Retirement Visa problem - New Rules

[gusincebu]

And on Soi Khao Talo Siam Commercial Bank has closed.
The building is for rent now.

New branch has opened on soi Siam country club..

Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

[Garzan]

(Bangkok Bank New York information, does not apply to anything, or anywhere else.)

I get money over here from the US via a direct deposit from the US Government to the New York branch of Bangkok Bank. There was a lot of heartburn in the recent past about the 01 April requirement to meet IAT requirements for domestic (to the US) deposits. The grace period (from the letter from BB that I got) ended last month, so now we appear to be totally under the new requirements. 

This morning my regular pension deposit arrived in one of my Thailand BB accounts (the one without an ATM card, or attachment to any web access), along with the allotment deposit to my Thailand 'working' BB account (the one that does have an ATM card, and is connected to the BB smartphone application.) All was normal and unchanged from several prior years of direct deposits to BB New York via their domestic (to the US) routing number. This also gives truth to the email I got from the US Embassy that government direct deposits to Thailand banks would continue along unchanged. My deposits have indeed continued on unchanged. 

There is still a question for me about my credit union to BB domestic deposit, but I wouldn't be testing that until after the 20th. I suspect that one may fail, and that particular CU does not do International transfers. 

(Note: if any former US government employees are still able to get monthly withdrawals from TSP to BBNY, I would appreciate knowing that. I have not been able to get a definitive answer to that question from someone who is actually doing that, or is no longer able to do that.)

 

[Soi7]

Quote

The grace period (from the letter from BB that I got) ended last month, so now we appear to be totally under the new requirements. 

It ends 30th of this month I just got an ACH transfer posted to my BB account here from BB NY today but no more I was told after the 30th of this month

 

[Garzan]

1 hour ago, Soi7 said:

It ends 30th of this month I just got an ACH transfer posted to my BB account here from BB NY today but no more I was told after the 30th of this month

 

 

You're right, I just dug out the paper letter and it's 30 June. I misremembered by a month. One more grace month for the credit union. The Embassy says that the Government deposits should still continue as before. I guess we'll just have to wait one more month to make sure. 

Edited June 4, 2019 by Garzan

[Soi7]

12 minutes ago, Garzan said:

You're right, I just dug out the paper letter and it's 30 June. I misremembered by a month. One more grace month for the credit union. The Embassy says that the Government deposits should still continue as before. I guess we'll just have to wait one more month to make sure. 

The government deposits will continue as normal you're going to be fine with those. I get screwed because I'm sending it from a US Bank to Bangkok Bank New York and they forward it on to patea well that's going to change because no more ACH such is life

[Garzan]

1 minute ago, Soi7 said:

The government deposits will continue as normal you're going to be fine with those. I get screwed because I'm sending it from a US Bank to Bangkok Bank New York and they forward it on to patea well that's going to change because no more ACH such is life

1

https://th.usembassy.gov/message-for-u-s-citizens-direct-deposit-of-federal-benefit-payments/

That is half of my problem too. The credit union I've been with since the early 70's does not do SWIFT anymore, do my retirement savings withdrawals are going to have to find another way to get here. I've been trying to open a Navy Federal Credit Union account since NFCU does do international money transfers but opening bank accounts in a post-Patriot Act world is not a trivial task. 

Worst case my US daughter is willing to pick up and mail a paper check to the BB Thai Baht Remittance Service (along with their extra paper forms). I just need a stopgap until next March when I start drawing social security, another government-issued check which should be okay for direct deposit to BBNY. 

[forcebwithu]

15 hours ago, Garzan said:

https://th.usembassy.gov/message-for-u-s-citizens-direct-deposit-of-federal-benefit-payments/

That is half of my problem too. The credit union I've been with since the early 70's does not do SWIFT anymore, do my retirement savings withdrawals are going to have to find another way to get here. I've been trying to open a Navy Federal Credit Union account since NFCU does do international money transfers but opening bank accounts in a post-Patriot Act world is not a trivial task. 

Worst case my US daughter is willing to pick up and mail a paper check to the BB Thai Baht Remittance Service (along with their extra paper forms). I just need a stopgap until next March when I start drawing social security, another government-issued check which should be okay for direct deposit to BBNY. 

If you allow for the time for a paper check to clear, some reports of up to 21 days, you could write a paper check and deposit at your BB branch here.

[usexpat46]

7 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

If you allow for the time for a paper check to clear, some reports of up to 21 days, you could write a paper check and deposit at your BB branch here.

That's what I did a few years back.  Bangkok Bank at that time charged a small fee (a percent of the amount of the check, but not to exceed 500 baht)

[Garzan]

7 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

If you allow for the time for a paper check to clear, some reports of up to 21 days, you could write a paper check and deposit at your BB branch here.

