What options exist to show immigration that money came from abroad?

[Tanoshi]

4 hours ago, Chang2 said:

I'm guessing using something like TransferWise is the same thing; the money does come from overseas but it shows up as a domestic transfer because it's routed through their own network of banks.

That greatly depends on which Thai bank you use and the reason chosen for your TW transfer.

[UncleMhee]

2 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Which Thai bank do you use and what was your reason chosen for the transfer on TW's site.

I use Bangkok Bank @Tanoshi. My reason was "Long stay in Thailand". I got confused when my bank book didn't say "International", then when I checked online banking it did. @Peter Denis has sent me the necessary information on what's what. Cheers

[Tanoshi]

4 minutes ago, UncleMhee said:

I use Bangkok Bank @Tanoshi. My reason was "Long stay in Thailand". I got confused when my bank book didn't say "International", then when I checked online banking it did. @Peter Denis has sent me the necessary information on what's what. Cheers

In your Bankbook it should be coded FTT (Foreign Telex Transfer).

On a statement it will be coded 'International'.

 

If using the 65K monthly transfer method, many Immigration offices also accept the TW pdf transfer receipts as addition proof of the source where the transfer originated.

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Yes, even when using Bangkok Bank and selecting 'Monthly living expenses' it is possible that the transfer will not display the Bangkok Bank international transfer code FTC on your bank-book.

That code will be displayed when you selected that option AND when the funds were routed via Bangkok Bank Headquarters.  When you opted for 'fast transfer' when using TransferWise it is possible that the faster way of transferring them to your local Bangkok Bank account, was via one of their other partner banks in Thailand (Kasikorn and TMB). 

See my post above yours on how to get hold of the evidence that the funds of that transfer did indeed originated from abroad.

That's my point, I used "monthly living expenses" and it processed as International. Do you know all the options for the drop down? 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Yes that can happen regardless of reason for transfer selected if TW used Bangkok Bank as its partner bank to complete the transfer to a Bangkok Bank acct.  TW has 2 or 3 partner banks it could  use.

 

But if selecting the  Long Stay Thailand reason for transfer TW will if at all possible use Bangkok Bank as its partner bank to complete the transfer which results in international coding if being sent to  Bangkok  Bank acct.

I'm sure I read on a thread that you can set a default partner bank such as Bangkok Bank? that way it will come through as Intl at your Bangkok Bank account every time irrespective of reason for transfer

[Tanoshi]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

I'm sure I read on a thread that you can set a default partner bank such as Bangkok Bank? that way it will come through as Intl at your Bangkok Bank account every time irrespective of reason for transfer

TW added the additional reason 'funds for long term stay in Thailand' to ensure they would pay from their same account partner, but only if you held an account with BKK, Kasikorn or TMB, which are their 3 partner banks.

 

Only the HQ's have a SWIFT code, therefore all transfers go through the partner banks HQ to your branch.

Bangkok bank are the only bank that forward the transfer code to their branches. (FTT).

 

KK and TMB HQ's do not advise the branch of the source, therefore as far as the branch is concerned it was a 'local or domestic' transfer and will be coded as such in a Passbook.

For evidence of a foreign transfer you can request a 'credit advice' receipt, which details the transfer, or alternatively request statements from the HQ which will be recorded as 'International'.

 

It becomes more complex if for example your with SCB (not a TW partner). Then the transfer will go through either BKK, KK, TMB HQ branches to your SCB account. In this instance your SCB bank cannot issue a 'credit advise' receipt because the transfer didn't go through their HQ. You have to go to the bank who's HQ transferred the funds and request an 'overseas funds transfer' receipt.

 

That said many Immigration offices will now accept the TW printed pdf receipts, which detail the foreign currency, the exchange rate, Thai baht received and the Thai bank through whom it was transferred to your branch account.

