Using foreign currency for 800k THB retirement extension

[jacksam]

The most intelligent thing to do is show the equivalent of 65,000 Baht going into an account in your home country, one deposit, one time, show a printout of the funds to your embassy in Bangkok and get a letter for immigration..for your yearly extension. Take the money out the following day if you must.

That is called fraud. In any event the AU embassy will not wish to view any evidence of monthly income. You do a stat dec. They witness it for about 600baht job done. It is unlikely that Thai immigration will wish to view evidence either.

However a stat dec is a serious doc so placing a deposit of 65k to indicate monthly ongoing income would be making false declaration.

No fraud about it the embassy and immigration both want to see a printout of one month.

Incorrect. Again. Some thai imm offices may wish to see supporting evidence, most not. Cannot comment on USA embassy but certainly AU embassy are there to witness your stat declaration. They do not vet or require proof. The word I used loosely, fraud, was meaning ...guilty of making a false declaration. Not an offence to be taken lightly. Edited June 6, 2016 by jacksam

[malt25]

My two bobs worth.

Last Friday I submitted docs for change of extension of stay from retirement to marriage. This at Sakon Nakhon.

I had to explain in detail my provided bank statements. I had highlighted my fortnightly aged pension deposit & another fortnightly deposit from private pension fund. Both into ANZ.

Also provided statement from Kasikorn bank showing monthly deposit, transfer from Oz bank.

I reduced my private pension fortnightly payment so not to show that I had sufficient to remain on retirement extension. The administration for marriage extension is much more involved for the IO staff than for retirement.

Re stat dec from Oz embassy in BKK. They don't give a rat's arse what you have written, all they are doing is verifying that you are who you say you are, and insomuch the signature is yours.

Trust this might be of some interest.

Cheers..... Mal.

ps. Aussies are probably aware that the embassy staff are mostly Thai nationals on contract. When the immigration officer sighted a Thai signature on my stat dec, witnessing my signature, initially would not accept. A quick call to the embassy & let the officer chat to staff sorted this promptly.

[Eclipse]

I think I'll just do the FCD thing. It's legal and only cost me a few hundred in tfer fees and a bit of lost interest. It's my first extension so only need the money in the bank for 2 months.

A couple of other questions...

How much is the actual IO fee for extension?

How early before my stay until date can I apply for extension? (45 days?)

Should I one day marry. Do I stay on my OA visa and next extension I extend on basis of marriage or do I need a whole new type of visa?

Thanks all for your help

The fee for an extension of stay based on retirement or marriage is 1,900 baht.

Usually 30 days before, but some offices will do the extension 45 days before.

(Stating which office you report to will help)

Your Visa ends once you get an extension.

They extend your permission to stay, not your Visa.

Once on an extension you will need a re-entry permit to allow for travel outside of Thailand.

khon kaen office. Thanks for Ur reply

You can apply 45 days early in Khon Kaen.

[jacksam]

Correct Malt but you were doing a transfer. The op is simply doing an extension based on retirement and seems to be asking a way to avoid having Thai baht in Thai bank account. The discussion has sort of moved towards monthly income.

Back to the OP. 800K is not serious money. I mean assuming you live here, seems placing in Thai bank account money to then live off after the extension is obtained then it won't even last till next extension. Best to bring in cash. Exchange here....use after extension given....wash and repeat

[Kenny202]

800k being serious money is an objective thing. Serious money to me. I'm retired at 52 and hence on a budget

[jacksam]

800k being serious money is an objective thing. Serious money to me. I'm retired at 52 and hence on a budget

Point taken Kenny. Point is (depending if living here most of the time) my advice is to try and concentrate more on the exchange rate and best time to top up account when living here. Interest obtained is not flash in our own countries. Best way to live here IMO, is to bring it in. This applies to folk who go back to own country couple times a year. Think your plan has charges that outweigh benefits.

[jippytum]

I have used FCD account many times as proof of mature 800,000 baht for retirement visa no problem .Immigration calculate the amount of equivalent Thai baht from the bank letter,

[4evermaat]

Remember the embassy notary or any notary for that matter only witnesses the signature and the identity of the natural person(s) signing it. They are not responsible for the contents of the documents themselves. Some embassies may request some documentation, but that is purely optional on the part of the official.

At the US Embassy you're completing an embassy supplied affidavit, not simply asking them to witness/notarize your signature. The affidavit amounts to an oath and you are asked verbally if the information supplied is true and accurate.

