Non Imm O 400k Baht

[Nam Kao]

Marriage Visa

If I wire in 400K and place it in a Thai bank then take out whatever I need over

the year - and do not use all of it - Can I send out what I did not use at the

end of the year and wire it back in plus whatever else I need to replenish

the 400K for the next application?

400K = 1,100 baht a day, I doubt I'll be spending more than 500 a day upcountry

living like a local. My wife thinks we will spend 330 tops or 10,000/mo.

I can afford the 400K a year but I dont want a large baht accumulation over the

years only to be wiped out in the next Asian crash.

Thanks

Nam

[manfromoz]

Nam,

All you need to do it top up the amount each year to get to the 400k. What you are proposing is the whole idea of the money in the bank. you bring in 400k, use it for living and at the end of the year bring in more so you can live for another year.

[KevinN]

That is another thing that has me thinking, The rules as posted seem to say 400 K in the bank one time, OR 40K a month verifiable,now I wonder which it will be.

[kenkannif]

Isn't it either or either? Or possibly a combination of the two?

[astral]

A simple top up should be sufficient.

Where did you find this paragon of virtue that you call your wife??

[Nam Kao]

All you need to do it top up the amount each year to get to the 400k. What you are proposing is the whole idea of the money in the bank. you bring in 400k, use it for living and at the end of the year bring in more so you can live for another year.

Thanks ManfromOz, but from what i read - you need to show that 400K was

"wired in from your home country" a receipt from a thai bank saying 400K came in -

not a thai bank balance. Has anyone just shown 400K in a thai bank and been

approved?

Another question I have is - can you wire $$ out of Thailand (in general) ??

Thanks for anymore help anyone

Nam

[Ricci]

Can anyone tell by experience, that he/she had problems with the account?

-i.e. 400k left in bank for 1 year.

-You've never took money from the bank.

-Someone visited you to ask you how you can live without taking money from the bank.

Anyone had such a case?

Is it a MUST, that 400k has to be transferred from a foreign country every year?

Ciao

Ricci

[lopburi3]

Is it a MUST, that 400k has to be transferred from a foreign country every year?

It has not been a "must" and probably never will be but there will likely be questions to answer if a reasonable amount/movement is not shown; as to how you manage to support your wife on "air".

[Baaksida]

All you need to do it top up the amount each year to get to the 400k. What you are proposing is the whole idea of the money in the bank. you bring in 400k, use it for living and at the end of the year bring in more so you can live for another year.

But let's just assume, that one doesn't use the 400k for living expenses in one year? (I rarely go to national parks in Thailand.)

Can he (as I understand it foreign wives of Thai citizens are not required to have such a bank balance) use the remaining balance for the following year (for visa extension 'purposes')?

Another question I have is - can you wire $$ out of Thailand (in general) ??

Yes, you can. I did it a couple of times from Bangkok Bank and Thai Farmers Bank (back then) to the U.S. (But beware of the hidden fees when doing it at the Thai Farmers Bank! I paid the wiring fees, just to find out later that I was charged again later...)

[opalhort]

Yes, you can. I did it a couple of times from Bangkok Bank and Thai Farmers Bank (back then) to the U.S. (But beware of the hidden fees when doing it at the Thai Farmers Bank! I paid the wiring fees, just to find out later that I was charged again later...) 

you can avoid the later charges if you do not tag the 'pay in full' item on the form.

"pay in full" means the beneficiary will receive the full amount and charges incurred by the foreign banks will be debited from your account.

if you do not tag this item the beneficiary will have to pay the foreign bank charges and you only pay the local service and SWIFT charges (currently 100.- + 400.- Baht at TFB).

opalhort

[Nam Kao]

Thanks for all the advice,

It sounds like worse case is

1) Wire in 400K my first year, keep in same account

2) Withdraw as necessary. keep receipts to show I supported my wife

3) At end of year wire out what I did not use

4) Wire back in a fresh 400K at next extension

5) Mai Pen Rai

Also I posted the same question at Thaiimmigration.com, lets see what kind

of answer we get

[Baaksida]

Yes, you can. I did it a couple of times from Bangkok Bank and Thai Farmers Bank (back then) to the U.S. (But beware of the hidden fees when doing it at the Thai Farmers Bank! I paid the wiring fees, just to find out later that I was charged again later...) 

you can avoid the later charges if you do not tag the 'pay in full' item on the form.

"pay in full" means the beneficiary will receive the full amount and charges incurred by the foreign banks will be debited from your account.

if you do not tag this item the beneficiary will have to pay the foreign bank charges and you only pay the local service and SWIFT charges (currently 100.- + 400.- Baht at TFB).

opalhort

Thanks for the advice opalhort!

Both accounts are mine anyway.

The beneficiary fees in the U.S. were (another) 15 USD in addition to the 600 (or 500?) baht paid to TFB.

Any idea about the local fees with TFB if I "pay in full" in Thailand, rather than "sharing with myself", paying roughly 1,200 baht as a total?

And can I avoid this way paying (again) in the U.S. when paying all fees in Thailand??

[opalhort]

The beneficiary fees in the U.S. were (another) 15 USD in addition to the 600 (or 500?) baht paid to TFB.

Any idea about the local fees with TFB if I "pay in full" in Thailand, rather than "sharing with myself", paying roughly 1,200 baht as a total?

And can I avoid this way paying (again) in the U.S. when paying all fees in Thailand?? 

The beneficiary will always have to pay the fee his/her local bank charges for a transaction. US$15.- sounds very reasonable.

