Extra account for retirement visa?

[jethro69]

Although I have already a BB account, I was wondering what is the normal way to go for the visa fund requirements?

I could probably manage to keep my balance over 400/800K as required, but just imagine your card get hacked and the balance drops under the required amount. Assume there are better ways, even in Thailand.

[Reginald Prewster]

The Immigration will ask for a bank book with the amount of 800k for retirement and 400k for marriage visa.

I have it on a Bank account where I have no card for, and I have to come to the bank in person with my bank book.

Pretty safe I guess.. 

[KhunBENQ]

It's your choice.

I have a separate fixed deposit account since ever.

No transactions at ATM or over internet possible.

Much recommended.

The fixed deposit must allow withdrawal of the current balance at any time (only loosing interest).

 

I think the topic is better in the visa forum.

Similar has been discussed multiple times.

[KhunBENQ]

To be precise: for the first extension in 2012 I had the amount in a normal savings account.

It was the immigration officer(!) at Khon Kaen who suggested I should better move it to a fixed deposit. At that time there was a significant interest rate on these.

[Lacessit]

7 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

It's your choice.

I have a separate fixed deposit account since ever.

No transactions at ATM or over internet possible.

Much recommended.

The fixed deposit must allow withdrawal of the current balance at any time (only loosing interest).

 

I think the topic is better in the visa forum.

Similar has been discussed multiple times.

Agree 100%. Anything with a card or internet is liable to be hacked, skimmed or scammed.

A dedicated passbook with the 800/400K balance untouched during the year cannot be operated by anyone else, except the executor of a will with a lot of documentation.

Having the balance untouched also means plain sailing when it is extension time.

[Crossy]

Let's pop this over to Visas for a wider audience.

[Jingthing]

You can use multiple accounts 

[Hanaguma]

What kind of interest can you get on a fixed deposit in the Land of Smiles?  Royal Bank in Canada just sent me an offer of 5% on a GIC.   Nothing near that I imagine...

[Havefunme]

With 1 bank I have 3 accounts with them the one I use just for my yearly extension and nothing else 

[OJAS]

I wholeheartedly endorse the view that it is best to open a second account with no internet access or card linked to it in order to house the 800,000 THB minimum balance needed for retirement extension purposes.

 

In your case, though, I would strongly advise you against opening a second account with Bangkok Bank since the Deposit Protection Agency's guarantee scheme limit of 1,000,000 THB covers ALL accounts which you might hold with that particular bank.

 

[OJAS]

14 minutes ago, Havefunme said:

With 1 bank I have 3 accounts with them the one I use just for my yearly extension and nothing else 

Probably not a good idea to hold 3 accounts with 1 bank IMHO in view of the DPA scheme 1m limit to which I have just referred.

[jethro69]

57 minutes ago, OJAS said:

I wholeheartedly endorse the view that it is best to open a second account with no internet access or card linked to it in order to house the 800,000 THB minimum balance needed for retirement extension purposes.

 

In your case, though, I would strongly advise you against opening a second account with Bangkok Bank since the Deposit Protection Agency's guarantee scheme limit of 1,000,000 THB covers ALL accounts which you might hold with that particular bank.

 

Wouldn't be a problem for me. I never wired more than 4000€ ~150K Baht at a time to my account and used up that money until it dropped into the 4 digits range. 

Nowadays I use even much smaller amounts each time with Wise, as they arrive in my account within seconds.

So the 1000000. I won't probably reach anyways.

[Classic Ray]

Just a reminder that the account you use for this purpose must be in your sole name otherwise the balance required doubles.

[rwill]

I think it is better to have a separate account for the immigration requirement for a couple of reasons.  

1)  To have bank statements that don't have 100's of entries for immigration to look at.

2) To keep you from accidentially overspending and dropping below the required amount.

 

I imagine even a regular savings account you could open without getting a card for it if you wanted.

[davidstipek]

14 hours ago, jethro69 said:

Although I have already a BB account, I was wondering what is the normal way to go for the visa fund requirements?

I could probably manage to keep my balance over 400/800K as required, but just imagine your card get hacked and the balance drops under the required amount. Assume there are better ways, even in Thailand.

Most Retirement accounts cannot have CcC attached. ONLY YOU HAVE ACCESS. In other words to function it's Face to Face, must present your Passport. Only you have access.

 

I have 4 accounts, regular with Debit Card, Retirement Account and Savings (Used for major purchases.) Interest from Retirement account is automatically transferred here. SSI Account for Retirement Deposits (Monthly) this also gets my Transfers from my Money Market Accounts. Again only I have access, any dealings with Bank are face/face must present Passport which is a 2nd security measure as I sign a copy and it is used to compare with Bankbook and Photo is used to verify I am the Owner of account.

It sounds and looks like alot, it's really quite simple. The only accounts anyone else has access to is the Debit Card Account and the Interest Bearing Account.

