10 Million Baht Investment Visa - Fixed Deposit

[supremeville]

Hi,

 

I did get an investment visa for buying a condo at more than 10  million Baht a while ago.

Visa extended 5 times already, but am thinking about selling my condo. 

 

So now I'm considering  putting 10 million Baht in a fixed deposit  account to get a new investment visa.

 

Quote

3.b. has at least B10 million in a fixed-deposit account at a Thai bank whose share capital is majority Thai owned; or

 

So Kasikorn, Bangkok Bank, Krungsri, or SCB are fine I guess.

 

But would any fixed deposit be fit (as long as it holds a 10 million balance)?

 

Did anyone get a visa with a 10-million baht fixed deposit account?

 

Thanks for  your help!

 

 

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, supremeville said:

But would any fixed deposit be fit (as long as it holds a 10 million balance)?

Yes it would be accepted. It could even be in one where you incur penalties for early withdrawal that normally pay the highest interest.

Just be sure the it is in bank before the condo sale is finalized.

[Aussieroaming]

I have 10M Baht in a Wisdom Account with Kasikorn, which has the added benefit of the card. I never enquired into whether it qualified for the investment visa. 

[ubonjoe]

A off topic post meant to deflect the topic has been removed.

[ubonjoe]

16 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

I have 10M Baht in a Wisdom Account with Kasikorn, which has the added benefit of the card. I never enquired into whether it qualified for the investment visa. 

Not sure without more info about the account. But it should be allowed if the available balance always shows 10 million baht or more.

[Aussieroaming]

7 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not sure without more info about the account. But it should be allowed if the available balance always shows 10 million baht or more.

Its a term deposit account, tied to a credit card

[ubonjoe]

21 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

Its a term deposit account, tied to a credit card

As long as the amount locked for the credit line for the card is included in the balance shown in the bank book it should not be a problem.

 

[Aussieroaming]

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

As long as the amount locked for the credit line for the card is included in the balance shown in the bank book it should not be a problem.

 

Yes, the money is listed on the bank book.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

Yes, the money is listed on the bank book.

No problem then.

[nzdpower]

I am also interested in this topic, I currenty have 1.300.000 MYR in FD in Malaysia Bank earning 4.1 - 4,3%. This is about 10.000.000THB.

 

Do you guys know if I can get a similar % in Bangkok?

 

What was the process of transferring a large amount like this like? The most i've transferred overseas at one time is around 100k THB.

 

Does the bank ask you where the money came from? How to prove its legit if it was an inheritance (in my case)

 

How easy is it to transfer the 10mil back to malaysia in case I need to? Is there a lot of documentation or is this a 'small matter'?

[catman20]

having this sort of money an account sounds great until you want to get the money back to your own country.

 

its different i suppose if you bring the money here to buy a condo as you would ask for a tor tor sam and then sell it you can then get that money back to origin 

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, catman20 said:

having this sort of money an account sounds great until you want to get the money back to your own country.

its different i suppose if you bring the money here to buy a condo as you would ask for a tor tor sam and then sell it you can then get that money back to origin 

No problem to send the money back if he has proof it was transferred from abroad. He could ask for that proof after it is transferred in and keep it for future use.

[henry15]

better open an fixed account at GSB. they give an higher intrest ad you don't have to pay the 15%  governmemt tax

[JayBird]

I thought the requirements for an investment visa was 40m THB. Am I confusing this with a different visa? Apparently the latter also allowed you to buy a small parcel of land in your private name.

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, JayBird said:

I thought the requirements for an investment visa was 40m THB. Am I confusing this with a different visa? Apparently the latter also allowed you to buy a small parcel of land in your private name.

That is different category of investment.

The 10 million one is shown in clause 2.5 of Police Order 327/2557  basis for extension of stay.

[JayBird]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is different category of investment.

The 10 million one is shown in clause 2.5 of Police Order 327/2557  basis for extension of stay.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

I guess the 10m investment visa is like some countries that grant you a visa to stay when you buy a condo (like UAE or Malaysia).

 

 

Although I'm unsure of the benefit of investing 10m in a low yield account as opposed to a higher yield account and then buying the 1m Thailand Elite.

 

(except perhaps as part of a diversification strategy)

[ubonjoe]

15 minutes ago, JayBird said:

Although I'm unsure of the benefit of investing 10m in a low yield account as opposed to a higher yield account and then buying the 1m Thailand Elite.

It does not have to be in a low yield account. The only requirement is that it never goes below 10 million baht. It can also be in government or state enterprise bonds that might give a higher return.

[johnson36]

If you have a 10 million baht condo why sell it to put the money in a Thai bank account to earn very little interest when you could just rent the condo out for maybe 40k baht a month and keep the investment visa. If i am correct at 40k a month on 10 million condo then that would be 480,000 a year, minus communal fees and agents fees etc you should clear 4%. What do the banks pay in interest ?

Edited July 16, 2018 by johnson36
typo

[Oxx]

Based upon experience:

 

(1) It has to be a Thai government bank, e.g. Krung Thai.

