Retirement Visa / Monthly Deposit into a Thai Bank.

[Jim7777]

OP trust me I’ve been living here for five years and I’ve been using Thaivisas for even longer just listen to Ubonjoe and no one else.  If you have to just send Ubonjoe a private message he’ll reply to you and he is the best subject matter expert on immigration, visa, and extension matters that I’ve ever found online who’s willing to give free advice that most visa agents actually charge money for.  Trust me I’ve been asking him for advice for years over 5 years and he’s almost never wrong about these things.  

 

Unonjoe is definitely right about your option number one unless you’re on Social Security or another type of pension where the New York branch of Bangkok Bank would do that for you.  

 

Personally I recommend that you open a new bank account and there are some banks that will open new accounts over the phone from overseas.  I know because I just switched US banks back in January right over the phone in only 5 minutes as if I had been there in person.  Although I'm retired military and I switched over from Navy Federal Credit Union to Pentagon Federal Credit Union right over the phone with no problems.  And yes Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) does do overseas International Wire Transfers for only a $30 dollar fee per International wire transfer, I do them every month.  

 

The good news is that Pentagon Federal Credit Union is also available to the general public and not only just Active Duty Military, retired military as I am, and Veterans you can open an account with them as well right over the phone from here in Thailand.  I did have to send them the signature cards required by law but not for two months after they opened my account and I already had my Direct Deposits going to PenFed.  PenFed didn’t even ask for copies of my identification it was easy.  

 

So I just gave you a potential option that I think might work depending on your situation but definitely listen to Ubonjoe and if he tells you anything different than what I have listen to him instead.  

[Jim7777]

Additionally you are not boxed into a corner you do have options.  Even if all else failed the worst thing that could happen is that you would just leave Thailand for about two days and just get a new visa at a Thai Embassy and that’s the worst thing that could happen as long as you don’t overstay your current extension make sure you don’t do that.  This transition period is confusing for a lot of people I’m just glad that I don’t have to do my next extension till 2020.  Just listen to Ubonjoe, have a plan, and you’ll be okay.  You definitely have options you just have to evaluate your situation and figure it out but I recommend that you do that based on Ubonjoe’s advice.  My advice might have been helpful as well but I don’t know your entire situation and Ubonjoe knows more about these things then anyone I’ve ever talked to.  So trust me send Ubonjoe a private message and explain to him your entire situation and take his advice.  And be sure and have a backup plan.  

[kiwikeith]

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 5:42 AM, elviajero said:

No.

 

No.

 

According to the new rules it’s 2 months, but I suggest you plan for 3 if you can.

 

You need to keep minimum balances of 800K for 3 months after the extension starts, 2 months before the next renewal, and 400K during the months in between.

 

If you want to use the income method just have your annuity paid into your US account and make monthly transfers yourself to a Thai bank account. That should be accepted; however, immigration might want proof of the source of the income. 2/3 months of transfers should be enough prior to the 2019 extension application.

Reading your post about income method, I think your right.

I read on a previous forum from a Thai government article that you can use this method.

I previously said that why can't you, not verify income from your pension fund provider and  Tax department.

The pension office will give me a annual printout as well as the IRD.

The bank will provide you with an official printout for any investment earnings.

If your pension is transferred to your Thai bank account from your country of residence bank, if you have all the documents, printouts and it is the required income amount then that is how I understood the Thai government article to read.

The you should be ok.

Can anyone verify this??

 

I have heard that the witch is still alive and the pre- existing method, still is being used.

[mrbeerguy]

Hi UJ  For the combo method with income letter do I need to season a shortfall of funds to make it to the 65000 baht requirement.Thanx

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, mrbeerguy said:

Hi UJ  For the combo method with income letter do I need to season a shortfall of funds to make it to the 65000 baht requirement.Thanx

You need to show a total of annual income and money in the bank to reach at total of 800k baht.

The money will have to be in the bank for 2 months on the date you apply for the extension.

For example if you monthly income shown was was the equivalent of of 50k baht on the date you apply that would be a annual income of 600k baht which would require 200k baht in the bank.

[elviajero]

30 minutes ago, mrbeerguy said:

Hi UJ  For the combo method with income letter do I need to season a shortfall of funds to make it to the 65000 baht requirement.Thanx

Yes, it's a minimum of 2 months.

 

You should be aware that some immigration officers are interpreting the new rules to mean you need to maintain a minimum balance of 400K; meaning the minimum opening balance would be 400K. I believe that will prove to be the case in the long run, but there might be flexibility/differences over the next year.

