800k Baht for retirement visa, bank book entries question.

[AusDieMaus]

Hello, in the requirements for applying for a non-o retirement visa it states that prove of international funds transfer of 800k Baht into the bank account is required. Copies of all pages of the bank book have to be provided. Does someone know how the IO knows that funds have come from overseas? Will they check where the money came from exactly? Or does that not matter as long as it has been transferred from outside of Thailand? Does anyone know?

[Jingthing]

Just now, AusDieMaus said:

Hello, in the requirements for applying for a non-o retirement visa it states that prove of international funds transfer of 800k Baht into the bank account is required. Copies of all pages of the bank book have to be provided. Does someone know how the IO knows that funds have come from overseas? Will they check where the money came from exactly? Or does that not matter as long as it has been transferred from outside of Thailand? Does anyone know?

Deposits in the passbook have a coding system that identify international transfers.

[AusDieMaus]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Deposits in the passbook have a coding system that identify international transfers.

Ok thats good to know. I had money coming from different sources and different countries. Will this make a difference or create any problems? Or is the main thing that it came into Thailand from another country?

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, AusDieMaus said:

Ok thats good to know. I had money coming from different sources and different countries. Will this make a difference or create any problems? Or is the main thing that it came into Thailand from another country?

No difference as long as international transfer.

[DrJack54]

5 hours ago, AusDieMaus said:

I had money coming from different sources and different countries. Will this make a difference or create any problems? Or is the main thing that it came into Thailand from another country?

That won't be an issue.

 

However having correct codes doesn't necessarily occur just because the funds came from abroad. 

For example WISE transfers may land in partner bank eg BBL or Kasikorn and in turn be transferred into your bank.

That code will not be shown as international transfers.

Ask the bank about obtaining "Credit Advice" if any transactions are not shown as international. 

[AusDieMaus]

6 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

That won't be an issue.

 

However having correct codes doesn't necessarily occur just because the funds came from abroad. 

For example WISE transfers may land in partner bank eg BBL or Kasikorn and in turn be transferred into your bank.

That code will not be shown as international transfers.

Ask the bank about obtaining "Credit Advice" if any transactions are not shown as international. 

Thank you. Just in case I will be printing out all transfer documents of my foreign banks to prove, just in case.

[DrJack54]

40 minutes ago, AusDieMaus said:

Thank you. Just in case I will be printing out all transfer documents of my foreign banks to prove, just in case.

If you are doing "bank to bank" Transfers then they will show as international in your Thai bank account. 

Many guys in Thailand use companies such as WISE and sometimes transfers are not show as international, 

 

[loong]

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

If you are doing "bank to bank" Transfers then they will show as international in your Thai bank account. 

Many guys in Thailand use companies such as WISE and sometimes transfers are not show as international, 

 

Transfers from my English bank to Kasikorn Bank do not show as international transfers. The code is TFN which means a transfer with no book.

[loong]

As far as I know, there has never been any necessity to show that the 800K came from abroad. It is only necessary to show that the money came from abroad if using 65K per month remittance.

Has something changed as I have never been required to prove that the 800K in my bank has come from abroad.

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, loong said:

Transfers from my English bank to Kasikorn Bank do not show as international transfers. The code is TFN which means a transfer with no book

Go to your bank and discuss "credit advice" 

Kasikorn also have English fluent via phone.  The teller will connect if not understand what you require. 

Do you provide 12 month bank statement to immigration

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, loong said:

As far as I know, there has never been any necessity to show that the 800K came from abroad. It is only necessary to show that the money came from abroad if using 65K per month remittance

That's correct. 

Using money in bank for extensions no need to show funds from abroad. 

Only required for income method. 

[khunPer]

19 hours ago, AusDieMaus said:

Hello, in the requirements for applying for a non-o retirement visa it states that prove of international funds transfer of 800k Baht into the bank account is required. Copies of all pages of the bank book have to be provided. Does someone know how the IO knows that funds have come from overseas? Will they check where the money came from exactly? Or does that not matter as long as it has been transferred from outside of Thailand? Does anyone know?

If you apply for a non-O visa domestically, the 800k funds need to be transferred from abroad. Banks will often show a code, for example will Bangkok Bank show FTT – to my knowledge short for: Foreign Telegaphic Transfer – using Wise for transfor, you can also raquire a foreign code to be stated in your bankbook.

