65,000 baht monthly turned down

[EricTh]

11 minutes ago, CMNightRider said:

  

The American Embassy didn't have a problem with producing the "Income Affidavit Letters" which required absolutely no work and shamelessly charged $50.00 a letter.  They could offer the same service with minimal work offering an "Income Verification Letter."  

     

 

Verification takes a lot of time and money to check with the banks and the transactions, amount etc. 

 

It's not about making money but  to maintain credibility with Thai immigration so that you won't cheat their immigration laws.

 

Thai immigration have always assumed embassies would do this responsibly but sadly not.

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by EricTh

[natway09]

What I cannot understand is why are you all so afraid to just keep 800,000 Bht in a Thai bank account or have a regular amount send to your Thai bank account that qualifies ??

It is not as if one of the "BIG" 5 banks here are going to go bust.

I missed your age ? Sorry

[Almer]

Immigration will not question who has sent it, so, pension into your home country bank and a monthly transfer of 65000 in thai baht which is critical and to be safe say in the first week of month, it should come in marked FTT foreign transfer. 

For RT extensions we all have a minimum of 9 months if like me 20 months to get things in order, the aggrivation for me is having to Keep 400.000 tied up and when taking your last breath waving goodbye to it, but you do nit need it then anyway, calm down we all have a common goal and that is, no stress and no worries, there is time to plan and a lot can happen in a short time, go and help the economy and have beer and look at many people with far bigger problems in there lives, see you in the bar.

[CMNightRider]

30 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

Verification takes a lot of time and money to check with the banks and the transactions, amount etc. 

 

It's not about making money but  to maintain credibility with Thai immigration so that you won't cheat their immigration laws.

 

Thai immigration have always assumed embassies would do this responsibly but sadly not.

 

Thank you for sharing your infinite wisdom regarding the verification process to read monthly pension amounts being deposited into an American bank.  Maybe you would be better served sharing this vast knowledge with some of the more naive posters on this site.  

 

Hopefully you are not employed with the American Embassy or Consulate.  If so, I see where the problem lays.

 

Of course Thai Immigration is not interested in how expats invest their money in their prospective countries.   I'm not interested in being part of their make money for Thai banks either.  

 

I don't mean to hurt your feelings but I was actually hoping to receive a reply from the American Consulate clerk who views Thai Visa posts regarding this recent Thai Immigration visa debacle.  So far, they are pretending to turn a blind eye by not acknowledging a problem even exists. The expats leaving Thailand monthly suggests otherwise.  

 

Some refer to those who are leaving Thailand as bad foreigners, which we all know is not true.  Thai Immigration came up with this term.  ????     

 

  

[KhaoYai]

13 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

A non-o visa only allows a 90 day entry. A OA visa allows a one year entry so the are certainly not the same visa.

Thanks for the explanation Joe. Is the poster correct that 12 month multis based on retirement are available from Penang and Savannakhet though? I was under the impression they only issued them based on marriage - possibly a few other reasons but I didn't think retirement was one of them.

Edited March 9, 2019 by KhaoYai

[Mike Teavee]

4 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Thanks for the explanation Joe. Is the poster correct that 12 month multis based on retirement are available from Penang and Savannakhet though? I was under the impression they only issued them based on marriage - possibly a few other reasons but I didn't think retirement was one of them.

12 Months Non-O Multi-Entry "Retirement" (> 50) visa is available from Penang (or at least was when I got mine last July).

 

I did put a thread up about my experience on here but can't find it now. Key points were:-

• I had 800k in a Thai Bank & a letter of income from the British Embassy in Bangkok (cannot get these in Thailand anymore so not sure what the requirement is now, if they're still required then I guess you can get one from the country you're living in or from the BE in KL)
• I stayed at Chulia Mansion (Nice hotel) & used Banana Visa just down the street (Chulia) - Lady there was excellent highly recommend

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by Mike Teavee

[JackThompson]

22 hours ago, Almer said:

Immigration will not question who has sent it, so, pension into your home country bank and a monthly transfer of 65000 in thai baht which is critical and to be safe say in the first week of month, it should come in marked FTT foreign transfer. 

Do not count on them not questioning the source of the funds.  I would expect to be asked at CM and Phuket (known to make as many hurdles as possible for us as "didn't use agent" punishment) - and watch this site for reports from others as this new method of proving income unfolds.

[bunta71]

Penang was sooo smooth and professional...picked up my non-O in ten minutes ......should have posted the results a couple days ago but have been simply drunk on the floor ....

[mosan]

3 hours ago, bunta71 said:

Penang was sooo smooth and professional...picked up my non-O in ten minutes ......should have posted the results a couple days ago but have been simply drunk on the floor ....

