mulder12345 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I am 57 and from the US. My questions are: Do I need to pick a Thai bank in Thailand to transfer the 800B to or can the bank statement be from a bank that does business in Thailand like Bank of America or Citibank? Or, can the statement just come from my bank in the US? Do I really have to put the money in an account, wait 3 months and then file for the Visa? Once the Visa is applied for, about how long does it take to get? a couple weeks? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomSand Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) You can open an account with a US N/A bank, the bank must be a separate Thai entity from the US Corp. , and the account would be in Thai Baht denomination. The money must be in Thailand. Edited January 20, 2014 by RandomSand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) You have the option of STARTING with an O-A visa applied for in the U.S. in which case you don't need even one baht in a Thai bank account. EVENTUALLY with the O-A (a year or two later), you'll need a funded Thai bank account if using the 800K method to qualify for annual extensions based on retirement. If the idea of starting this with a funded Thai bank account is to daunting for you, you are probably a good candidate for an O-A visa from the U.S. Edited January 20, 2014 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wym Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 BoA or Citibank in Thailand are completely separate legally from their global parent, much less the US operating corp. Transferring money from your US Citibank account to the BKK Citibank account is exactly the same as to/from any other bank, externally via SWIFT and full transfer charges (25-40 USD) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooo Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Moved to Visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt1591 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 For a retirement visa, option "B" is to document 65,000THB monthly income from whatever source(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pib Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) BoA or Citibank in Thailand are completely separate legally from their global parent, much less the US operating corp. Transferring money from your US Citibank account to the BKK Citibank account is exactly the same as to/from any other bank, externally via SWIFT and full transfer charges (25-40 USD) Definitely true....although there are banks in Thailand with there parent owner headquartered/primary operating in a another country like the two examples given above those banks operating in Thailand are chartered and operated in accordance with Thai laws and Bank of Thailand regulations....for all practical purposes they are Thai banks. While they share the same company name and some internal company policies, that's about all they share. Just because a person say has a "U.S." BoA or Citibank account does not mean that account is also considered a "Thailand" BoA/Citibank account as it not. Such an account would be a U,S. bank account only, not a Thai bank account. The person needs to have the account with a bank "in Thailand." Edited January 21, 2014 by Pib Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langsuan Man Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Has BOA (Bank of America) suddenly opened up a retail bank branch here in Thailand ? If so where is it. There used to be a BOA "office" in the towers across from the US Embassy on Wireless Road but that was only for commercial accounts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pib Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Has BOA (Bank of America) suddenly opened up a retail bank branch here in Thailand ? If so where is it. There used to be a BOA "office" in the towers across from the US Embassy on Wireless Road but that was only for commercial accounts I think that's it. The BoA unit in Thailand is basically like the Bangkok Bank "New York branch" which is for commercial/wholesale accounts only, no retail/common man off the streets customer. If it wasn't for the ability to use the Bangkok Bank NY branch ACH routing number for flow cost ACH funds transfer from any U.S. bank to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account then none of us common folks would have probably every heard of the Bangkok Bank NY branch. I'm thinking the Bangkok Bank ACH capability, solely due to their NY branch operation, is a key factor in why many U.S. farangs open accounts with Bangkok Bank here in Thailand. I sure know it was a key factor for me years back...without having that ACH capability, which Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank having such capability, then a person is resigned to using pricey SWIFT transfers. And I don't want to imply all ACH transfers are low cost or free, as some U.S. banks (the more evil, more fee hungry ones) charge a very healthy fee to even send an ACH transfer. I've got various U.S. bank accounts (too many really...need to close one or two), but with the exception of my BoA account (one I really should close) which charges a $3 ACH sending fee for 3 business day transfer, all my other bank accounts do not charge any sending fee (not to imply the low cost Bangkok Bank ACH transfer fees still don't apply). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macclad Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 The extension,based on retirement,is pretty easy to get provided you meet all the requirements......can take as little as 20 minutes to process depending on which office you apply at. If you have income of 65k per month or over you can obtain a Proof of Income letter from the US Embassy.....no need to have funds in Thailand if you take this route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 1. One year non immigrant O-A visa stay issued in your country of residence (other than Thailand only requires proof of money in account there (or Thailand) or income proof. 2. Extension of stay for one year in Thailand requires 65k income letter from your Embassy or proof of 800k in a bank account located in Thailand for the previous 2 months (3 months for later extensions). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinot Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 The extension,based on retirement,is pretty easy to get provided you meet all the requirements......can take as little as 20 minutes to process depending on which office you apply at. If you have income of 65k per month or over you can obtain a Proof of Income letter from the US Embassy.....no need to have funds in Thailand if you take this route. What is required from the various Immigration offices vary. At Phuket the letter from the embassy is required. No funds in Thailand required but you need a letter from your American bank saying you're drawing at least 65k a month from your account and a copy of the ATM card or whatever...showing how you get that money in Thailand. Have the letter from the bank say the amount you draw out every month matches the amount of the embassy letter. The account records don't work. You need that letter from your bank. What if your bank won't give you that letter? Be creative. I realize this may sound absurd but this is what is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) An American age 57 is years short of being eligible for social security pension. Perhaps the OP has another (rarer) type of pension. But he asked clearly about BANK ACCOUNT methods, not income methods. No income, no income methods ... Edited January 21, 2014 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt1591 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Possibly, the OP wasn't aware of the monthly income option.I retired here long before eligibility for Social Security. I never deposited any substantial sum into any Thai bank. I have always documented my financial position with 'Verification of Income' from my embassy. ------------------Not only may different offices perceive different requirements, different officers may also have different perceptions. In the end, someone will usually look up the actual law, if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulder12345 Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Thank you all for your input. I think I have all the info I need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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