1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O Visa WITHOUT having a Thai bank-account

[Red Phoenix]

My immediate reaction on the above < getting a 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O Visa WITHOUT having a Thai bank-account > was that that is not possible.  But it seems that it IS possible at some Thai Immigration Offices.

And here is the case: Today I met somebody who was already staying 3 years in Thailand on 1-year extensions based on his original Non Imm O Visa who does NOT have a Thai bank-account.

And he was not bvllsh1tting me, as he showed me his Passport with the approved 1-year extensions for his Non Imm O Visa based on marriage.

Here some background:

3 years ago this Swedish guy applied for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage at the Thai Embassy in Sweden, which was granted.  He then moved to Thailand and at the end of the 90-days of that Non Imm O Visa he applied for the 1-year extension. 

He did - and still does - NOT have a Thai bank-account, but he uses the income-method and provides the Imm Office with the pension-statement from his Swedish pension-provider that he receives monthly an amount in excess of 40.000 THB as pension income.  He has that document officially translated in Thai and stamped by the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok. 

And that document is accepted by his local Immigration Office as proof of income with no need of showing transfers to a personal Thai bank-account.

 

Obviously a large number of Imm Offices would NOT accept the above, and would want him to show proof of having made monthly transfers of +40.000,- THB  to his personal Thai bank-account.  But indeed that's a local Imm Office interpretation, and HIS local Imm Office does not require it, as it is not in the official regulations that you need to transfer the pension-income funds to a personal Thai bank-account in order to be eligible for the 1-year extension.

 

So instead of going through the hassle of having your pension-income transferred to your Thai bank-account, and getting hold of the Bank-account statement and Bank-transfers of monthly income, it would be worthwhile to check with your local Imm Office if they actually need the Bank-documents or whether an Embassy stamped document of your home-country's pension-provider would be accepted for meeting the financial requirement. 

[Upnotover]

I think his office actually just follows the rules.  An embassy letter is one of the things accepted and has always been.

[Tod Daniels]

10 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

Obviously a large number of Imm Offices would NOT accept the above,

That statement is totally incorrect, and people from any embassy in Thailand that still offers the affidavit of income from abroad notary letter can use that method for proof of funds to meet the requirements for their extension.

 

The problem is that the US, UK, and Australian embassies all stopped issuing that letter at the end of 2018 beginning of 2019 😮 

 

So the only way people from those countries can meet proof of funds should they decide to use monthly income method is by international transfer of the required amount, each month, every month, for the previous 12 months before they apply for their next extension.

[Caldera]

33 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

Obviously a large number of Imm Offices would NOT accept the above, and would want him to show proof of having made monthly transfers of +40.000,- THB  to his personal Thai bank-account.

 

That has NEVER been a requirement when using an embassy letter.

 

You've made that up, or you've mixed it up with what those from the three countries whose embassies ceased to issue income confirmation letters have to do nowadays.

 

In other words, your post is complete nonsense. 

[Pattaya57]

So basically a very long OP just to say a guy uses a Swiss Embassy income letter to extend his non-imm O.  

[Upnotover]

1 minute ago, Pattaya57 said:

So basically a very long OP just to say a guy uses a Swiss Embassy income letter to extend his non-imm O.  

Well yes, but Swedish. Close though.

[owl sees all]

50 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

My immediate reaction on the above < getting a 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O Visa WITHOUT having a Thai bank-account > was that that is not possible.  But it seems that it IS possible at some Thai Immigration Offices.

And here is the case: Today I met somebody who was already staying 3 years in Thailand on 1-year extensions based on his original Non Imm O Visa who does NOT have a Thai bank-account.

And he was not bvllsh1tting me, as he showed me his Passport with the approved 1-year extensions for his Non Imm O Visa based on marriage.

Here some background:

3 years ago this Swedish guy applied for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage at the Thai Embassy in Sweden, which was granted.  He then moved to Thailand and at the end of the 90-days of that Non Imm O Visa he applied for the 1-year extension. 

He did - and still does - NOT have a Thai bank-account, but he uses the income-method and provides the Imm Office with the pension-statement from his Swedish pension-provider that he receives monthly an amount in excess of 40.000 THB as pension income.  He has that document officially translated in Thai and stamped by the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok. 