And now after all that has happened, you failed to take the time to tell everyone exactly what you did, what was required...thank you very much!

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by mosan
Trying to ensure my comments were snarky...

[JackThompson]

6 hours ago, bunta71 said:

Penang was sooo smooth and professional...picked up my non-O in ten minutes ......should have posted the results a couple days ago but have been simply drunk on the floor ....

 

2 hours ago, mosan said:

And now after all that has happened, you failed to take the time to tell everyone exactly what you did, what was required...thank you very much!

Better give him a chance to sober-up, first, so we get the story straight.  He seems to be continuing celebrations. ????

 

We know that for a Non-O based-on-retirement application (Penang) you need proof you are retired (pension-letter or embassy affidavit stating you are retired) plus proof of sufficient money in the bank (anywhere in the world) or sufficient income (pension letters, bank-proof, etc), or combo of bank-money + income.

 

Still, it would be good to know exactly what was presented in this case.  Whenever you are up to it butnta71 ????- appreciated.

[Thailand Outcast]

8 hours ago, JackThompson said:

Do not count on them not questioning the source of the funds.  I would expect to be asked at CM and Phuket (known to make as many hurdles as possible for us as "didn't use agent" punishment) - and watch this site for reports from others as this new method of proving income unfolds.

You mean immigration's new method of making money.  (must use visa agent) 

[BertM]

I'm so glad to read that the OP was able to get his visa. He must be happy. I really feel empathy for all those I read about on this forum who are struggling to meet the new requirements since the embassies stopped issuing income affidavits. I am so fortunate to not be in the OP's situation. I'm on the opposite end trying to keep my retirement income below the Medicare Part B limit of $170,000 per year so I don't have to pay the higher premiums when I turn 65 in 2021. I am taking a long break from TV now that I've learned all about the new rules. I wish everyone well and hope things work out for everyone. I'm gone...

[bunta71]

Alright, for those who failed to follow this thread, and seemed to have missed pertinent information I will recount what got me the non-o. I have no time to deal with any petty misinformed crap so prevalent. Firstly I do have a life and my job is not to immediately jump onto thaivisa every few hours... I will also state that individuals have their own agendas, goals and plans to achieve them so there is no right way not wrong way if you qualify legally for a retirement ext. I am referring to the several pretentious individuals who kept up the mantra to  "simply deposit 800,000 baht and  forget the income requirements" . I prefer to do other things with my savings that are of my own devices. Sorry I don't fit you ideas of how to go about this. I did live in the P.I. for 12 years, my wife owns property there, and have a large extended family there. I simply choose to not live there. Again sorry to offend those who wish I did what they suggest. The arrogance only seems to increase on Thai visa and I spend very little time here dealing with this. When I have a question I can sometimes get a correct answer after sorting through the bs...

   I got my non-o 90 day visa in Penang with the usual paperwork...pertinent copies from my passport, certified copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. What this thread is about is the difficulty of getting the direct deposit set up within the 90 days allotted. I happened to fall into a window that made my particular situation tenuous timewise. I had received some incorrect advice from my local Krabi IO's, and tons of it here. I believe it best to get ones info directly from the horses mouth so I called ahead to the Penang consulate to inquire there about exactly what I needed to show I have the required 65,000 Baht. The polite gentleman spoke to me as respectfully as anyone and told me to simply bring ANYTHING to show my income, even my own bank monthly statements. He explained correctly that when I apply for my ext. the direct deposts in a Thai account matter, but for the non-o is was not necessary. I asked about needing some stamp or anything from my credit union confirming my statements. He said "no". I thanked him and asked his name so I could reference him if I had another officer there tell me otherwise. He stated that I would not need his name as everyone in that consulate were on the same page as him. I laughed and thanked him for his candor. So when I turned in my paperwork, the lady saw my total income from that account more than surpassed the 65,000 baht minimum, and she spent less than 5 seconds perusing that years worth of printouts. She had to remind me that I needed an additional photo page copy for my wifes paper stack. There was a gentleman outside in a van set up with cameras for visa photos and copy machines so I got the additional copy that I had forgotten. I handed it to her a few minutes later and she reminded me that I would be receiving 90 days only, I nodded and she handed me my ticket to pick up my visa the next afternoon. The next day was easy also...I was number 4 in line and we all got our visas in just a few minutes, absolutely pain free. Now I must also add that approximately 100 days earlier I had gotten a non-o 90 day visa in Kota Bharu without showing any bank statements whatsoever. I was unable to get the direct deposits into my Bangkok Bank in time before the 90 days was up on the first non-o from Kota Bharu...and now the beer truck is making my delivery to my house so see ya...have to argue without me till next time...

