Fallen below 800k VISA Requirement - What can I do?

[steve187]

2 hours ago, crazykopite said:

It is two months so you have time to transfer funds over , I also had a problem the bank took out 200 baht from my bank for the yearly charge of my Visa card leaving me 126.87 Bht short of the 800k I realised what had happened and made the difference up within 72 hours of them deducting the money and yet the IO on Samui refused to accept it fortunately I have two Thai bank accounts so they made me go back to the bank get another letter and statement of my other account all for the sake of 127 baht I even pointed out to them that I had maintained the 800k for the whole year but they were not interested I now make sure that I now have 801 k in my account had I not had that other account I would have had to wait for the borders to open and go through the whole process as they were adamant they were not going to help me in my hour of need

do you not get any interest added, if not then a poor choice of bank

 

1 hour ago, UTH001 said:

Not in Udon Thani...

see post 6 above

[NoshowJones]

22 hours ago, Pilotman said:

I am not suggesting that anyone uses an agent to circumvent the law, merely to make life easy for yourself and remove the uncertainty. 

It is not against the law anyway, certain top ranked IO officers have certain authority to state what happens with agents regarding visas and extensions.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, condobrit001 said:

So how much do agents charge  at CW if you meet all financial and insurance requirements but do not want to or are unable to go to CW?

lift up the phone and ask, it is not smoke and mirrors as some people seem to think.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, crazykopite said:

It is two months so you have time to transfer funds over , I also had a problem the bank took out 200 baht from my bank for the yearly charge of my Visa card leaving me 126.87 Bht short of the 800k I realised what had happened and made the difference up within 72 hours of them deducting the money and yet the IO on Samui refused to accept it fortunately I have two Thai bank accounts so they made me go back to the bank get another letter and statement of my other account all for the sake of 127 baht I even pointed out to them that I had maintained the 800k for the whole year but they were not interested I now make sure that I now have 801 k in my account had I not had that other account I would have had to wait for the borders to open and go through the whole process as they were adamant they were not going to help me in my hour of need

another reason for using agents.

[Peter Denis]

2 hours ago, crazykopite said:

It is two months so you have time to transfer funds over , I also had a problem the bank took out 200 baht from my bank for the yearly charge of my Visa card leaving me 126.87 Bht short of the 800k I realised what had happened and made the difference up within 72 hours of them deducting the money and yet the IO on Samui refused to accept it fortunately I have two Thai bank accounts so they made me go back to the bank get another letter and statement of my other account all for the sake of 127 baht I even pointed out to them that I had maintained the 800k for the whole year but they were not interested I now make sure that I now have 801 k in my account had I not had that other account I would have had to wait for the borders to open and go through the whole process as they were adamant they were not going to help me in my hour of need

All that for 127 THB!

So Samui IO would make you leave the country for a measly 127 THB short while you kept 800K on your account during the whole year.  Lucky you had a 2nd account, but it makes you wonder on what planet these immigration officers live.  For sure you will have 'mixed feelings' every time you need to go to IO for one of their 'services'.

[Peter Denis]

1 hour ago, tropo said:

It's not circumventing the law at all. It's is done by "special consideration", which is at the discretion of the head of the immigration office you visit and signed off by him/her. They have that right. It is not necessary to use an agent. It also waives the need for the 400k minimum balance to show at 90 day reports. By doing it this way, you actually become a VIP of sorts. You actually see immigration officers being super friendly and smiling, a rare thing on the main floor LOL.

I seriously doubt that IO not meeting the laid-out IO regulations is part of the 'special consideration' the office head has.

That special consideration is meant to provide leniency in certain cases, but surely not for ignoring that the required financial funds were depleted.

 

[timendres]

7 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

All that for 127 THB!

So Samui IO would make you leave the country for a measly 127 THB short while you kept 800K on your account during the whole year.  Lucky you had a 2nd account, but it makes you wonder on what planet these immigration officers live.  For sure you will have 'mixed feelings' every time you need to go to IO for one of their 'services'.

The IO would not "make you leave the country for a measly 127 THB".

The issue revolved around several thousand baht.

[MJKT2014]

2 hours ago, Pilotman said:

charges 15,000 to do it all. 

Where's the logic in spending 15,000THB to get someone to do something you can do yourself for 1,900THB.

 

OK, if time is money and you can earn more by sending someone to do I agree, otherwise its a waste.

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, timendres said:

The IO would not "make you leave the country for a measly 127 THB".

The issue revolved around several thousand baht.

You should read his post again.  It is about the measly 127 THB!

He kept 800K in his account the full year but because the bank charged him 200 THB for the account he did fell below the tresshold for 3 days before he detected it and upped it again.

[Lacessit]

23 hours ago, Pilotman said:

because its easy and trouble free.  Like all converts, I am now a fanatic for using agents. 