And that document is accepted by his local Immigration Office as proof of income with no need of showing transfers to a personal Thai bank-account.

 

Obviously a large number of Imm Offices would NOT accept the above, and would want him to show proof of having made monthly transfers of +40.000,- THB  to his personal Thai bank-account.  But indeed that's a local Imm Office interpretation, and HIS local Imm Office does not require it, as it is not in the official regulations that you need to transfer the pension-income funds to a personal Thai bank-account in order to be eligible for the 1-year extension.

 

So instead of going through the hassle of having your pension-income transferred to your Thai bank-account, and getting hold of the Bank-account statement and Bank-transfers of monthly income, it would be worthwhile to check with your local Imm Office if they actually need the Bank-documents or whether an Embassy stamped document of your home-country's pension-provider would be accepted for meeting the financial requirement. 

The whole point of the OP was to highlight that you don't always need a bank account to stay here legit. Interesting indeed.

 

How does he get his dosh to live on?

[Upnotover]

2 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

The whole point of the OP was to highlight that you don't always need a bank account to stay here legit. Interesting indeed.

 

How does he get his dosh to live on?

ATM?, Wife?.  Not hard really.

[Captain Monday]

3 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

 

How does he get his dosh to live on?

A bit of plastic and a PIN number?

[owl sees all]

1 minute ago, Upnotover said:

ATM?, Wife?.  Not hard really.

If yer gonna use the wife; may as well get an account for yourself.

[owl sees all]

1 minute ago, Captain Monday said:

A bit of plastic and a PIN number?

And if the card gets stolen, lost or damaged?

[Liquorice]

51 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

And that document is accepted by his local Immigration Office as proof of income with no need of showing transfers to a personal Thai bank-account.

 

Obviously a large number of Imm Offices would NOT accept the above, and would want him to show proof of having made monthly transfers of +40.000,- THB  to his personal Thai bank-account.  But indeed that's a local Imm Office interpretation, and HIS local Imm Office does not require it, as it is not in the official regulations that you need to transfer the pension-income funds to a personal Thai bank-account in order to be eligible for the 1-year extension.

The requirement is either'

1. 400K in a Thai bank for 2 months. OR,
2. 12 x 40K monthly transfers to a Thai bank, OR.

3. An Embassy Income letter.

[Captain Monday]

4 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

IAnd if the card gets stolen, lost or damaged? I don’t see why he doesn’t open a bank account here but if I lost a US card would call one of my bank and they send a replacement by FEDEX or UPS.      

[owl sees all]

4 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

11 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

IAnd if the card gets stolen, lost or damaged? I don’t see why he doesn’t open a bank account here but if I lost a US card would call one of my bank and they send a replacement by FEDEX or UPS.      

Good if you can do that.

 

I know two people who have had their UK bank accounts terminated because the banks found out the account holder lived in Thailand.

[DrJack54]

Living ongoing in Thailand without a Thai bank account is a nonsense. 

 

[Pattaya57]

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Living ongoing in Thailand without a Thai bank account is a nonsense. 

 

Well OP says guy was married so can easily use his Wife's bank account to transfer/withdraw baht to live

[DrJack54]

21 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

And if the card gets stolen, lost or damaged?

You left out fraudulent transaction.

Yesterday unauthorized transaction on my account in Sydney Australia.

Then a second attempt.

Picked up by my Oz bank.

Fortunately they have 24/7 for overseas issues. Rang today and they will issue new card which will go to my sister address and then she can forward photo both sides and things back to normal.

Bit off topic and only post as might be good advice for others.

Of course I will not have the physical card.

My earlier post stands up....

Why would anyone live in Thailand without a Thai bank account 

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Well OP says guy was married so can easily use his Wife's bank account to transfer/withdraw baht to live

Good point. Actually didn't think of that.

Would imagine almost zero would use that arrangement. 

Also OP did not specify extension based on marriage 

[Pattaya57]

12 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Good point. Actually didn't think of that.

Would imagine almost zero would use that arrangement. 

Also OP did not specify extension based on marriage 

 

Are you sure?