 

If you have entered Thailand on a non-O visa and are thinking of the one year extension, there is no requirement for deposit(s) from abroad, just there is 800k baht in the bank two month before applying for extension of stay.

 

However, if you use the monthly income of equivalent to minimum 65k baht per month, the funds need to be transferred from abroad.

[timendres]

As @khunPer stated, obtaining the Non=O domestically will require proof the funds came from abroad.

I know this first hand, because I complained vehemently about it.

I had worked here for 10 years, and saved up the 800K required.

But I was forced to wire it to my bank in the US, then wire it back. Eating the fees and spreads.

In my case, I was required to show evidence of the "Credit Advice", which is the document that a bank

produces when wiring money abroad. I had to show the credit advice from the US and from Bangkok Bank.

I also needed to provide the bank book showing the deposit and current balance.

 

[Colabamumbai]

On 3/20/2025 at 11:44 PM, Jingthing said:

Deposits in the passbook have a coding system that identify international transfers.

FTT.  Foreign Transfer

[DrJack54]

4 hours ago, Colabamumbai said:

FTT.  Foreign Transfer

"FTT" in banking refers to Foreign Telegraphic Transfer

[oxo1947]

7 hours ago, timendres said:

obtaining the Non=O domestically will require proof the funds came from abroad.

 

 As always in Thailand --- different branch = different interpretations, In the city I live (Issan) I have just kept the same bank book sitting with the same funds for years--just up date it every month, to show it hasn't been touched . 

Have a 2nd book for general transaction (living expenses ) full of  (credits / Debits) which I do not take along.

[Packer]

8 hours ago, timendres said:

As @khunPer stated, obtaining the Non=O domestically will require proof the funds came from abroad.

I know this first hand, because I complained vehemently about it.

I had worked here for 10 years, and saved up the 800K required.

But I was forced to wire it to my bank in the US, then wire it back. Eating the fees and spreads.

 

That sounds odd.

 

Wouldn't it have been an option to go to a neighboring country, get a single entry non-o visa based on retirement and come back the next day, then go to get the 12 month extension using the 800k you had saved inside Thailand?

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, oxo1947 said:

As always in Thailand --- different branch = different interpretations, In the city I live (Issan) I have just kept the same bank book sitting with the same funds for years--just up date it every month, to show it hasn't been touched

You are typing about extensions.

The OP inquired about obtaining a Non O retirement inside of Thailand.

For that he needs to show 800k from abroad

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, Packer said:

But I was forced to wire it to my bank in the US, then wire it back

Just posting this for others....

A way around that would have been to obtain the Non O outside of Thailand. 

Embarrassing but when I first planned to obtain Non O retirement, I was very green and didn't know about this requirement.

I had taken equivalent to 800k in cash into Thailand.

As a result I ended up in Vientiane to obtain the Non O 

[khunPer]

14 hours ago, timendres said:

As @khunPer stated, obtaining the Non=O domestically will require proof the funds came from abroad.

I know this first hand, because I complained vehemently about it.

I had worked here for 10 years, and saved up the 800K required.

But I was forced to wire it to my bank in the US, then wire it back. Eating the fees and spreads.

In my case, I was required to show evidence of the "Credit Advice", which is the document that a bank

produces when wiring money abroad. I had to show the credit advice from the US and from Bangkok Bank.

I also needed to provide the bank book showing the deposit and current balance.

If you have been working here (non-B) or former stayed with extensions as married (non-O) – and saved up the 800k baht for retirement – you can change your permission to stay to be as retiree; then you don't need to leave the kingdom or show funds from abroad. However, if your former permission to stay expires without being duly extended, you need a new visa. This is mentioned for other readers of the forum.

 

It's way more easy to use the non-O e-visa method from abroad than domestic applying for a non-O based on retirement. Besides the fund transfer from abroad, the immigration office can also require proof of address with a bit complicated procedure, if you haven't settled more permanently yet within the first 30 days after visa exempt entry. And on top there might be immigration offices like Surat Thani (Samui) that won't issue a non-O.

[timendres]

21 hours ago, khunPer said:

If you have been working here (non-B) or former stayed with extensions as married (non-O) – and saved up the 800k baht for retirement – you can change your permission to stay to be as retiree; then you don't need to leave the kingdom or show funds from abroad. However, if your former permission to stay expires without being duly extended, you need a new visa. This is mentioned for other readers of the forum.