It depends on where you are. Chiang Mai Immigration without an agent is a nightmare, due to the sheer mass of numbers. OTOH, Chiang Rai Immigration can be negotiated without an agent quite easily.

[Pilotman]

14 minutes ago, MJKT2014 said:

Where's the logic in spending 15,000THB to get someone to do something you can do yourself for 1,900THB.

 

OK, if time is money and you can earn more by sending someone to do I agree, otherwise its a waste.

Very personal choice.  I used one for the first time for my last extension,  It was effortless and well worth 15K. 

[tropo]

41 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

I seriously doubt that IO not meeting the laid-out IO regulations is part of the 'special consideration' the office head has.

That special consideration is meant to provide leniency in certain cases, but surely not for ignoring that the required financial funds were depleted.

 

Where did you get your information on the guidelines on how they should use "special consideration"? Could you give an example of a "certain case" where they provide leniency?

Edited July 11, 2020 by tropo

[stouricks]

3 hours ago, JusticeGB said:

and a copy of something that proves that the money sent is your pension. 

In my case in Phitsanulok, the IO couldn't give a monkey's where the money came from as long as it is an FTT in my bank.

What if you are here on a 'retirement' extension at 51, 52, 53 years old. You cannot get a pension.

[giddyup]

On 7/10/2020 at 5:35 PM, Pilotman said:

because its easy and trouble free.  Like all converts, I am now a fanatic for using agents. 

It's also expensive when doing it yourself is only 1900 baht.

[giddyup]

59 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Very personal choice.  I used one for the first time for my last extension,  It was effortless and well worth 15K. 

It's also effortless if you do it yourself as long as you have all your paperwork in order.

[Peter Denis]

25 minutes ago, tropo said:

Where did you get your information on the guidelines on how they should use "special consideration"? Could you give an example of a "certain case" where they provide leniency?

A recent case where IO showed leniency was when a friend of mine applied for his 1-year extension of stay based on his original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

He didn't realize that when using the money-in-bank method IO now also requires a 12-month statement of the bank proving that he did not went under the 800K/400K tressholds during the 12 months preceding his application.  But his local bank branche could only provide a 3-month statement and it would take at least 5 days to get the bank HQ 12-month statement. But since he applied 2 days before his permission to stay expired, he would not be able anymore to get that 12-month statement in time.  Of course, he did have his updated bank-book which clearly showed that he never went under the required tresshold, but still he did not meet the 'administrative requirement for the 12-month bank-statement'.  

In his case IO provided leniency and did approve his application for the 1-year extension of stay even though 'technically incomplete'.

Similarly, when e.g. an 80-year old cannot meet the requirement for the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance when applying for the 1-year extension of his Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.  Since such insurance can only be subscribed to if you are under 76 years of age, it is not possible for the 80-year old to get such insurance.  In such case the local IO can provide leniency, but since it is a 'serious' non-compliance, divisional HQ would have to provide approval to the decision to accept his application without that mandatory insurance.

[Jonnapat]

On 7/10/2020 at 3:38 PM, steve187 said:

you only need the money to season for 2 months not 3

In Nakhon Sawan it is definitely 3 months and states that on the new website

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

In Nakhon Sawan it is definitely 3 months and states that on the new website

It was changed on March 1st of last year when a new immigration order went into effect. The immigration website has had the wrong info on it for a long time.

From the new order.

 

[Suradit69]

On July 10, 2020 at 3:36 PM, Jockey said:

I have a VISA question / problem

 

Sounds like you have an EXTENSION of stay question.

[Peter Denis]

1 hour ago, stouricks said:

In my case in Phitsanulok, the IO couldn't give a monkey's where the money came from as long as it is an FTT in my bank.

What if you are here on a 'retirement' extension at 51, 52, 53 years old. You cannot get a pension.

When using the money-in-bank method there is no need to prove the SOURCE of the foreign income.

It is only when you use the monthly-income transfer method or the Embassy issued Affidavit c.q. certified foreign-income statement, that the Immigration officer handling your application can ask for that additional evidence of the SOURCE of your foreign income or transfers.

And some IOs even go so far as to only accept an Embassy certified pension-statement as proof of the source of your foreign income. 

So if you do not receive pension yet (but have other sources of income) you are screwed, when using one of those 2 methods and dealing with a dim Immigration officer requesting such evidence of source of income, if he does not understand the evidence you can provide of other foreign sources of income.

[Max69xl]

On 7/10/2020 at 4:44 PM, Jockey said:

Thanks, that is good news if true, but someone has just informed me... The 800K needs to be in the bank for 3 months for renewal, only 2 months for initial application, unless things have changed.

https://immigrationbangkok.com/thai-retirement-visa-2/

It's 2 months for every extension (renewal) since March 1 2019.

