Retirement Visa And Financial Requirements

[Robby nz]

Hi

Been away for a week and have lost the thread on all the new rules so forgive me if this has been covered before.

I have just done my 90 day report and was given a paper with the new requirements and it makes no mention of having to have 800K in the bank 3 months prior to application for extention. I will quote the relevant parts of the paper.

Qualifications for applicant

3. Proof of statement in one of the following:

3.1. Having a bank account of not less than 800K baht or

3.2. Having a definite income from pention or social welfare not less than 65K Baht per month or

3.3. Having both a bank account and annual income from pention or social welfare not less than 800K Baht.

Required documents

5. Proof of finantial statement or pention

5.1. Certificate letter from a bank and copy of bank account (savings or fixed deposit) certifying the last 3 months record or:

5.2. Certificate letter from the consulate or embassy of the applicant country certifying the amount of pention or social welfare.

6. Documents of money transfer or a bank deposit account in reasonable and frequant amount i.e certificate letter from a bank of overseas money transfer or a copy of bank notification of money transfer.

That is the info I have been given by immigration in Hua hin, I still have one 90 day report before I have to apply for an extention so I have plenty of time to sort this out, however it would be very difficult for me to bring 800K here 3 months early as my investments overseas are structured to have the 800K availiable on the date I needed it according to the rules when I came here.

But as you can see it only mentions reasonable and frequant amount in this letter. Reasonable and frequant amount it seems to me leaves it open to interpretation by different offices.

Also says the 800K can be on fixed deposit or I assume a combination of both savings and fixed deposit.

OK comments please

[lopburi3]

5.1. Certificate letter from a bank and copy of bank account (savings or fixed deposit) certifying the last 3 months record

That is the change - it is now required to show a three month record in your account - it appears you have been told.

[rogerdee123]

I'm renewing my retirement visa again tomorrow ..

My Baht balance at HSBC Bangkok has dropped below 500,000 .... but I have more than enough foreign currency deposited at HSBC Bangkok. Usually HSBC provides the letter and it says I have xxx amount in baht and xxxx amount in USD and xxxx amount in UK pounds ... etc etc.

All together depositis total a few million Baht equivalent.

Anyone have any idea if the actual baht balance will be a problem ... i.e. will baht equivalent suffice .... ???

[lopburi3]

If they have accepted it in the past they can probably accept it now. Have not heard of any change in policy. But this seems to be very much up to the office/officer involved. Believe anything outside of baht is a gamble; as the rule is baht on paper.

[rogerdee123]

Thanks for the advice ... anyway it's late afternoon and too late to do much more today. So I'm going to go ahead and go early to Suan Plu tomorrow and give it a try. I'll report here what happens.

HSBC has issued the letter which states the balances in my various accounts. The Thai Baht balance is less than 500k but also they have helpfully put the Thai Baht equivalent amount beside each of the foreign currency account balances ... which equals a few million Baht. (also I have the newly required three months worth of HSBC bank statements).

At current exchange rates, I don't want to change my foreign currency to Baht if I can help it. The other alternative is of course to get the letter from the embassy, which is probably what I will do if necessary.

In any case ... I'll follow up with a report here.

[tgeezer]

Hi

Been away for a week and have lost the thread on all the new rules so forgive me if this has been covered before.

I have just done my 90 day report and was given a paper with the new requirements and it makes no mention of having to have 800K in the bank 3 months prior to application for extention. I will quote the relevant parts of the paper.

Qualifications for applicant

3. Proof of statement in one of the following:

3.1. Having a bank account of not less than 800K baht or

3.2. Having a definite income from pention or social welfare not less than 65K Baht per month or

3.3. Having both a bank account and annual income from pention or social welfare not less than 800K Baht.

Required documents

5. Proof of finantial statement or pention

5.1. Certificate letter from a bank and copy of bank account (savings or fixed deposit) certifying the last 3 months record or:

5.2. Certificate letter from the consulate or embassy of the applicant country certifying the amount of pention or social welfare.

6. Documents of money transfer or a bank deposit account in reasonable and frequant amount i.e certificate letter from a bank of overseas money transfer or a copy of bank notification of money transfer.

That is the info I have been given by immigration in Hua hin, I still have one 90 day report before I have to apply for an extention so I have plenty of time to sort this out, however it would be very difficult for me to bring 800K here 3 months early as my investments overseas are structured to have the 800K availiable on the date I needed it according to the rules when I came here.

