500000THB balance before getting Visa?? Really??

[Farangstyle]

Trying to apply for a visa back to Thailand

Below is the reply from the Thai Consulate to my Visa query

 

1 - To apply for a Non Immigrant O (Spouse visit) visa, you would need to provide a copy of a marriage certificate and registration.

 

2 - You are eligible to apply for either the Single Entry 60 day Tourist Visa (this can be done at our Consulate by appointment - the visa can be extended in Thailand for another 30 days) or the 90 Day Special Tourist Visa (application is online on the Royal Thai Embassy canberra website - this visa can be extended in Thailand for another 180 days).

You may also be eligible for the Non Immigrant O-A Long Stay/Retirement visa (using the application form on the Royal Thai Embassy Canberra website).

 

3 - The 500,000 Baht or $25,000 bank balance needs to have been in your account continuously for 6 months. 

 

Hoping someone can actually tell me what the.... if this 500000thb balance you must have to even apply for a visa to get back into Thailand ? Wife is ill in Korat but no marriage certificate which would now be very handy.

This a new COVID-19 cash grab to "Meet" you at the airport ?

Sorry if i am missing something here

[ubonjoe]

The 500k baht in the bank is only for the new single entry tourist visa. It is a special one they created for tourists to enter the country.

You don't need it to apply for a certificate entry if married to a Thai.

Are you legally married to your wife?

If you don't have a copy marriage of your certificate with you she could email a scan of it to you that would be accepted.

[Farangstyle]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

The 500k baht in the bank is only for the new single entry tourist visa. It is a special one they created for tourists to enter the country.

You don't need it to apply for a certificate entry if married to a Thai.

Are you legally married to your wife?

If you don't have a copy marriage of your certificate with you she could email a scan of it to you that would be accepted.

Cheers ubonjoe.

We don't have a marriage certificate. Thousands of bloomin photos of our wedding at Sunee Grand Hotel but no certificate...and now Covid and i cant get home so we can even go to the Amphoe in Ubon to get one. I send my cash back to the misses in Korat every 2 weeks and invest the rest hence not having half a million baht in the Aussie bank account.

Seems even the TR Tourist visa is now asking for 500000thb in account.

So it seems I'm stuffed until they open the borders up and i can get back home as i normally do just on my Aussie passport and no need for a visa. Bank account doesn't even get questioned then.

[Maestro]

11 hours ago, Farangstyle said:

...We don't have a marriage certificate. Thousands of bloomin photos of our wedding...

 

Do I understand correctly that something or somebody gave you the impression that you were married but that in fact you are not legally married?

[fishtank]

Looks to me that you are not legally married.

Or are you saying that you have lost the certificate?

[Mattd]

17 hours ago, Farangstyle said:

We don't have a marriage certificate. Thousands of bloomin photos of our wedding at Sunee Grand Hotel but no certificate

Did you register the marriage at the Amphur office?

If not, then you are not married.

[Peter Denis]

If you are not legally married to your Thai wife and thus do not have the KorRor 3 (Thai marriage certificate) and KorRor 2 (certificate of Thai marriage certification), obviously you cannot apply for the CoE on that basis.

The information provided by the Thai Consulate you posted is fully correct.

They mention > You may also be eligible for the Non Immigrant O-A Long Stay/Retirement visa (using the application form on the Royal Thai Embassy Canberra website).

When you are over 50 years of age, you would be eligible for a Non Imm O-A Visa.

The application for that Visa does not require any seasoning of funds, so it's just a matter of meeting the requirements and then applying for the CoE.

[JusticeGB]

Typically Thai. I can go to Singapore for 90 days on a UK passport without having to put money in a Singapore bank account. When will the TAT wise up and realise that Thailand has to compete with other places who are desperate for tourists. I certainly would never lock away £12,500 pounds for 6 months so I could go on holiday and then spend 10 to 14 days locked up in an expensive hotel room.

[Blai]

It would take me a half a year or more of work to even come up with those funds, that's not even including the spent money to eat and go to/ from work.

 

Absolutely insane requirements.

 

Is this for 'all' tourists, or just from certain areas? I am Canadian so not sure what the visa requirements (if its even required?) are if I wanted to stay there for 30 days.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Blai

[1FinickyOne]

21 hours ago, Farangstyle said:

This a new COVID-19 cash grab to "Meet" you at the airport ?

Sorry if i am missing something here

not sure that you are missing something, or seeing too much...

 

sorry for your present situation... hope your wife is ok. In the meantime, there is skype.

[ChouDoufu]

 

22 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The 500k baht in the bank is only for the new single entry tourist visa.

 

is this the same type of account requirement as for extensions?  has to be in a BANK account?  savings or fixed only?

 

will the embassy/consulate accept brokerage monthly statements from investment or retirement accounts?

[ubonjoe]

26 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

is this the same type of account requirement as for extensions?  has to be in a BANK account?  savings or fixed only?

will the embassy/consulate accept brokerage monthly statements from investment or retirement accounts?

It does say on the embassy websites that are issuing them.

