the next extension? 

[Sheryl]

4 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Wouldn't the loan mean that the FD could not be withdrawn and used as funds for the next extension? 

 

It does not need to be withdrawn to be used for the next extension. You just keep it there, untouched, indefinitely.  When the term is up you roll it over to a new term.

 

From my investigations best interest rate currently  is around 2.15% for a 4 year FD (Krung Sri).

 

As long as you do not take out more of a loan than you can repay out of your regular income or funds, this works OK as a contingency for unexpected expenses.

 

Not sure about other banks but Kasikorn pays the interest from the FD into your regular savings account (and will not do it any other way). So you get the interest to spend.

 

 

[JohnnyBD]

2 hours ago, baansgr said:

Not difficult but not wise investment either....far better returns elsewhere.

There are many justifiable reasons to keep 800k in a Thai bank account. For those who say they have the money, but refuse to put it in a Thai bank for whatever reasons, that's their choice. But, people should not fault others for doing it because that's their choice and no one knows their situation. Some people may not meet the income requirements so they use the 800k method, some may not want to gamble with their only savings in other investment schemes, some may want to have funds readily available in case of a medical emergency which may take priority over worrying about renewing an extension the following year, some may be very wealthy and 800k is just a drop in the bucket for them and some may have a Thai wife and want to make sure the wife has enough money to live on if something should happen. In my case, the 800k is a very small % of my portfolio and it is money I'm setting aside (at 200k per year) for my Thai wife if something would happen to me. She can make an electronic transfer to her account and have something to live off while she waits for my estate to get settled. So, the money is serving several purposes; a savings for her, extension renewals for me and readily available cash in case of an emergency. I couldn't care less about a few thousand extra baht per year in earnings. That's peanuts to me.

Edited March 20, 2019 by JohnnyBD

[marcusarelus]

36 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

It does not need to be withdrawn to be used for the next extension. You just keep it there, untouched, indefinitely.  When the term is up you roll it over to a new term.

 

From my investigations best interest rate currently  is around 2.15% for a 4 year FD (Krung Sri).

 

As long as you do not take out more of a loan than you can repay out of your regular income or funds, this works OK as a contingency for unexpected expenses.

 

Not sure about other banks but Kasikorn pays the interest from the FD into your regular savings account (and will not do it any other way). So you get the interest to spend.

 

I believe the criteria for what kind of account may be used for an extension includes the ready availability of the funds.  If a fund was used as collateral it would not be available. 

[marcusarelus]

5 minutes ago, JohnnyBD said:

There are many justifiable reasons to keep 800k in a Thai bank account. For those who say they have the money, but refuse to put it in a Thai bank for whatever reasons, that's their choice. But, people should not fault others for doing it because that's their choice and no one knows their situation. Some people may not meet the income requirements so they use the 800k method, some may not want to gamble with their only savings in some other investment scheme, some may want to have funds readily available in case of a medical emergency which may take priority over worrying about an extension the following year, some may be very wealthy and 800k is just a drop in the bucket for them and some may have a Thai wife and want to make sure the wife has enough money to live on if something should happen. In my case, the 800k is a very small % of my portfolio and it is money I'm setting aside (at 200k per year) for my Thai wife if something would happen to me. She can make an electronic transfer to her account and have something to live off while she waits for my estate to get settled. So, the money is serving several purposes; a savings for her, extension renewals for me and readily available cash in case of an emergency. And, I couldn't care less about a few thousand extra baht per year in earnings.

If the money is in your name she could not withdraw it after your death without probate.  If it's not in your name you can't use it for an extension. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by marcusarelus

[JohnnyBD]

15 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

If the money is in your name she could not withdraw it after your death without probate.  If it's not in your name you can't use it for an extension. 

Not true. She has my account on her phone and can immediately transfer it before my body is cold... She doesn't need to withdraw it or even go to the bank.

Edited March 20, 2019 by JohnnyBD

[marcusarelus]

6 minutes ago, JohnnyBD said:

Yes she can, because she has my account on her phone and can immediately transfer it before my body is cold...

That is against the law and she might be held liable.  And you don't have a daily limit for transfers?  Mine is 50,000.

Edited March 20, 2019 by marcusarelus

[JohnnyBD]

28 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

That is against the law and she might be held liable.  And you don't have a daily limit for transfers?  Mine is 50,000.

Mine is 2MM. I raised it at the bank. And, it's not a problem for her. I doubt anyone is going to be prosecuting her when they don't even know if I made it while still alive or not. And, I have accounts at Citbank Thailand too that she is has access to or is a joint owner. And, she has a $30k USD credit card. So she will have plenty to live on.

Edited March 20, 2019 by JohnnyBD

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

And, I have accounts at Citbank Thailand too that she is has access to or is a joint owner. And, she has a $30k USD credit card. So she will have plenty to live on.

 I bet she can't wait.

[JohnnyBD]

49 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

 I bet she can't wait.

Funny... yes, she can hardly wait... but, the longer we stay together the more she gets, so I think I'm safe for a while. Crossing my fingers... LOL...

Edited March 20, 2019 by JohnnyBD

[Sheryl]

I believe the criteria for what kind of account may be used for an extension includes the ready availability of the funds.  If a fund was used as collateral it would not be available. 

It is still available but you'd have to use part of it to pay off the loan. At which point of course your balance would drop below requirement. Which is equally true if you take it out to spend it.

I reallt do not see the difference between removing the money and spending it to pay say a hospital bill and keeping it in the bank but used as collateral for a loan to pay the same bill. Except that in the former case you forfeit yoyr ectension of stay. In the latter case you keep the required balance.

In practical terms IO is not gping to know the monies have been used as collateral.



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