Money transfer from overseas for visa requirements

[Ronuk]

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

 

You should transfer pounds to your Thai bank. Don't ask your UK bank to send baht. You'll get a better exchange rate and the money will be regarded as a foreign exchange deposit. Sending baht is more expensive and is not a foreign exchange deposit.

Of course sending Baht is a foreign deposit! You can send it in bloody rupees. It's makes no odds.  Stop giving misinformation. 

[Ronuk]

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

 

What is this Bank of Bangkok you keep going on about?

 

I deposit dollars in Bangkok Bank in New York and they keep the dollars there, but credit me with making a foreign exchange deposit and the deposit appears in my local Bangkok Bank account in baht. The Bank of Thailand may receive information about the transaction, but they are not involved in clearing the deposit.

If you still cannot understand how foreign transactions around the world work, I cannot be bothered to explain again.

[soisanuk]

3 hours ago, wangsuda said:

Thanks for this. As I am also getting ready to retire, I looked into this for my USA to Thailand transfer. As I understand it, the total amount of fees I will have to pay will be less than USD 40 (USD 20 on the USA side, 500 baht on the Thai side). I can live with that.

I have used Bangkok Bank NY Branch for several years - they have an Automated Clearing House (ACH) number used by all US banks for inter-bank transfers.  Bangkok Bank NY Branch charges a fee depending on the amount transferred - O for up to USD50, USD5 for USD50.01 to USD2,000, USD10 for USD2000.01 to USD50,000, and USD20 for anything over USD50,000.01. The NY Branch deducts the fee from the amount being transmitted and sends the balance to my account with Bangkok Bank in USD. Bangkok Bank charges a conversion fee of .0025% but not less than 200 baht or more than 500 baht which is deducted before they deposit the funds in baht into my account .  The code FTT shows up in my Bank Pass Book and "International transfer" on my online detail.  The NY Branch is not a retail bank - there are no accounts for individuals - when they receive the funds, they continue the transfer minus their fee to your Bangkok Bank Account where it is deposited.

 

Most US Banks will allow you to transfer funds from your  account to anther bank with ACH number for free.  Depending on how your US Bank is set up will depend on the process.  I initially set up with INGDirect online bank (subsequently bought out by Capital 360). They use a person to person (PtoP) method - you set up the PtoP account similar to how you would set up an online bill pay account - you enter account name, account number, ACH number, and email address for recipient. The recipient receives an email when money is sent and must "pick up" the money by entering the type of account, account number, and ACH number.  As the sender, I also receive emails on the transfer and when it is picked up.

 

I recently set up my Chase Bank to transfer the funds (my pension is direct deposited to my Chase account). Their procedure was for me enter account name, account number, receiving bank name & ACH number to set it up.  They then sent two small amounts of less than $1 each (in this case Bangkok Bank did not charge any fees).  I then had to confirm to my bank the amount of the two deposits - once that was done, the accounts were linked ( I have my Bangkok Bank account set up to receive a text message on my phone for any International deposit, it shows the USD amount net of the NY Branch's fee, the Bangkok Bank fee in baht and exchange rate used, and net deposit in baht).  Once linked, then I just go to external bank account transfer section of my Chase online banking account, select the Bangkok Bank NY Branch and enter the amount to send.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2016 by soisanuk

[jippytum]

Hi  no one has mentioned the point you do not need proof of foreign currency transfer of 800,000 baht to qualify for a retirement visa .Where the money comes from is irrelevant as no proof is required .

With the poor exchange rate you could keep you money in a foreign currency account in Thailand and still qualify

Edited October 12, 2016 by jippytum
more info

[ubonjoe]

23 minutes ago, jippytum said:

Hi  no one has mentioned the point you do not need proof of foreign currency transfer of 800,000 baht to qualify for a retirement visa .Where the money comes from is irrelevant as no proof is required .

With the poor exchange rate you could keep you money in a foreign currency account in Thailand and still qualify

It is not required for an extension of stay application. But it is needed to apply for a non immigrant visa at immigration.

If you have a foreign currency account it still has to have the equivalent of 800k baht on the date you apply for the extension. Having one does not get around changing exchange rates,

[Pattaya28]

Tell Barclays to transfer the amount in GBP. 

