Question about "paying myself" via TransferWise

[revgreen]

My plan is to use Transfer Wise to transfer roughly 45,000 THB twice per month (90k total) from my USA account to my Thai bank account (which I've yet to open, but will almost certainly end up being Bangkok Bank)

 

Are there any potential issues here? Will this suffice as my proof of income for my marriage visa? Anything else to note?

[wgdanson]

You only need 40,000 for marriage extension.  Oh, I guess the Mrs needs the other 50k.   LOL

[revgreen]

6 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

You only need 40,000 for marriage extension.  Oh, I guess the Mrs needs the other 50k.   LOL

Correct, but what good does the rest of the money do me sitting in a US account? That 220 thb fee can add up quickly! I'm mostly concerned if this type of activity raises any red flags or if I'll encounter issues with TW or BBL

Edited May 24, 2019 by revgreen

[purplesage]

No problems with TransferWise. I send money from my Italian bank account to my Siam Commercial Bank account, which doesn't charge any commission for such transactions.

 

Can't answer the other part of your question.

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, revgreen said:

Correct, but what good does the rest of the money do me sitting in a US account? That 220 thb fee can add up quickly! I'm mostly concerned if this type of activity raises any red flags or if I'll encounter issues with TW or BBL

Why would it. ?

[Lacessit]

Check the transfer is recorded as a FTT in the account here. Bangkok Bank does record transfers as FTT, some others don't. If it doesn't show up as an FTT, Immigration will reject it.

Personally, I have never had a problem with my telegraphic transfers. I seem to remember there were threads about problems with Transferwise due to no FTT notation.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Lacessit

[revgreen]

12 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Why would it. ?

 

Because of things like this....

 

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Check the transfer is recorded as a FTT in the account here. Bangkok Bank does record transfers as FTT, some others don't. If it doesn't show up as an FTT, Immigration will reject it. 

Personally, I have never had a problem with my telegraphic transfers. I seem to remember there were threads about problems with Transferwise due to no FTT notation. 

 

[Kwasaki]

12 minutes ago, revgreen said:

Because of things like this....

You've lost me I've never had a problem with Transferwise.

If it goes into your Bangkok bank every month it's shown in the bank book and letter from Bkk bank will confirm that.

You can for marriage 1 year extension show 400,000 baht in your bank book for 2 months prior to application with a confirmation letter from the bank also which is what I do. 

[coccigelus]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

You've lost me I've never had a problem with Transferwise.

If it goes into your Bangkok bank every month it's shown in the bank book and letter from Bkk bank will confirm that.

You can for marriage 1 year extension show 400,000 baht in your bank book for 2 months prior to application with a confirmation letter from the bank also which is what I do. 

This.

[WhiteHatPhil]

Would like to chip in here with my experiences to date, using TransferWise and Bank Transfer from the UK into Thailand.  I bank with NatWest in the UK and Bank of Ayudhya (AKA Krungsri) in Thailand,

 

Like a lot of people, I wanted to transfer my monthly income (derived from a private pension but that's another story) from my UK bank into my Thai bank. The transactions would be not less than 65000 baht  and would occur on, or about the 1st of the month.

I initially used Bank-to Bank transfer, requiring the SWIFT code of my Thai bank.  Very simple and relatively quick, but very expensive when compared to firms like TransferWise, who have a better exchange rate and lower fees.  However, when I approached by bank manager with my Thai friend, he informed that as far as immigration were concerned, the TransferWise deposit was inadmissible in terms of showing a regular income as it did NOT come into the bank from the UK. Instead it appeared as an internal transfer between Bangkok Bank and Bank of Ayudhya.  That was my "12 consecutive months" screwed!.

 

On investigation, and after a couple or emails with TransferWise, it appears that they COULD make the exchange from GBP to THB look like it came into Thailand directly from the UK. Great!! All I had to do was call the support centre at TransferWise as I was making the transfer online, they would 'intercept' it and ensue that the correct Foreign Exchange Transfer (FET) forms were used.

 

This sounded a bit suspect, so last week I tried it will a small (£100) transfer, making the call and initiating the transfer on Friday 24th May.  The "guaranteed" delivery date was Monday, 27th and the guy on the support desk was quite adamant this was going to happen and had done so many time.

 

Monday came and went. So did Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday I got this email from Transferwise:

 

I understand that you require a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form for the transfer - our operations team have already been notified and have routed the payment to be sent out via our partner, Bangkok Bank.
Currently your funds are being converted (this can take up to 2 working days), once that's done we'll send out your funds to the recipient bank. Do take note that generally for THB transfers it can take up 2 working days for the funds to arrive into the recipient bank account after we've sent it out.

Here's what you'll also need to do to request for FET once the transfer is completed:
 

• Reach out to Bangkok Bank Head office

• Provide credit receipt of recipient bank transaction of the specific bank transaction

• Provide your passport

By following the above steps, Bangkok Bank will provide " Confirmation Letter of International Funds Transfer"  or what's usually known as "FET" to you which you will be then able to use to show it as a proof to the local authorities. Please be advised that there is an administration fee of 100 THB to produce this official document which will be payable to Bangkok Bank directly.
I hope this helps. If there's anything else you need, please feel free to reach out to us.

