Visa extension (retirement).

[Londinium]

Annual extension of visa, yesterday at Chaeng Wattana. The online queuing system worked well and I arrived at 8.15am for a 9.15am appointment, giving time to update my bank book, when Bkk Bank opened, and buying coffee. It really took the hassle out of that early morning queue that I have done for several years, followed by the rush to collect a queue ticket.

Arriving at that online counter, I was first sent downstairs, to the copy shop, because I only had my apt details on my phone and a print off was required. Then back upstairs I had first to go to another counter to have my documents checked and was then escorted in (right on time) to see the immigration officer. She sent me back down to the bank to make a transaction (I deposited 100 baht) and then back up again.  There were extra forms to sign this time, as others have mentioned before. She also went line by line through my statements (I keep over 800,000 in the bank year round so I don’t have to think about it). 

No complaints but this year it took an hour and a half for the passport to be returned with the extension stamp - several people were waiting. It seemed rather slower than in other years.

Then on to get the reentry permit which necessitated another trip down to the copy shop. This was very speedy. Usually I get a multi permit but with things as they are I opted for a single since I usually do at least one overseas trip each year. It’s not difficult to get them at the airports either.

in all (including signing in at the door) and the pages of my documents, I signed my name 32 times, which is a new record and does make one wonder about the use of digital technology. Mountains of paper are involved in this process and I draw the same map every visit. Anyhow it all worked fine and I really liked the very cheerful officer who always seems happy to help people at the first arrival desk, where the forms are given out. (I always have plenty of spares of these and fill them in at home).

Took a taxi up the tollway there 279 baht (£6.90) + tollway fee 80 baht (£2). Knowing that the old line to Hua Lamphong station and the wonderful old station itself are soon to be axed and replaced by a shiny overhead railway, I decided to take the old train back from Laksi station, past banana groves, chickens, shacks and food stalls Price 4 baht = 1p. 

Cost minimal; satisfaction incalculable.

The new Laksi station, down the road from the immigration office, will make the journey a breeze but won’t have the magic of the old line.

[DrJack54]

Thanks for report. To highlight couple of points for others that I have posted many times. 

1. The appointment system works very well. Make sure you have hard copy of you confirmation email.

2. Despite what some people state. Make a deposit on the day of application to show activity.

3. Using money in the bank method at CW all that is required is copy of last 12 months transactions (if any) and account detail page. Tip, ask bank clerk to photocopy last page of your BB after the 100baht deposit. No bank statements required. 

 

 

 

[mikebell]

I wish 1 baht would = 4 pence.  That would make £1 = 400 which would compensate me for having my UK State pension frozen for 13 years!

[starbaseone]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

3. Using money in the bank method at CW all that is required is copy of last 12 months transactions (if any) and account detail page. Tip, ask bank clerk to photocopy last page of your BB after the 100baht deposit. No bank statements required. 

 

 

 

Is there no need for a letter from the bank? Only a copy after making a deposit?

[Londinium]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Thanks for report. To highlight couple of points for others that I have posted many times. 

1. The appointment system works very well. Make sure you have hard copy of you confirmation email.

2. Despite what some people state. Make a deposit on the day of application to show activity.

3. Using money in the bank method at CW all that is required is copy of last 12 months transactions (if any) and account detail page. Tip, ask bank clerk to photocopy last page of your BB after the 100baht deposit. No bank statements required. 
 

 

Yes, I should have printed off the appointment details in advance.

i realise that updating the bb alone, on the day of the visa extension, only records the last transaction date, so that a token deposit or withdrawal is required in order to show activity on the day.

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, starbaseone said:

Is there no need for a letter from the bank? Only a copy after making a deposit?

You need a letter from the bank, which basically states that your the 'owner' of the account and it's active.. Also photocopies of all pages of previous 12 months transactions (if any) and the First page showing a/c # and your name. As far as the deposit/withdrawal on day of application, I always ask clerk to photocopy my last page showing the activity.

[JimGant]

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Despite what some people state. Make a deposit on the day of application to show activity.

