Letter from Thai Bank for Immigration

[mellow1]

The letter from the bank needs to state what exactly?

[lopburi3]

For a bank deposit for extension?  For monthly income for extension?  At what location?

[sfokevin]

It would be helpful if you told us what visa/extension you are applying for and what method you want to use Ex: 800k or income method...

[mellow1]

For monthly income for new visa.

[mellow1]

Retirement visa

[lopburi3]

Bank needs to provide list of 12 months deposits from outside Thailand into an account in your name only.  There does not seem to be a standard format for all banks but you should find some examples for Bangkok Bank with a Google search.  It is still a work in progress and additional proof may be asked or accepted depending on officer/office used.  Perhaps best to obtain a sample from them to show bank (as many seem to be not clear on what to do).  

Edited September 16, 2019 by lopburi3

[mellow1]

I've been with Bankok bank for 19 yrs. and my montly wire tranfers all show FTT.

[mellow1]

OK, thank you Lopburi3

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, mellow1 said:

I've been with Bankok bank for 19 yrs. and my montly wire tranfers all show FTT.

Where will you be applying for your extension.

Not all offices are wanting a letter detailing your transfers.

Here is example of one. Example-BankLetter-Monthly-Deposits.pdf

Some offices will accept bank statements instead of the letter if they are shown foreign transfers. And a standard bank letter used for the money in the bank option to confirm your account.

 

[sfokevin]

Also each of the 12 monthly deposits must be in a specific month and all must exceed 65k or you will need to do a combo method which may or may not be allowed at your immigration office...

[Jingthing]

58 minutes ago, sfokevin said:

Also each of the 12 monthly deposits must be in a specific month and all must exceed 65k or you will need to do a combo method which may or may not be allowed at your immigration office...

Yes, but there might be leniency if a person had their next month's transfer showing at the end of a month (so two transfers that month) and no transfers the next month. That can happen with some pensions payers. Emphasis on might.

[soisanuk]

19 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Where will you be applying for your extension.

Not all offices are wanting a letter detailing your transfers.

Here is example of one. Example-BankLetter-Monthly-Deposits.pdf

Some offices will accept bank statements instead of the letter if they are shown foreign transfers. And a standard bank letter used for the money in the bank option to confirm your account.

 

I also use Bangkok Bank and did my renewal at Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration.  Although I had the bank letter confirming my  account and "Bank Statements" certified by the Bank for the preceding 12 months showing all transactions with the Int'l deposits coded "FTT" on the statements, they were not accepted.  They wanted the bank letter listing all foreign deposits into the account (they provided me with an example which is the same as shown in Ubonjoe's response) - the Immigration Officer (a very nice lady) also told me I needed to get it from the Branch where I opened my account as other Bangkok Bank branches could not provide a letter covering a full 12 months (I had obtained the "Bank Statements" from a customer service counter in Tesco Lotus and they had to obtain them from Bangkok, a week's wait).   My Branch did provide the letter, took a little over an hour as they had to print out "credit advices" for each deposit and I had many more than the 12 needed (fee 500 baht). They then prepared the Bank letter using the information from the print outs (fee 100 baht). The Bank gave me the "advices" and the letter; the letter was all  Immigration wanted

 

Also, Pattaya Immigration wanted to see a document from my pension source showing the monthly amount - I had already printed out an Annuity Statement showing this information which was acceptable.

Edited September 17, 2019 by soisanuk

[jacko45k]

22 minutes ago, soisanuk said:

Also, Pattaya Immigration wanted to see a document from my pension source showing the monthly amount

Interesting and seemingly over and above what is stated on the police order. Did they state 'pension source' or simply want something that matched the incoming transfers to The Bangkok Bank?

Proving a UK pension source for 65,000 baht p.c.m would require a decent private pension, or a combination with the State  one. 

[ubonjoe]

A inflammatory post has been removed.

[Lovethailandelite]

20 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Interesting and seemingly over and above what is stated on the police order. Did they state 'pension source' or simply want something that matched the incoming transfers to The Bangkok Bank?