 

Needless to say, this did NOT help and I HAVE 'reached out' to them.  If it truly requires a visit to Bangkok, then it's a non-starter.  If I have to take my Krungsri bank book into a branch of the Bangkok Bank in Chiang Mai, that MIGHT work, and the 100 THB fee is negligible for that.

 

The bottom line, for me at least, is "Don't stop bank-to-bank transfers, despite the extortionate costs, until TransferWise of one of its rivals can guarantee that ANY bank, upon receipt of the transfer can issue said 'Confirmation Letter of International Funds Transfer'

 

I hope this rather long post helps in some small way.

[KC 71]

My plan is to use Transfer Wise to transfer roughly 45,000 THB twice per month (90k total) from my USA account to my Thai bank account (which I've yet to open, but will almost certainly end up being Bangkok Bank)
 
Are there any potential issues here? Will this suffice as my proof of income for my marriage visa? Anything else to note?

Shouldn’t be a problem,takes 3 or 4 working days


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[billd766]

I have used TW in the UK to transfer my 3 pensions to my Bangkok bank account  since November last year. 

 

Normally the transfer takes place the following day unless there is a weekend or bank holiday. Then it comes on the first available day after. It always shows up as FTT.

[WhiteHatPhil]

I have used TW in the UK to transfer my 3 pensions to my Bangkok bank account  since November last year. 
 
Normally the transfer takes place the following day unless there is a weekend or bank holiday. Then it comes on the first available day after. It always shows up as FTT.

Good information, thank you. Do you think that is because it is the Bangkok Bank? I don’t suppose you bank at the head office branch do you?



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[BritManToo]

On 5/24/2019 at 6:09 PM, revgreen said:

Correct, but what good does the rest of the money do me sitting in a US account? That 220 thb fee can add up quickly! I'm mostly concerned if this type of activity raises any red flags or if I'll encounter issues with TW or BBL

What 220bht fee?

No fees involved in my Transferwise payments from the UK to my Bangkok Bank account.

[lopburi3]

On 5/24/2019 at 8:36 PM, Lacessit said:

If it doesn't show up as an FTT, Immigration will reject it.

AFAIK immigration is only concerned with the amount each month and a letter from the bank.  Admit it is an open question as to what will and will not be accepted but do not believe immigration has any rule on FTT (which is one bank code - others have different codes).  

[revgreen]

Opened an account with Bangkok Bank today (after being rejected by 3 other banks). Submitted my first TW request, so I will see how this one goes and report back.

[WhiteHatPhil]

AFAIK immigration is only concerned with the amount each month and a letter from the bank.  Admit it is an open question as to what will and will not be accepted but do not believe immigration has any rule on FTT (which is one bank code - others have different codes).  

In Chiang Mai, the money must be seen to have originated from outside Thailand. My bank manager would provide the latter based on the TransferWise code generated by the Bank of Ayudhya. It was his advice to perform bank to bank (SWIFT) transactions each month. Irritating to say the least.


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[zhounan]

On 5/24/2019 at 7:26 PM, purplesage said:

No problems with TransferWise. I send money from my Italian bank account to my Siam Commercial Bank account, which doesn't charge any commission for such transactions.

 

Can't answer the other part of your question.

Can I ask you the amount of money transferable using TransferWise without having issues with the bank in Italy?

I will open a bank account soon, now I'm trying to collect some information particularly from State-owned banks.

 

I'm italian too.

[WhiteHatPhil]

This has been absolutely done to death on here - just do a few searches and save yourself a lot of pain and brain ache !

Which specific part of this thread has been “done to death? Please elaborate and provide a link, as my search on “proof of monthly income showing non-Thai origins for non-Imm O-A extension of stay based on retirement” threw up precious little UP TO DATE information.


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[billd766]

22 minutes ago, WhiteHatPhil said:

 

Good information, thank you. Do you think that is because it is the Bangkok Bank? I don’t suppose you bank at the head office branch do you?



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TW in the UK have 3 partner banks in Thailand. Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank and another whose name escapes me at the moment.

 

I tried using TW and KBank but the transfer was not shown as FTT. In Bangkok Bank it does show as FTT. The BKK branch that I use is in Khampaeng Phet in the BigC mall.

 

TW notifies me when a pension payment has arrived, usually around 2 pm. By the time that I complete the transfer Thai banks are closed due to the time difference between Thailand and the UK.

 

I get an sms from TW on payment day telling me that the transfer has started and the BKK branch sends one around 2 pm telling me that the funds are in my account.

[billd766]

22 minutes ago, Benroon said:

This has been absolutely done to death on here - just do a few searches and save yourself a lot of pain and brain ache !

He is asking reasonable questions and getting good responses. I know it has been done to death but that is no reason to belittle him.

 

Why didn't you just skip your response to the thread, which doesn't help the OP at all.