I guess some banks require activity to show an updated balance for today's date...But Bangkok Bank certainly doesn't -- just stick your bankbook in the machine and a new line item with today's date and the balance forward from the previous line prints out. And since, at least in CM, you can get your bank letter several days ahead of your Imm visit -- the balance on the bank letter will match that of your latest bankbook line item. If you had made an ATM pull on day of bankbook update, the new balance wouldn't coincide with the bank letter. Probably easy to explain away -- but why take the chance that your Imm officer may be anal.....

[Peter Denis]

57 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You need a letter from the bank, which basically states that your the 'owner' of the account and it's active.. Also photocopies of all pages of previous 12 months transactions (if any) and the First page showing a/c # and your name. As far as the deposit/withdrawal on day of application, I always ask clerk to photocopy my last page showing the activity.

That's correct info.  But depending at which Imm Office he applies, they might also require a 12-month bank-statement.  That 12-month bank-statement basically contains the same information as the transfers printed in your pass-book.  But some Imm Offices insist on it because in cause you did not you update your pass-book regularly, some banks consolidate the transfers when you do not regularly update.  And in that case the Imm Officer will not be able to check whether you indeed did not slip below the 800K/400K tressholds.  Even if you had little transactions and updated your pass-book regularly and it features ALL transactions you did over the past 12 months, some Imm officers still insist on the 12-month bank-statement if that has become a 'new rule' at that Imm Office.  Yes, the 'odd exception' leading to ever more paperwork...

[DrJack54]

6 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

But depending at which Imm Office he applies, they might also require a 12-month bank-statement. 

The OP stated CW in his opening post.

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, JimGant said:

I guess some banks require activity to show an updated balance for today's date...But Bangkok Bank certainly doesn't -- just stick your bankbook in the machine and a new line item with today's date and the balance forward from the previous line prints out. And since, at least in CM, you can get your bank letter several days ahead of your Imm visit -- the balance on the bank letter will match that of your latest bankbook line item. If you had made an ATM pull on day of bankbook update, the new balance wouldn't coincide with the bank letter. Probably easy to explain away -- but why take the chance that your Imm officer may be anal.....

It will depend on your bank.  At most banks they can provide you with the Bank-statement with latest balance, when applying for it.  So doing a small transaction, before asking for that Bank-statement will ensure that both your updated pass-book balance on date of application and the Bank-statement are identical.

When the Imm Office also requires a 12-month bank-statement (see my previous post), the above will not be possible, and that 12-month bank-statement will feature the bank-balance of the day before (and in case it has to be produced at Bank Headquarters, that will be the bank-balance of the day your Bank Headquarters issued it).  Normally that will not be a problem, as the smarter Imm officers know that the 12-month bank-statement will not feature any transactions you did on the day of application.  There are of course also always exceptions, and read a report of an 'anal' Imm officer sending the applicant back to his Bank to get an updated 12-month bank-statement, and it was only after that the Bank Manager explained to that Imm officer how it actually worked, that the applicant was 'exempted' from that impossible requirement and had his application processed.

[Peter Denis]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

The OP stated CW in his opening post.

Yes, and your response for a CW application was fully correct.  But I posted because it doesn't hurt to mention that at other offices applicants might be confronted with that 12-month bank-statement (which often cannot be provided same day, and could hence bring 'last minute' applications in trouble when their local Imm Office requires it). 

[OJAS]

14 hours ago, Londinium said:

I had first to go to another counter to have my documents checked

 

Does the absence of any specific reference to mandatory health insurance mean that the visa which you originally used to enter Thailand was of the non-O variety, meaning that you are exempt from this particular requirement?

 

[JimGant]

51 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

So doing a small transaction, before asking for that Bank-statement will ensure that both your updated pass-book balance on date of application and the Bank-statement are identical.

Ok, maybe I'm being dense..... but why do I need a "small transaction" to ensure my passbook balance and bank statement are identical? My savings account, which I use solely for retirement extension, has four entries per year: interest payments (twice a year) and related tax withholdings. So, a week before Imm office visit -- say, June 1 -- I get my bank letter, which shows latest balance. On June 4, before I head to Imm, I stick my pass book in the machine and get my latest balance -- which, of course, coincides with the bank letter, since I haven't initiated any withdrawals or deposits into this account (and there has been no interest payment activity).

So, again -- why the need for a "small transaction?"