Edited March 11, 2019 by bunta71

[Letseng]

On 3/9/2019 at 1:51 PM, CMNightRider said:

Thank you for sharing your infinite wisdom regarding the verification process to read monthly pension amounts being deposited into an American bank.  Maybe you would be better served sharing this vast knowledge with some of the more naive posters on this site.  

 

Hopefully you are not employed with the American Embassy or Consulate.  If so, I see where the problem lays.

 

Of course Thai Immigration is not interested in how expats invest their money in their prospective countries.   I'm not interested in being part of their make money for Thai banks either.  

 

I don't mean to hurt your feelings but I was actually hoping to receive a reply from the American Consulate clerk who views Thai Visa posts regarding this recent Thai Immigration visa debacle.  So far, they are pretending to turn a blind eye by not acknowledging a problem even exists. The expats leaving Thailand monthly suggests otherwise.  

 

Some refer to those who are leaving Thailand as bad foreigners, which we all know is not true.  Thai Immigration came up with this term.  ????     

 

  

Any figures about the monthly expat/retiree exodus?

[ThaiBunny]

On 3/9/2019 at 4:33 PM, streetlite said:

I have TW set up as a borderless account.

That's irrelevant as far as receiving funds in a bank in Thailand

[gunderhill]

On 3/6/2019 at 4:30 PM, bunta71 said:

The two main guys at Krabi immigration who have known me for about 10 years told me..." Jack we know you have money, BUT this must be deposited in the Thai Bank,etc.

I'm sure they think its  stupid as  well.

[moe666]

On 3/8/2019 at 11:03 AM, wgdanson said:

How would someone who does not go onto TVisa or other expat forum get to know about these changes, until he goes to do his extension exactly as he has done for the past many years. Surely the Emabassies involved (UK, USA, Aus & Dmk) ought to have emailed or sent a letter to every one of it's ''customers' who have been doing their letters of Income there.

In the end it is each persons responsibility to stay abrest of any and all law and rule changes that can affect them and their stay in Thailand. 

[CMNightRider]

27 minutes ago, Letseng said:

Any figures about the monthly expat/retiree exodus?

Do you think Thai Immigration is going to advertise this?  Unless you live in a bubble in some moo baan, you can see westerners leaving each month as their visas come due.  

[wgdanson]

26 minutes ago, moe666 said:

In the end it is each persons responsibility to stay abrest of any and all law and rule changes that can affect them and their stay in Thailand. 

AND each Immigration Officer's duty too.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

1 hour ago, moe666 said:

In the end it is each persons responsibility to stay abrest of any and all law and rule changes that can affect them and their stay in Thailand. 

AND each Immigration Officer's duty too.

Yes, it's a bit hard to accomplish this task, when every office can literally make up any "interpretation" of the published rules it wants, then add their own "unpublished requirements" on top. 

We can be "responsible" only when their chain-of-command starts to act like one, and get their ranks in line with a common-standard.

[Dave98]

4 hours ago, CMNightRider said:

Do you think Thai Immigration is going to advertise this?  Unless you live in a bubble in some moo baan, you can see westerners leaving each month as their visas come due.  

I was in immigration a couple of days ago getting a 7 day extension on the day my extension based on retirement expired.  Judging from the reaction and questions about why I was leaving after 8 years, it sure appeared that they are seeing many long term expats leaving.

[MMan]

On 3/9/2019 at 12:33 PM, streetlite said:

I am a US citizen. Because of the IAT format I decided to use Transferwise to send money to my Bangkok bank account. This is a recent message from TW:  "When we send funds out to your recipient, the money will come from our local bank account in that country. For example, when we send to recipient’s in Thailand, the money will be sent from our local Thailand account. Being that the money is coming from a local bank account in that country, it would not be an international transfer and won’t appear this way."  Can anyone verify otherwise? I have TW set up as a borderless account.

When I send money from my US account to my Bangkok Bank account using TW, it shows as an 'International Transfer' on my Bangkok Bank account, even though TW sent it through their bank in Thailand.  I think TW uses the IAT format and they supply that info to Bangkok Bank.  Below is from my Bangkok Bank account showing the TW deposits that hit 19 and 26 March. 