[stephenterry]

To clarify one question. TW have a 'partnership' agreement with BKK bank, so that any monies sent from overseas to the bank are recorded as FTT transactions. Whether TW have similar arangements with other Thai banks, you'll need to contact TW  - best of luck with that -if your incoming transactions are not recorded as a FTT.

 

BTW, while an inter-country transfer between Thai banks is normally recorded as such, IMO, the creation and source of the transfer comes from outside Thailand. The route is neither here nor there - it begins abroad and ends up in Thailand. 

[purplesage]

 

 

2 hours ago, zhounan said:

Can I ask you the amount of money transferable using TransferWise without having issues with the bank in Italy?

I will open a bank account soon, now I'm trying to collect some information particularly from State-owned banks.

 

I'm italian too.

I no longer live in Thailand and only transfer small amounts occasionally when I visit Thailand. I have no idea what the limits are for the Bank of Italy.

 

I'm not Italian, although I am an Italian resident.

[billd766]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

What 220bht fee?

No fees involved in my Transferwise payments from the UK to my Bangkok Bank account.

The USA branch of TW may use different rules because of the banking system over there.

[Pib]

The poster did not say debit card but he was probably referring to Thai bank ATM Bt220 fees when using a foreign card.   

 

And speaking of Transferwise transfers I just finished one from the US to Thailand for Bt100K....from initiating the transfer with funding via ACH Bank Debit (i.e., Transferwise pulls funds from my bank account...I do not push the funds to Transferwise) to posting to my Thai bank account took 47 hours.   

 

In the U.S. there is no system like the UK Faster Payment System where you can "quickly & cheaply push" funds to Transferwise....get the funds to Transferwise ASAP!   You can quickly push funds via Domestic Wire transfer but most U.S. banks charge around $20 for a domestic wire so most U.S. folks using Transferwise will use low cost ACH Bank Debit (not to be confused with Debit Card) to fund their Transferwise transfer.  With ACH Bank Debit it takes at least a day to pull the funds from your bank account. 

 

For this latest Bt100K transfer it did take one day for Transferwise to pull the funds...and then another day for Transferwise to get the funds to my Thai bank account.

 

Two previous transfers in January from my Transferwise account and from the wife's Transferwise account, but for smaller amounts (only a couple hundred dollars each) just to ensure our Transferwise accounts still worked took around 20 hours. 

 

I think for transfers "less than" approx $1,950 Transferwise in the US processes the transfer faster...moves ahead with initial confirmation from your bank the ACH Bank Debit (funds pull) will be honored; but for amounts over approx $1,950 Transferwise waits a day to ensure the funds from your USA funding bank will/have arrived.  

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Pib

[Ks45672]

On 5/24/2019 at 7:07 PM, wgdanson said:

You only need 40,000 for marriage extension.  Oh, I guess the Mrs needs the other 50k.   LOL

Just pay the bills and give her plenty of meat injection

 

Have no idea who people here like to pay their "wives" a "salary"

[revgreen]

6 hours ago, Pib said:

And speaking of Transferwise transfers I just finished one from the US to Thailand for Bt100K....from initiating the transfer with funding via ACH Bank Debit (i.e., Transferwise pulls funds from my bank account...I do not push the funds to Transferwise) to posting to my Thai bank account took 47 hours.   

Hmmmm... When I tried to transfer 90k today it said it'd arrive within 5 days. When I reduced the amount to 40k today it said it'd arrive within 24 hours. I assumed larger amounts like that took longer? I was using ACH as well.

[SheungWan]

16 hours ago, stephenterry said:

To clarify one question. TW have a 'partnership' agreement with BKK bank, so that any monies sent from overseas to the bank are recorded as FTT transactions. Whether TW have similar arangements with other Thai banks, you'll need to contact TW  - best of luck with that -if your incoming transactions are not recorded as a FTT.

 

BTW, while an inter-country transfer between Thai banks is normally recorded as such, IMO, the creation and source of the transfer comes from outside Thailand. The route is neither here nor there - it begins abroad and ends up in Thailand. 

Actually no. You make a payment to TW UK bank and the TW Thai bank pays out. There is no international transfer of your funds as per the Swift system. However it appears to be a transfer and so some banks may dress it up and some may not.

Edited May 30, 2019 by SheungWan

[lopburi3]

7 hours ago, revgreen said:

Hmmmm... When I tried to transfer 90k today it said it'd arrive within 5 days. When I reduced the amount to 40k today it said it'd arrive within 24 hours. I assumed larger amounts like that took longer? I was using ACH as well.

5 days would seem normal as you have both a weekend and holiday Monday so Tuesday into account.  One day would have to be deposited today (which seems unlikely for an ACH transfer (which may not arrive to them for a day).

[wgdanson]

2 hours ago, SheungWan said:

Actually no. You make a payment to TW UK bank and the TW Thai bank pays out. There is no international transfer of your funds as per the Swift system. However it appears to be a transfer and so some banks may dress it up and some may not.

Previous posters have suggested that you can ask TW to make sure it is a FTT at your Thai Bank.

Bangkok Bank have always shown FTT for me in the last two years.