800K THB seasoning money for Non-Immigrant O (Retirement Visa)!?

[Ook]

Dear Thaivisa members,


I’ve a question in regards of the Non-Immigrant O (Retirement Visa), which I’m assisting my dad with.

One thing that confuses me and where I read (and hear) many different stories is regarding the actual seasoning money (800 K THB) coming from abroad.

Can someone please let me know if the actual incoming foreign fund transfer has to be in foreign currency and if the receiving bank in Thailand has to do the actual exchange from foreign currency into THB?

Problem is the following… I’ve instructed the bank in my dad’s home country to make a SWIFT transaction into his Thai Baht Account. However, the sending bank in Europe has already converted the EURO into Thai Baht when transferring the money into the Thai Baht account from Siam Commercial Bank.

The receiving bank has issued a Credit Advise Report, mentioning all details from the transaction, such as bank account and name details from the account holder in Europe. So in principle I can proof the funds were coming from abroad with SWIFT, but the only thing is that there’s no conversion done from EUR into THB by the receiving bank in Thailand. So the amount shown in the credit advise report is already in THB (not EURO) and no currency exchange rate has been mentioned in this report either.  

Not sure if that’s an issue and if the credit advice report is sufficient enough to proof to immigration that the funds came from abroad? Or is the actual conversion from foreign currency into THB by the receiving bank in Thailand the most essential to proof the money came from abroad?

Again thanks in advance for serious responses related to the initial topic.

Best regards,

J.Dee

[Olav Seglem]

Quite sure no problem if the money come as THB ir EURO.

[grain]

I've been doing these annual retirement extensions for the past 25 years, never has there been any questions about the money coming from abroad. Just as long as I have 800K THB sitting in a Thai bank account for the required period. In my case I just leave that money in the bank year after year. So I've never had any issues or any questions regarding the source of my bank balance.

[Felton Jarvis]

32 minutes ago, Ook said:

Dear Thaivisa members,


I’ve a question in regards of the Non-Immigrant O (Retirement Visa), which I’m assisting my dad with.

One thing that confuses me and where I read (and hear) many different stories is regarding the actual seasoning money (800 K THB) coming from abroad.

Can someone please let me know if the actual incoming foreign fund transfer has to be in foreign currency and if the receiving bank in Thailand has to do the actual exchange from foreign currency into THB?

Problem is the following… I’ve instructed the bank in my dad’s home country to make a SWIFT transaction into his Thai Baht Account. However, the sending bank in Europe has already converted the EURO into Thai Baht when transferring the money into the Thai Baht account from Siam Commercial Bank.

The receiving bank has issued a Credit Advise Report, mentioning all details from the transaction, such as bank account and name details from the account holder in Europe. So in principle I can proof the funds were coming from abroad with SWIFT, but the only thing is that there’s no conversion done from EUR into THB by the receiving bank in Thailand. So the amount shown in the credit advise report is already in THB (not EURO) and no currency exchange rate has been mentioned in this report either.  

Not sure if that’s an issue and if the credit advice report is sufficient enough to proof to immigration that the funds came from abroad? Or is the actual conversion from foreign currency into THB by the receiving bank in Thailand the most essential to proof the money came from abroad?

Again thanks in advance for serious responses related to the initial topic.

Best regards,

J.Dee

Use an agent.  “Seasoning” is something you do to enhance the flavour of food. Only the Thais use it to mean parking your money in a bank for a predetermined period of time. Agents solve all problems, unfortunately they usually charge too much so they can bribe Immigration.

[dick turpin]

For future reference always make a transfer

in local currency  euro/£ etc and let the Thai

bank make the conversion.... you will get a far 

better exchange rate.

[Ook]

22 minutes ago, grain said:

I've been doing these annual retirement extensions for the past 25 years, never has there been any questions about the money coming from abroad. Just as long as I have 800K THB sitting in a Thai bank account for the required period. In my case I just leave that money in the bank year after year. So I've never had any issues or any questions regarding the source of my bank balance.

But that's for the actual extension (proof of sufficient funds in account should be enough). But for the first time application of Non-Immigrant O, i believe there's the requirement to show it comes from abroad, right?

[Ook]

Leaves the question unanswered. Does the actual conversion of incoming foreign funds need to be done by the receiving bank or can the money coming from abroad also be in THB

[Lemsta69]

Euro bank ripped you off the sneaky buggers, you should contact them and tell them to put it right. Call the ombudsman if they refuse.