 

The issue was that I was here on a Non-B visa, which I extended based on work permit. However, my working days ended and I wanted to change to a retirement extension. The retirement extension requires a Non-O visa. You cannot obtain a retirement extension based on a Non-B visa. Thus, I was required to leave and re-enter the country to obtain the Non-O. There are some who claim to have managed to make the change from Non-B to Non-O without leaving the country, and at the moment I cannot remember the circumstances that allowed then to do that, but prevented me from doing the same. Having left and re-entered "visa exempt", then obtaining the Non-O in country, I was required to show the 800K and demonstrate that it came from abroad - requiring both bank statements and the transfer "credit advice" from the bank.

[timendres]

On 3/22/2025 at 9:09 AM, Packer said:

That sounds odd.

 

Wouldn't it have been an option to go to a neighboring country, get a single entry non-o visa based on retirement and come back the next day, then go to get the 12 month extension using the 800k you had saved inside Thailand?

 

As mentioned above, I exited Thailand and re-entered the next day, but using visa exempt. I doubt I could obtain a Non-O visa "in one day" outside of Thailand. You are correct, however, that if I had obtained a Non-O outside Thailand, it would already meet the 800K requirement. That said, I have my doubts that 800K sitting in a Thai bank account could be used to obtain the Non-O outside Thailand. Maybe I am wrong about that,

[timendres]

On 3/22/2025 at 8:55 AM, oxo1947 said:

As always in Thailand --- different branch = different interpretations

 

You are SO right about that. I was dealing with Chaeng Watthana. They were very strict about the 800K.

[DrJack54]

27 minutes ago, timendres said:

You cannot obtain a retirement extension based on a Non-B visa. Thus, I was required to leave and re-enter the country to obtain the Non-O.

That should have been possible.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1339630-switching-from-non-b-to-marriage-or-retirement-visa/

[DrJack54]

25 minutes ago, timendres said:

That said, I have my doubts that 800K sitting in a Thai bank account could be used to obtain the Non-O outside Thailand

Would not be an issue for Non O obtained outside of Thailand. 

[DrJack54]

25 minutes ago, timendres said:

 

You are SO right about that. I was dealing with Chaeng Watthana. They were very strict about the 800K.

For financial requirements all immigration offices are VERY particular 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

 

The issue was that I was here on a Non-B visa, which I extended based on work permit. However, my working days ended and I wanted to change to a retirement extension. The retirement extension requires a Non-O visa. You cannot obtain a retirement extension based on a Non-B visa. Thus, I was required to leave and re-enter the country to obtain the Non-O. There are some who claim to have managed to make the change from Non-B to Non-O without leaving the country, and at the moment I cannot remember the circumstances that allowed then to do that, but prevented me from doing the same. Having left and re-entered "visa exempt", then obtaining the Non-O in country, I was required to show the 800K and demonstrate that it came from abroad - requiring both bank statements and the transfer "credit advice" from the bank.

To my knowledge and from what I've read from other AN-members, you can change your extension of stay to retirement on a non-B visa. When you enters without a visa and apply for a non-O, you need to show that funds are coming from abroad. If you need to leave and re-enter, just get a non-O from a neighbouring country, now with E-visa, earlier with one night's stay on an arranged visa run-tour; funds in a Thai bank was fine proof for obtaining that.

Mentioned as info for others, it's not for criticising your decision and experience.

[proton]

Had an email from the Thaivisa  centre, why do they need 5 months notice, is it harder to find IO's willing to look the other way these days?

 

Please note: If your next visa extension is still far in the future, we recommend contacting us closer to your extension date. For the best service and most current rates, please reach out when your extension is no more than 5 months away.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

9 minutes ago, proton said:

Had an email from the Thaivisa  centre, why do they need 5 months notice, is it harder to find IO's willing to look the other way these days?

 

Please note: If your next visa extension is still far in the future, we recommend contacting us closer to your extension date. For the best service and most current rates, please reach out when your extension is no more than 5 months away.

 

 

They are saying they don't want people pestering them if the extension is 5+ months away

[robz]

My bank transfers always contain the remark :

Descriptions: Trade Finance Deposit
Channel: Trade Finance