Thank you. I probably could, but I have never tried depositing a check in Thailand. For what I need though, even if I did, that wouldn't work for me. It's not having the money that is the most important part to me. My most critical need is having the money show up as coming from outside of Thailand. :-) That FTT designation is crucial. 

[typhoon42]

15 hours ago, Garzan said:

https://th.usembassy.gov/message-for-u-s-citizens-direct-deposit-of-federal-benefit-payments/

That is half of my problem too. The credit union I've been with since the early 70's does not do SWIFT anymore, do my retirement savings withdrawals are going to have to find another way to get here. I've been trying to open a Navy Federal Credit Union account since NFCU does do international money transfers but opening bank accounts in a post-Patriot Act world is not a trivial task. 

Worst case my US daughter is willing to pick up and mail a paper check to the BB Thai Baht Remittance Service (along with their extra paper forms). I just need a stopgap until next March when I start drawing social security, another government-issued check which should be okay for direct deposit to BBNY. 

NFCU is a great credit union.  I’ve been a member for many many years.

 You are correct in that they do SWIFT transfers.  $25.00 for any amount.  The problem is can’t do the transfer online, only by phone call as I recall.  Especially over 5k.

 I also have a Bank of America business account in which I can SWIFT transfer to my Kasikorn bank online.  Fees are higher of course.

 I do have and like TransferWise but read they don’t show as a international transfer which is needed for the proof of monthly pension requirements.

[forcebwithu]

5 minutes ago, usexpat46 said:

That's what I did a few years back.  Bangkok Bank at that time charged a small fee (a percent of the amount of the check, but not to exceed 500 baht)

They charge the same fee when receiving a deposit as a transfer.

[Garzan]

5 minutes ago, typhoon42 said:

You are correct in that they do SWIFT transfers.  $25.00 for any amount.  The problem is can’t do the transfer online, only by phone call as I recall.  Especially over 5k.

https://www.navyfederal.org/account-management/wire-funds.php?panel=2

Looks like either phone or secure email. It's unfortunate that they can't do so through a web application request. $25 is a bit spendy, but if that's what it takes to be 100% sure of getting that "FTT" to show up on my BB statement, it's worth it to me. :-) 

[typhoon42]

1 hour ago, Garzan said:

https://www.navyfederal.org/account-management/wire-funds.php?panel=2

Looks like either phone or secure email. It's unfortunate that they can't do so through a web application request. $25 is a bit spendy, but if that's what it takes to be 100% sure of getting that "FTT" to show up on my BB statement, it's worth it to me. :-) 

True!  Especially that there’s no other options that I’m aware of.  Their rates for transfers are less expensive than banks that are out to make as much profits as they can.

BofA charges 35.00 to send in Thai baht and 45.00 to send in USD.

They have me by the balls....lol.

[ChiFlyer]

Lots has been said here, so if I am being redundant all apologies.

I tend to top up my BB account twice a year in order to meet Extension of Stay Requirements. I am relatively new to all of this and will be doing my first extension of stay in September.

I use Charles Schwab on the US side. I did a transfer in April and used the wire transfer method. It cost $25 USD and was in my BB account in 3 days. I don't like paying the $25 USD compared to the prior method, but it gets the job done. Schwab will call you to verify on the first one.

[Garzan]

6 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

I tend to top up my BB account twice a year in order to meet Extension of Stay Requirements.

My discussion was primarily about the method where you need to show 65,000+ baht per month brought into Thailand from a foreign source. If I were doing the 800,000 baht sitting in a Thai bank the need to show a foreign transfer wouldn't apply. Using the month method, it matters a lot. 

[Garzan]

15 minutes ago, typhoon42 said:

 Especially that there’s no other options that I’m aware of.

The Thai Baht Remittance service is significantly less expensive for moving money over via BBNY, but you need to have someone to help you in the US by mailing them the check. It's my 'worst case' option. Ideally, I'd like to be able to do the transfer all on my own via some sort of web interface like I can for the rest of this month. If I find some sort of painless online solution that offers 100% assurance that the transfer will show up listed as a foreign transfer, I'll be sure to post it. :-) 

BB-TR-Directions.PDFBB-Remittance Application(fillable)_Apr2019.pdf

[forcebwithu]

1 hour ago, ChiFlyer said:

Lots has been said here, so if I am being redundant all apologies.

I tend to top up my BB account twice a year in order to meet Extension of Stay Requirements. I am relatively new to all of this and will be doing my first extension of stay in September.

I use Charles Schwab on the US side. I did a transfer in April and used the wire transfer method. It cost $25 USD and was in my BB account in 3 days. I don't like paying the $25 USD compared to the prior method, but it gets the job done. Schwab will call you to verify on the first one.

I just went through the same process with a wire transfer from Schwab. The phone call was a PITA. Lost count of the number of security questions they asked to confirm it was me. The one question I hadn't clue on was how long I had been a Schwab customer. I couldn't think of anything I had at hand to find out and told the CSR best guess was more than 10 years. He seemed satisfied with that answer. Call ended with him saying thank you for being a Schwab customer for 18 years.

