Using fixed deposit account for retirement visa - warning!

[snoopybkk]

This is for anyone using/planning to use fixed deposit accounts for the minimum 800,000 baht requirement on retirement visas. If your fixed deposit account reaches maturity date during the "seasoning period" of 2/3 months, do not roll over this money into a new fixed deposit account. If you do, the first account is closed, and once it is closed, the account book cannot be used to "count towards" the 800,000 baht minimum. This means that as far as immigration is concerned money in this closed account did not exist, which means that you fail to meet the monetary requirement. Strange but true: it happened to me today at Chaeng Wattana! Because of this bizarre interpretation, there was no visa renewal. So, I hardly ever post in these forums, but I wanted to share this information so other people don't suffer the same problem.

The situation, in a nutshell, was as follows: My retirement visa was expiring on 15 January. So, on 30 September, I made an international transfer to top up the account for the 800,000 baht minimum for the 3 month "seasoning period". From 30 September till today, the total balance adding up the money in all my saving and fixed deposit accounts in Bangkok Bank has been above B900K. However, there was a fixed deposit account of B200K that matured on 10 November, and when it matured, I rolled it over into another fixed deposit account to take advantage of the higher interest rate. (As you may know, if you don't do this, the money sits in a 3 month fixed deposit account with a lower interest rate.) But when I did this, the old account was closed (the bank book is stamped "account closed" and holes were punched thru the book). And, immigration will not accept this account and bank book as valid. So, they say that the minimum B800K condition was met only from 10 November when the new account was opened. I tried to explain that it was the same money, just moved into another account, but to no avail. I had even prepared a graph that showed visually that by adding up all the money across different accounts, there was well over B900K for over 3 months, but it did not seem to mean anything to them. They kept repeating that this was the regulation and I had not met the conditions, and therefore no visa could be issued. But as far as I can tell, there is nothing in the regulations about not being able to shift money from one account to another (not to mention the fact that such an interpretation just does not make much sense.)

I hope the above description is clear enough and can help others avoid such problems in the future. I saw that there were posts in 2012 and 2013 referring to similar situations, where the immigration officer accepted the old closed account. But not any more! One of the immigration officers told me that she had seen other foreigners who had similarly "misunderstood" the regulations. The moral of the story is perhaps "don't be greedy and chase a higher interest rate during the "seasoning period."

[JOC]

Hate to break it to you, but the immigration-officer was 100% correct and only following the rules!!

As for the 200k in a fixed deposit, how much interest in 3 months?

Stop chasing peanuts, your visa is more important!!

[KhunBENQ]

Thanks for the warning, but this has happened to others multiple times and published here.

A common error.

If the fixed account matures during the 2 or 3 month period: simply don't touch it (it continues with standard interest rate).

[colinneil]

Why do so many farangs play with moving money around? Crazy!!

Keep 800.000 baht in the bank, leave it alone .Ok so you can get interest !!huh!! with interest rates as they are now , leave it alone.Having funds correct for your visa is more important than a few baht extra interest.

[smedly]

just as a clarification, can fixed deposit accounts be used for retirement extension, I thought they couldn't, specifically in Jomtien

[ubonjoe]

just as a clarification, can fixed deposit accounts be used for retirement extension, I thought they couldn't, specifically in Jomtien

Fixed deposit accounts can be used as long as you can do a withdrawal with no delay or penalty other than lost interest.

I have seen no reports that Jomtien immigration will not accept them.

[chiang mai]

The OP could have avoided those problems by simply asking his bank to supply him with a letter, addressed to Immigration Dept., stating the total balance of all his accounts, on the key dates. This is common practice amongst banks and Immigration Dept. usually accepts the letter without question.

[smedly]

just as a clarification, can fixed deposit accounts be used for retirement extension, I thought they couldn't, specifically in Jomtien

Fixed deposit accounts can be used as long as you can do a withdrawal with no delay or penalty other than lost interest.

I have seen no reports that Jomtien immigration will not accept them.

