Source of seasoned money

[AlbionThailand]

In CW immigration last week I was asked to provide proof that the source of my bank balance containing my seasoned THB 800K++ was from a foreign source. My passbook only covered the last 6-months and had a opening balance of THB 800K+ as monies had been deposited several years ago. I also had a letter from my bank stating the date my account was opened.

Fortunately, I'd recently supplemented the 800K with some additional recent transfers in from overseas and was able to obtain copies of these incoming wire transfer receipts from the bank downstairs and these, although not amounting to THB 800K, seemed to suffice for their needs.

In reading the many posts about seasoned money, I have not come across anybody else being asked to provide evidence of the source of these funds or even that thus was a requirement.

[chiang mai]

I've read one other report of this happening and as I recall it was agreed then that there is no requirement for the funds to come from overseas, I've never had that requirement imposed on me in ten years here..

[AlbionThailand]

They actually showed me paperwork that stated if the THB 800K option was selected, then proof that the funds originated from foreign sources had to be provided - they even showed me an "Bank Credit" or "Incoming Wire Transfer receipt" as an example of what they wanted me to provide as supporting documentation.

As I get no receipts from the bank for incoming funds into my account and, as these funds must be over 90-days old, this could be a big problem unless the banks are able to reproduce receipts going way back.....

[chiang mai]

You can always get a receipt of incoming funds from your bank, even long after the fact, typically this is known here as an FET form (Foreign Exchange Transaction) or a customer advice notice. But I've never heard anywhere before, apart from the two posts discussed above, that proof of overseas funds had to be provided at the time of visa extension, perhaps others can comment.

[OxfordWill]

From what I understand of the process of buying a condo which has similar requirements, the bank can provide a "letter" which is acceptable in that case, which is available whatever the date.

[Mario2008]

There is no rquirement for the money to come from abroad, unless you apply for a conversion to a non-immigrant visa. In that case they do want confirmation the money comes from abroad.

[Suradit69]

They actually showed me paperwork that stated if the THB 800K option was selected, then proof that the funds originated from foreign sources had to be provided - they even showed me an "Bank Credit" or "Incoming Wire Transfer receipt" as an example of what they wanted me to provide as supporting documentation.

As I get no receipts from the bank for incoming funds into my account and, as these funds must be over 90-days old, this could be a big problem unless the banks are able to reproduce receipts going way back.....

Bangkok Bank (and I assume others) code deposits in your passbook to indicate the source. As I recall, it's "FTT, " implying the money was deposited via a foreign telex transfer. Assuming you have a passbook for your account and keep the old books, that should indicate where the money came from either for the Immigrations official or to enable the bank manager to generate a supporting letter.

When I got my bank manager's letter a few weeks ago, he indicated the current balance and listed foreign sourced deposits back quite a few months ... certainly more than the past three months as he did in the past. I was using the income affidavit from my embassy for my extension, but brought along copies of my bank book and the manager's letter too. Not sure if he showed more than three months of deposits because of feedback from Immigrations, but I would assume he is aware of what Immigrations expects to see in his letter.

There may be no written requirement to prove where the money came from, but Immigrations officers certainly have the right to ask about the source, especially if you're claiming to be retired and not working here. Given the number of cases of penniless expats who obviously have slipped through the vetting process or falsified their financial claims and others who run up medical bills they can't pay, I would fully expect that scrutiny of income claims, sources of money in the bank and verification of both when applying for any kind of long-stay visa or extension will be intensified. There certainly have been reports of Immigrations wanting to see evidence of money inflow and reasonable amounts being withdrawn to support living costs.

There may be some people who have vast amounts of money on deposit in Thai banks for years on end, but for most people it's to be expected you bring in money from time-to-time and withdraw money to meet living expenses.

[Jingthing]

Every year I request the paper deposit receipts for all incoming foreign transfers when I go in for my immigration bank letter. It's never been a problem for them to do that. I save them. Never been asked by immigration for any proof and yes there are the codes in the passbook as well.

[Maestro]

I remember that two or three years ago we had reports from members about the same thing. Foreigners using money in the bank for their marriage and retirement extensions were asked at some immigration offices to show proof that the money came from abroad, even in cases where that transfer was made 10 or 20 years previously. Let's keep an eye out for more reports of this to see whether something is up again. I think I already saw one other post about ten days ago.

[Maestro]

Here is the link to the other post I mentioned, made not ten days ago but on 2013-11-05:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/679576-%e0%b8%bf800000-proof-remitted-from-abroad/#entry7003328

This was at the Pattaya immigration office, second year retirement extension.

[phetphet]

For a number of years, I have always cashed any unspent travellers cheques at my bank, and paid them straight into my account with a view of saving and using this money in the future to convert my visa when ready to "retire" here.

Would this count as from overseas? Should I maybe ask the cashier to enter some remark in my savings book to show this?