I think your question would have to be answered by them.

This is what it states on the embassy in Singapore website.

"An original bank statement which states bank contact information and deposit with the equivalent amount of not less than 500,000 Baht for the last 6 months."

[Peter Denis]

2 hours ago, Blai said:

It would take me a half a year or more of work to even come up with those funds, that's not even including the spent money to eat and go to/ from work.

Absolutely insane requirements.

Is this for 'all' tourists, or just from certain areas? I am Canadian so not sure what the visa requirements (if its even required?) are if I wanted to stay there for 30 days.

Considering that you would  be confronted with a 15 day quarantaine period at an ASQ-approved hotel on arrival, on top of the financial and insurance requirements, as well as other covid-measures that need to be complied with, you would be INSANE to go through all that for just a 30-day holiday (half of which already taken up by the mandatory quarantaine).

No TOURIST would ever consider a 30-day holiday in Thailand under those conditions.  The only applicants for the 'Tourism' schemes they launched, will be those that are desperate to return to Thailand because of their families/loved ones living there (and of course they are planning to stay long-term once they entered).

[Bangkok Barry]

Slightly off-topic, but if I post it on a previous thread that mentioned such things it might not get seen...

 

The bank statement needed for the one-year marriage extension, the one needed in addition to an up-to-date passbook and a letter from the bank confirming I have the account I claim to have - Would a screen shot print out of my on-line account suffice? I ask, as some have reported it taking up to five days to obtain if the account isn't held at the branch where you request such a statement. I've checked what is shown and the on-line account, surely, shows exactly what the bank would print out. I can do that covering the last six months of my Bangkok Bank account, and only two months is needed.

 

Or is that too simple and convenient?

[david555]

10 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Slightly off-topic, but if I post it on a previous thread that mentioned such things it might not get seen...

 

The bank statement needed for the one-year marriage extension, the one needed in addition to an up-to-date passbook and a letter from the bank confirming I have the account I claim to have - Would a screen shot print out of my on-line account suffice? I ask, as some have reported it taking up to five days to obtain if the account isn't held at the branch where you request such a statement. I've checked what is shown and the on-line account, surely, shows exactly what the bank would print out. I can do that covering the last six months of my Bangkok Bank account, and only two months is needed.

 

Or is that too simple and convenient?

If I.O. would be satisfied whit that  …, showing your mobile  screen from bank account or even going online to bank site upfront to them and showing so,... would be most simple way …. but NO I would think

This would be too simple and opening gates for fraud applications by the "no have...funds  ones "

Edited October 30, 2020 by david555

[Mark1066]

3 hours ago, JusticeGB said:

Typically Thai. I can go to Singapore for 90 days on a UK passport without having to put money in a Singapore bank account. When will the TAT wise up and realise that Thailand has to compete with other places who are desperate for tourists. I certainly would never lock away £12,500 pounds for 6 months so I could go on holiday and then spend 10 to 14 days locked up in an expensive hotel room.

There's no requirement to put any money in a Thai bank account in order to visit Thailand. What are you talking about? And if you're not willing to quarantine when you arrive, I'd suggest that the Thai government knows exactly what they are doing (by discouraging you from visiting). I'm not sure why you mentioned the Tourist Authority of Thailand either - they have nothing to do with visa regulations obviously.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Mark1066

[Bangkok Barry]

12 minutes ago, david555 said:

22 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Slightly off-topic, but if I post it on a previous thread that mentioned such things it might not get seen...

 

The bank statement needed for the one-year marriage extension, the one needed in addition to an up-to-date passbook and a letter from the bank confirming I have the account I claim to have - Would a screen shot print out of my on-line account suffice? I ask, as some have reported it taking up to five days to obtain if the account isn't held at the branch where you request such a statement. I've checked what is shown and the on-line account, surely, shows exactly what the bank would print out. I can do that covering the last six months of my Bangkok Bank account, and only two months is needed.

 

Or is that too simple and convenient?

Expand  

If I.O. would be satisfied whit that  …, showing your mobile  screen from bank account or even going online to bank site upfront to them and showing so,... would be most simple way …. but NO I would think

This would be too simple and opening gates for fraud applications by the "no have...funds  ones "

 

I would print it out the same day I go to the IO, the same day I get the letter from the bank confirming my account, the same day I update the passbook. I can't see how that opens the door for fraudulent applications. Of course, the bank might print out the statement without it taking days to do so - I'll check with them before.

 

I might well have to go through the entire proof of funds thing again when I collect my extension too, as they've told me I have to keep the 400,000 in the bank until then. If they don't check, what is the point of insisting I do it.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Bangkok Barry

[laochef]

21 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Slightly off-topic, but if I post it on a previous thread that mentioned such things it might not get seen...

 

The bank statement needed for the one-year marriage extension, the one needed in addition to an up-to-date passbook and a letter from the bank confirming I have the account I claim to have - Would a screen shot print out of my on-line account suffice? I ask, as some have reported it taking up to five days to obtain if the account isn't held at the branch where you request such a statement. I've checked what is shown and the on-line account, surely, shows exactly what the bank would print out. I can do that covering the last six months of my Bangkok Bank account, and only two months is needed.

