Funds For Retirement Visa-proof Of Originating Outside Thailand

[ro13ger]

Maybe this question is not original:

I want to apply for a retirement visa, but the bank (in Holland) does not want to transfer money to my Thai bank (used to work in TH, so still have a SCB account).

Officially the 800,000+ Baht required should come from outside the country (anti money laundering?) I believe. The Thai Bank will however accept it as cash in either Euro's or Baht. Will this give any problem when applying for the retirment visa? Any suggestions/help welcome.

Roger

[lopburi3]

If you are talking about a visa you obtain that in your home country with the funds in your home country. It is a non immigrant O-A visa and requires proof of that amount in your home country bank plus a medical and police report. It provides a one year stay on entry.

If you are talking about extension of stay in Thailand that will require funds in a Thai bank account (or embassy letter of income). It would be good to have a bank transfer record (as without it does look like funny money and could be questioned). Your bank should not have any issue making a transfer using SWIFT. How do you intend to obtain funds once here if they will not transfer? Get that resolved now - don't try to do it from Thailand. If your bank unwilling to make wire transfers find another.

[Jingthing]

It would be much better to wire it in!

Don't you legally have to declare large amounts of cash when flying into Bangkok? If you don't and later you claim that you deposited cash brought in by you they could either suspect you are working here illegally or perhaps even catch that you didn't report the cash on your airport entry form (if you don't).

Just out of curiosity, what if a person DID report a large sum such as million baht in cash Euro equivalent when entering Thailand? I assume they would require a chunk of change duty for that, yes?

[thaiphoon]

Just out of curiosity, what if a person DID report a large sum such as million baht in cash Euro equivalent when entering Thailand? I assume they would require a chunk of change duty for that, yes?

In Thailand? No, never

[Lite Beer]

Insulting post containing profanities deleted.

[GuyDow]

but the bank (in Holland) does not want to transfer money to my Thai bank (used to work in TH, so still have a SCB account).

Over the years I have made wire transfers to Thailand from bank accounts in the UK, in France, in Belgium, in the Channel Islands and in the Isle of Man. The only time I have had a problem was when the institution was not really a bank; e.g. some building societies in England perform many banking functions but do not offer the full range of banking services.

As already said, you need to get your bank into line or get another bank.

[WeeGB]

Get another Bank in Holland.

To transfer using SWIFT, you will need:

Name of the account in Thailand that the money is being transferred to, EXACTLY as it is written in your account passbook. For the retirement visa, I believe that this account CANNOT be a joint account (you & your wife for example).

The address of the Bank/ Branch it is going to.

The SWIFT code number for the Thai bank.

Also there is a law, which I believe is still valid in Thailand, concerning transferring large amounts of money into Thai Banks. Above a certain amount, the Thai tax system can question it, and this can lead to complications, and I believe possible confiscation of the money until the problem is sorted out.

I transferred the GB Sterling equivalent of 800,000 Baht, in four transfers, which totalled 800,000 Baht when it was put together here, to avoid this, it cost around 20 pounds UK for each SWIFT transfer.

I was advised to transfer the money in Sterling (from a UK Bank), and it was converted to Baht here, as I got a better exchange rate, I assume it will be the same for Euros.

I first transferred a small amount of money, 200 pounds, to check the system worked OK, when it did I transferred the larger amounts.

It shows in a Bank code, in your Thai bank passbook, as being transferred from outside Thailand, which satisfies the requirements of the Thai immigration.

Hope this helps - Good Luck.

[thaiphoon]

Get another Bank in Holland.

To transfer using SWIFT, you will need:

Name of the account in Thailand that the money is being transferred to, EXACTLY as it is written in your account passbook. For the retirement visa, I believe that this account CANNOT be a joint account (you & your wife for example).

The address of the Bank/ Branch it is going to.

The SWIFT code number for the Thai bank.

Also there is a law, which I believe is still valid in Thailand, concerning transferring large amounts of money into Thai Banks. Above a certain amount, the Thai tax system can question it, and this can lead to complications, and I believe possible confiscation of the money until the problem is sorted out.

I transferred the GB Sterling equivalent of 800,000 Baht, in four transfers, which totalled 800,000 Baht when it was put together here, to avoid this, it cost around 20 pounds UK for each SWIFT transfer.

I was advised to transfer the money in Sterling (from a UK Bank), and it was converted to Baht here, as I got a better exchange rate, I assume it will be the same for Euros.

I first transferred a small amount of money, 200 pounds, to check the system worked OK, when it did I transferred the larger amounts.

It shows in a Bank code, in your Thai bank passbook, as being transferred from outside Thailand, which satisfies the requirements of the Thai immigration.

Hope this helps - Good Luck.

You have to transfer foreign currency into Thailand for conversion to THB under BOT regulations. Conversion cannot take place abroad.

[Tafia]

I've been informed that they dont worry about it coming from outside the country as long as they see regular ins and outs any thoughts??

