I am a UK and American citizen. My American passport holds all my many years of Non immigrant o ( Retirement visas), still active.

I have recently had trouble opening a bank account in Thailand with my American passport because of Fatca. ( foreign account tax compliance act).

I do not owe any taxes, I simply cannot open a bank account in Hua Hin where we have just moved to with my American passport. My question is can I transfer my retirement visa over to my unused UK passport,(still active ) without leaving Thailand and what other problems might there be doing this. Also if I have to leave Thailand where is the best place to go.

The only way to change passports for your extensions is to leave and start all over again. You can go out and get a single entry non-o at one of the nearby embassies or consulates.

You could do a border run for a visa exempt and then do a conversion to a non immigrant visa entry at immigration but you would only 15 days to it from the date you enter the country.

Do you already have a bank account here? You should be able to keep using it if you do.

You are just getting the run around by some banks. Just about every financial institution here is already compliant with FACTA. You just need to keep trying.

Have you tried Bangkok Bank? They have a NY branch so you should not have a problem.

The only way to change passports for your extensions is to leave and start all over again. You can go out and get a single entry non-o at one of the nearby embassies or consulates.

You could do a border run for a visa exempt and then do a conversion to a non immigrant visa entry at immigration but you would only 15 days to it from the date you enter the country.

Do you already have a bank account here? You should be able to keep using it if you do.

You are just getting the run around by some banks. Just about every financial institution here is already compliant with FACTA. You just need to keep trying.

Have you tried Bangkok Bank? They have a NY branch so you should not have a problem.

Thank you for the information. One question, when you return from getting your new Non o visa in the UK passport will the immigration know you have another passport with a non o already in it? as they take your photograph upon arrival and the name and date of birth would of course be the same in both passports.

Is what I would be doing going to cause a problem?

They would be able to see the entries from your other passport but it would not be a problem on entry.