Very simple.

 

If you call them UK daytime and you want Baht transferred, they must give you an exact price.

 

OP is a "troll" posting that nonsense.

[The Fat Controller]

SWIFT transfers with my bank are processed the same day if they receive instructions before 1300.

 

Always send in Sterling.

 

With Nationwide there is no limit to the amount that can be sent.

 

Funds have always been at the Thai bank the working day following the processing day.

[Si Thea01]

20 hours ago, Ronuk said:

All foreign transfers coming into Thailand clear through Bank of Bangkok no matter which bank you bank with in Thailand.  The longest it takes is 4 days. If you actually bank with Bank of Bangkok the money is in your account the next day or sooner. 

All funds sent to Thailand will show as Foreign sourced no matter who you use to send it. Transferwise is a good company to use. You get great rates and you know exactly how much you will receive instantly the moment you send it. Whoever told you that Transfers sent by Transferwise don't show up as foreign sourced income, hasn't got a clue. If you need to prove foreign income, you need to obtain the 'TOR TOR SAM ' or Foreign income exchange forms anyway directly from the Bank of Bangkok at there head office in Silom. Entry's in your Bank book are not recognised. I have no idea why you would need to prove foreign income for a visa or extension anyway? For property purchase yes but for a visa or extension?

 

I'm sorry but that is not correct.  I have accounts with Krung Thai Bank and retain funds n my Australian account with Westpac.  As the latter does not have a tie up with my Thai bank, my funds, which I transfer when need, I do so via internet banking and those funds are firstly received by Citibank, with whom Westpac has an association

 

It then transfers those funds to Krung Thai, Bangkok, who in turn sends it to my bank in the province where I reside.  The fee from Oz is A$20.00 and to get a better exchange rate I always send Australian Dollars, which sees me get around an extra  B5.00 per dollar.  The Thai bank charges around B150.00 for the exchange and transfer.  My Oz bank allows me to transfer up to A$10,000 daily with the same A$20.00 fee.  depending on the time of day I do the transfer, providing it's a week day, the money is in my province  account within 12 hours maximum.

 

The other options you mention I have no idea about so cannot comment but in so far as proving income source for a visa, I suppose it depends on what type. I was led to believe, in particular to extension of stay based on retirement, that they want to see you have the funds and not just borrowed them here in Thailand for that purpose, after which it is repaid to the lender, with interest. 

[maewang99]

wow, the retail banks still get away with murder.... it shouldn't take more than a few hours nor cost a damn thing.  except maybe for a fax. 

[Litlos]

I have transferred USD from Singapore and seen it in an SCB account in Pattaya within 20 minutes several times.  That was about USD30,000 so it would seem to be extremely quick for a multistep process.  Not an expert but it would seem was manually checked in Singapore, I know that happens even for internet transfers, then direct to SCB using their Swift code.  Maybe the Bank of Thailand receives notification of the transfer, but 20 minutes is way to quick for them to be looking at it and approving the transfer or whatever.

 

Cheers

[hugh2121]

I use ukforex.co.uk to transfer to my account at Bangkok Bank.

No commission.

Good (maybe not quite the best but close) rate of exchange.

Transferring to other banks may incur double charging by Thai banks i.e. both banks applying the international charge of 500 THB as many Thai banks use Bangkok Bank as agent.

Speedy transfer, usually within 48 hours.

24 hr service via UK or Oz office.

 

[nong38]

I sent my last injection before brexit, always send it GBP as you get a better rate here. I always do a swift trf, it then depends hpw quick the UK bank action it and the same in Thailand. I am with Krungsri here and the swift goes to head office and I could wait for someone to call me and offer me  a rate to put in my account, or, I can ring them and ask them if they have the money, at which point it will transferred within 30 minutes.

I am always told in the UK it will take up to 5 working days, then in Thailand a few more while they find the money in the system, basically we have to understand its their game and we have to play by their rules, we pay for a swift service and they want to borrow our money free to make a bit extra on the transaction.

Metrobank charges have gone up from £17 to £25 since they went onto the LSE, Nationwide are less.

Electronic transfers should be as quick as emails.