Agent says i need 500,000 for one month to renew visa

[JoeyMac]

I am on a O visa as a guardian for my daughter who studies here. 

 

Agent suddenly tells me that i needed 500,000 in my Thai account for at least a month to renew my visa. Well thanks for telling me this now !

 

Is this accurate ?

[Felton Jarvis]

This sounds dodgy, except that "This Is Thailand".  Who knows??

[Crossy]

I stand to be corrected but I thought the financials were the same as a marriage extension, 400,000 in the bank for 1 month or a demonstrated income of 40,000 per month.

 

I'm sure those-that-knows will be along shortly.

 

@BritTim is your man I believe.

 

EDIT Update, 500,000 is the correct value as confirmed in later posts.

[Lemsta69]

Your agent is full of it because visas cannot be renewed. Oops, I means "visa's" cannot be renewed.

[Havefunme]

Try another agent or 2 see what they say every agent is different .

[Shop mak]

OP, What city you stay?

 

Edit: seem that you stay in Bangkok, right?

Members in BKK who know good agents?

[steve187]

says 500,000thb here- Visa Extension – สำนักงานตรวจคนเข้าเมือง – Immigration Bureau   see section 11 here -  Visa Extension – สำนักงานตรวจคนเข้าเมือง – Immigration Bureau

[Liquorice]

Section 2.11 of Immigration Order 327/2557.
2.11 In the case of being a family member of an alien who has been permitted a temporary stay in the Kingdom for study in an educational institution according to Clauses 2.8 or 2.9 hereof (applicable only to parents, spouse, children, adopted children, or spouse’s children):

Each permission shall be granted for no more than one year.

 

(1) The alien must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-IM).

(2) The alien must have proof of relationship.

(3) In the case of spouse, the relationship must be de jure and de facto: or

(4) In the case of children, adopted children, or spouse's children, said children, adopted children, and spouse's children must not be married, must live with the alien as part of the family, and must not be over 20 years of age: or

(5) In the case of parents, funds must be deposited in a bank in Thailand, under the father's or the mother's name, of no less than Baht 500,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 30 days prior to the filing date.

 

327-2557 (2014) - Criteria for extension ENG.pdf

[Daithi85]

4 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

Your agent is full of it because visas cannot be renewed. Oops, I means "visa's" cannot be renewed.

Agent was correct 500,000 in bank is needed.

[Lite Beer]

Yes. 500,000 Baht is the correct amount.

[Pattaya57]

18 minutes ago, Daithi85 said:

Agent was correct 500,000 in bank is needed.

Don't people use an agent so that the 500,000 in bank is not needed though?

[observer90210]

It would be a different story if the agent wanted a 500k fee🤣 but here it is for the bank a/c so makes sense...until the rule changes.

[JimTripper]

don't give access to your account with 500k in it

[noobexpat]

People live here and keep less than 500k in their account? - it seems common, but i am amazed folks are comfortable with it.

 

[Tod Daniels]

A 'guardian visa' is one issued because you have a foreign child legally here on an ED visa and it requires the 500K baht in a thai account in your name only for 30 days before you apply for the FIRST yearly extension and then for every subsequent yearly extension the funds need to be in the account for 3 months

 

[JoeyMac]

3 hours ago, noobexpat said:

People live here and keep less than 500k in their account? - it seems common, but i am amazed folks are comfortable with it.

 

 

Some have international bank accounts. 

[it is what it is]

do it yourself, then you'll have no chance of being misled. it's not difficult.

[chris carre]

Why do you need an agent.Visa,s cant be renewed once it is used ot is gone.Do you mean you want to apply for an extension of your permission to stay.There is a differance.

[Skipalongcassidy]

It still continues to amaze me that people want to apply for certain visas and such without checking what may be needed... then when they are told by agents who respectfully arrange these certain visas and such everyday what is required and they are dumbfounded. 

Believe it or not the information is available in this day and age... not that it doesn't vary from time to time and from IO to IO... but generally it is right there to be had.

Instead they resort to a forum voicing their astonishment.

[Crossy]

8 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

A 'guardian visa' is one issued because you have a foreign child legally here on an ED visa and it requires the 500K baht in a thai account in your name only for 30 days before you apply for the FIRST yearly extension and then for every subsequent yearly extension the funds need to be in the account for 3 months

 

 

Is there an "income" option like for marriage and retirement extensions??

[xtof2]

Hello. 
i am on a guardian visa. You do need to have 500k on your account to get it  the first tome and also to renew every year. This amount has to be there , I think, 2 months before renewal and 1 month after. 
You will need a letter from your bank to acknowledge that.. And to add 100 baht just before going for your stamp! With your passbook.

The purpose to have an agent is to avoid all that including the 500k deposit !

[Lite Beer]

26 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Is there an "income" option like for marriage and retirement extensions??

In the case of parents, funds must be deposited in a bank in Thailand, under the father’s or the
mother’s name, of no less than Baht 500,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the
applicant must have proof of a deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained
for no less than 30 days prior to the filing date.

[herfiehandbag]

I wonder whether the agent has broached the subject of an "alternative process" yet, and quoted you the "service fee"!

[ChipButty]

11 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

Don't people use an agent so that the 500,000 in bank is not needed though?

I know somebody who is a complete lazy son of a bitch and uses the agent for everything he has no intentions of going to the immigration, and he has the money so no problem there. 

[Gknrd]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

I know somebody who is a complete lazy son of a bitch and uses the agent for everything he has no intentions of going to the immigration, and he has the money so no problem there. 

Haha, I always liked going to immigration. I always meet allot of different people.. 

[FritsSikkink]

13 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

Don't people use an agent so that the 500,000 in bank is not needed though?

Not everybody needs to bribe an immigration officer but just wants someone else take care of the procedure to save time.

[charleskerins]

4 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

It still continues to amaze me that people want to apply for certain visas and such without checking what may be needed... then when they are told by agents who respectfully arrange these certain visas and such everyday what is required and they are dumbfounded. 

Believe it or not the information is available in this day and age... not that it doesn't vary from time to time and from IO to IO... but generally it is right there to be had.

Instead they resort to a forum voicing their astonishment.

Asking a question is astonishment?   What do you think the purpose of the forum is -so you can ridicule someone for asking a question that others have the answers to?  Astonishing.

[timendres]

20 hours ago, noobexpat said:

People live here and keep less than 500k in their account? - it seems common, but i am amazed folks are comfortable with it.

 

What if I have $1M in my US bank account, and ATM access to that money, and CC's with limits totaling over $100K USD?

Do I still need that much money in a Thai bank account?

[Jaggg88]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

 

What if I have $1M in my US bank account, and ATM access to that money, and CC's with limits totaling over $100K USD?

Do I still need that much money in a Thai bank account?

You still need the money in a Thai bank account. Foreign bank deposits cannot be used for visa extensions.

[FruitPudding]

On 11/2/2023 at 4:13 PM, Crossy said:

I stand to be corrected but I thought the financials were the same as a marriage extension, 400,000 in the bank for 1 month or a demonstrated income of 40,000 per month.

 

I'm sure those-that-knows will be along shortly.

 

@BritTim is your man I believe.

 

EDIT Update, 500,000 is the correct value as confirmed in later posts.

 

It is the same as marriage, 400 000 (two months before), unless it changed recently.

 

Or maybe it's different at different offices.