Proving a UK pension source for 65,000 baht p.c.m would require a decent private pension, or a combination with the State  one. 

Jomtien want to see a confirmation of where the income is actually deriving from. A letter from your pension administrator etc. Many people have been asked to show it. I guess it is to stop the suggested scam of rotating funds.

[Helmet Grunter]

The Bangkok Bank provides a standard letter after you tell them that it is for immigration office purposes, for 100 baht. 2 x 6 monthly statements at 100 baht each will suffice as long as they show minimum 65k baht going in each month from abroad

[sletraveler]

Your experience may vary.  In Lamphun office I submitted a printout with 12 months bank activity from Bangkok Bank. The io went through it and noted I missed one month and that it would be a problem if I missed next year.  Ha, I don’t recall getting a letter.  

Edited September 17, 2019 by sletraveler

[justin case]

i'm 10+ years in with no bank account in home country...how do I show deposits from ghost bank ?

[Ebumbu]

Does immigration care whatsoever about the source of the FTT monthly transfers? Or, do they simply check for its existence, and that's all? 

[Lovethailandelite]

1 hour ago, Ebumbu said:

Does immigration care whatsoever about the source of the FTT monthly transfers? Or, do they simply check for its existence, and that's all? 

Some Immigration offices do care where it is derived from.

[TPUBON]

On 9/16/2019 at 1:06 PM, Jingthing said:

Yes, but there might be leniency if a person had their next month's transfer showing at the end of a month (so two transfers that month) and no transfers the next month. That can happen with some pensions payers. Emphasis on might.

Just talked to an individual that had that exact thing happen. Money went in on the June 1st. and the next months went in on June 30th. Nothing was shown for July. Visa extension denied. 

[TPUBON]

3 hours ago, Ebumbu said:

Does immigration care whatsoever about the source of the FTT monthly transfers? Or, do they simply check for its existence, and that's all? 

I asked that at Sirinthorn and was told no need to show where it came from. I specifically asked about letters from my employer about being retired and none was required. Just make sure the bank statement shows it is an international transfer.

[Pib]

7 minutes ago, TPUBON said:

Just talked to an individual that had that exact thing happen. Money went in on the June 1st. and the next months went in on June 30th. Nothing was shown for July. Visa extension denied. 

Which immigration office denied it?

[john thom]

1. I have KTB account, went to get a letter and they gave me printed statement that had all my wire transfers coded IWRM. will that work or does it have to say FTT ?  if it has to say FTT what do I do-

[Pib]

21 minutes ago, john thom said:

1. I have KTB account, went to get a letter and they gave me printed statement that had all my wire transfers coded IWRM. will that work or does it have to say FTT ?  if it has to say FTT what do I do-

Each bank has it own codes for foreign transfers. 

 

The FTT code is Bangkok Bank's codes for Foreign Telegraphic Transfer.   Don't know what code(s) KTB uses.

 

When the bank prepares the letter for immigration they might not even enter any code on the letter....just enter the foreign transfer amounts and dates like shown in the example Bangkok Bank letter ubonjoe posted earlier....notice there are no codes on the letter.  But when the Bangkok Bank rep was getting ready to prepare the letter I'm sure they queried their system looking for transfers coded FTT.....found the transfers coded FTT and then prepared the letter.

 

Now if your immigration office does not require the bank letter and is happy with your bank statement/passbook showing transfers coded as "XYZ" (with XYZ being whatever code your bank uses for foreign transfers like how Bangkok Bank uses FTT) then you just need to be able to identify such coded XZY transfer and of course convince the immigration office that code XYZ means foreign transfer.  The immigration office may already know what code is applicable....maybe has a cheap sheet of foreign transfer codes used by different bank....then again maybe they require the separate bank letter listing each individual foreign transfers....policy varies among immigration offices...This Is Thailand.  

[john thom]

27 minutes ago, Pib said:

Each bank has it own codes for foreign transfers. 

 

The FTT code is Bangkok Bank's codes for Foreign Telegraphic Transfer.   Don't know what code(s) KTB uses.