[dick turpin]

40 minutes ago, Ook said:

Leaves the question unanswered. Does the actual conversion of incoming foreign funds need to be done by the receiving bank or can the money coming from abroad also be in THB

As per my previous post doesn't matter who does the conversion,

but you will get a much better exchange rate if you let the Thai 

bank do the conversion.

 

Log onto the bangkok bank site and foreign exchange rates page

for current TT transfers and compare with the rate you got, you

can scroll back to the date you made your transfer.

[DrJack54]

2 hours ago, Ook said:

One thing that confuses me and where I read (and hear) many different stories is regarding the actual seasoning money (800 K THB) coming from abroad.

Your OP seems to indicate that your father is obtaining the Non O (based on retirement) in Thailand.

There is no seasoning of funds for that application.

There must be 800k in a Thai bank account in his name only on the day of application.

The funds need to come from overseas (unless the funds have been in Thai bank for some time) 

 

A commonly used company for money transfer is WISE.

If it's not coded FFT your bank in Thailand can provide credit advice.

 

Note that for subsequent applications for 12 month extensions the funds do not need to be shown as coming from o/s.

 

OP does your father have a Thai bank account in his name only? 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, Ook said:

Leaves the question unanswered. Does the actual conversion of incoming foreign funds need to be done by the receiving bank or can the money coming from abroad also be in THB

It's best to use a money transfer company.

Never to bank to bank transfers 

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, Ook said:

Leaves the question unanswered. Does the actual conversion of incoming foreign funds need to be done by the receiving bank or can the money coming from abroad also be in THB

In can be in THB but buy doing that you get worse exchange rate. Send in your currency and message to bank "Do not exchange funds'' otherwise sometimes it will be exchanged by a 'holding bank' first, giving you a lower rate. happened to me twice.

[brianthainess]

3 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

It's best to use a money transfer company.

Never to bank to bank transfers 

Sometimes depending on amount, their charge can be more than your bank. just saying.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, Felton Jarvis said:

“Seasoning” is something you do to enhance the flavour of food. Only the Thais use it to mean parking your money in a bank for a predetermined period of time.

Have a butcher's at the Oxford English Dictionary then.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, dick turpin said:

For future reference always make a transfer

in local currency  euro/£ etc and let the Thai

bank make the conversion.... you will get a far 

better exchange rate.

Unless you use WISE!

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, brianthainess said:

Sometimes depending on amount, their charge can be more than your bank. just saying.

I have never experienced that.

 

I periodically check a transfer using WISE against other options.

Haven't found better option. 

Might also depend on the country where funds are coming from.

 

 

[KannikaP]

10 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

It's best to use a money transfer company.

Never to bank to bank transfers 

A Wise suggestion.

[Ook]

19 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Your OP seems to indicate that your father is obtaining the Non O (based on retirement) in Thailand.

There is no seasoning of funds for that application.

There must be 800k in a Thai bank account in his name only on the day of application.

The funds need to come from overseas (unless the funds have been in Thai bank for some time) 

 

A commonly used company for money transfer is WISE.

If it's not coded FFT your bank in Thailand can provide credit advice.

 

Note that for subsequent applications for 12 month extensions the funds do not need to be shown as coming from o/s.

 

OP does your father have a Thai bank account in his name only? 

Thanks for the additional info. What kind of proof is generally accepted by Immigration to show the funds are coming from overseas?

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

A Wise suggestion.

Yep ....previously I used OFX who I found great and customer service via call back phone Sydney to Thailand was excellent.

However head to head comparison against WISE the winner was always WISE

[Red Phoenix]

17 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Your OP seems to indicate that your father is obtaining the Non O (based on retirement) in Thailand.

There is no seasoning of funds for that application.

There must be 800k in a Thai bank account in his name only on the day of application.

The funds need to come from overseas (unless the funds have been in Thai bank for some time) 

 

A commonly used company for money transfer is WISE.

If it's not coded FFT your bank in Thailand can provide credit advice.

 

Note that for subsequent applications for 12 month extensions the funds do not need to be shown as coming from o/s.

 

OP does your father have a Thai bank account in his name only? 

Clear and fully correct response by dr Jack54.

One sidenote to OP > Do provide the Imm Office where your father will apply for the 90-day Non Imm O (retirement) Visa, to avoid any 'surprises' . 

#1 - If that is is Chonburi (Pattaya) province, the rogue corrupt Imm Office there requires even for the initial 90-day Non Imm O Visa that the funds have been seasoned for 2 months on the applicants personal Thai bank account.  

