Warning re Account Balance During "Under Consideration" Period.

[Blue Muton]

Hi, thanks in no small part to this esteemed forum we (should) all know about the requirements to keep funds in the bank for a certain period after application for & granting of extensions to stay. Having said that I don't recall seeing anyone mention having to prove that their balance hasn't dipped below the threshold during the under consideration period, however that is exactly what happened to me yesterday.

 

I applied for an extension based on marriage a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday Mrs BM was called by Suphanburi immigration who told her that Bangkok immigration had instructed them to instruct me to make a deposit of 200 Baht, get my passbook updated then take the passbook to Suphan immigration for them to check and copy and for me to sign their copy.

 

This was no great drama but a bit of an inconvenience as it required a forty minute wait at the bank and a 140 km round trip to the immigration office. 

 

Had I been foolish enough to be tempted to dip into the 400k in that account then my application would have been denied.

 

As I said it was not an issue for me, I'm just posting as a heads up for anyone contemplating eating into their 400k early, as all marriage extensions must be approved at Bangkok then I assume the same thing could happen anywhere in the Kingdom.

[DrJack54]

Thanks for report. 

Yes it's always recommended to maintain the 400k during under consideration period..

[ttkeric]

This a new one. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Stocky]

2 hours ago, Blue Muton said:

Bangkok immigration had instructed them to instruct me to make a deposit of 200 Baht, get my passbook updated

Not a reasonable request if you have money on fixed term deposit

[foreverlomsak]

3 hours ago, Blue Muton said:

as all marriage extensions must be approved at Bangkok then I assume the same thing could happen anywhere in the Kingdom.

Marriage extensions are approved at regional level, 1 of which happens to be Bangkok, they are not all sent to Bangkok for approval, therefore there may be differing requirements re proof of funds when collecting your stamps after the consideration period.

Suggest you ask your local IO on submission what the requirements will be.

[DrJack54]

30 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Not a reasonable request if you have money on fixed term deposit

I would suggest most folk using money in the bank for extension marriage would not use FD account.

[MJCM]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

I would suggest most folk using money in the bank for extension marriage would not use FD account.

Why is that if I may ask?

[CharlieH]

Not ALL extensions are approved in Bkk.

Mine as an example is approved at Chiang Mai.

 

To the best of my knowledge the requirement to maintain the balance is applicable to Retirement extensions NOT marriage as nothing was said nor inferred to me recently when doing mine.

 

However we know offices can and do vary.

[MJCM]

2 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Not ALL extensions are approved in Bkk.

Mine as an example is approved at Chiang Mai.

 

To the best of my knowledge the requirement to maintain the balance is applicable to Retirement extensions NOT marriage as nothing was nor inferred to me recently when doing mine.

 

Mine is approved in Khon Kaen (Living in Buriram)

 

CharlieH, Marriage extensions have a "under consideration" period (30 day+/-), in which I don't think it's wise if the 400k required dips below that! But maybe @ubonjoe can comment on this?

Edited June 2, 2021 by MJCM

[ubonjoe]

21 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

Marriage extensions are approved at regional level, 1

Only those applied for in Bangkok are done at division one.

Others within the central region are done by division 3 in Bangkok.

The North East is done by division 4 in Khon Kaen, the North is done by division 5 in Chiang Mai and the South at division 6 in Hat Yai.

[DrJack54]

12 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Why is that if I may ask?

Unlike money in the bank method for extension based on retirement where the 800kb needs to be in bank 2 month before then maintained for 3 months after then not below 400k after that etc 

For marriage the money in bank is 2 month prior to extension application date and maintained during under consideration period. After that the money can be withdrawn.

Note in some imm offices the money does not need to be maintained during consideration period. 

 

[MJCM]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Unlike money in the bank method for extension based on retirement where the 800kb needs to be in bank 2 month before then maintained for 3 months after then not below 400k after that etc 

For marriage the money in bank is 2 month prior to extension application date and maintained during under consideration period. After that the money can be withdrawn.

Note in some imm offices the money does not need to be maintained during consideration period. 

 

 

Thx.

 

I personally think it's a good idea to have a separate account (FD?) for Immigration and day to day living (but that is not for everyone), so you never can get confused and might go under the money required which could put your extension in jeopardy.

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, MJCM said:

 

Thx.

 

I personally think it's a good idea to have a separate account (FD?) for Immigration and day to day living (but that is not for everyone), so you never can get confused and might go under the money required which could put your extension in jeopardy.