Thanks for that and understand, strangely something that makes sense in Thailand lol

[chiang mai]

The odd thing being that ALL fixed rate deposits in Thailand can be cancelled by the account holder, on request, at any time - the bank however does not have the same ability. It therefore follows that of course funds on deposit in a fixed rate account are immediately available to the account holder.

[KhunBENQ]

Why do so many farangs play with moving money around? Crazy!!

Keep 800.000 baht in the bank, leave it alone .Ok so you can get interest !!huh!! with interest rates as they are now , leave it alone.Having funds correct for your visa is more important than a few baht extra interest.

Disagree (at least if you leave it alone for the whole year).

Stil easy to get more than 2% net.

16000 Baht is worth a few beers

I have the majority of my funds in THB and try to limit the amount of interest free money to an essential amount.

Combined with the fact that the money from a fixed deposit is available anytime in case of an emergency (loosing interest), this makes sense to me.

[HooHaa]

I had even prepared a graph that showed visually that by adding up all the money across different accounts, there was well over B900K for over 3 months

a graph.

priceless.

[smedly]

Why do so many farangs play with moving money around? Crazy!!

Keep 800.000 baht in the bank, leave it alone .Ok so you can get interest !!huh!! with interest rates as they are now , leave it alone.Having funds correct for your visa is more important than a few baht extra interest.

Disagree (at least if you leave it alone for the whole year).

Stil easy to get more than 2% net.

16000 Baht is worth a few beers

I have the majority of my funds in THB and try to limit the amount of interest free money to an essential amount.

Combined with the fact that the money from a fixed deposit is available anytime in case of an emergency (loosing interest), this makes sense to me.

now there's a classic troll post (khunbenq) or someone who actually has absolutely no grasp of how much 3% will pay over a year or has no money to his name, it would cover the rent of an apartment in Thailand for 12 months, just you keep on spending with your head in the sand or up somewhere cos you seriously have no idea or are simply broke

[gk10002000]

800,000 @ 3 % is 24,000 baht. Not a trivial amount, but that doesn't pay the rent of an apartment in Thailand for 12 months.

[sendbaht]

Good post, very informative....thanks for taking the time to post it...

[smedly]

800,000 @ 3 % is 24,000 baht. Not a trivial amount, but that doesn't pay the rent of an apartment in Thailand for 12 months.

I have a bit more than that invested and increasing in Thailand all the time, 800k is not a lot of money but 4x that and it starts to matter, but my point still remains - think back to the days when you were paying a mortgage 1% here and there had an impact on most peoples cash flow, the banks and financial services are good at taking it off you I see little harm in taking some back and having to work at it, keeps me busy for an hour or two a week

[CRUNCHER]

Had no trouble in Jomtien a few months ago. Took both books showing full amount transferred and letter from bank.

[KhunBENQ]

now there's a classic troll post (khunbenq) or someone who actually has absolutely no grasp of how much 3% will pay over a year or has no money to his name, it would cover the rent of an apartment in Thailand for 12 months, just you keep on spending with your head in the sand or up somewhere cos you seriously have no idea or are simply broke

Still not certain whom you are addressing with "troll post"?

2% is 16000 as I wrote, 3% is 24000.

Both worth the effort, though 3% is more difficult to find these days.

[bender92]

Not true at Pattaya. The bank letter states that I have had the money in the bank for the whole year. I copied the closed book to show that it was rolled over. I do this every year. NEver had a problem. And each January I get the tax back.

[Suradit69]

warning!

Might have been better for you if you had researched the subject and found the many, many threads on the topic before hand. There is a wealth of information here and elsewhere, including numerous personal experience reports. A lot of people have gone before you. Contrary to popular belief, there isn't that much new in dealing with things like retirement extensions. Mostly a case of ill-informed people not taking the trouble to learn from others.

[Suradit69]

Why do so many farangs play with moving money around? Crazy!!

