Retirement Visa - Changing Bank Accounts?

[HugoFastor]

I just extended my visa for another year on the basis of retirement. However, the bank account that I used to fulfill the requirement this year (and to demonstrate that I have 800K Baht on deposit in a Thai bank account) is a bank account that I plan to withdraw all the funds from and to close out very soon.

 

I also plan to extend my visa again next year and, when I do, I plan to use a different bank account which also has 800K Baht in it and then to present this new bank account to Immigration in order to fulfill the financial requirements.

 

The new bank account I plan to use going forward is one that I opened and funded only about 4 months ago. So I couldn’t use the new bank account yet for the visa extension this year because it hasn’t been open long enough yet with a history of an 800K Baht balance for 12 months. However, when it is time to extend my visa again next year all of the 800K Baht funds will have then been in the new bank account for about 16 months already.

 

Thus, my question is if there will be any issues if I close the old bank account very soon and then present only the new bank account to Immigration next year for next year’s retirement visa extension?

 

Also, will Immigration inquire at all about the old bank account (the one that I plan to close) or will it not be required for any reason as long as I present another Thai Baht bank account to them which shows at least a 12 month balance history with a balance of 800K Baht for the previous 12 months?

Edited December 4, 2022 by HugoFastor
Corrections

[couchpotato]

They are not concerned with any particular account (ie: your old account), only that you have had 12 months of the 800k in an account to be shown at renewal time (along with the required bank letter etc).

So your plan is well thought out.

Edited December 4, 2022 by couchpotato

[Srikcir]

Check to see if you qualify for the 10-year Long Term Resident visa. No minimum bank account balance required, no monthly foreign money transfers, no bank statement letter required to extend visa. 

https://ltr.boi.go.th

 

[allane]

I always keep all bankbooks which have become full for at least one year after the date of the last transactions.  This is one of the reasons why.

[LALes]

Make sure to bring all bankbooks for the year in question with you to Immigration so they can see

if you went below the 800K threshold.  Also, get bank letters from both accounts if they are both pertinent.  I just renewed with 2 letters and 3 bankbooks since I needed a new bankbook on one of the accounts.  No problem at all as long as you know the drill.

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, HugoFastor said:

However, when it is time to extend my visa again next year all of the 800K Baht funds will have then been in the new bank account for about 16 months already.

Which will qualify you for an ext'n.. no problems.

[HugoFastor]

14 hours ago, couchpotato said:

They are not concerned with any particular account (ie: your old account), only that you have had 12 months of the 800k in an account to be shown at renewal time (along with the required bank letter etc).

So your plan is well thought out.

Thank you. I assume the requirement to keep the full 800K Baht in the subject Thai bank account for 90 days after the extension has been granted, and not allowing the remaining bank account balance to fall below 400K Baht for the duration of the 1 year visa extension, all becomes moot once you present a different bank account at the next visa extension renewal which shows 12 months of bank account history together with a balance of 800K Baht during the preceding 12 months?