[fxe1200]

6 hours ago, condobrit001 said:

So how much do agents charge  at CW if you meet all financial and insurance requirements but do not want to or are unable to go to CW?

14 K that was a going rate of an agent last year.

[JackThompson]

6 hours ago, condobrit001 said:

So how much do agents charge  at CW if you meet all financial and insurance requirements but do not want to or are unable to go to CW?

 

11 minutes ago, fxe1200 said:

14 K that was a going rate of an agent last year.

At CW - or Jomtien?  Great deal, if at CW.  From what I have seen ~20K+, if for retirement there - but worth calling around. 

  

3 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

All that for 127 THB!

So Samui IO would make you leave the country for a measly 127 THB short while you kept 800K on your account during the whole year.  Lucky you had a 2nd account, but it makes you wonder on what planet these immigration officers live.  For sure you will have 'mixed feelings' every time you need to go to IO for one of their 'services'.

They are from the planet-agent money.  They could not care less if your life is turned upside-down by having to leave the country, or if you meet the "official requirements" or not - except to the extent they can use those requirements (expecially last-year's changes) to prevent a "retail price" extension.

 

[Aliflair]

I use an agent in soi 13/2 in Pattaya, they will do a retirement renewal for 12500, and no extra charge for 90 day reports. Was in there a few weeks ago and confirmed this price then.

[timendres]

6 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

You should read his post again.  It is about the measly 127 THB!

He kept 800K in his account the full year but because the bank charged him 200 THB for the account he did fell below the tresshold for 3 days before he detected it and upped it again.

I read the post. Please read between the lines of mine.

[Jockey]

 https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?p=14714

On the filing date, the applicant must have account deposited (saving / fixed account) in a bank in Thailand of no less than
Baht 800,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a
deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 60 days prior to
the filing date; So not good news. It has to be in the bank for 3 months not 2.

 

[tropo]

7 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

A recent case where IO showed leniency was when a friend of mine applied for his 1-year extension of stay based on his original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

He didn't realize that when using the money-in-bank method IO now also requires a 12-month statement of the bank proving that he did not went under the 800K/400K tressholds during the 12 months preceding his application.  But his local bank branche could only provide a 3-month statement and it would take at least 5 days to get the bank HQ 12-month statement. But since he applied 2 days before his permission to stay expired, he would not be able anymore to get that 12-month statement in time.  Of course, he did have his updated bank-book which clearly showed that he never went under the required tresshold, but still he did not meet the 'administrative requirement for the 12-month bank-statement'.  

In his case IO provided leniency and did approve his application for the 1-year extension of stay even though 'technically incomplete'.

Similarly, when e.g. an 80-year old cannot meet the requirement for the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance when applying for the 1-year extension of his Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.  Since such insurance can only be subscribed to if you are under 76 years of age, it is not possible for the 80-year old to get such insurance.  In such case the local IO can provide leniency, but since it is a 'serious' non-compliance, divisional HQ would have to provide approval to the decision to accept his application without that mandatory insurance.

Well, these people were very fortunate to have had some leniency applied, but unfortunately stories of the IO's requiring expats to jump through hoops, making their application process nothing short of nightmares, are more common.

 

Either way, the IO's will use their discretionary powers any way they see fit. Whether you agree with their decisions or not, based on your ideas of when they should use their special powers, is irrelevant.

 

I believe they are making the process of extensions based on retirement and marriage more annoyingly complicated to entice more people to apply through agents. Last time I got an extension they told me point blank that next year I need 800k in the bank. They didn't even suggest a monthly income method was a possibility.

 

Business is very slow right now, so they are becoming even more helpful than usual. They actually canvass for "customers". I won't mention the IO, but she suggested that one person who used an agent to obtain his extension come directly to her next time, and it would save him money.

Edited July 11, 2020 by tropo

[whaleboneman]

8 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

 

Sounds like you have an EXTENSION of stay question.

Well that's helpful.

[steve187]

7 hours ago, Jockey said:

 https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?p=14714

On the filing date, the applicant must have account deposited (saving / fixed account) in a bank in Thailand of no less than
Baht 800,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a
deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 60 days prior to
the filing date; So not good news. It has to be in the bank for 3 months not 2.

 

outdated information, there is no mention of the 800,000 remaining for 3 months after, and having to maintaining 400,000 for the remaining 7 months, Ubonjoe's post at 48 & 6 above is the updated version

Edited July 11, 2020 by steve187

[Malawi]

7 hours ago, Jockey said:

 https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?p=14714

On the filing date, the applicant must have account deposited (saving / fixed account) in a bank in Thailand of no less than
Baht 800,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a
deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 60 days prior to
the filing date; So not good news. It has to be in the bank for 3 months not 2.

 

Wrong information.

It is 2 months. for every application.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Malawi