But as you can see it only mentions reasonable and frequant amount in this letter. Reasonable and frequant amount it seems to me leaves it open to interpretation by different offices.

Also says the 800K can be on fixed deposit or I assume a combination of both savings and fixed deposit.

OK comments please

The rules have changed, and I am tempted to ask what 'scams' have been pulled to make Immigration change them, if we knew what the cheating was, those of us who are not cheating would be in a better position to reassure Immigration of our bona fides. For I know of a chap who has the investments but not the regular income so feels unable to do it their way; he would borrow 800,000 baht for the time it took to get the visa then repay it. The bank book stops that one but what else is there? When I heard of the three months requirement I naturally thought it was to stop the only scam I had heard of so was quite confident. When I went to Immigration I had had the 800,000 for a month only and three months ago was not in Thailand, and there was no problem. The answer is there somewhere for all applicants.

[khunyae]

One complication now is the new foreign currency controls. I would assume that you have to transfer foreign currency to value of 1.2 million THB into Thailand in order to be allowed to convert 2/3 of your foreign currency into 800k THB. But the other 1/3 retained in foreign currency. Will that 1/3 be included in your balance for calculation of retirement visa qualification?

[rogerdee123]

Follow-up Report as promised.

At Suan Plu at 7:30 and second in line for the number ticket.

At 8:00AM they issued the number tickets ... and sent me to room 101

At 8:30 the nice ladies in Room 101 started working. They had no problem with my bank letter (450,000 baht balance plus other foreign exchange balances equaling a few million baht).

By 8:40 I had my new Retiremenet Visa stamped in my passport.

So ... No Problem ... Mai Mii Panhaa ... Mai Pen Rai

The multiple re-entry took another 30 minutes. But by 9:15AM I was in Starbucks on Convent Road

[samtam]

Does anyone know how the (moving) new rules on foreign exchange controls has affected the retirement Thai visa sum, in whether or not you can deposit for the three months and then uplift and remit the full sum abroad, or hasn't this yet been thought through by the powers that be?

[Krub]

Follow-up Report as promised.

At Suan Plu at 7:30 and second in line for the number ticket.

At 8:00AM they issued the number tickets ... and sent me to room 101

At 8:30 the nice ladies in Room 101 started working. They had no problem with my bank letter (450,000 baht balance plus other foreign exchange balances equaling a few million baht).

By 8:40 I had my new Retiremenet Visa stamped in my passport.

So ... No Problem ... Mai Mii Panhaa ... Mai Pen Rai

The multiple re-entry took another 30 minutes. But by 9:15AM I was in Starbucks on Convent Road

Congratulations !

Did you need the medical certificate ?

[samtam]

Does anyone know how the (moving) new rules on foreign exchange controls has affected the retirement Thai visa sum, in whether or not you can deposit for the three months and then uplift and remit the full sum abroad, or hasn't this yet been thought through by the powers that be?

Answering my own question here: HSBC confirms that the amount to transfer for retirement visa is also subject to the new exchange control regulations - in other words you have to transfer the THB800k for three months prior and you cannot remit out for another 9 months unless you wish to forfeit the 30% witholding.

[Krub]

Does anyone know how the (moving) new rules on foreign exchange controls has affected the retirement Thai visa sum, in whether or not you can deposit for the three months and then uplift and remit the full sum abroad, or hasn't this yet been thought through by the powers that be?

Answering my own question here: HSBC confirms that the amount to transfer for retirement visa is also subject to the new exchange control regulations - in other words you have to transfer the THB800k for three months prior and you cannot remit out for another 9 months unless you wish to forfeit the 30% witholding.

I have read somewhere it is applied (30% witholding) on transfers of 20K USD and above. Maybe make 2 transfers to meet the 800K ?

[VBF]

Does anyone know how the (moving) new rules on foreign exchange controls has affected the retirement Thai visa sum, in whether or not you can deposit for the three months and then uplift and remit the full sum abroad, or hasn't this yet been thought through by the powers that be?

Answering my own question here: HSBC confirms that the amount to transfer for retirement visa is also subject to the new exchange control regulations - in other words you have to transfer the THB800k for three months prior and you cannot remit out for another 9 months unless you wish to forfeit the 30% witholding.

