BREAKING NEWS Thai immigration reveals new requirements for retirement, marriage extensions (visas)

[smedly 33,586]

11 minutes ago, colinneil said:

I get my UK pension paid directly into my Krung Thai account every 13 weeks, have done now for nearly 5 years, never had any problems.

expand a little on that it is rather vague

 

are you saying all you have done the past 5 years is produce a Thai bank statement showing monthly foreign deposits which you spend from month to month, no embassy letters - no bank balance etc etc

[onera1961 1,551]

50 minutes ago, Eligius said:

Perhaps it is not as bad as I fear. What do other members think?

It is even better. No need for seasoning and less than money required for seasoning. Though I am on an O-A visa right now. I still bring 15,000 every week. I should bump it up to 5K every month + 15K every week. Was planning to use an agent in 2020, But it looks like I don't need an agent anymore. Even if I use an agent to avoid hassle with immigration, I can bargain with them for a good price like 5/7K as I don't need to borrow money from them

Edited January 6, 2019 by onera1961

[MJCM 3,140]

If the option to keep 800k or 400k in a Bank account is removed from the "option list" then I think Thai Banks wouldn't be that happy. There would be then no point for foreigners to have that amount of money sitting in a Bank account which gets low interest rates.

 

If it's not an option anymore then I for certain would then remove that money from my account.

 

Let's wait and see.

 

Ps: What disturbs me the most is that these rules are open for IO's own interpretation YET again.

[tingtongtourist 1,517]

16 minutes ago, Darrren said:

It,s highly possible that they will accept evidence of a 65,000k Baht arriving in a Thai bank account, so a bank account in your home country and one here may suffice with allowances for the 12 month time frame - they may accept less than 12 months due to it be a new rule. If that’s the case then start transferring now. As for the source of the funds.. if they just accept evidence of 65k fine, if they want to see an actual confirmation that your pension actually pays 65k + then a serious problem for those who receive less than that. There no mention of accepting any other supplementary income from other sources?

i remembered a few members saying they simply did the swift transfer from their own account (from their own country) to a Thai account every month.

 

it sound like as long as funds reach the Thai accont, they do not worry to much about the source?

but then again that is just speculation

[NCC1701A 49,349]

4 minutes ago, Spidey said:

OP clearly states "pension". On the face of it only a pension being paid directly into your Thai bank account would cut it.

 

I cannot have my company pension paid into a Thai bank account so that rules me out and many others.

many people don't have pensions so this will not be the case. I am sure the wording will change to something like "funds from outside Thailand"

[sometimewoodworker 2,324]

3 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Can you provide a link to the original Thai document?

Previous thread, post 343 page 23

[smedly 33,586]

3 minutes ago, MJCM said:

If the option to keep 800k or 400k in a Bank account is removed from the "option list" then I think Thai Banks wouldn't be that happy. There would be then no point for foreigners to have that amount of money sitting in a Bank account which gets low interest rates.

 

If it's not an option anymore then I for certain would then remove that money from my account.

 

Let's wait and see.

 

Ps: What disturbs me the most is that these rules are open for IO's own interpretation YET again.

for gods sake this is about income not balance - that is why it is not mentioned  - it hasn't changed

[Spidey 8,356]

4 minutes ago, sumrit said:

To show other types of income:

 

for marriage extensions:

3.       Evidence of income from a foreign embassy or consulate.

 

For retirement extensions:

2.       Evidence of income from a foreign embassy or consulate.

 

The problem is back to getting the Embassy to supply an income letter 

 

2.       Evidence of a pension. Letter of certification from a Thai bank supported by bank statements showing a pension being transferred to the pensioner’s bank account every month for at least 12 months.

 

I read this as pension transferred directly into Thai bank account. Very few of us will be able to transfer a pension above 65K baht into our Thai bank accounts, but the option is there.

[MJCM 3,140]

1 minute ago, smedly said:

for gods sake this is about income not balance - that is why it is not mentioned  - it hasn't changed

Yes I know it;s about income, but I haven't seen proof of it yet, and that's why I wrote "IF"

[janclaes47 4,299]

Just now, smedly said:

for gods sake this is about income not balance - that is why it is not mentioned  - it hasn't changed

Thanks for clarifying this mister immigration officer

[luckyluke 2,460]

3 minutes ago, sumrit said:

To show other types of income:

 

for marriage extensions:

3.       Evidence of income from a foreign embassy or consulate.

 

For retirement extensions:

2.       Evidence of income from a foreign embassy or consulate.

 

The problem is back to getting the Embassy to supply an income letter 

 

Sad for some.

Comforting for others ( Those not being among the 4 embassies ).

[sumrit 1,098]

12 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

Where do you see the mention of average in the OP?

 

What I see is repeatedly " every month"

in the "MARRIAGE SECTION":

Evidence of annual income that equates to no less than B40,000 per month of alien father, mother or spouse such as.

 

in the "RETIREMENT SECTION":

For retirement extensions of no more than 1 year evidence of average monthly income of B65,000 is required.

 

First Anomaly:

For people using the money in the bank option, just put 480/780k baht in the bank and call it 'average monthly income.........no need to season it any more.

[overherebc 17,531]

The way I read it.

1. 400,000 or 800,000 is still there.

2. If working in Thailand and married show your salary slips

( from Thai company ) of 40,000 + baht a month.

3. Show payments into your bank every month of 40,000 or 65,000 every month.

( I you have already been retired here for a couple of years then your bank records will show that anyway )

4.  If you have been getting 25,000 a month but signing an embassy letter to say you get 40,000 or 65,000 a month then unfortunately you're going to find your own way around that, combi' method?

5.  Agent and take your chances for the future.

[connda 14,574]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Evidence of annual income that equates to no less than B40,000 per month of alien father, mother or spouse such as.

 

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

For retirement extensions of no more than 1 year evidence of average monthly income of B65,000 is required.

Based on the fact that there was no mention of it, are we to assume that 400K and 800K in a Thai bank for extensions based on marriage and retirement respectively are no longer a viable method of financial funding for yearly extensions?  Based on the article only 45K/mo and 65K/mo placed into a Thai bank for 12 consecutive months prior to the extension are the new rule of law? 
Clarifications? Was the funds in the bank option mistakenly omitted here?  If not, Thailand can plan to see an exodus of expats married to Thais or retired in Thailand.

[JLCrab 9,146]

8 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

many people don't have pensions so this will not be the case. I am sure the wording will change to something like "funds from outside Thailand"

True but that doesn't mean that the words will be changed to "any funds from outside Thailand" as they may want to be reassured that actually IS some source of monthly funds.