The "pay in full" comes only into play if the money goes via other banks. For example if you send money to a small Bank in US it may go via Singapore and New York before it goes to your local bank. Each Bank along the way will deduct a comission. If you make it "pay in full" this comission will be charged to the sender at the current exchange rate and the beneficiary will receive the full $ amount you sent (but still has to pay the local transaction charge). If you do not make it "pay in full" the comission will be deducted from the amount in transit and the beneficiary will received less than what you have sent and still has to pay the local charge).

When sending money make sure the sending bank has a direct account with the beneficiary's bank otherwise the transfer will go via a transit bank which can be costly (usually $20-30) per bank through which the transfer passes.

opalhort

[Baaksida]

The beneficiary will always have to pay the fee his/her local bank charges for a transaction. US$15.- sounds very reasonable...

Thanks for the detailed and professional information, opalhort!

[Udox]

Has anyone just shown 400K in a thai bank and been

approved?

Yes !

[Nam Kao]

Thanks Udox, which Imm. Office was that?

[Roger13]

3) At end of year wire out what I did not use

4) Wire back in a fresh 400K at next extension

Nam Kao,

How did you reach THAT conclusion?

I agree with ManFromOz & Astral

a Top Up is acceptable.

You will (if asked - but VERY doubtful)

still have evidence that the Original transfer

came from abroad.

Roger

[Thetyim]

I agree with Roger.

I did it that way for nine years.

[Nam Kao]

Thanks Roger and Thetyin, excellent news

My conclusion was the worse case scenario

Anybody working people out there need my alarm clock ??

Out at 39

[Martin]

Nam Kao: whereabouts up-country are you going to live?

10k seems low, unless you are going to live very simply.

Though we have no rent to pay, we go through much more than that.

But maybe our 'basics beyond food' are a bit higher than absolutely necessary.

I reckon on around 2000 for electricity (though if I am not home, with the a/c on, this drops to 400), 3000 for car (fuel, running expenses etc), water 500, mobile phone 1200, UBC 1800, landline 500, Internet 1000----which totals 10k----and I may well have forgotten something(s).

[Udox]

Thanks Udox, which Imm. Office was that?

It was Nong Khai Immigration Office and the Officer told me he wasn't concerned where the money came from - only that it was in my bank account. This was prior to me submitting my application when I was asking what I would require ( I could have questioned why it was 400k and not 200k as I was applying before the increase in July - but thought it better to just comply with their requirements)

At actual application time I had to transfer the money in anyway which of course shows as a transfer in your bank book - So I guess I was 'fully compliable' anyway

[Martin]

Glad to hear it is the Nong Khai office.

No problems there.

Treat them courteously and they will treat you completely fairly, and after a year or two, when they have established that you belong in their mental category of 'good farang', you may be surprised at how helpful they can be.

Even the apparently formidable lady has a heart of gold----but she has to be formidable to survive some of the complete pillocks amongst the applicants.

Of course the one thing they can't do is to send an incomplete/inadequate application to Bangkok. That would land both you and them up the proverbial creek.

[john b good]

All you need to do it top up the amount each year to get to the 400k. What you are proposing is the whole idea of the money in the bank. you bring in 400k, use it for living and at the end of the year bring in more so you can live for another year.

Thanks ManfromOz, but from what i read - you need to show that 400K was

"wired in from your home country" a receipt from a thai bank saying 400K came in -

not a thai bank balance. Has anyone just shown 400K in a thai bank and been

approved?

Another question I have is - can you wire $$ out of Thailand (in general) ??

Thanks for anymore help anyone

Nam

I have shown that I had the money in the bank.

There has never ever been any questions as to where it came from. Or when or how etc.

And yes you can wire money out of Thailand but you could (depending who you are dealing with in the bank) be limited to US$10,000/month.

[Martin]

Nong Khai officers give you a 'form' letter to show your bank.

The bank then types out the letter with your name in and showing the amounts and dates the money has come in from abroad.

The Nong Khai officer highlighted the bit of the letter that was Thai for "received from abroad" and told me to stress to the bank that that had to be included.

The bank (a village branch) just took the dates and amounts shown in my passbook.

Presumably the code tells them that it has come in from abroad.

[Jeff1]

Could I put the 400,000 in the bank with travelers checks from the U.S. ? Or is that to easy

[Martin]

It should be OK. But ask the bank for a letter saying that you did it.

However, if you look at the costs I think you will find that to buy travellers cheques just to bring them to LOS and put them in the bank here is an unnecessarily expensive way if transferring money.

Personnally, I only use travellers cheques in the rare circumstances where I feel there is a danger that I may be mugged and robbed.

It sticks in my craw to pay a bank to accept an interest-free loan from me!!

[Jeff1]

Thanks for the reply Martin,

My bank does not charge me for travelers checks and with them I get a better dollar to baht rate

[Martin]

Jeff1: which bank is that?

I ask because I am interested in pointing out how banks/Thomas Cook etc rip us off. (For instance, UK banks hide a 'commission' of up to 2.75% in their baht to GBP rate on all use of their VISA cards abroad.)

But, if there is a bank that gives a 'fair crack of the whip' on travellers cheques I will give them the credit.

[wowpow]

Travellers cheques would not prove to the bank that the money came from abroad. You can buy US$ T/Ch in Thailand.

[lopburi3]

Could I put the 400,000 in the bank with travelers checks from the U.S. ? Or is that to easy

You should use a wire transfer (which will give you just as good exchange rate) or have bank debit your bank Visa/Master debit card (would probably take a couple of times as there are normally daily limits of about $5,000). These are both direct bank to bank transactions and can be proven. To exchange travelers checks is one act - to deposit another - it appears as a local cash deposit in your account (not what you want). Yes you could keep receipts etc but immigration does not have to accept them, and probably would not.

Taking five minutes to do a wire transfer by phone is a lot easier than cashing a book of travelers checks (at least for me it is). Just be sure to set up a wire transfer agreement before you come here.