100% correct especially in the case of extension retirement.

I have a dedicated bank account for immigration only. Becoming popular is retirement guys setting up an FD account with the 800k remaining all year round. It's bullet proof.

 

Don't think I would do that for marriage extension.

I would have a dedicated account for extensions (400k) but it would be savings account.  If anything unexpected came along you have option to use the money.

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by DrJack54

[foreverlomsak]

17 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

42 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

Marriage extensions are approved at regional level, 1

Only those applied for in Bangkok are done at division one.

@ubonjoe you cropped off my statement making it seem that I was saying all approvals were in Bangkok, whereas if you check what I actually wrote was "...... approved at regional level,  1 of which is Bangkok ......).

[Tanoshi]

44 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Don't think I would do that for marriage extension.

I would have a dedicated account for extensions (400k) but it would be savings account.  If anything unexpected came along you have option to use the mone

Savings account 0.25 - FD account 1.2%.

If anything unexpected came along you still have the option to use that money.

 

400K is the minimum, you can keep more in if you want.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Tanoshi

[sambum]

1 hour ago, foreverlomsak said:

Marriage extensions are approved at regional level, 1 of which happens to be Bangkok, they are not all sent to Bangkok for approval, therefore there may be differing requirements re proof of funds when collecting your stamps after the consideration period.

Suggest you ask your local IO on submission what the requirements will be.

 

The bane of the Visa applicant's life:- "differing requirements" 

[MJCM]

24 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Savings account 0.25 - FD account 1.2%.

If anything unexpected came along you still have the option to use that money.

 

400K is the minimum, you can keep more in if you want.

 

Good Point ???? but never thought about that

 

I have way more then 400k in it but less then 800k, this only just in case the IO sees it it's over 800k and wants me to go the retirement extension route ????

[skatewash]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

100% correct especially in the case of extension retirement.

I have a dedicated bank account for immigration only. Becoming popular is retirement guys setting up an FD account with the 800k remaining all year round. It's bullet proof.

 

Don't think I would do that for marriage extension.

I would have a dedicated account for extensions (400k) but it would be savings account.  If anything unexpected came along you have option to use the money.

 

Even with a retirement extension you can withdraw 400,000 of the money in the account as long as it's not 2 months before the application for extension or 3 months after the application for extension.

Personally, I've given up using a Fixed Deposit account due to the necessity of remembering when it matures and finding a new one (often the rate you receive after the term finishes is less favorable than the rate you signed up for initially, which is often a promotion).  I now use a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai account which is a regular savings account with reasonably high interest, currently 1.1%, which is earned daily and paid monthly.  As a regular savings account you never have to do anything with the account, however, the rate is subject to fluctuation (although in practice it doesn't seem to happen often).

[MJCM]

3 minutes ago, skatewash said:

<snip>

Personally, I've given up using a Fixed Deposit account due to the necessity of remembering when it matures and finding a new one (often the rate you receive after the term finishes is less favorable than the rate you signed up for initially, which is often a promotion).  I now use a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai account which is a regular savings account with reasonably high interest, currently 1.1%, which is earned daily and paid monthly.  As a regular savings account you never have to do anything with the account, however, the rate is subject to fluctuation (although in practice it doesn't seem to happen often).

 

Question please.

 

Does it have an ATM card this Mee Tae Dai account?

Or can you transfer money out of it via Internet Banking?

[skatewash]

1 minute ago, MJCM said:

 

Question please.

 

Does it have an ATM card this Mee Tae Dai account?

Or can you transfer money out of it via Internet Banking?

You can have both if you want, or you could decline to have either, up to you.  Of course, if you have either it's up to you to watch that it never goes below the minimum required for your immigration account.  I have both on my account.  I keep the ATM card in my safe.  It has a nice balance alert system so you can have it notify you if it drops below a certain balance.  I use my account for both immigration purposes and for long-term savings (because of the higher interest rate).  There is relatively little activity in the account.  My day-to-day banking is done at another bank. 

If I weren't too cheap I would get two Mee Tae Dee accounts, one for immigration and one for long-term saving but paying the 300 or so baht for the ATM card every year is 300 too much.  Maybe I'll open a new Mee Tae Dai account and just not get the ATM card on that account.  That's probably the most sensible thing to do.