[Peter Denis]

3 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Ok, maybe I'm being dense..... but why do I need a "small transaction" to ensure my passbook balance and bank statement are identical? My savings account, which I use solely for retirement extension, has four entries per year: interest payments (twice a year) and related tax withholdings. So, a week before Imm office visit -- say, June 1 -- I get my bank letter, which shows latest balance. On June 4, before I head to Imm, I stick my pass book in the machine and get my latest balance -- which, of course, coincides with the bank letter, since I haven't initiated any withdrawals or deposits into this account (and there has been no interest payment activity).

So, again -- why the need for a "small transaction?"

You probably are banking with a Thai Bank that does not need a transaction to update your pass-book.  I know that at BangkokBank you can update your pass-book without doing any transaction, but that is not always the case with other banks. 

Immigration normally insists on an updated pass-book on the date of application.  If you have to do a transaction to get it updated, obviously the previously generated Bank-statement would show your previous bank-balance and not the updated one.  An Imm Officer who knows how it works would be OK with that, but there are numb-heads that would not accept such a deviation requiring you to go back to your Bank to get the updated Bank-statement.

[Pib]

You don't need a small transaction with Bangkok Bank as they can do "Balance Forward (B/F)" transaction which forces an update with today's date with no balance change.   Some Thai bank can not (will not) do a B/F transaction.  

When I was doing retirement extensions of stay at CW using a Bangkok Bank acct the bank would simply do a B/F transaction to update my passbook with a balance for today's date.....all the immigration officer wants to see is a balance update with the current date....doesn't care if the balance went up or down....just wants to see a entry with "today's" balance.

 

[Londinium]

Correct. Non-immigrant O, 1 year visa (2016).

[Londinium]

20 hours ago, Pib said:

You don't need a small transaction with Bangkok Bank as they can do "Balance Forward (B/F)" transaction which forces an update with today's date with no balance change.   Some Thai bank can not (will not) do a B/F transaction.  

When I was doing retirement extensions of stay at CW using a Bangkok Bank acct the bank would simply do a B/F transaction to update my passbook with a balance for today's date.....all the immigration officer wants to see is a balance update with the current date....doesn't care if the balance went up or down....just wants to see a entry with "today's" balance.

 

It was curious that when I updated my bank book at 8.30am on Tuesday last (when Bkk Bank opened) it updated  it to the deposit I had made on the previous Friday. I should have checked the update before going upstairs only to be sent down again to make a transaction.

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, Londinium said:

It was curious that when I updated my bank book at 8.30am on Tuesday last (when Bkk Bank opened) it updated  it to the deposit I had made on the previous Friday. I should have checked the update before going upstairs only to be sent down again to make a transaction.

That's not curious at all, but fully normal.  If you made a deposit on Friday, and did not update your bank-book since then, updating your bank-book will add the last transactions you made to the pass-book.  And that Friday one was the last.

[Pib]

To get the B/F update with Bangkok Bank you usually need to have a clerk at the counter do the update.  Every year when doing my retirement extension of stay at CW I would first go down to the Bangkok Bank branch downstairs to get the bank letter and passbook updated.  Go to the counter clerk....say I need the visa bank letter...first thing the clerk would do is stick my passbook into her passbook update machine and force a B/F transaction....now my passbook shows a line entry/balance with today's date...then the clerk went about completing the bank letter.

[DrJack54]

33 minutes ago, Pib said:

.first thing the clerk would do is stick my passbook into her passbook update machine and force a B/F transaction....

Some immigration officers at CW insist on activity on the day. I hand my bankbook over to teller with along with 100baht and ask for deposit 100baht and provide bank letter and please photocopy my last page showing deposit. 

[Pib]

I did one dozen retirement extension of stays at CW before switching to a marriage extension of stay last year.   When I was using Bangkok Bank for around the first 9 of those extensions never was I asked by any CW IO to show a balance "change" (an actual deposit or withdrawal on the date of the extension) since Bangkok Bank simply did a B/F transaction updating the current balance to today's date.   Now when I moved my extension of stay money to Krungsri they never did/offered a B/F type transaction (I don't think they can do it...or maybe they can do but simply will not for the typical customer)....always had to deposit or withdraw say Bt100 to get a today's balance update.

