O-A visa in US Will brokerage account balance meet requirements?

[DogNo1]

I suggest that you look into the features of your Schwab investors checking account.  At Fidelity, in conjunction with my investment account, I have what they call a cash management account.  It is a separate account into which I can easily transfer funds from my investment account.  The money in the cash management account is kept deposited in a bank of Fidelity’s choosing until I call on it.  The nice feature of this account is that I can wire money from it to my Bangkok Bank account for free.  If you are moving to Thailand and will need to transfer money to a Thai Bank account for an extension of stay, that is a nice feature to have.  I don’t keep much money in Thailand and transfer 65,000 K per month for my retirement extension.  This is a good time to plan ahead and arrange how you will transfer money if you extend your stay.  If you plan to extend, I recommend that you open an account at Bangkok Bank since they always code foreign transfers correctly (FTT) and charge you a maximum of 200 baht to transfer the money in. The coding of other transfer services is not reliable.  I suspect that Schwab may have similar benefits to Fidelity’s cash management account.  If so, it would be easy to transfer $7,000 or so into your investor checking account and then back out again.  That said, your USAA statements should suffice for your O-A.  Why not telephone the consulate that you plan to use and ask whether simple statements from USAA will suffice?

[NokNokJoke]

Yes,  the 'Investors checking' account at Schwab is labeled as a bank account.   If you select the brokerage account to print the letter, the letterhead does not indicate 'bank'.   It does if you print the letter for the checking account.

One quirk on both letters from Schwab is the text 'not an official account statement, only for informational purposes' on both letters.

 

I may just use the letter for my IRA Rollover from USAA since it will be the most current, as part of the combination method.  (Unless I can figure out how to get an updated statement for the Roth IRA before then)

 

I have some things to do while I wait for the visa, but don't need to wait 2-3 weeks, just to re-submit and  start all over again.    I'm still working one more week.  If the visa app doesn't go through, it also drops me into July, with the possible new health insurance requirements. (Which I intend to get, anyway, but who knows how that will  be mangled in reality?)

[NokNokJoke]

Got the visa Application package sent off, yesterday  to  DC.   they  claim 15 business days via mail.

 

I ended up shifting enough money into a normal USAA Savings account to do  a 'combination' method with SSI income.      As long as the letter is accepted at DC, it was a somewhat easy process to  get a current one uploaded to your account, while chatting with a rep.

 

For some reason I had some problems getting into MySocialSecurity.com to get a current benefits letter.   My phone was not receiving the text message verification code.    This ended up delaying me a few days, since I had to talk on the phone with a SS rep, explain what was happening, then wait for a reset code letter to be mailed.

 

The other somewhat major problem I had was getting a doctor to sign the medical certificate.

I have a family doctor I see for some things, he was booked up for the next week.

I have also a good relationship with a MD who does occupational work stuff, and I chat about Thailand with him during visits.    I coudn't get his office to schedule an appointment for this specific purpose.

 

 

I walked into a handful of 'doc in the box' type places, hoping to get lucky.  

Most told me to get lost as soon as they saw the thai language on the form.

The rest told me to call US Immigration.  (!?@#$??!)

 

I ended up setting an appointment for my family doctor a week  away.

He was cool,   but ordered a TB test, (not had one for a while),  blood test for the syphilis, ad dig a urine drug screen, and signed the form.    (will see what the bill is, still have insurance through my former employer until the end of the month)

 

Now I wait.  I triple checked to see all stuff was as right as I could figure out via the embassy website.

 

As soon as I have my passport and non o-a visa in my grubby hands I'll book a one way flight to Thailand.