This has worked quite well since 2005.  I am secure and my wife is HAPPY!

Thas all that really matters, Right?

[lopburi3]

9 minutes ago, davidstipek said:

Most Retirement accounts cannot have CcC attached. ONLY YOU HAVE ACCESS. In other words to function it's Face to Face, must present your Passport. Only you have access.

There is no such requirement for 65k monthly accounts or 400/800k yearly accounts.

[terryq]

26 minutes ago, davidstipek said:

Most Retirement accounts cannot have CcC attached. ONLY YOU HAVE ACCESS. In other words to function it's Face to Face, must present your Passport. Only you have access.

 

I

Thought that was an American requirement relating to direct Govt. payments.

 

As said, certainly not a Thai Immigration rule.

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, terryq said:

Thought that was an American requirement relating to direct Govt. payments.

 

As said, certainly not a Thai Immigration rule.

Indeed it was a requirement when using New York office to transfer funds - which is no longer an option.  Bank is responsible for return of funds paid after death so this was a check on that.

[Lite Beer]

As said, open a fixed deposit account and don't touch it.

[sirineou]

I was commingling funds in a bank account and last extension for an oversitem the balance in it, dropped below 400k for a day or two  a  few days at the beginning of months required for the extension.

 So even though we showed a significantly larger balance all year, it was no can do. It was explained at our local IO that they were not the ones who did  the extension, the paperwork was send to a regional IO for approval and they will fail the application and their office will be represented for sending them an application that did not meet the requirements. The manager at the IO  suggested that I simply overstay for a couple of days and by such time the funds would have been in the bank for  the three months required. I asked if I would get in any trouble , she  said not to worry she was the one who handled overstays , and it was only a few days, there will only be a small fine. So I did the overstay and we did the extension no problem.

But the experience taught me a lesson. Now I have a dedicated account with no debit card.  where the 400k is kept year around . I might be a bit more concerned if it was 800k, but 400k is not a very big amount, and also has the added peace of mind of knowing that if needed that money is always there. As I said I might feel differently if it was 800k

Edited July 5, 2023 by sirineou

[RocketDog]

Joining several others here. I got a Fixed deposit acct on advice from an immigration officer I know in Huahin office. Definitely the way to.go.

[bamnutsak]

17 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Agree 100%. Anything with a card or internet is liable to be hacked, skimmed or scammed.

 

It could just be a result of the publicity surrounding inside embezzlement, but it feels like those are quite prevalent here.

 

Google, copy and paste: thailand bank employees embezzle money site:aseannow.com

 

 

[MrMuddle]

I'd recommend a separate fixed rate deposit account, in your name only. I've found that my local Immigration Office prefers this, as it's much easier for them to track any incomings and outgoings. If you can afford it, leave the 800k in the Bank permanently, saves worrying about the withdrawal penalties!

[Coota]

37 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

Joining several others here. I got a Fixed deposit acct on advice from an immigration officer I know in Huahin office. Definitely the way to.go.

Which bank do you and others have a fixed deposit account?

[RocketDog]

1 minute ago, Coota said:

Which bank do you and others have a fixed deposit account?

I use Bangkok Bank for the fixed account. Of course I don't know about others.

[wwest5829]

19 hours ago, jethro69 said:

Although I have already a BB account, I was wondering what is the normal way to go for the visa fund requirements?

I could probably manage to keep my balance over 400/800K as required, but just imagine your card get hacked and the balance drops under the required amount. Assume there are better ways, even in Thailand.

For over a decade, I have used my Bangkok Bank Account for daily living and transferring in my monthly 65K+ from the USA via Wise. I then transfer some funds to my separate Kasikorn Account which is kept in excess of 400K baht to use in emergency, as backup for Visa Extension and to go to Wife when I croke.

[voyagerUSA]

My agent told me that the 800k balance must be always in the same bank account, so if I move the money to a different account during the year even at the same bank I will no longer qualify for the visa. So then if this is true you are stuck forever in whatever account you started at retirement unless want to spend a year without a visa.

[Reginald Prewster]

19 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

It was the immigration officer(!) at Khon Kaen who suggested I should better move it to a fixed deposit.

That's where I got it also from, helpful suggestion in my opinion. 

[Lite Beer]

3 hours ago, sirineou said:

The manager at the IO  suggested that I simply overstay for a couple of days and by such time the funds would have been in the bank for  the three months required. 

The requirement is for the money to be in the bank for TWO months.

[DJ54]

4 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

There is no such requirement for 65k monthly accounts or 400/800k yearly accounts.

Direct deposit ( from US via BB US to BB Thailand) for US Social Security at BB. Only recipient on account, No ATM, No internet banking ( you can check balance, request statement via email password protected) any transactions at bank by recipient only. I use the monthly 65k + method.
 

Easy enough once a month or what’s convenient go to bank transfer to another account internet, ATM account.