[Tanoshi]

9 minutes ago, skatewash said:

Personally, I've given up using a Fixed Deposit account due to the necessity of remembering when it matures and finding a new one (often the rate you receive after the term finishes is less favorable than the rate you signed up for initially, which is often a promotion).  I now use a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai account which is a regular savings account with reasonably high interest, currently 1.1%, which is earned daily and paid monthly.  As a regular savings account you never have to do anything with the account, however, the rate is subject to fluctuation (although in practice it doesn't seem to happen often).

I put a note on the calendar of the maturity date, along with 90 day reports, annual extension renewal, marriage anniversary, wife's birthday, car and motorcycle tax and Insurance, as well as putting a 2 week advance pop up notification on my PC and telephone.

 

I don't have time to open a Mee Tae Dee account.  ????

[skatewash]

1 minute ago, Tanoshi said:

I put a note on the calendar of the maturity date, along with 90 day reports, annual extension renewal, marriage anniversary, wife's birthday, car and motorcycle tax and Insurance, as well as putting a 2 week advance pop up notification on my PC and telephone.

 

I don't have time to open a Mee Tae Dee account.  ????

I had to set up my Mee Tae Dai account once.  You have to attend to your fixed deposit account whenever it matures.

 

Also, I got my Thai Tax ID associated with my MTD account so there's  no 15% automatic tax withholding on the interest I earn in that account.  Saves me from filing a Thai Tax return to reclaim the withheld interest.

 

Plus, that's not all. ???? You never forfeit any interest earned if you withdraw before the term.

 

But, I'll give you this.  Immigration officers prefer the FD because it's easier to verify.  There is so little activity on such an account that even Bangkok Bank can copy and stamp the two pages from the passbook and that's accepted as a substitute 12-month bank statement at immigration.

 

[Tanoshi]

32 minutes ago, MJCM said:

 

Good Point ???? but never thought about that

 

I have way more then 400k in it but less then 800k, this only just in case the IO sees it it's over 800k and wants me to go the retirement extension route ????

 

For me, it's 'dead' money and I mean that literally.

My wife is an authorised user to both my account. I made a Thai Will additionally.

Just part of planning for the future, my wife's inheritance and making it as easy as possible to access.

 

I don't want her rummaging at Home Pro to find a cardboard box from a fridge for my coffin.

Admitted, it would burn easier, but I don't want guests thinking I was called Hitachi.

[Stocky]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

If anything unexpected came along you have option to use the money.

I have an emergency fund on fixed term which is more than enough to satisfy my marriage extension requirements. The money is accessible in an emergency, I just forfeit the interest on that term ~ which at current rates isn't an awful lot in any case.

I prefer to keep my day to day expense accounts separate, just avoids any potential screw ups.

[GregTN]

I did my application for extension based on marriage last week May 25 at Chiang  Mai immigration and I was told by them to maintain the 400K in the account until after the consideration period and stamp is issued.

[Sophon]

3 hours ago, skatewash said:

Even with a retirement extension you can withdraw 400,000 of the money in the account as long as it's not 2 months before the application for extension or 3 months after the application for extension.

Personally, I've given up using a Fixed Deposit account due to the necessity of remembering when it matures and finding a new one (often the rate you receive after the term finishes is less favorable than the rate you signed up for initially, which is often a promotion).  I now use a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai account which is a regular savings account with reasonably high interest, currently 1.1%, which is earned daily and paid monthly.  As a regular savings account you never have to do anything with the account, however, the rate is subject to fluctuation (although in practice it doesn't seem to happen often).

 

You only get the 1.1% interest rate for the first 100k, for deposit over this amount (up to 5 million) you get 1% p.a. on the remaining amount.

[skatewash]

2 minutes ago, Sophon said:

 

You only get the 1.1% interest rate for the first 100k, for deposit over this amount (up to 5 million) you get 1% p.a. on the remaining amount.

Yes, thanks for the correction, only 1.0% APR.

[jeffandgop]

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

I would suggest most folk using money in the bank for extension marriage would not use FD account.

Don’t understand how you arrive at that opinion. I myself use a fix deposit account and always have done so. 

[DrJack54]

2 hours ago, jeffandgop said:

Don’t understand how you arrive at that opinion. I myself use a fix deposit account and always have done so. 

So you have FD for 400k for what 3 month? Marriage extension require 400k for 2 month prior to application + consideration period. Excellent that your tying up 400k for a year when you don't need to.

[skatewash]

4 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

So you have FD for 400k for what 3 month? Marriage extension require 400k for 2 month prior to application + consideration period. Excellent that your tying up 400k for a year when you don't need to.

Not necessarily.  Perhaps his Fixed Deposit term is three months.