The affidavit includes the following and the officer who signs and stamps it certifies that the contents were sworn to:

I also affirm that I receive USD $ ________________ every month from the United States Government and/or other sources. I am applying for a Thai visa/ or extension of a current Thai visa and any assistance you can provide in this request will be greatly appreciated.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this date:

Income Affidavit

The Thai government requires all U.S. citizens with Thai retirement visas to verify their income when they renew their retirement visa annually. Please print out this income affidavit (PDF 23KB) form to complete by hand or complete this income affidavit online then print it out. Please remember not to sign the form before you come to the American Citizen Services Unit. You will need to sign it in front of a designated officer.

af·fi·da·vit

a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation, for use as evidence in court.

You are mostly correct. The consular official or notary only verifies the signature. They witness THE SIGNER signing the affidavit. The person making the sworn affidavit (the signer....you) are responsible for making sure what you are swearing to is correct.

A notary is not responsible for the contents of what is being sworn to. But to your credit, a notary is also not obligated to notarize anything they think is fraudulent or illegal.

Thanks for helping me prove my point

[Kenny202]

800k being serious money is an objective thing. Serious money to me. I'm retired at 52 and hence on a budget

Point taken Kenny. Point is (depending if living here most of the time) my advice is to try and concentrate more on the exchange rate and best time to top up account when living here. Interest obtained is not flash in our own countries. Best way to live here IMO, is to bring it in. This applies to folk who go back to own country couple times a year. Think your plan has charges that outweigh benefits.

I'm not 100% sure I'm doing the right thing either but best I can come up with. Appreciate anyone who has a better plan. I get a headache everytime I think about it :-( The ex rate benchmark for me is 30 baht. It's been there before and sure it will be again. Im terrified of transferring a large amount over and in months the ex rate increases 3 or 4 baht. That would be a loss of nearly $4000. I'm trying to live on about 500k thb a year. The amount I will be bringing over (in AUS $) will be $35,000. Around 900k THB. Invested in Australia would bring me around $1100 interest a year. Will cost me around $300 to send the AUS $ over here and back to Australia again. My thought is if the ex rate stays the way it is over the next 2 or 3 years I've probably gained nothing, but I don't think I would be any worse off either.

On the other hand, should the baht go up I am poised for a windfall.

Then I'd really have to sit down and do my sums. If I brought ALL my money over here to take advantage of a good ex rate, I'd have to weigh up what I'd lose in interest back home. I probably sound like a mega tight a $$ but I've never been terribly responsible with money and trying to do the best I can. Even one hundred dollars is a lot of noodle soups!

[kingstonkid]

Also some Immi offices are asking for backup proof to your sworn affidavit like bank statements, transfers to Thailand etc.

I take a copy of my last 3 months cdn back account into the Canadian Embassy it shows my pension deposits and they do a letter for me at the same cost as a stat dec. When I take it to immigration they only want to know the thai exchange

[natway09]

If you are allowed to keep an AUD a/c, with this paltry sum in it the costs of maintaining & transferring every year will

nullify the whole issue. Why try to circumvent the system. Just put 800,000 Bht in an account.

An investment fixed term a/c is not acceptable unless they have changed the rules

[jacksam]

Kenny...above you talk about exchange rates and when aud was over 30baht. At that time aud was 1.07 against Greenback. The historical level for aud against USD is closer to .65

The au government needs it closer to that level. Get used to aud being about 25 baht or less. Currently aud is running low 70,s against USD. Its going from now one way and that's down. Esp when USA starts uping interest rates. Around the corner.

BTW longer you wait worse off you will be.

Edited June 7, 2016 by jacksam

[Kenny202]

Kenny...above you talk about exchange rates and when aud was over 30baht. At that time aud was 1.07 against Greenback. The historical level for aud against USD is closer to .65

The au government needs it closer to that level. Get used to aud being about 25 baht or less. Currently aud is running low 70,s against USD. Its going from now one way and that's down. Esp when USA starts uping interest rates. Around the corner.

BTW longer you wait worse off you will be.

mate I appreciate the advice but your facts are wrong. AUD historically 65c? Maybe 10 years ago. The ex rate today on the AUD is US 0.745 and THB 26.2 and rising. I don't know if it will go up more or down again. I don't believe anyone does. Maybe a paltry sum to many but the difference if I tfered 2 weeks ago or today would be nearly a baht. That's 35,000 baht more I would have got today. That's $1300 more. If any of you can write that off good luck to you. I can't. Edited June 7, 2016 by Kenny202

[jacksam]

Ok you have a view. Yes 2017 is looking not too bad for aud vs USD. Look at 2018 predictions you will see maybe 64.

I mentioned historical levels and they ain't mid 70,s.