 

1 hour ago, Red Phoenix said:

...he showed me his Passport with the approved 1-year extensions for his Non Imm O Visa based on marriage.

[Upnotover]

1 hour ago, Red Phoenix said:

approved 1-year extensions for his Non Imm O Visa based on marriage.

 

9 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Also OP did not specify extension based on marriage 

 

[DrJack54]

For posts above re marriage.

Ok... Hopefully divorce never happens.

For the many using extensions based on retirement how do they live in Thailand without bank account.

I hate the tax topics however ongoing transfers to Thai wife or Thai partner might end up problematic in future. 

[DrJack54]

17 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Are you sure?

Big deal.

The thread is not about marriage .

You are not. If you were Swedish as per example in OP, would you have a Thai bank account.

Retorical question.

Of course you would 

Even if you were married you would have a Thai bank account..

[Red Phoenix]

57 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Big deal.

The thread is not about marriage .

You are not. If you were Swedish as per example in OP, would you have a Thai bank account.

Retorical question.

Of course you would 

Even if you were married you would have a Thai bank account..

The Swedish guy is already living 3 years in Thailand without a Thai bank-account.  He could of course withdraw funds from an ATM using his foreign debit or credit-card.  Or send money to himself using Western Union or similar service.  But obviously those are not the most economical ways of getting money, so I suggested to him that he opened a Thai bank-account.  Having a valid Non Imm O extension that shouldn't be too difficult for him.

[Caldera]

2 hours ago, owl sees all said:

And if the card gets stolen, lost or damaged?

 

I've heard that some people have more than just one ATM card. Just a rumor though.

 

Seriously though, we don't even know if that guy is in Thailand year-round. For all we know, he might fly back every 1-2 months and carry cash.

[DrJack54]

9 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

He could of course withdraw funds from an ATM using his foreign debit or credit-card. 

That is a nonsense.

Recently I had issue with one of my Oz bank accounts.

Not the one I posted earlier.

I decided to use and ATM which is attached to my condo building.

What a  mistake.

Cost me a lot and it was debit account 

OP, read first 2 replies.

 

[rattlesnake]

6 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

The Swedish guy is already living 3 years in Thailand without a Thai bank-account.  He could of course withdraw funds from an ATM using his foreign debit or credit-card.  Or send money to himself using Western Union or similar service.  But obviously those are not the most economical ways of getting money, so I suggested to him that he opened a Thai bank-account.  Having a valid Non Imm O extension that shouldn't be too difficult for him.

 

Or at least a Wise account + card.

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, Caldera said:

Seriously though, we don't even know if that guy is in Thailand year-round. For all we know, he might fly back every 1-2 months and carry cash.

In my first couple of years I carried big bucks every trip from Oz and went to best money exchange in Bangkok which is SuperRich green.

Guess what...that is inferior to WISE

[bigt3116]

11 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

That is a nonsense.

Recently I had issue with one of my Oz bank accounts.

Not the one I posted earlier.

I decided to use and ATM which is attached to my condo building.

What a  mistake.

Cost me a lot and it was debit account 

OP, read first 2 replies.

 

 

"nonsense", why, because you don't do it? Many people use their home country's bank account and an ATM here.

 

Yet again, you extrapolate your experience to mean that is the definitive answer. Everybody has different experiences, some good, some maybe not so much.

[Liquorice]

1 hour ago, bigt3116 said:

 

"nonsense", why, because you don't do it? Many people use their home country's bank account and an ATM here.

 

Yet again, you extrapolate your experience to mean that is the definitive answer. Everybody has different experiences, some good, some maybe not so much.

I quite understand tourists using their foreign debit cards to withdraw funds at a Thai ATM, but it's foolish and irresponsible for long stayers to use that method for funding their lifestyle in Thailand.

Whilst Immigration never check, I believe for those using Embassy Income letters, they make the wrongful 'assumption' the applicants are transferring income to a Thai bank account.
Just like they 'assumed' the Embassies were 'verifying' pension incomes.

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, bigt3116 said:

"nonsense", why, because you don't do it? Many people use their home country's bank account and an ATM here.

The bloke the OP referred to has been living in Thailand ongoing for 3 years.

To not have a Thai bank account is ludicrous.