 

When the bank prepares the letter for immigration they might not even enter any code on the letter....just enter the foreign transfer amounts and dates like shown in the example Bangkok Bank letter ubonjoe posted earlier....notice there are no codes on the letter.  But when the Bangkok Bank rep was getting ready to prepare the letter I'm sure they queried their system looking for transfers coded FTT.....found the transfers coded FTT and then prepared the letter.

 

Now if your immigration office does not require the bank letter and is happy with your bank statement/passbook showing transfers coded as "XYZ" (with XYZ being whatever code your bank uses for foreign transfers like how Bangkok Bank uses FTT) then you just need to be able to identify such coded XZY transfer and of course convince the immigration office that code XYZ means foreign transfer.  The immigration office may already know what code is applicable....maybe has a cheap sheet of foreign transfer codes used by different bank....then again maybe they require the separate bank letter listing each individual foreign transfers....policy varies among immigration offices...This Is Thailand.  

Thanks, Pib, Have to go to Savannahket next month-

[Ebumbu]

21 hours ago, TPUBON said:

I asked that at Sirinthorn and was told no need to show where it came from. I specifically asked about letters from my employer about being retired and none was required. Just make sure the bank statement shows it is an international transfer.

 

A friend of a friend is using a kind of "draw down" method. We'll see what happens. 

[soisanuk]

On 9/17/2019 at 9:22 AM, Helmet Grunter said:

The Bangkok Bank provides a standard letter after you tell them that it is for immigration office purposes, for 100 baht. 2 x 6 monthly statements at 100 baht each will suffice as long as they show minimum 65k baht going in each month from abroad

If you ask for the standard letter for Immigration at Bangkok Bank branches, and most likely other bank's branches, you will most likely get the letter that has been required for years that simply verifies the existence of the account and the latest balance.  This is the one used by those having 800k+ on deposit.  However, at least for Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration, they want this letter AND an additional letter that lists out all foreign source deposits for the previous 12 months and will not accept certified bank statements in lieu of it - as I previously mentioned, I had the to obtain this second bank letter even though I did have certified bank statements showing all transactions for the preceding 12 months.  Some Immigration Offices or Officers may be willing to go through all the transactions looking for the foreign transfer code (FTT for Bangkok Bank), but Pattaya Immigration does not.

 

As to the Bank letter listing the deposits, my Bank branch provided the letter, but first printed out "credit advices" from their system for each foreign source deposit (fee 500 baht) from which they obtained the information for the letter (fee 100 baht).

 

Obviously, from the many postings, what is required will depend on the particular Immigration Office where you apply for your extension - some will require the Bank Letter(s) and some will not.  As to providing a document from the pension provider showing the monthly amount, again this will depend on the Office where you apply.  Thus, it is best to find out what your Immigration Office will want you to provide.

 

The English Translation or the Immigration Order that added new requirements when using 65k+ monthly income to qualify shows the following:

 

Reason
2.22 Retirement
Each extension is not more than 1 year.

Document
1. Application form
2. A copy of applicant's passport
3. Evidence showing income such as pension or interest received or dividend received and/or;
4. Certification letter from the bank in Thailand and a copy of bank book.

 

Needless to say, Item 3 under documents leaves it pretty much up to the Immigration Office(r) on what they will accept as "evidence."  So again, it will be best to find out what is required by the Office where you apply for your extension. Do not rely on what others say about whether they did or did not need certain documents that others say were needed - unless they identify the particular Immigration Office and it is the one you will use.

 

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, soisanuk said:

Needless to say, Item 3 under documents leaves it pretty much up to the Immigration Office(r) on what they will accept as "evidence." 

I assume you missed the amendment to the police order issued in December of last year for proof of income.

[soisanuk]

25 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I assume you missed the amendment to the police order issued in December of last year for proof of income.

The info I listed was from the Dec 2018 amendment - There is a third column, procedures, that mentions the documents must include evidence to show deposits monthly from outside of Thailand, etc.  That doesn't change the purpose of my posting which is to show that under the Police order, Immigration Officers have a lot of leeway on what kind of document they want to see to show the required evidence.