Apart from all that is back to original post. Don't understand what your living on here. Meaning accessing your funds from AU. If your living here how do you get your money. Please don't tell me by bank transfer or atm

[Kenny202]

They predicted the AUD would bottom out mid 60's December 2015. Didn't even get close. 2016 was supposed to be a disaster. Hasnt happened. As far as transferring money. I tfer AUD straight to my BKK bank account. I let them do the conversion and never lose more than 0.3 baht / dollar on the published conversion rate. Always pleasantly surprised. If u let an Aus bank do the tfer they take around 2 baht / dollar. I'm satisfied I'm doing things as efficiently as can be done

[jacksam]

So wrong but up to you. First of all bank transfer have a fee. Not just about exchange rate. Also 0.3 less from bank rate. No. I was in au this march. I came back with $40k aud. At super rich exchange I got 26.6. The bank rate was almost one baht less. That's 40k baht straight up. The transfer from westpac to Thai bank, I think was about $30aud. Maybe more. Also that money can support my 12 month extension. Then live off it until next top up. So your living here and transferring how many times per year. Then of course you do the big transfer of funds for your extension pay all the fees and wack it back into au bank account for an extremely high rate of what? 3% or whatever. Unreal.

The aud has been supported by mining. Anyway can't see why you asked for advice when you clearly already know what is best for you.

Edited June 7, 2016 by jacksam

[Kenny202]

So wrong but up to you. First of all bank transfer have a fee. Not just about exchange rate. Also 0.3 less from bank rate. No.

The aud has been supported by mining. Anyway can't see why you asked for advice when you clearly already know what is best for you.

listen. In my opening comments I mentioned I was in no way certain my plan was sound and would appreciate any sound advice. You haven't given any apart from make nonsense statements. As far as fees go. A tfer fee is $22. If I tferred once or twice a year at $22 a hit are those excessive fees? Maybe i have an income stream in Thailand. How do you know how much I am tferring and when. How do you know how much I tfer annually and how often. You don't. Your assuming and making statements that simply aren't true. I said 0.3 less than the internet rate, not the bank rate. Your not trying to help your making hollow and unfactual statements trying to make yourself look important. One of which is the dollar is linked to the mining industry. I've been involved in the mining industry and it's ups and downs for 25 years. My question was about tfer ring money for my visa. Not how I live or my bank tfer habits. Don't concern urself about me and I won't worry about u. Ok?

[jacksam]

Clearly I'm bored. Just did Google bangkok bank exchange rate aud. 25.46

Super rich exchange bangkok 26.10

That 0.74 before we factor in what was mentioned above.

Yes tribal for $500 not so trival for say $40k

[jacksam]

If you had income steam here in los etc then lay out all the facts. Anything less is wasting peoples time.

[Kenny202]

Clearly I'm bored. Just did Google bangkok bank exchange rate aud. 25.46

Super rich exchange bangkok 26.10

That 0.74 before we factor in what was mentioned above.

Yes tribal for $500 not so trival for say $40k

I dont know why but when I tfer AUD always goes in at a higher rate than they show in the bank on the display board. I tferred from my FCD account directly into my BKK savings account the other day in the branch

The money went in a lot higher than the displayed buy rate. I asked the teller why, she didn't know. Like I said normally lose around 0.3 baht. Tribal? Trival? No idea what you mean

[jacksam]

The most intelligent thing to do is show the equivalent of 65,000 Baht going into an account in your home country, one deposit, one time, show a printout of the funds to your embassy in Bangkok and get a letter for immigration..for your yearly extension. Take the money out the following day if you must.

that would be ok if I had an income or pension but I don't. I just draw down funds from my own Aus account every month. If I'm missing something please PM me

So you "drawn down funds every month"

I don't have a pension or income stream.

Get your facts straight.

[Kenny202]

Whatever. Ur just trying to win a smarty pants competition. You've given no advice whatsoever. You told me my plan was lame now your trying to win points about income streams, general living expenses. Has nothing to do with tferring money for a retirement visa. If u have some advice which may be useful to many here, fire away. Youve only thus far made incorrect, negative and rude comments and ruined a post which may have been of help to others. Incidentally many on here use FCD accounts for visa extension. Your opinion isn't the last word

[Seraphina]

Kenny, I'm just looking into the deposit situation myself. Your learning will be interesting to me.

I think I would ask myself is whether I'm flogging a dead horse. Any money sent back to Australia will be automatically flagged by the tax office - each and every time, so you'd have to be sure you're squeaky clean tax-wise in case there's an investigation. Also, the AUD may well continue to devalue. The cost of transferring large amounts back and forth may be prohibitive....just my initial thoughts. How much is it costing you to make the transfers?

