Renewal Retirement Visa

[Targus]

I am a UK citizen and renewed my retirement visa in August for the first time after the initial 12 months without any problem. The financial requirement is via a bank deposit of 800.000 as stipulated. Since renewing my visa I have withdrawn 600.000 Baht which I have loaned to a friend. The loan will be re-paid and the amount returned to the account well before the required 3 month period when my visa is due to be renewed next year.

However,when the 600.000 is returned to the account it will not be an amount remitted from overseas as it will be paid back into the account in Thai baht. Will this mean that this amount of money will not be acceptable as part of the 800k or, as the original 800k came from overseas I will be ok, or do I have to bring in another 600k from overseas?

[lopburi3]

I don't know but it is likely to look very suspicious to the reviewing officer to see the money vanish and then re-appear just before it is needed. That may well trigger a request for source information. If you are bringing in money to live from I would make sure it goes into the account first so there is some record of it.

[Targus]

I don't know but it is likely to look very suspicious to the reviewing officer to see the money vanish and then re-appear just before it is needed. That may well trigger a request for source information. If you are bringing in money to live from I would make sure it goes into the account first so there is some record of it.

Hi, thanks for your reply. There is nothing suspicious about it at all. Normally I dont use this money but just leave it in the account simply for the visa requirement. I transfer funds to Thailand every month for living.

[lopburi3]

If you were the Immigration officer and noticed the 800k went to 200k the day after extension issued and then jumped back up to 800k 3 months before the next application you would not be suspicious that the money many have been borrowed? Now you mention transfer of funds but you did not in the original post. I recommend you transfer the funds into your account and use as needed to show activity.

I was not trying to say you were doing something or not doing something - I was trying to point out how it might look and how to avoid that appearance.

[Targus]

Looking at another scenario....my friend also has a deposit of 800k to cover visa requirements. We are both dissatisfied with the amount of interest paid on these deposits which has droped from 3.75% to 2%. If we transferred the funds to another bank paying a higher interest would the problem be the same? Although the initial 800k in the bank now came from overseas, if the amount was transferred to another bank would it be considered as coming from overseas? If not, it would therefore not cover the visa requirement?

[lopburi3]

You should maintain proof of foreign origin. You should have that if you keep the records as it can be traced back to original deposit. But what may or may not be required can not be pinpointed and even having in a non savings passbook account (as you seem to be doing) may be questioned by some.

My advise concerned the disappearance of any trace of almost all your money until the next year. This is what may cause questions to be asked, in my view.

[Gary A]

Before Citibank decided to charge a three percent fee on ATM transactions I used my Citibank ATM card for living expenses. I faced a lot of questions from immigration as to where my money for living expenses was coming from. That problem has now gone away because I now use wire transfers that show in my bank book. If you can't show money coming in from a foreign source, you may face a lot of questions.

[Patriciachas]

I don't know but it is likely to look very suspicious to the reviewing officer to see the money vanish and then re-appear just before it is needed. That may well trigger a request for source information. If you are bringing in money to live from I would make sure it goes into the account first so there is some record of it.

We are moving to thailand soon we are transfering most of our money bank to bank as we hold thai bank accounts already we were going to bring our first years living costs in cash and travellers cheques it sounds like it would be best to transfer them as well to our account am i right to think that.

[Maestro]

To Patriciachas: you are right.

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Maestro

[Targus]

Before Citibank decided to charge a three percent fee on ATM transactions I used my Citibank ATM card for living expenses. I faced a lot of questions from immigration as to where my money for living expenses was coming from. That problem has now gone away because I now use wire transfers that show in my bank book. If you can't show money coming in from a foreign source, you may face a lot of questions.

Hi Gary A and thanks for your comment. Its not that I cant show money coming in from a foreign source but I dont want to bring more in if there is sufficient already here. I'm concerned that by using part of the 800k during the year when its not needed in the account it will not be acceptable when I credit it back to the account. However, the money originated from overseas and I have the documentation to prove that so hopefully there wont be a problem.

[Gary A]

Before Citibank decided to charge a three percent fee on ATM transactions I used my Citibank ATM card for living expenses. I faced a lot of questions from immigration as to where my money for living expenses was coming from. That problem has now gone away because I now use wire transfers that show in my bank book. If you can't show money coming in from a foreign source, you may face a lot of questions.

Hi Gary A and thanks for your comment. Its not that I cant show money coming in from a foreign source but I dont want to bring more in if there is sufficient already here. I'm concerned that by using part of the 800k during the year when its not needed in the account it will not be acceptable when I credit it back to the account. However, the money originated from overseas and I have the documentation to prove that so hopefully there wont be a problem.

From time to time, I have been told by farang friends that they could not touch the 800,000 baht deposit in their Thai bank. That is DEFINITELY not true. Immigration is happy to see you use that money and then top it back up three months before your next extension is due. The questions I was always asked revolved around where my living expenses were coming from. Had they simply told me that they wanted to see activity in my Thai bank account, it would have been much easier. The Thai style of beating around the bush is quite irritating.