Keep 800.000 baht in the bank, leave it alone .Ok so you can get interest !!huh!! with interest rates as they are now , leave it alone.Having funds correct for your visa is more important than a few baht extra interest.

Disagree (at least if you leave it alone for the whole year).

Stil easy to get more than 2% net.

16000 Baht is worth a few beers

I have the majority of my funds in THB and try to limit the amount of interest free money to an essential amount.

Combined with the fact that the money from a fixed deposit is available anytime in case of an emergency (loosing interest), this makes sense to me.

"Combined with the fact that the money from a fixed deposit is available anytime in case of an emergency (loosing interest), this makes sense to me."

That's the important point. The money is available to you, although you might face a minor penalty fee or loss of interest. If the money cannot be accessed at all before some set date, then, at least in theory, the account would not pass inspection at immigrations ... although I'm sure even those are accepted in some cases, especially if the restriction is not noticed or not understood by the person processing the extension application.

[Johnny S]

Good post, very informative....thanks for taking the time to post it...

Agree - thanks for info around this insane system with 400/800,000 B to show in Immigration

[wirat69]

800,000 @ 3 % is 24,000 baht. Not a trivial amount, but that doesn't pay the rent of an apartment in Thailand for 12 months.

... what, you pay EVERY month?? What a paragon of tenant virtue!!

[Alfa]

to Bender92

you write about the tax you get every January.

What kind of tax is it ?

Is it the 15 % tax of the interest you get it back ? Do you need to have a company to get that tax back ?

I never get that tax back before. How do you do ?

[starky]

why would you roll it over to a new account if it was only seasoned money for a visa? You wasted a lot of words for something I think is pretty bloody obvious

[KhnomKhnom]

Another effort to be helpful and detailed about an important visa topic.

Another set of goofy grumpy ill-tempered holy-than-thou responses.

This is why, even if I have good and somewhat unique info, I will never post that.

After being burned a couple of times, now I just post softball opinions on ephemeral topics.

[elgordo38]

When you deposit 800,000 baht deposit it in 100,000 baht tranches so that if you need money at any time you can cash in 100,000 bahts at a time without loosing all your interest. For the fellow that wants his tax money back just get an interest with held statement from your bank and with your passport go to the tax office in Jan., Feb. or March. Also include your statement of residence. The first trip they will issue you a tax number and consequential trips take this with you. When you roll your money over always get the interest receipt from your bank.

[Bosse137]

I guess I should be ashamed..I have lived here 20 plus years,most of the time with Imm-O visa,but this is THE FIRST TIME I have got this info! Just been lucky before,what happened to the OP could well have happened to me,but thanks to his post,it will not.Thanks!

[Janne1949]

I had the same situation but Bangkok Bank gave me a letter that did explain to immigration that account was matured and Money transferred to new account on the same day and no problems at immigration

[paulhen]

just as a clarification, can fixed deposit accounts be used for retirement extension, I thought they couldn't, specifically in Jomtien

Fixed deposit accounts can be used as long as you can do a withdrawal with no delay or penalty other than lost interest.

I have seen no reports that Jomtien immigration will not accept them.

[CMBob]

The absolute key to having an account qualifying for the 800k routine is you have to be able to get your hands on it any time you want; as such, a fixed account (for a set period of time and you can't get your hands on it in the interim - much like a lot of certificates of deposits in the west) won't qualify; however, most if not all the banks offer accounts that are for a set period of time, pay higher interest rates than the regular accounts, and you can get your hands on the money any time you want (but, if you take it out before the time period lapses, you lose all or most of the accrued interest). For example only, I rolled over my old "800k" account in October at SCB and put it in for 14 months and interest accrues at 2.8% per annum.

And, so there's no mistake, it might be wise to ask the bank when you sign up for any "800k" account if it qualifies for the immigration letter. I ask the question every time I create a new account once the old one's time limit has expired. By the way, as some have noted, if you just leave the money in that account after the time limit expires, thereafter you earn the lousy "regular savings" interest rate.