[Kenny202]

Kenny, I'm just looking into the deposit situation myself. Your learning will be interesting to me.

I think I would ask myself is whether I'm flogging a dead horse. Any money sent back to Australia will be automatically flagged by the tax office - each and every time, so you'd have to be sure you're squeaky clean tax-wise in case there's an investigation. Also, the AUD may well continue to devalue. The cost of transferring large amounts back and forth may be prohibitive....just my initial thoughts. How much is it costing you to make the transfers?

the cost of tferring around $35k AUS over and back around $350 mate. Tferring over not much, normal fee out $20 and Bangkok bank fee in about $10. The biggest fee is tferring back, 0.75%. If u wanted to leave the money over here then you'll save that.

So breaking that down....cost me about $350 to move the money here for 3 months and back again. I could just leave it here and cost me next to nothing but it won't earn anything (FCD accounts attract zero interest in LOS). If I return that money to Australia I'll get interest of around $840 for the other 9 months. The money I have invested in Australia is all from sale of my home so there will be no tax issues.

The reason I am going this way is because I am loathe to exchange a large sum like this Aus $ to Thai baht as I consider the ex rate poor at the moment. I'd rather hang on to my oz $ and exchange when and if the baht goes up for us again, hopefully 30+ baht per dollar. Now...I dont know if that will happen tomorrow or never happen or the baht / Aus $ ex may even fall lower.

I am bringing sums over as required to live usually when the baht is more favorable +26 / $. So say I'm drawing 400k thb a year.

2 years time, 3 scenarios..

1) Baht ex doesn't change much in the next 2 years. It's cost me $700 bank fees to send visa money over here. Over the 2 years I've sent 800k thb over anyway so I would have been better off doing the ex now and sending the 800k thb over now. I've lost $700 bank fees but I've gained $1600 interest in Australia.

2) For some reason the baht ex rate goes up, I cash in and happy days. I will have to however weigh up the gains I will receive in extra baht opposed to the long term interest I would have earned in Australia. I could invest my baht in Thailand but I'd be losing about 1.5% interest (better rate in oz)

3) The baht ex falls even lower. I'll ex all my money to thb, go to Pattaya and party for 2 years. Drink 2 bottles of Chivas Regal and jump from the highest balcony I can find :-)

So there's a lot to weigh up. I don't beleive anyone really knows what the stock market or the dollar is doing. Like I said I'm sure my plan could be flawed in many ways. Essentially if I ex now, I lose any chance to have a win if the baht does increase. I'd rather sit on my hands and wait. Even on $35000, if the thb increases 3 baht...that's 100k thb ($4000) and that's a lot of noodle soup!

[iamkanga]

Interesting Kenny your views regarding this financial stuff are very similar to mine.

I'm coming up to Thailand soon and constantly on the lookout at ways of saving money.

From what I have been able to find out it appears Oz Forex/ Forex appear to have the best rate? Which goes up the more you send but you have to check the rate they give you not the interbank rate which is only available after you register but I did manage to find it by googling. Also there is no fee for sending over $10,000.

I may have the wrong end of the stick regarding all of this and happy to hear your comments or those of others.

Cheers

Kanga (also 52 and retiring in 10 weeks YEH!)

[Kenny202]

I think its important to get off on the right foot re being thrifty with money. Not hard to eat through it here particularly if you want the same lifestyle as in Australia, Many things here (quality clothes, kitchenware, tools etc) are more expensive here than in Australia and often a lot poorer quality. They were the three things I was so happy I brought with me from home. You can eat here cheap too of course, and I like Thai food but you will want farang food sometimes. I really enjoy cooking so I make a lot of stuff myself. Bacon, ham, cakes, bread, pies, soups etc. The raw ingredients here (veges, pork, chicken) are cheap as, but if you buy imported or pre packed farang type food you will often be paying double what you pay back home. Probably sound like a tight ass but I've really enjoyed the challenge of figuring all this stuff out and have a lot of time on my hands. The food I make at home is far superior to what you could buy here in the supermarket or at a restaurant. I go out to restaurants too of course but not every day. Good durable travel gear the go for here. Columbia, Kathmandhu etc. Cool and comfortable and lasts forever. Obviously T shirts etc cheap here so don't bring too many. I also find it's very easy to think of 25 baht here as 25c making things appear cheap. Its not of course its one dollar and its easy to rip through at least a thousand baht here a day if you're not careful.

Would be different if I was 60+ and sold up and only had to support myself for another 10 or 20 years. You hear a lot of guys on here critical of people trying to live a more frugal lifestyle but that was my choice to retire early. At least Im not sitting in shitty meetings listening to BS every day. I live well. I dress well. I have everything I want but I am careful. I bought a brand new pick up and motorbike when I got here and if I look after it should last me a long time.