 

(2) When it comes to rolling over a fixed deposit that may, or may not be accepted.  In my case, after a few rollovers Immigration decided that the money hadn't been permanently in an account (even though the rollover was done on the same day), and so refused to extend my extension of stay.  I suspect a factor may have been that that year I was eligible for an extension of stay based upon retirement.

[nzdpower]

47 minutes ago, Oxx said:

Based upon experience:

 

(1) It has to be a Thai government bank, e.g. Krung Thai.

 

(2) When it comes to rolling over a fixed deposit that may, or may not be accepted.  In my case, after a few rollovers Immigration decided that the money hadn't been permanently in an account (even though the rollover was done on the same day), and so refused to extend my extension of stay.  I suspect a factor may have been that that year I was eligible for an extension of stay based upon retirement.

Rollover as in automatic renewal of fd?

[nzdpower]

1 hour ago, johnson36 said:

If you have a 10 million baht condo why sell it to put the money in a Thai bank account to earn very little interest when you could just rent the condo out for maybe 40k baht a month and keep the investment visa. If i am correct at 40k a month on 10 million condo then that would be 480,000 a year, minus communal fees and agents fees etc you should clear 4%. What do the banks pay in interest ?

Im currently getting 4.1-4.3% from malaysian banks fd, but very interested in thai fd rate

[Oxx]

40 minutes ago, nzdpower said:

Rollover as in automatic renewal of fd?

 

With most banks here fixed deposits get rolled over to a 3 month fixed deposit with pretty poor interest rates.  For me, I arranged for the deposits to be transferred to my savings account upon maturity, and then reinvested in a 3 year (or similar) fixed deposit.  

[AdamTheFarang]

On 7/15/2018 at 8:49 AM, ubonjoe said:

Yes it would be accepted. It could even be in one where you incur penalties for early withdrawal that normally pay the highest interest.

Just be sure the it is in bank before the condo sale is finalized.

How can you have the money before the sale is completed surely it goes to the lawyers first?

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

 

(1) It has to be a Thai government bank, e.g. Krung Thai.

When was that?

It does not state that on the requirements in clause 2.5 of the police order.

"4) Must have evidence of investing in the form of a fixed deposit of no less than Baht 10 million with a bank which is registered in Thailand and has Thai nationals holding more than 50 percent"

 

[nzdpower]

28 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

When was that?

It does not state that on the requirements in clause 2.5 of the police order.

"4) Must have evidence of investing in the form of a fixed deposit of no less than Baht 10 million with a bank which is registered in Thailand and has Thai nationals holding more than 50 percent"

 

I also read that it need to be thai bank during my research

[ubonjoe]

46 minutes ago, nzdpower said:

I also read that it need to be thai bank during my research

Of course.

But it does specify it has to be in government bank was my point.

[spambot]

5 hours ago, Oxx said:

Based upon experience:

 

(1) It has to be a Thai government bank, e.g. Krung Thai.

 

(2) When it comes to rolling over a fixed deposit that may, or may not be accepted.  In my case, after a few rollovers Immigration decided that the money hadn't been permanently in an account (even though the rollover was done on the same day), and so refused to extend my extension of stay.  I suspect a factor may have been that that year I was eligible for an extension of stay based upon retirement.

Am I reading this correct - Ubonjoe is saying as long as the funds appear in a bank book and never goes below 10 million baht, but It can also be in government or state enterprise bonds - Then you should get the Investment Visa.

 

However it seems what you are saying is that you were refused an extension even though you had these aspects all covered.

 

I understand that the rollover might be a judgement that for a fraction of time (seconds, mins, hours) since it wasn't continuously there - But then surely wouldn't it be accepted at the time since it was then actually in the account at the application time for applying for the visa?

 

I know that you were making an extension and not an application - But looking at the only qualifications as defined by UbonJoe couldn't you make a new application (rather than extend)?

 

Or possibly I am missing something - Is there some min time for (both) extending and applying (similar to that required for a retirement Visa funds in an account for applying / extending)?

 

But even if there was this requirement in the case of the Investment Visa - Then application for the Retirement would fail since similarly the same argument would be used that rollover had caused the funds not to be in the account for 2 months (in the case of a new application)?

[jerry921]

Oxx, which immigration office was it that you had your negative experience with?

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

the problem with THB fixed deposit is that the thai baht is going to depreciate in value in 

the next few months.

so i your base currency is USD, you might lose even 10% on your investment in thai currency (THB/USD

rate should be around 35-37 in few months to a year).

 

interesting to mention, that cambodia gives 6-8% annual return on FD in USD !!

MIN. amount can be 3000-4000 USD !!

[Oxx]

4 hours ago, jerry921 said:

Oxx, which immigration office was it that you had your negative experience with?

 

Chaengwattana.  Incidentally, there had been pressure the previous year to get me off an investment visa onto a retirement visa the previous year.  I'm guessing it's policy (or at least was a few years ago).