 

 

 

[Pib]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I'm sure I read on a thread that you can set a default partner bank such as Bangkok Bank? that way it will come through as Intl at your Bangkok Bank account every time irrespective of reason for transfer

You can contact TW and ask them to "tag" your recipient transfers to always use Bangkok Bank as the partner bank which means the final leg of the transfer will always l be sent from/routed thru Bangkok Bank.  But this only helps to obtain International transfer coding "regardless of reason for transfer" when the final receiving bank is Bangkok Bank.  If Bangkok Bank does the final leg to another bank it's done as a domestic transfer and no International coding occurs.

 

There is no setting in your TW online acct settings for "you" to choose a partner bank; TW has total control over which partner bank it uses for the final  leg.  As mentioned you can ask them to tag your transfers to always use Bangkok Bank...up to TW if they tag your acct.  I had mine tagged when I asked for such a year or two ago.

[Tanoshi]

2 minutes ago, Pib said:

There is no setting in your TW online acct settings for "you" to choose a partner bank; TW has total control over which partner bank it uses for the final  leg.  

Not totally up to date.

When the issue of coding for International transfers became an issue after the US, UK and Australian Embassies stopped issuing income letters and Immigration amended their orders to accept monthly bank transfers, having to contact TW was the original stance.

To overcome the issue Transferwise created a separate 'reason' for transfer, specifically for Thailand customers, which was the 'funds for long term stay in Thailand'.

By selecting this as the reason for your transfer TW promised to make every effort to ensure the payment was made through the same partner account as your bank. That is BKK > BKK, KK > KK, TMB > TMB, which elimated the need to contact them to have a 'note' placed on your account.

 

Of course TW's main purpose is to transfer your funds as quickly as possible and in the event of a 'glitch' they may be forced to use a different partner bank in order to fulfill their objective.

[Pib]

25 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Not totally up to date.

When the issue of coding for International transfers became an issue after the US, UK and Australian Embassies stopped issuing income letters and Immigration amended their orders to accept monthly bank transfers, having to contact TW was the original stance.

To overcome the issue Transferwise created a separate 'reason' for transfer, specifically for Thailand customers, which was the 'funds for long term stay in Thailand'.

By selecting this as the reason for your transfer TW promised to make every effort to ensure the payment was made through the same partner account as your bank. That is BKK > BKK, KK > KK, TMB > TMB, which elimated the need to contact them to have a 'note' placed on your account.

 

Of course TW's main purpose is to transfer your funds as quickly as possible and in the event of a 'glitch' they may be forced to use a different partner bank in order to fulfill their objective.

Yes...and I talked that earlier.  But that is not a setting to pick a default partner bank as scubascuba3 mentioned...like a settings which picks Kbank or Bkk Bk or TMB for your transfers.  But yes if picking the Long Stay Thailand reason for transfer TW will use Bangkok Bank as the partner bank...or maybe I should say they will use Bangkok Bank unless some issue causes them to use one of their other partner banks as completing the transfer is priority 1 vs using a specific partner bank.

[Tanoshi]

1 minute ago, Pib said:

Yes...and I talked that earlier.  But that is not a setting to pick a default partner bank as scubascuba3 mentioned...like a settings which picks Kbank or Bkk Bk or TMB for your transfers.  But yes if picking the Long Stay Thailand reason for transfer TW will use Bangkok Bank as the partner bank...or maybe I should say they will use Bangkok Bank unless some issue causes them to use one of their other partner banks as completing the transfer is priority 1 vs using a specific partner bank.

They notified that by selecting the 'funds for long term stay in Thailand' if you were with KK they'd use their KK partner branch, BKK > BKK and TMB > TMB. This was to eliminated the need to endlessly contact them and 'tag' your account.

That's as near to setting a default as they can, provided you have an account with one of those 3 banks.

 

Of course in the case of KK and TMB it's still going to be coded as 'domestic/local' transfer in your Passbook, but that's not through any fault of TW.

[fakser]

9 hours ago, Chang2 said:

Yes, to both questions.

