Can funds in a fixed deposit be used for retirement extension?

[Gweiloman]

I've always used the 800k in my savings account as proof of income for previous extensions based on retirement.

 

Can fixed deposits be used as an alternative to funds in a savings account?

 

Cheers

[xylophone]

Yes they can as I've always used them for the 800k and they have been accepted with no problem.

[Gweiloman]

6 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Yes they can as I've always used them for the 800k and they have been accepted with no problem.

 

Thanks for that. What sort of documents are needed for the extension? Is there some sort of FD certificate or do I need a bank letter as well?

[khwaibah]

Beware that certain immigration office may want to see a back up account for moneys that your living on.

[elviajero]

The funds need to be instantly available so as long as the account isn't a fixed term it should be accepted.

[Eclipse]

Fixed deposit accounts are accepted by most Immigration Offices.

[xylophone]

3 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

 

Thanks for that. What sort of documents are needed for the extension? Is there some sort of FD certificate or do I need a bank letter as well?

 

You need the normal letter from the bank stating that you have had the 800k in for the required time plus a copy of the bank book page pertaining to this amount, and as Khwaibah has stated a few copies of your current/savings account to show that you are actually spending money here would be advisable.........I have never been asked for this but others have and you know what this place is like.

[khwaibah]

4 minutes ago, xylophone said:

 

You need the normal letter from the bank stating that you have had the 800k in for the required time plus a copy of the bank book page pertaining to this amount, and as Khwaibah has stated a few copies of your current/savings account to show that you are actually spending money here would be advisable.........I have never been asked for this but others have and you know what this place is like.

 

You will need the bank book and a letter from your bank, booth need to be current. Depending on your immigration office same day to 3 days old.

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by khwaibah

[allane]

In your fixed deposit book, look for a statement such as "No interest will be paid on deposits withdrawn before the maturity date." That is what Immigration, and you, want to see. It means that the funds are not locked in, and can be withdrawn at any time.Immigration will not accept fixed deposits which are locked in.

[xylophone]

9 minutes ago, allane said:

In your fixed deposit book, look for a statement such as "No interest will be paid on deposits withdrawn before the maturity date." That is what Immigration, and you, want to see. It means that the funds are not locked in, and can be withdrawn at any time.Immigration will not accept fixed deposits which are locked in.

 

As far as I am aware, in the Bangkok Bank anyway, the funds in a fixed deposit account can be accessed at any time (on request by visiting the bank), even though interest will be lost on this, this I know because I've done it and Immigration will accept monies in these fixed deposits.

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

Support previous post (10).

Using fixed deposits at Bangkok Bank for four times at immigration Khon Kaen.

Never any questions raised.

 

An error often done:

The deposit matures during the 3 or 2 month period before applying for extension.

The amount is transferred to another (savings) account during this period.

-> this will lead to problems/reject at immigration.

 

Don't change/close account during the period.

A fixed deposit automatically continues as a normal savings account.

(at Bangkok Bank)

 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[Gweiloman]

Dear all,

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate your time and effort in this.

 

What I will do is to show a FD with the required amount of funds (800k) as well as having 800k (seasoned) in a savings account as a back up in case the FD is rejected as proof of funds. I will be doing my extension in a couple of months time and will report back on the outcome. I do my extension in Chonburi immigrations (Jomtien).

 

Thanks once again for your valuable insights.

[meatboy]

8 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Dear all,

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate your time and effort in this.

 

What I will do is to show a FD with the required amount of funds (800k) as well as having 800k (seasoned) in a savings account as a back up in case the FD is rejected as proof of funds. I will be doing my extension in a couple of months time and will report back on the outcome. I do my extension in Chonburi immigrations (Jomtien).

 

Thanks once again for your valuable insights.

i have done the past 6 extensions with a fixed deposit acount.as i never touch it till it mature's i have been asked twice,what are you living on,so i always take along my current acount book to show weekly withdrawals and trans.in.

so that is a good idea take along your savings book aswell.

[Gary A]

Good luck. I too used a certificate that could be taken out at any time. All was fine until a new female boss took over the Chiang Khan, Loei immigration office. I offered to take the money out and put it in my savings account the very next day. That wasn't suitable either because it had to be in the savings account for three months. It was a nightmare. I had to go to Bangkok to get an income statement. That made me overstay two days and and cost me a thousand baht fine. She is a sour nasty woman and I hope someone in immigration reads this. I don't mind following the rules but It would be much better if the rules stayed the same.

[Estrada]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 1:44 PM, elviajero said:

The funds need to be instantly available so as long as the account isn't a fixed term it should be accepted.

This is not true since fixed accounts can be cashed in at anytime. Immigration officers prefer the fixed deposit accounts, since with savings accounts they have to search through the pages to make sure you have not gone one baht below B800,000.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Estrada

[Kerryd]

I've always used Fixed Term deposits to hold the 800k I keep reserved for my Extensions. The biggest headache is making sure that when you renew the Term that the money will have been in that account for the required 3 months.

The letter from the bank and a photocopy of the bank book page showing the account number and your name (so they know it's actually your account) is all I've ever had to provide (at the Jomtien office). Never been questioned about other accounts but I suspect that varies from one Immigration Officer to another. 

 

I started out for the Jomtien office this morning, planning on being there around 7:30. 500 meters from the house and it started raining. Circled around and got back to the house only "mostly soaked". Headed back again a little later on and got there (nice and dry) around 9:30. 

Place was about half full. I was #31 and they just called #24. I saw the Extension desk (#8) and they were only on #804 ! Sheesh - every time I go to do my Extension it seems half of the expats in Chon Buri are also there ! 3 pages into my book and they called my number. Barely 3 minutes later I was heading back out the door. Too easy.