So does that mean that you can transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank without any penalty but if you want to transfer it out of Thailand within a year you lose 30%?

Or does it mean that if you transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank, they immediately withold 30% for 1 year - scary!

What about if you transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank and draw it out in Thailand as you need it (living expenses?)

Or what if you transfer the money in smaller amounts totalling 800,000Baht - are you then subject to the exchange control regulations?

Anybody know?

[khunyae]

So does that mean that you can transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank without any penalty but if you want to transfer it out of Thailand within a year you lose 30%?

No.

Or does it mean that if you transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank, they immediately withold 30% for 1 year - scary!

Yes, that is correct.

What about if you transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank and draw it out in Thailand as you need it (living expenses?)

That is what it is for - living expenses. They expect you to use it for this purpose. However, they also expect you to replenish and bring balance back up to at least a 800K three months before renewal is due for the next twelve month period.

Or what if you transfer the money in smaller amounts totalling 800,000Baht - are you then subject to the exchange control regulations?

That would be possible. Transfers of higher value than USD20K are affected by the 30% withholding. Lower amounts are not.

[rogerdee123]

Congratulations !

Did you need the medical certificate ?

No Medical Certificate was provided and they didn't ask for it.

[rogerdee123]

Answering my own question here: HSBC confirms that the amount to transfer for retirement visa is also subject to the new exchange control regulations - in other words you have to transfer the THB800k for three months prior and you cannot remit out for another 9 months unless you wish to forfeit the 30% witholding.

I have read somewhere it is applied (30% witholding) on transfers of 20K USD and above. Maybe make 2 transfers to meet the 800K ?

.............................

Yes HSBC staff advised me that incoming FC transfers to FC accounts are no problem. The problem is when the FC is converted into Baht. They advised me to keep the exchanges below 20k $$ per transaction. So if I want to move US$ from my US$ account into my Thai Baht account ... I need to be careful to do less than 20k$ per transaction.

It seems to me that this law could put a damper on the property market also.

[VBF]

So does that mean that you can transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank without any penalty but if you want to transfer it out of Thailand within a year you lose 30%?

No.

Or does it mean that if you transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank, they immediately withold 30% for 1 year - scary!

Yes, that is correct.

What about if you transfer the equivalent of 800,000Baht into a Thai bank and draw it out in Thailand as you need it (living expenses?)

That is what it is for - living expenses. They expect you to use it for this purpose. However, they also expect you to replenish and bring balance back up to at least a 800K three months before renewal is due for the next twelve month period.

Or what if you transfer the money in smaller amounts totalling 800,000Baht - are you then subject to the exchange control regulations?

That would be possible. Transfers of higher value than USD20K are affected by the 30% withholding. Lower amounts are not.

Now I'm answering my own question - D'Oh!

From another area of TV it would apear that this new rule has been RESCINDED only a day after it was introduced!

See here: Shot in foot?

and here: Reliable confirmation?

TIT Rules!!!!

[samtam]

Rescinded only for stockmarket investments, although I don't know how they can determine that when the funds are remitted, (that you're going to use them to buy shares). I agree it has huge negative sentiment inter alia on property investment, even if that is for more than 1 year. The guy should fall on his sword. if you read the foreign press articles about it you get a flavour of how this move was perceived overseas. Not well.

[VBF]

Rescinded only for stockmarket investments, although I don't know how they can determine that when the funds are remitted, (that you're going to use them to buy shares).

So we still don't really know how an 800,000Baht in foreign currency transfer will be treated by the Banks. Another "Wait and see" I guess - in the meantime ensure that any transfers are well under $20,000!

[samtam]

Yes we do know how a THB800k transfer will be treated. You will have to leave it for 1 year if you want to avoid the 30% withholding tax, unless you transfer in amounts of less than USD20k (THB720 +)

[VBF]

Yes we do know how a THB800k transfer will be treated. You will have to leave it for 1 year if you want to avoid the 30% withholding tax, unless you transfer in amounts of less than USD20k (THB720 +)

Samtam,

Not so IF this post is to be believed 30% withholding or not?

According to "Dr Naam": "........all restrictions (except for foreign sources buying short term domestic bonds denominated in THB) were lifted yesterday evening."

Once again I have NO idea which of us is correct - does anyone - please!