As far as transferring money here, I just transfer Australian dollars to my Bangkok bank account and let them do the conversion. Always pleasantly surprised at the rate (very good). I was using Oz Forex a bit but had a pretty bad experience with them sending a large sum for my pick up. If you read earlier in the post you'll see my story. I found them totally unprofessional and in fact thought I had been scammed at the time. I do like the fact you can lock your rate in before sending though and if you were to send a large sum of money over probably the way to go. Just don't expect to get it the next day. Incidentally, I couldn't recommend Bangkok bank enough. Their website is excellent and the whole set up very farang friendly. Apart from very good ex rates, I can tfer money from Australia from my Commonwealth bank account, and its usually in my Bangkok bank account in the afternoon same day. Amazing. May be because they are sister banks or have some arrangement or something but Commonwealth Australia / Bankok bank Thailand works well for me. If you want to leave money invested in Australia I would suggest U bank. Theres a few little conditions but generally you receive around 3.2% interest a month, no fixed term. The only thing is you will need an Australian number when doing tfers. When you tfer money they send you a security code and will only send an SMS to an Australian number. Obviously I didn't want to lock into a $30 a month phone plan in Australia so I got around this by setting up a vodafone account before I left. I think initially its $50 but you have that credit for up to a year without paying every month. Making phone calls and SMS is super expensive but I only use it to receive bank SMS which is free. After that you just renew every year for $20. Only other word of caution is be careful when you first get here. Easy to rip through the money initially when you get here. Don't bog yourself down with too much stuff. Wing it for a while incase you decide you don't want to live here long term and you may well do. Its near impossible to sell stuff secondhand here so if you do decide to pack up and go home anything you have bought you'll probably end up giving away. Not sure what your plans are living arrangements but if you're going to rent try not to buy too much furniture etc. Most of the apartments even homes here have some furniture, beds etc. Its actually a problem for us looking for places to rent now because we have our own furniture and many places furnished.

If I can help in any way please let me know. Best of luck!

Edited June 19, 2016 by Kenny202

[iamkanga]

It's all getting a bit weird I'm starting to think we were separated at birth!

I agree with pretty much all your views and do my banking in Thailand with Bangkok Bank so I will heed your warning about Oz Forex I must confess I did not explore Bangkok Bank money transfer with large numbers just their advertised rate.

Currently I still have mortgages running so money is best parked in my offset account. I won't bore you with the details but I have my home investment stuff under control for the minute.

And like you I also Marvel at people chastising others for being frugal after all it is why we are able to retire at 52.

I appreciate you taking the time for a thorough answer and as questions come the mind I will no doubt take you up on your kind offer of advice as it sounds like we think with a similar brain.

Cheers Kanga

[Kenny202]

It's all getting a bit weird I'm starting to think we were separated at birth!

I agree with pretty much all your views and do my banking in Thailand with Bangkok Bank so I will heed your warning about Oz Forex I must confess I did not explore Bangkok Bank money transfer with large numbers just their advertised rate.

Currently I still have mortgages running so money is best parked in my offset account. I won't bore you with the details but I have my home investment stuff under control for the minute.

And like you I also Marvel at people chastising others for being frugal after all it is why we are able to retire at 52.

I appreciate you taking the time for a thorough answer and as questions come the mind I will no doubt take you up on your kind offer of advice as it sounds like we think with a similar brain.

Cheers Kanga

No probs mate. I'm in no way 100% sure what I'm doing is right but I've put a lot of thought into it and best I can come up with. I've put many posts on TV looking for alternative views or ideas and to date haven't had any. Other thing is don't come here and fall in love with the first girl you meet and under no circumstances buy property in a ladies name, no matter how sweet she is. I've heard it said many times on here. Don't meet a girl and go back and live in her village or town. Do it the other way around. Find where u want to live, then find ur girl. Preferably a lady with an education, a good job and a supportive family.

[Aussie69]

Kenny202 , iamkanga: you both have very similar stories/plans to me. From Oz, Retire early, be sensible with funds, adapt thinking to Thai economy = 25b is not particularly cheap, stick to a budget, but also enjoy yourself and not live like a total cheap Charlie.

[Kenny202]

Kenny202 , iamkanga: you both have very similar stories/plans to me. From Oz, Retire early, be sensible with funds, adapt thinking to Thai economy = 25b is not particularly cheap, stick to a budget, but also enjoy yourself and not live like a total cheap Charlie.

I'm only here for the pussy hahaha