 

So a credit advice, ok.  And the bank is prepared to issue these for any remittance or only specific sources, like TransferWise?

The bank will issue the confirmation for a small fee (100 THB)

[Tanoshi]

3 minutes ago, fakser said:

The bank will issue the confirmation for a small fee (100 THB)

Credit advice receipts are free if requested within 3 months of the transaction.

Conditions and fees vary by bank.

[Chang2]

How much do we like Thailand?

[Andycoops]

Last year I showed the PDF receipt I get from TransferWise X 12 along with my bank letter and bank book.

(If it was required I could show the monthly bank transfer to TW from my UK account)

[hansnl]

On 2/9/2021 at 8:29 AM, Chang2 said:

Say that you are here on a tourist visa/visa exempt entry and you want to convert to a Non-Immigrant visa.  In order to convert, you have to show that the money came from abroad.

 

This is easy if you wire the money over using SWIFT.  A little code shows up in your bankbook that says FCT.

 

I was hoping that maybe using a Bitcoin exchange like Bitkub or coins.co.th would show up as an overseas transfer.  Alas it does not.  I'm guessing using something like TransferWise is the same thing; the money does come from overseas but it shows up as a domestic transfer because it's routed through their own network of banks.

 

Does anyone have experience using some kind of supplemental evidence that the money did indeed come from overseas when using a method other than SWIFT?  Say a screenshot of a Bitkub transfer?  Or a confirmation email from TransferWise?

 

My situation is that I am a U.S. citizen but living in another country and want to send the money from the bank here and doing it via my U.S. bank is really expensive given the double-exchange rate conversation as well as the fees.

 As for TransferWise make a copy of your transfer to TW, make a copy of the TW transfer and make a copy of the arrival in your Thai account.

It is a paper trail acceptable in KK immigration and tax office.

[hansnl]

On 2/9/2021 at 8:57 AM, UncleMhee said:

@Chang2 Please note:- I've deleted my post because of misquoted info. I checked my bank book and recent transfers haven't shown as International.  Time to contact TransferWise again regarding this anomaly.

Make a print of the TW transfer.

It shows the amount transferred to TW, shows the exchange rate and the THB to transfer into your Thai Bank including account number.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, Andycoops said:

Last year I showed the PDF receipt I get from TransferWise X 12 along with my bank letter and bank book.

(If it was required I could show the monthly bank transfer to TW from my UK account)

Were the x12 transfers showing as International at your bank? 

[Peter Denis]

14 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Were the x12 transfers showing as International at your bank? 

When using the 12 TransferWise receipts as evidence that the transferred funds originated from abroad, it does not matter which Thai bank you are using where the funds came on your personal thai bank-account, or what code is mentioned on your Thai bank-book from that Bank.

The TransferWise receipts will indicate from which foreign account the Transfer was made, and on which Thai bank-account the funds were received.  The date and amount of those transfers will match one-on-one with the 12-month bank-statement and the transfers printed in your bank-book.

>> Only potential problem could be that your local IO would be 'backward' and not accept those TransferWise receipts and would insist on credit-advice receipts from the receiving Thai bank.  But large majority of IOs DO accept TransferWise receipts.

[scubascuba3]

48 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

When using the 12 TransferWise receipts as evidence that the transferred funds originated from abroad, it does not matter which Thai bank you are using where the funds came on your personal thai bank-account, or what code is mentioned on your Thai bank-book from that Bank.

The TransferWise receipts will indicate from which foreign account the Transfer was made, and on which Thai bank-account the funds were received.  The date and amount of those transfers will match one-on-one with the 12-month bank-statement and the transfers printed in your bank-book.

>> Only potential problem could be that your local IO would be 'backward' and not accept those TransferWise receipts and would insist on credit-advice receipts from the receiving Thai bank.  But large majority of IOs DO accept TransferWise receipts.

I was wondering if the x12 transfers were showing as International, if so, providing the other docs would have been unnecessary