 

Or is that too simple and convenient?

 

Yes, that is correct.

Tried it... not accepted, 2 years ago. Phetchabun.

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

Considering that you would  be confronted with a 15 day quarantaine period at an ASQ-approved hotel on arrival, on top of the financial and insurance requirements, as well as other covid-measures that need to be complied with, you would be INSANE to go through all that for just a 30-day holiday (half of which already taken up by the mandatory quarantaine).

No TOURIST would ever consider a 30-day holiday in Thailand under those conditions.  The only applicants for the 'Tourism' schemes they launched, will be those that are desperate to return to Thailand because of their families/loved ones living there (and of course they are planning to stay long-term once they entered).

So those arriving Chinese have different entry rules?

[david555]

14 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I would print it out the same day I go to the IO, the same day I get the letter from the bank confirming my account, the same day I update the passbook. I can't see how that opens the door for fraudulent applications. Of course, the bank might print out the statement without it taking days to do so - I'll check with them before.

 

I might well have to go through the entire proof of funds thing again when I collect my extension too, as they've told me I have to keep the 400,000 in the bank until then. If they don't check, what is the point of insisting I do it.

"they've told me I have to keep the 400,000 in the bank until then. If they don't check, what is the point of insisting I do it.

 

 

The point is ...they can check or not check …. but it is pending on the applicants head  check or no check … the money supposed to be on account .

Already one rapport on TVF  some one got denied his extension because needed money not in account during the needed time 

Checking was with applying the next year's extension 

[mrwebb8825]

OP and UbonJoe, if it's possible in Ozzieland, can they be married by proxy? And then use the Ozzy marriage cert to get the non-o? Then register at the amphere office when he gets here?

[UdonRoy]

44 minutes ago, david555 said:

If I.O. would be satisfied whit that  …, showing your mobile  screen from bank account or even going online to bank site upfront to them and showing so,... would be most simple way …. but NO I would think

This would be too simple and opening gates for fraud applications by the "no have...funds  ones "

You are not wrong David, give me 5 minutes on Photoshop and I will show you a very convincing screenshot that says I have more cash than Jeff Bezos!????

 

[david555]

1 minute ago, UdonRoy said:

You are not wrong David, give me 5 minutes on Photoshop and I will show you a very convincing screenshot that says I have more cash than Jeff Bezos!????

 

I know , when pdf not secured you can change edit ...., example with Foxit Phantom PDF  program

 

[Salerno]

15 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

if it's possible in Ozzieland, can they be married by proxy?

 

Quote

A proxy marriage is not a legally recognised form of marriage in Australia because a couple must be physically present at a wedding ceremony for the marriage to be valid.Proxy marriages are also outlawed in many other countries due to concerns over sham marriages, particularly for immigration purposes.

 

https://theconversation.com/with-this-ring-i-thee-and-your-proxy-wed-a-new-form-of-marriage-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-134659

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I would print it out the same day I go to the IO, the same day I get the letter from the bank confirming my account, the same day I update the passbook. I can't see how that opens the door for fraudulent applications. Of course, the bank might print out the statement without it taking days to do so - I'll check with them before.

I went to the bank well before thinking it may take a few days for a 12 month statement, but they did it on the spot. To play it safe I ordered a 1 month statement with the letter for the day I went to immigration.

[CharlieH]

Flame comment removed.

[BritTim]

Yes, really. Thailand wants tourists that are (a) wealthy; and (b) stupid. People with limited funds, or who practice prudent financial management (which leaving 500,000 baht lying around in a bank account doing nothing for over half a year is not) are not welcome.

[tonray]

3 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Yes, really. Thailand wants tourists that are (a) wealthy; and (b) stupid. People with limited funds, or who practice prudent financial management (which leaving 500,000 baht lying around in a bank account doing nothing for over half a year is not) are not welcome.

When I used to apply for O-A visas in the USA,  I used a brokerage account statement.  Did not have to be in a bank doing nothing. Always approved thst way and invested in stock market earning dividends 

[Sheryl]

Off topic bickering posts have been removed.

 

Please stay on topic.

[Farangstyle]

19 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Considering that you would  be confronted with a 15 day quarantaine period at an ASQ-approved hotel on arrival, on top of the financial and insurance requirements, as well as other covid-measures that need to be complied with, you would be INSANE to go through all that for just a 30-day holiday (half of which already taken up by the mandatory quarantaine).

No TOURIST would ever consider a 30-day holiday in Thailand under those conditions.  The only applicants for the 'Tourism' schemes they launched, will be those that are desperate to return to Thailand because of their families/loved ones living there (and of course they are planning to stay long-term once they entered).

Yep. That's correct mate. That's my situation. The cook is ill so i need to pop home and sort out a hospital visit for her. Been told that the Non Immigrant O-A visa does not require 500000thb in bank.Just need to prove my income as i will be flying back to work in March after 90 days in Korat. That Visa info sound correct ?