Retirement Visas-a Few Queries

[Andrew Hicks]

The Bangkok Post has been running a series of articles about Thai visa issues, the latest on retirement visas. By Chavalit Finch and Partners who are lawyers, they seem to be clear and useful.

A few points that they mention are of interest and I wonder what is the experience of other Thai visa geezers.

1. They of course mention the 800,000 baht deposit requirement. Is this still available if you haven't gone this route before? I thought it had been closed off if you haven't used it before.

2. They mention that you must prove that the deposit money has been remitted from outside Thailand. Of the many times I have been given a year's, this point has only been raised once and that was in Bangkok. How universal is this requirement? (I'm in some difficulty as my money was remitted to HSBC in Bangkok in sterling and then converted to baht and deposited with Kasikorn. Kasikorn do not presumably now where it came from so cannot certify that it was based on an inward remittance. Would an imigration officer understand if I submitted the British bank's outward transfer documentation? Probably not.)

3. The article says that if you deposit is too small you can add monthly income times twelve. Does using this formula of (income X 12 plus deposit exceeds 800,000) present any difficulties in practice?

4. It mentions that you need a police certificate from home and a medical certificate. I'm sure this is correct but I have never had to produce them.

5. Earlier articles were about the requirement for 90 day reporting that you are still in the country. A friend told me you can now only do the notification in the office for the district in which the notified address is situated. Is this correct? Can you still mail your passport to Bangkok? Will the Bangkok 90 Day office at Suan Plu now only accept notifications of addresses in Bangkok? This is important to me as I shall be in Bangkok and not at home the next time I have to report.

I'd very much appreciate your comments.

Many thanks,

Andrew Hicks

[InterestedObserver]

Do a search of TV. All this has been covered multiple times recently.

[Jingthing]

The Bangkok Post has been running a series of articles about Thai visa issues, the latest on retirement visas. By Chavalit Finch and Partners who are lawyers, they seem to be clear and useful.

A few points that they mention are of interest and I wonder what is the experience of other Thai visa geezers.

1. They of course mention the 800,000 baht deposit requirement. Is this still available if you haven't gone this route before? I thought it had been closed off if you haven't used it before.

Still available to all over 50 years of age. It was never closed off.

2. They mention that you must prove that the deposit money has been remitted from outside Thailand. Of the many times I have been given a year's, this point has only been raised once and that was in Bangkok. How universal is this requirement? (I'm in some difficulty as my money was remitted to HSBC in Bangkok in sterling and then converted to baht and deposited with Kasikorn. Kasikorn do not presumably now where it came from so cannot certify that it was based on an inward remittance. Would an imigration officer understand if I submitted the British bank's outward transfer documentation? Probably not.)

I think that is the technical requirement but different reports about enforcement. The codes in people's passbooks indicate foreign transfers. I suggest getting documentation from your Thai bank for each transfer in case they ask at a later date.

3. The article says that if you deposit is too small you can add monthly income times twelve. Does using this formula of (income X 12 plus deposit exceeds 800,000) present any difficulties in practice?

Not really clear what you mean. However, you can use the COMBO method to make the 800K requirement. For example 400K in a Thai bank account combined with a pension of 400K totals 800K and meets the financial requirement.

4. It mentions that you need a police certificate from home and a medical certificate. I'm sure this is correct but I have never had to produce them.

Only for the O-A visa obtained in your home country. For extensions based on retirement IN Thailand, this requirement DOES NOT EXIST.

5. Earlier articles were about the requirement for 90 day reporting that you are still in the country. A friend told me you can now only do the notification in the office for the district in which the notified address is situated. Is this correct? Can you still mail your passport to Bangkok? Will the Bangkok 90 Day office at Suan Plu now only accept notifications of addresses in Bangkok? This is important to me as I shall be in Bangkok and not at home the next time I have to report.

I'll let someone else answer that one.

I'd very much appreciate your comments.

Many thanks,

Andrew Hicks

[Mario2008]

1. you can still do it.

2. No such requirement

3. you can use a combination of income and money in the bank, as long as the total is 800,000 or more

4. Only for a o-a visa do you need them, not for a non-O or an extension in Thailand based on retirement

5. This is still a bit unclear. But I think in the end, when the dust has settled, it will be only at your local office and you can do it by mail at most offices. You do not send your passport, only photo copies of the relevant pages.

[Jingthing]

It may be true there is no technical requirement for foreign transfers but this issue has flared up in the past (people here for years being demanded to prove the foreign source of their initial transfers). So I stand by my suggestion that you ask your Thai bank to provide documentation to you for each and every incoming foreign transfer. Also, do not offer these to immigration unless they ask. They probably won't ask these days. But next year, who knows? Remember, Thai immigration has a long history of jerking us around.

[opalhort]

To the OP's question 2:

We have the same problem in business matters since we have to prove that all our income originates from outside Thailand. (Not immigration related!)

Your local bank, the one receiving the Baht, will have a reference number from the originating bank. Tell them to fax the paper to you. With this info contact HSCB and tell them to fax you all relevant documents related to said reference number (usually two pages).

With the reference link you should not have any problem proving that the funds came from abroad.

We require these documents frequently for my WP since all income in our balance sheet has to come from abroad (WP condition).

opalhort

[Lite Beer]

Police Order 2008 reguarding Extensions of Stay.. Retirement Extension is 2.22