 

26 Mar 2019 14:02	International Transfer		128,938.25	142,422.08	AUTO
25 Mar 2019 19:23	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		13,483.83	ATM
23 Mar 2019 21:32	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	3,900.00		18,483.83	ATM
21 Mar 2019 16:16	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		22,383.83	ATM
20 Mar 2019 21:35	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		27,383.83	ATM
19 Mar 2019 14:02	International Transfer		31,349.89	32,383.83	AUTO

 

When I go into my US account online and pull up the details from the TW debit the following descrrition appears:

TransferWise Inc DES:  IAT PMT INFO: MIS 000000000000000000 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE

 

As you can see they reference 'IAT PMT INFO'

 

[lopburi3]

13 minutes ago, MMan said:

When I send money from my US account to my Bangkok Bank account using TW, it shows as an 'International Transfer' on my Bangkok Bank account, even though TW sent it through their bank in Thailand.  I think TW uses the IAT format and they supply that info to Bangkok Bank.  Below is from my Bangkok Bank account showing the TW deposits that hit 19 and 26 March. 

 

26 Mar 2019 14:02	International Transfer		128,938.25	142,422.08	AUTO
25 Mar 2019 19:23	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		13,483.83	ATM
23 Mar 2019 21:32	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	3,900.00		18,483.83	ATM
21 Mar 2019 16:16	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		22,383.83	ATM
20 Mar 2019 21:35	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		27,383.83	ATM
19 Mar 2019 14:02	International Transfer		31,349.89	32,383.83	AUTO

 

When I go into my US account online and pull up the details from the TW debit the following descrrition appears:

TransferWise Inc DES:  IAT PMT INFO: MIS 000000000000000000 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE

 

As you can see they reference 'IAT PMT INFO'

 

It will only show as international if the Thai bank used is Bangkok Bank - if transfer is make by either of Transferwise other Thai bank accounts it will not.  Bangkok Bank seems to be the most used so it is seldom an issue - but it can be and people have reported so.  

[marcusarelus]

5 hours ago, CMNightRider said:

Do you think Thai Immigration is going to advertise this?  Unless you live in a bubble in some moo baan, you can see westerners leaving each month as their visas come due.  

The major exodus I saw and tourist arrival figures support the Falang stopped coming a couple of years ago as a result of the pound going down. 

[wgdanson]

50 minutes ago, MMan said:

When I send money from my US account to my Bangkok Bank account using TW, it shows as an 'International Transfer' on my Bangkok Bank account, even though TW sent it through their bank in Thailand.  I think TW uses the IAT format and they supply that info to Bangkok Bank.  Below is from my Bangkok Bank account showing the TW deposits that hit 19 and 26 March. 

 

26 Mar 2019 14:02	International Transfer		128,938.25	142,422.08	AUTO
25 Mar 2019 19:23	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		13,483.83	ATM
23 Mar 2019 21:32	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	3,900.00		18,483.83	ATM
21 Mar 2019 16:16	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		22,383.83	ATM
20 Mar 2019 21:35	Cash Withdrawal - BBL ATM	5,000.00		27,383.83	ATM
19 Mar 2019 14:02	International Transfer		31,349.89	32,383.83	AUTO

 

When I go into my US account online and pull up the details from the TW debit the following descrrition appears:

TransferWise Inc DES:  IAT PMT INFO: MIS 000000000000000000 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE

 

As you can see they reference 'IAT PMT INFO'

 

Bear in mind that Immigration want to see roughly the same amount being transferred on roughly the same day of the month.

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Bear in mind that Immigration want to see roughly the same amount being transferred on roughly the same day of the month.

It actually only has to be equal to or greater than 65k baht 40k baht. There is nothing in the written rules that it has to be on or near the same day every month.

[wgdanson]

50 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It actually only has to be equal to or greater than 65k baht 40k baht. There is nothing in the written rules that it has to be on or near the same day every month.

I stand corrected sir. So 1st Jan, 28th Feb, 1st March, 30th April etc would be accepted?   LOL

Edited April 4, 2019 by wgdanson

[wgdanson]

On 3/8/2019 at 11:56 AM, inlandchris said:

Yes, me too this year but did a printout for the year. However, we are lucky and dont expect the same outcome next year. After the elections and most IM agents gets on-board, expect a change and plan for it Now. Be safe, plan B. I am still worried because you need a min. 400k in the bank now, later, 800k if all IM agents follow the new and sudden rules. Yes, some high official got mad because of all the cheats and now everybody has to pay for the cheats, human nature.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Sorry Chris but it is EITHER 65k per month from abroad and spend what you want/need to, OR, 800/400k in the bank...400 of it untouchable. Which will you do?

[wgdanson]

7 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

That's irrelevant as far as receiving funds in a bank in Thailand

It is if you exchange the £s for Bht and keep them in your Borderless until you need them here. There is no problem having GBP in your B'less and funding a T'Wise transfer from it. Been there, done it !

[Dave98]

2 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Sorry Chris but it is EITHER 65k per month from abroad and spend what you want/need to, OR, 800/400k in the bank...400 of it untouchable. Which will you do?

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