 

 

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, Pib said:

I did one dozen retirement extension of stays at CW before switching to a marriage extension of stay last year.   When I was using Bangkok Bank for around the first 9 of those extensions never was I asked by any CW IO to show a balance "change" (an actual deposit or withdrawal on the date of the extension) since Bangkok Bank simply did a B/F transaction updating the current balance to today's date.   Now when I moved my extension of stay money to Krungsri they never did/offered a B/F type transaction (I don't think they can do it...or maybe they can do but simply will not for the typical customer)....always had to deposit or withdraw say Bt100 to get a today's balance update.

 

 

In other words .....if you don't use Bangkok Bank then you need to make withdrawal/deposit on day of application?

[Pib]

19 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

In other words .....if you don't use Bangkok Bank then you need to make withdrawal/deposit on day of application?

At Krungsri I do since they don't do B/F transactions.  Other than Bangkok Bank and Krungsri Bank I can't speak from experience as to to whether other banks can or can not do B/F transactions for a passbook update.  

And, I have no doubt some immigration officers want to see a balance "change" on date of application....where others don't require a balance change but do require a B/F type transaction that forces a current balance with today's date.   

And maybe when they don't see a balance transaction with today's date they just tell a person to go make a deposit or withdrawal to get a balance update as getting a balance update that way would work at "all" banks....no need to try to explain a B/F transaction is good enough "if" you bank does B/F transactions.  The communication barrier between the IO and applicant is usually already large enough without trying to get too detailed.

 

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, Pib said:

At Krungsri I do since they don't do B/F transactions.  Other than Bangkok Bank and Krungsri Bank I can't speak from experience as to to whether other banks can or can not do B/F transactions for a passbook update.  

And, I have no doubt some immigration officers want to see a balance "change" on date of application....where others don't require a balance change but do require a B/F type transaction that forces a current balance with today's date.   

And maybe when they don't see a balance transaction with today's date they just tell a person to go make a deposit or withdrawal to get a balance update as getting a balance update that way would work at "all" banks....no need to try to explain a B/F transaction is good enough "if" you bank does B/F transactions.  The communication barrier between the IO and applicant is usually already large enough without trying to get too detailed.

 

In other words .....just do a small deposit on day of application at CW. Not hard.

[Pib]

42 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

In other words .....just do a small deposit on day of application at CW. Not hard.

Sure...unless you have the kind of  fixed acct that's not longer open for additional deposits....and any withdrawal would cause a major interest penalty.    That's the kind of special fixed accts I had with Bangkok Bank for many years (a special fixed paid a little more interest than a regular fixed acct and had a limited windows for deposits).  So, Bangkok Bank would do a B/F transaction.  And when I had my money in a regular Bankgok Bank savings acct they would do the same B/F transaction versus needing to add or withdraw a small amount on application day.

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, Pib said:

Sure...unless you have the kind of  fixed acct that's not longer open for additional deposits....and any withdrawal would cause a major interest penalty

Again just poor choice of account. 

I use two accounts a savings 200baht+  and FD account 600baht+. With the FD account I deposit 1000baht (minimum allowed). I do note that others dealing with CW having a FD account state that they do not do transaction (deposit) on the day.

[Pib]

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Again just poor choice of account. 

A special fixed acct that paid approx 1% more than a regular fixed acct of same maturity duration and several percent more than a regular saving acct is a poor choice of account?

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, Pib said:

A special fixed acct that paid approx 1% more than a regular fixed acct of same maturity duration and several percent more than a regular saving acct is a poor choice of account?

No issue. Take along your statements or whatever you need and obtain your extension. I will forgo the massive interest loss and take along photocopies of bankbook pages. Each to their own.

[zombie nights]

I did my extension at the end of January this year at CW. Used the 800K method. Put that amount in a fixed account about 3 years ago and have not withdrawn at  any time, All I needed was the bank book original and a copy of the book which showed the annual updates. I got the bank letter confirming my deposit the day before my application.All was in order.Nothing required re statements or 100 baht deposit etc.

So may I ask have the rules changed from this January, or what?

Thank you.

 

 

 

[DrJack54]

7 minutes ago, zombie nights said:

So may I ask have the rules changed from this January, or what?

The rules have not changed. Your experience in your post is exactly what occurs at CW. Some folk (myself) like to make deposit on the day of application. My first ever extension, I was sent down to banks to make a deposit. So have just continued with a winning formulae the last 10 years.