I do hope it's true they don't require a confirming call in the future. Counting on hold time this call cost me a little over 30 minutes of my time. On the plus side, I saw the $25 wire fee was reversed, probably b/c of my 18 years of being a loyal customer. 

Side note: Based on @Garzan's recommendation in another topic I just installed Grammarly for Chrome. Pretty cool app. It caught a couple of grammar issues in the above text as I was typing. 

[ChiFlyer]

9 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

......

I do hope it's true they don't require a confirming call in the future. Counting on hold time this call cost me a little over 30 minutes of my time. On the plus side, I saw the $25 wire fee was reversed, probably b/c of my 18 years of being a loyal customer. 

.......

I asked the service rep on the phone, if the same degree of vigilance would occur on all wire transfers. He said no commenting that they were more careful with the first one. 

I have a US based Skype number. I pay something like $60 a year for it. It enables people in the US to call me as a US domestic call. It works well enough that I have dropped my US cell service. The Skype messaging from their phone app is a little clunky, but good enough for my purposes. Obviously it only works, when I am on wifi in the US. I tend to call the US from my laptop when in Thailand. 

[forcebwithu]

11 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

I asked the service rep on the phone, if the same degree of vigilance would occur on all wire transfers. He said no commenting that they were more careful with the first one. 

I have a US based Skype number. I pay something like $60 a year for it. It enables people in the US to call me as a US domestic call. It works well enough that I have dropped my US cell service. The Skype messaging from their phone app is a little clunky, but good enough for my purposes. Obviously it only works, when I am on wifi in the US. I tend to call the US from my laptop when in Thailand. 

I hope you're not paying $60/year for a Skype number. Mine costs $29.94.

Don't know if Skype has upgraded their system, but in the past I could not receive text messages. That became a problem with Vanguard which starting using OTP via SMS as part of their security authentication process a year or two ago. Solved that problem by getting a free Google Voice number that can receive SMS. 

[usexpat46]

12 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

I asked the service rep on the phone, if the same degree of vigilance would occur on all wire transfers. He said no commenting that they were more careful with the first one. 

I have a US based Skype number. I pay something like $60 a year for it. It enables people in the US to call me as a US domestic call. It works well enough that I have dropped my US cell service. The Skype messaging from their phone app is a little clunky, but good enough for my purposes. Obviously it only works, when I am on wifi in the US. I tend to call the US from my laptop when in Thailand. 

Have you looked into MagicJack?  Cost is something like $100 for 4 or 5 years.  You select the area code where the majority of the calls you receive and you can call anywhere in the US for free.

[ChiFlyer]

14 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I hope you're not paying $60/year for a Skype number. Mine costs $29.94.

Don't know if Skype has upgraded their system, but in the past I could not receive text messages. That became a problem with Vanguard which starting using OTP via SMS as part of their security authentication process a year or two ago. Solved that problem by getting a free Google Voice number that can receive SMS. 

oops - it was $39 in October 2018. Since I was able to drop my $70 a month Sprint service, I am happy with the deal.

Skype can now receive and send text messages, but there are some limits such as no attachments, at least on the ios app. Basically, AIS is my main phone service 9 months out of the year. Now that I am retired, I do not need the level of phone service in the US that I formerly had. The Skype number allows family and friends and businesses in the US to call me as a domestic call. Also, some US businesses require a US number.

Edited June 6, 2019 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

12 hours ago, usexpat46 said:

Have you looked into MagicJack?  Cost is something like $100 for 4 or 5 years.  You select the area code where the majority of the calls you receive and you can call anywhere in the US for free.

Thanks for the suggestion. I may get back to looking into this. So 4 years on Skype (given my trued up number) is costing $160. That's a $60 increment spread over 4 years. I have bigger fish to fry for now.

 

Skype let me pick my area code as well. I chose Houston, TX with an eye toward moving to TX US residency at some point (no state income tax), even though my house and family are primarily in the Chicago area.

[Garzan]

7 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

Skype let me pick my area code as well. I chose Houston, TX with an eye toward moving to TX US residency at some point (no state income tax), even though my house and family are primarily in the Chicago area.

That is precisely why my mail forwarding service is in Las Vegas Nevada--no state income tax. :-)

[sexy man]

as its after 3 months since they introduced you to shhow your bankbook after 3 months

has znyone done it yet and do you just show your book or do you have to photo copy everything

or get a bank letter

mine is due next wed12th so dont want to be messed around by not getting it right

[Soi7]

31 minutes ago, sexy man said:

as its after 3 months since they introduced you to shhow your bankbook after 3 months

has znyone done it yet and do you just show your book or do you have to photo copy everything

or get a bank letter

mine is due next wed12th so dont want to be messed around by not getting it right

I was told only an updated Bank book needed to be shown no Bank letter have it updated the day you go in