Hi guys, 

 

I renew my annual extension of stay using the money in the bank route. Transfers from the UK seem to be taking longer than normal. Is Immigration making any allowance for this or do they have any plans  to do so? Fortunately. I have plenty of time in hand at present

 

Thanks, Alan

Depends which office I suppose. An US guy I know about a month ago couldn't get his retirement done at Jomtien, even though he showed over 65k a month from abroad for a year...He ended up having to use an agent as no 800k in Bank..yet I believe other guys at Jomtien have been able to use that method without a problem..

Use an agent, its a no brainer nowadays . I flatly refuse to transfer any more money to my Thai bank, over an above what I need to live despite being financially able to do so.  Notwithstanding my previous negative attitude to using agents to secure extensions, all has changed now and I will go that route.  This Country's Administration and their blatant encouragement of corruption of this sort deserve no  thought of what is correct or not correct in the minds of we foreigners, or aliens as they prefer us to be termed.  Just go with the flow. 

Edited April 3, 20206 yr by Pilotman

I am moving this topic from the "COVID-19: Coronavirus forum" to the forum "Thai visas, residency and work permits"

Are saying your transfer are arriving on after the 1st of the month when they were normally arriving during the last few days of the month?

If you have a record of them coming in earlier then they may accept them.

23 hours ago, baansgr said:

Depends which office I suppose. An US guy I know about a month ago couldn't get his retirement done at Jomtien, even though he showed over 65k a month from abroad for a year...He ended up having to use an agent as no 800k in Bank..yet I believe other guys at Jomtien have been able to use that method without a problem..

There's no problem using the monthly income method at Jomtien Immigration. Some people without an income letter from their embassies/consulates might have a tougher situation regarding documents needed. 

23 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Use an agent, its a no brainer nowadays . I flatly refuse to transfer any more money to my Thai bank, over an above what I need to live despite being financially able to do so.  Notwithstanding my previous negative attitude to using agents to secure extensions, all has changed now and I will go that route.  This Country's Administration and their blatant encouragement of corruption of this sort deserve no  thought of what is correct or not correct in the minds of we foreigners, or aliens as they prefer us to be termed.  Just go with the flow. 

There's no need what so ever to use an agent if you know what you're doing and meeting the requirements. I pay my 1900 baht/year without any hassle at all. 

11 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

There's no need what so ever to use an agent if you know what you're doing and meeting the requirements. I pay my 1900 baht/year without any hassle at all. 

So have I up to now, as you suggest, it is an easy process.  However, I will no longer keep topping up my funds in this country and that requirement  has changed my mind. I will no longer invest any more than I absolutely have to in Thailand.   

Edited April 4, 20206 yr by Pilotman

37 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

There's no need what so ever to use an agent if you know what you're doing and meeting the requirements. I pay my 1900 baht/year without any hassle at all. 

Except that income via Kasikorn Bank here in Chiang Mai is not acceptable.  You appear to be lucky and rather smug.

35 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

So have I up to now, as you suggest, it is an easy process.  However, I will no longer keep topping up my funds in this country and that requirement  has changed my mind. I will no longer invest any more than I absolutely have to in Thailand.   

65k baht/month is hardly an investment in Thailand. I've always spent more than that anyway.

On 4/3/2020 at 12:50 PM, Pilotman said:

Use an agent, its a no brainer nowadays . I flatly refuse to transfer any more money to my Thai bank, over an above what I need to live despite being financially able to do so.  Notwithstanding my previous negative attitude to using agents to secure extensions, all has changed now and I will go that route.  This Country's Administration and their blatant encouragement of corruption of this sort deserve no  thought of what is correct or not correct in the minds of we foreigners, or aliens as they prefer us to be termed.  Just go with the flow. 

In the past I would have disagreed with you, but now this year for the first time I used an agent. I previously had to pay 1,900 for the extension and 2,500 for the embassy letter, total 4,400. Agent fee 13k all in great value.

1 hour ago, DannyCarlton said:

65k baht/month is hardly an investment in Thailand. I've always spent more than that anyway.

And often, that monthly income method doesn't work with some IOs. They want you to have the 800K in the bank, I will not do that if I don't have to, not anymore. 

5 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

65k baht/month is hardly an investment in Thailand. I've always spent more than that anyway.

My wife has always spent more than that anyway!???? That's certainly not an investment in Thailand.

22 hours ago, Pilotman said:

So have I up to now, as you suggest, it is an easy process.  However, I will no longer keep topping up my funds in this country and that requirement  has changed my mind. I will no longer invest any more than I absolutely have to in Thailand.   

Well, unless you live here of course. In that case it's called living expenses, not investment. As far as that goes it kinda makes sense to keep more than bare living expenses too. 

I've been steadily transferring money from USA to Thai Bank as the baht corrodes.

 

I trust Thai banks as much as I trust any bank anywhere. If I continue to live here I'll use the money eventually and some extra means I can 'invest' it in Thai gold with no records such as my homeland requires. 

 

I don't think the US dollar will stay strong for very long. In any event, it's days are numbered as THE world reserve currency. With increasing currency swaps between other countries the USA will lose power to bully other nations using its conversion power. Of course negative bond returns doesn't help much either. ????