 

So if you have an income of 600K you might need 400K in cash even though only 200K would be required to equal the 800K total. I would plan on that basis unless your local office tell you otherwise.

[lscottbutler]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.  Wonderful information as usual.  I'll be headed out to immigration this week to state my case.  I have lot's of documentation and everything translated.  I'm feeling good about it. 

[lscottbutler]

*****UPDATE *****  

I have just spent the morning at Thai Immigration and here's what transpired.  Last night I gathered all of my supporting documentation showing that I had a guaranteed income that exceeded the monthly minimum requirement.   Original pension contract, bank statements and a two page list specially prepared by my bank in the US that showed the previous two years of pension deposits into my US Bank.  I had also drafted a 2 page letter explaining who I am and what I've been up to while residing in LOS for the last 16 years as well a breaking down all the supporting documents into bullet points so it was easy to comprehend.   The plan was to have these documents translated and then take them over to Thai Immigration and see if I would qualify for my Retirement Visa Renewal in August using the documents describe above.  Like all best laid plans it turns out that the good folks over in the Translation Department at Chang Wattana will not begin to translate any documents you have unless you have a letter from your home country embassy stating that the documents "are originals."  That was a bust. 

 

I then hop a moto taxi to Immigration which is on the other side of the complex in an attempt to plead my case without the translated documents.  It was only 8:30 by this time and not many people were there yet.  I politely asked one of the officers if I could have a minute of her time and told her my situation slowly and clearly and asked if my situation was worth of getting my visa extension using this method.  She nodded a lot but I could tell she didn't really understand what I was saying.  She then pointed to the back of one of their forms and showed me the 800K and 3 months in the bank reference but I said I want to do it the other way which is the monthly income.  The form was so outdated that it said the monthly minimum requirement was 50K baht.  After a minute or two she said when her boss arrives I could ask her.  

 

So the boss arrives and I patiently wait.  The place is starting to fill up and I don't have a number so I go to the front and get a number just in case.  Turns out there was only one person in front of me so I waited a couple of minutes until my number was called and made my way to a new officer at L8.  As I was handing my number to that officer's assistant the first lady I spoke with saw me and came over and got me and said no, wait for my boss she will help you.  So after a short wait I was called in and sat across from the boss who was doing some paperwork and laid out my case. 

 

I presented my guaranteed monthly income contract, bank statements and custom bank letter describing my deposit history.  Turns out she wasn't interested in any of that.  The only thing she said was do you have a letter from a Thai bank showing your international monthly deposits?  I said I did not but that I would start automatically transferring on April 1st.  I said specifically that I just found out about the Income Statement from my US Embassy no longer being a valid option and that at best I would be able to show deposits for April, May, June, July and August before I went to renew my Retirement Visa which expires on August 5th.  She looked at her fingers and did a little counting and then said yes that will be OK but next year you will have to show an official document from a Thai bank of 12 months of deposits.  I said as nicely as I could, "Are you sure, because I don't have the 800K baht and if this doesn't workout for some reason I'm in a totally bad spot, but she said no everything will be ok. 

 

So that was good news.  Tomorrow I will go to my main Kasikorn branch and get the information needed to transfer money from my US bank into my Thai Kasikorn account.  My ninety day report is towards the end of April.  I will get what Kasikorn bank is calling a "Credit Advice" document which officially shows all incoming international deposits, and required by Thai Immigration, before doing my ninety day report and then take it with me when I report and while I'm there double check again if this  "Credit Advice" letter is acceptable and confirm that when I show up to renew in August with three or four additional international deposits showing up on an updated "Credit Advice" letter that I will good for renewal.  (Boy can you say run on sentence) Anyway I hope this helps someone.  Sorry if I'm repeating myself and procedures to often.  I want to make it as easy to understand as I can.  Anyway, thanks again for all the great information I received on this great forum.  

[ThaiBunny]

That concurs with what I've been saying all along. TI want a letter verifying the income, and they don't care if it's from your Embassy or a Thai bank - either will do.  They have no interest in reading your bank statements - they expect someone else to have done the legwork for them

[Pib]

14 minutes ago, lscottbutler said:

 ... The only thing she said was do you have a letter from a Thai bank showing your international monthly deposits?...

Good report....thanks....and Yeap, "Thai bank documents showing international monthly transfers" is what immigration wants.   Trying to convince using foreign bank docs is like pissing into the wind.