Or does it have to be a “Thai bank”.Can the 800k thb be held in equiv. USD?

Does the 800k have to be “seasoned” before renewal for 60 days each year or only for the first extension of stay?

Thanks

It must be in THB. Actually Citibank Thailand does have a thai banking license - so it is a Thai bank - but whether they actually want a Thai majority owned bank is unclear.

The seasoning rule actually is:

TWO MONTHS -- first extension

THREE MONTHS -- all subsequent extensions

I've asked.

A Citibank Thailand deposit account will be in Thai Baht.

Of course you can open such an account with USD, but it will be denominated in Thai Baht, and converted at the normal exchange rate.

There are some conditions however. The minimum initial deposit must be 100K Baht to open an account.

They ask you to have a rental agreement or lease for a residence in Thailand, often they insist that you have a minimum 3 month rental agreement/contract.

In order for you to open a checking account they may insist you have a Non O visa to open an account.

What they really want is for you to have an existing Citibank account in the U.S. with a Citibank branch there, a mention of 5000 U.S. dollars in that account was mentioned.

That gets you a Citibank Thailand account, with valid ATM card usable on-line.

The "catch 22" is that in order to open a retirement account to get a retirement visa/extension you FIRST must have the money to open a Thailand account (minimum 100K Thai Baht) and a "long term Visa" and a "rental agreement" of at least 3 months before they will let you open a Thailand Citibank account so you can apply for the Citibank Thailand account you need for retirement.

So in order to apply for a "long term visa", which requires you to open a bank account, you first have to have the money to open a bank account to qualify to be accepted to open a bank account.

Or you can already have a U.S Citibank account in order to open a Thai Citibank account.

But in answer to your 2nd question, the first application for your retirement visa/extension the funds must have bees "seasoned" in a Thai bank for a minimum of 60 days, for each annual extension the funds must have been "seasoned" in that bank account for 90 days at renewal time.

Note: All these funds must come from outside of Thailand , you can not use funds you earned in Thailand.

And they check.

Edited November 5, 201411 yr by IMA_FARANG

Sorry, I should have been more specific, as it is a bit more complicated. I will be changing from Non-Imm B with WP to non-Imm O for the first time. On the non-Imm B, I have done several extensions based on employment which never required any seasoning. Therefore, technically this is the first seasoning for the new extension type based on retirement.

In such a case would the seasoning be 2 or 3 months?

The seasoning rule actually is:

TWO MONTHS -- first extension

THREE MONTHS -- all subsequent extensions

"A Citibank Thailand deposit account will be in Thai Baht.

Of course you can open such an account with USD, but it will be denominated in Thai Baht, and converted at the normal exchange rate."

Citibank Thailand offers Foreign Currency Accounts. Some Immigration offices will accept such accounts. You should check with your local Immigration office on this.

Also note: The rule is expressed in months. Two months is not the same as 60 days. Three months is not the same as 90 days.

It will be your first extension based upon retirement so the money will need to be in the bank for 60 days.