#2 - And at Chiang-Rai Imm Office it's even worse, as they simply refuse there to do the 'change of Visa process' and tell applicants to go to the thai Embassy in Vientiane, Laos (an 800 km trip) and apply there for that 90-day Non Imm O Visa.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, Ook said:

Thanks for the additional info. What kind of proof is generally accepted by Immigration to show the funds are coming from overseas?

I'm no expert but it goes something like this.

A company eg WISE has Thai banks the deal with (partner banks for transfers) 

Let's say they have Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn.

If your bank bank in Thailand is not one of those the funds might land in Kasikorn and then be transferred to your Thai bank and the code in internal transfer.

Needs to be international.

 

No problem you go to your bank and request a "credit advice" 

This is a once off as it's only the 800k for the Non O that requires this.

Transfer for ongoing extensions does not require funds from abroad codes. 

[BritTim]

The absolute best evidence when using a SWIFT transfer is the MT103 document that you can request from your sending bank. Also good is the credit advice that the receiving bank in Thailand can provide.

[CMBob]

22 hours ago, Ook said:

.....The receiving bank has issued a Credit Advise Report, mentioning all details from the transaction, such as bank account and name details from the account holder in Europe. So in principle I can proof the funds were coming from abroad with SWIFT.....

You have all you need if they ask for proof that the funds came from abroad.

[soisanuk]

1 hour ago, CMBob said:

You have all you need if they ask for proof that the funds came from abroad.

Correct. As I read the OP, the money has already been transferred by the foreign bank in Thai baht, thus the sound advice to better have had it sent in foreign currency is moot.  The question was whether sending it in baht vs foreign currency will be acceptable for Thai Immigration.  It should be, as they want to see the funds are in the bank in Thai baht and that the funds came from outside of Thailand, the fact it was in baht should not be a problem.  I use the monthly income method for my extensions which requires 65k be transferred monthly to my Thai bank from outside of Thailand.  I use Wise for this purpose and they they do the conversion and supply the funds in Thai baht - Immigration has no problem with it being in baht instead of foreign currency.

 

However, as mentioned, if Pattaya Immigration (Jomtien) is the location where you plan to apply, then it will need to be seasoned for 2 months before applying for the Non O Visa (it is contrary to the rules as seasoning is only required to obtain the later extension, not the Visa itself, but that is what Pattaya Immigration is now requiring.

[khunPer]

On 8/23/2023 at 9:26 AM, Ook said:

One thing that confuses me and where I read (and hear) many different stories is regarding the actual seasoning money (800 K THB) coming from abroad.

Can someone please let me know if the actual incoming foreign fund transfer has to be in foreign currency and if the receiving bank in Thailand has to do the actual exchange from foreign currency into THB?

For the bank deposit there is no demand for the funds shall come from overseas/abroad – it could be a former foreign worker here that change status to retiree – however, the 800,000 baht shall be seasoned two month in a Thai bank account before application for extension of stay based on retirement.

 

If using the income method, the monthly amounts shall be be foreign transfers.

[Brick Top]

23 hours ago, Ook said:

But that's for the actual extension (proof of sufficient funds in account should be enough). But for the first time application of Non-Immigrant O, i believe there's the requirement to show it comes from abroad, right?

Yes , your correct , for the very first one , there is now a requirement to provide proof the funds came from overseas .

 

 

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, Brick Top said:

Yes , your correct , for the very first one , there is now a requirement to provide proof the funds came from overseas .

 

 

There are two completely different things. 

1. A Non O based on retirement 

2. 12 Month extension

 

For the Non O obtained in Thailand the funds need to be shown to come from abroad.

Not required if the Non O is obtained at a consulate/embassy.

 

For extensions the money is not required to have come from abroad. 

 

 

[nauseus]

23 hours ago, Ook said:

Leaves the question unanswered. Does the actual conversion of incoming foreign funds need to be done by the receiving bank or can the money coming from abroad also be in THB

It does not matter. But better to send foreign currency - forex rate here will be better.

[Negita43]

23 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

I periodically check a transfer using WISE against other options.

Haven't found better option.

https://wise.com/help/articles/2932335/guide-to-thb-transfers

[flexomike]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:32 PM, Olav Seglem said:

Quite sure no problem if the money come as THB ir EURO.

only issue is how much was lost by sending baht, never send baht to Thailand always use your home country currency