 

[IMA_FARANG]

Nou every inmmigration officr has yhr same rukes.

Therefore places may be o.k., some places, some places jt may not be allowed,

Therefore ask and get a o.k. or not o.k. before you commit yourself.

in general, accounts where your funds are ummeduately available are usally accepted,

Fixed term accounts that require you to wait for a fixed before you can  withdraw your money often are a no no.

But this is Thaikand so there are no hard and fast rules, so ask first and depending on,the answer decide what to do.

that is the way things work in Thailand

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Estrada said:

This is not true since fixed accounts can be cashed in at anytime. Immigration officers prefer the fixed deposit accounts, since with savings accounts they have to search through the pages to make sure you have not gone one baht below B800,000.

I said "fixed term".

Immigration can decline an application if the funds are not instantly available. A true fixed term account cannot be cashed at anytime because the term is fixed.

[akentryan]

I have fixed 800,000 at 4% with a couple of more years to run. Latest fixed renewal was at 1.91% for one year.

[bazza40]

Have never had a problem with a fixed term deposit - even when the maturity clashed with the 3 month " seasoning ", a letter from the bank was sufficient to resolve it.

[maoro2013]

At Kap Choeng the officers insisted on the funds being in a fixed deposit, which my logic would say does not make any sense, as the funds are meant to be proof of a source of funds to provide for yourself. If the funds are locked up in a fixed deposit, how is this so?

 

Obviously at other immigration offices this is not the case. Just another situation where the various offices and officers make their own interpretation of the rules.

[chiang mai]

15 hours ago, elviajero said:

I said "fixed term".

Immigration can decline an application if the funds are not instantly available. A true fixed term account cannot be cashed at anytime because the term is fixed.

 

There are no fixed term deposits in Thailand, it's only the rate that is fixed since the consumer must be able, under BOE rules, to access their money at any time, with loss of interest of course. If in fact a bank does offer a product whereby the duration is fixed, it wont be a savings deposit product, more probably it will be an insurance or investment product.

Edited August 5, 2016 by chiang mai

[KittenKong]

On 04/08/2016 at 2:49 AM, Gweiloman said:

What I will do is to show a FD with the required amount of funds (800k) as well as having 800k (seasoned) in a savings account as a back up in case the FD is rejected as proof of funds. I will be doing my extension in a couple of months time and will report back on the outcome. I do my extension in Chonburi immigrations (Jomtien).

 

Jomtien is probably the easiest place in Thailand to get an extension done. I do mine every year with a time deposit and have never had the slightest problem with it.

 

You need the bank book, the bank letter (which generally costs 100B) and copies of the bank book. I get my bank to make the copies and stamp them for free.

 

As far as I know all time deposits in Thailand allow you to withdraw early with loss of interest, and so all should be suitable for a retirement extension. Of course YMMV with some immigration offices but I've never heard of anyone having trouble at Jomtien.

[meatboy]

immigration rules are 400,000bht.for marriage extension and 800,000 for retirement,the rules are that these amounts must be in an acount for 3 and 2months,yet immigration say these are your living exs.so if thats the rules unless you can show as i do living exs.in a different acount,those who only show the 400,000 or the 800,000 how can they [immigration] say its your living exs.when you cant touch it for the period 2-3 months.

400k for a couple or 800k for a single person.

the mind bogles.

[ubonjoe]

27 minutes ago, meatboy said:

immigration rules are 400,000bht.for marriage extension and 800,000 for retirement,the rules are that these amounts must be in an acount for 3 and 2months,yet immigration say these are your living exs.so if thats the rules unless you can show as i do living exs.in a different acount,those who only show the 400,000 or the 800,000 how can they [immigration] say its your living exs.when you cant touch it for the period 2-3 months.

400k for a couple or 800k for a single person.

the mind bogles.

The 400k baht or 40k baht for an extension based upon marriage is lower since the wife could be working and earning an income to help support the family.

There many couples that live on the money in the bank or income requirement for retirement. Even some with children that are on dependent extensions like the spouse is.

[allane]

To Maoro 2013:

Having recently moved into Surin Immigration District, I will be doing my annual Retirement extension there next time.

1. Are you saying that the Kap Cheung office wants all the money in fixed term account(s). and will not accept even part of it in a savings account ?

2. If I am understanding you correctly on this, my next question is:  If that is what they tell me on the day I walk in, can I satisfy them by transferring the funds into a fixed term account at that point, or would that put me in a state of non-compliance with the 3 month seasoning rule, at least in their eyes ?

[stoney79]

This might provide some clarification.    My friend has a one year fixed deposit.  The amount is above  800,000 Baht.  His extension stamp finishes on August 31, The amount in the fixed deposit account must be at least three months from the last MATURITY date.  It doesn't matter if you have had the account for 5 or 10years, the only things that matter are the amount and the time from the last maturity date. At least three months. 

[stoney79]

I have heard from an actual example that a three month fixed deposit will not qualify as the time the money is in the account and earning interest is less than three months.   Neither will they accept it on the maturity date because you are starting at day zero.  The money has already been in there 3 months and you are starting fresh from the beginning of the maturity cycle.  

[Scotwight]

The difference between the interest on 800K in a fixed and savings account for three months is about the price of one dinner out in BKK right?  Does anyone really care?

Edited August 7, 2016 by Scotwight
clarity

[stoney79]

You will get 1 percent on a savings account and in a fixed account you will get 1.5- 2.0 percent.  

 

So you will get 2000 per 3 months on saving and you will get 3000-4000 on a fixed deposit.

 

Best I can tell.  I am going to open a couple fixed deposit accounts so all time periods will cover me for the 3 months seasoning requirement. .ie. 2 six month deposits 6 months apart.  Or 2 one year deposits six months apart.