[Maestro]

An important thing with international money transfers is always to indicate the reason for the payment in the payment order to the remitting bank, for example “for personal expenses”. Some banks refuse to execute a payment order if no reason is stated.

--

Maestro

[thaiphoon]

An important thing with international money transfers is always to indicate the reason for the payment in the payment order to the remitting bank, for example “for personal expenses”. Some banks refuse to execute a payment order if no reason is stated.

--

Maestro

... and some banks may refuse to accept incoming funds without receiving full details of the transaction (money laundering implications)

[WeeGB]

An important thing with international money transfers is always to indicate the reason for the payment in the payment order to the remitting bank, for example "for personal expenses". Some banks refuse to execute a payment order if no reason is stated.

--

Maestro

Ah yes, I'd forgotten that part, thanks maestro.

On the SWIFT transfer form, there is a part SPECIFIC to Thailand, which states that you must give a reason for the transfer of money, most people put "personal expenses".

[WeeGB]

I've been informed that they dont worry about it coming from outside the country as long as they see regular ins and outs any thoughts??

I renewed my retirement stamp at Nan in May, the amount in the Bank was the same 800K I'd transferred a couple of years earlier, with no withdrawals made, immigration were quite happy with this. They were aware of the Banks code in the passbook, showing the money had come from abroad, as they commented on it. Once they saw that, and it had been in the Bank for far longer than the legal requirement, all was OK.

I had taken other bank account books, atm slips, etc with me, in case they asked how I lived here, but they weren't needed.

Of course, as we all know, this may not apply to all immigration offices, or even individual officers.

[Jingthing]

An important thing with international money transfers is always to indicate the reason for the payment in the payment order to the remitting bank, for example "for personal expenses". Some banks refuse to execute a payment order if no reason is stated.

--

Maestro

Ah yes, I'd forgotten that part, thanks maestro.

On the SWIFT transfer form, there is a part SPECIFIC to Thailand, which states that you must give a reason for the transfer of money, most people put "personal expenses".

I have never had these issues come up with SWIFT transfers from the US. The purpose field is OPTIONAL. There is no "special form" for Thailand bound transfers. That sounds absurd that Thailand would be singled out that way!

[lopburi3]

There indeed is no need for providing a reason for transfer. But it is used for condo type purchase so that paperwork is generated to allow the money to be taken back out in the event of sale. The other use is for transfers (believe over 20k USD) where central bank can take and hold a percentage for a year or until a reason is provided (stock market rule).

As far as exchange is concerned that last I knew the Baht was a freely exchangeable currency and funds can be remitted in baht to a Thai account - but normally not the most cost effective way to do.

[WeeGB]

An important thing with international money transfers is always to indicate the reason for the payment in the payment order to the remitting bank, for example "for personal expenses". Some banks refuse to execute a payment order if no reason is stated.

--

Maestro

Ah yes, I'd forgotten that part, thanks maestro.

On the SWIFT transfer form, there is a part SPECIFIC to Thailand, which states that you must give a reason for the transfer of money, most people put "personal expenses".

I have never had these issues come up with SWIFT transfers from the US. The purpose field is OPTIONAL. There is no "special form" for Thailand bound transfers. That sounds absurd that Thailand would be singled out that way!

The UK's Nationwide Building Society's SWIFT form certainly has a part that is Thailand specific. See attachment.

It should be noted that I've never had problems using Nationwide's SWIFT system, perhaps because they have the foresight to include this Thailand specific question, and other banks possibly do not.

When I first used this a few years ago, I was advised on this forum, to always put "personal expenses" down, as the reason for the transfer. This advice was given to me, to avoid Thailand's anti-money laundering laws, under which, I was told, the Thai government could freeze the transfer, until a suitable explanation was given, if no reason had been stated for the transfer. There was a "bottom line" figure for this, which I can't remember. To clarify, if for example, an amount over 10,000 US Dollars ( or equivalent in other currencies), was sent to a Thai Bank, using SWIFT, without a valid reason for the transfer, then the Thai authorities could investigate it. That's what I was told, on here. I'm not aware of any changes to Thailand's laws, since then that would invalidate this.

Please note the 10,000 US Dollars is an example, I cannot remember the exact figure, though it was I believe, less than this.

[Naam]

Also there is a law, which I believe is still valid in Thailand, concerning transferring large amounts of money into Thai Banks. Above a certain amount, the Thai tax system can question it, and this can lead to complications, and I believe possible confiscation of the money until the problem is sorted out.

there has never been a law like you described.

[lopburi3]

Yes and no. There is a law from several years ago - but it is only a percentage reserved for one year at no interest to limit short term financial stock market transactions. And it only applied to single transfers of 20k or more. If the receiving bank did not have a non stock market investment reason they were obliged to withhold a percentage. There was no confiscation of money involved.

[WeeGB]

Thanks for the clarification Loburi3. I've spent 90 minutes trying to find the original post where I was given the advice I quoted, about the anti-money laundering laws, but have been unable to find it.

Still, at least the sun is out today.