Retirement Visa problem - New Rules

[kane666]

1 hour ago, cjtrader said:

Has anyone tried the 65k per month method at Jomtien immigration yet? I will have 6 monthly intl transfers by the time I renew in November. However, my social security is only about 42,000 baht and I make up the other 23,000 from my savings and stock investments. Maybe Jomtien is more liberal than the Udon Thani office that Garzan used and I will not have to document the source of my income. Has anyone tried Jomtien yet?

This guy did:

On 16/07/2019 at 14:09, JAI DEE MAK said:

Not good news I went to immigration yesterday to speak to an officer reference the renewal of my retirement visa extension. I had a print out from my UK bank HSBC advice of debit payed into my Thailand bank Kasikorn. I had one for every month starting last Jul 2018 to day. I also told him I could get a report from K bank showing it was deposited and was always above 80,000tb . he told me no it would not be allowed  only a letter from my Embassy or 800,000tb in the bank. lucky for me its not due until Dec2019. so I have time to transfer the 800,000tb.

JDM

[Garzan]

4 minutes ago, Scuba+ said:

You must have missed the posts about them blocking the legit routes, showing no leniency which they are meant to for a limited period and steering people incl me to the corrupt route

Nah, it's more semantics. I don't view the Immigration Officer forcing strict adherence to the rules as being corrupt. I'd have quite a few other choice words to describe such an officer, but "corrupt" would not be one of them. 

I did see the notice from the main office for Thailand Immigration saying there would be some leniency this first year, but with the very long history of Immigration offices in different provinces applying the same directives in different ways, I didn't have much hope of that leniency ever filtering down to the level of the person behind the desk. 

And yes, it is unfortunate that they are not consistently applying some leniency this time around but fortunately their efforts at stopping Visa Agents bending the rules has not been totally successful and there are still outside options. I also think it will be quite a while before they are ever successful at closing down all those outside options. 

[Scuba+]

but fortunately their efforts at stopping Visa Agents bending the rules has not been totally successful and there are still outside options. I also think it will be quite a while before they are ever successful at closing down all those outside options. 

They have no intention of stopping agents, they are working together. BJ may have tried to stop it but he was removed

[usexpat46]

5 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

While depressingly meager, my social security benefits should exceed the minimum required amount (so long as the bottom doesn't fall out of the exchange rate!)

One positive is the COLAs, I think I heard 2.8% increase for next year.  A potential bigger problem would be if they increase the 65K a month or 800K in Thai bank.  Do you know when was the last time that they changed the financial requirement?

[Scuba+]

One positive is the COLAs, I think I heard 2.8% increase for next year.  A potential bigger problem would be if they increase the 65K a month or 800K in Thai bank.  Do you know when was the last time that they changed the financial requirement?

I can't see it changing for years due to the strong baht, although logic doesn't often apply here

[Soi7]

4 minutes ago, usexpat46 said:

One positive is the COLAs, I think I heard 2.8% increase for next year.  A potential bigger problem would be if they increase the 65K a month or 800K in Thai bank.  Do you know when was the last time that they changed the financial requirement?

It's been at least 15 years since it went from 400 for retired to 800. 

[usexpat46]

11 hours ago, Soi7 said:

It's been at least 15 years since it went from 400 for retired to 800. 

Yes the 2.8% increase was for 2019, don't understand why they showed that on my Yahoo news page today going on 7 months into 2019.  Remember when the investment visa went from 3 million to 10 million,  just a small increase.

[Rocketboy]

6 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Sorry if this has been addressed before (and I'm CERTAIN it has in the preceding 24 pages), are any of you transferring social security payments to meet the 65,000+ baht per month requirement and, if so, how?

I don't know if payments can be made by direct deposit from SSA to an account in Thailand, but I assume the way to do it is direct deposit into U.S.-based bank account and then transfer to Thai bank.  Does that work for reporting requirements?

While depressingly meager, my social security benefits should exceed the minimum required amount (so long as the bottom doesn't fall out of the exchange rate!)

I changed mine a couple months ago on the SSA website. My SS is now direct deposited into my Bangkok Bank account. 

 

I receive my payments every third Wednesday of the month. But, BB holds the money and it's not available till the next day. For example my 17th payment was not available until around 1000am this morning. 

 

When I had it direct deposited into my US credit union it was available the same day. I would withdraw as much as I could on Wednesdays and the rest on Thursdays, and deposit into my BB account.

[ChiFlyer]

5 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I have the link handy as I've bookmarked it. Here you go.
https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch

Expand the section titled, Advice to Bangkok Bank customers receiving payments from US government agencies or private organizations (Direct Deposit).

Thanks - I misunderstood - not that unusual an event - I thought Garzan had started a PA thread on ins and outs for the topic. Thanks for taking the time. I am also a BB customer and use that general website collection.

btw - was not the ability to transfer through BB-NY as a domestic transfer supposed to go away? I get it that the SS process is different than a domestic transfer, but was wondering about the good old way of avoiding the international transfer fee. It had an April 1st end date, but I read that as of late April it was still working.

[forcebwithu]

3 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

btw - was not the ability to transfer through BB-NY as a domestic transfer supposed to go away? I get it that the SS process is different than a domestic transfer, but was wondering about the good old way of avoiding the international transfer fee. It had an April 1st end date, but I read that as of late April it was still working.

BB-NYC will now only accept transfers that use the IAT format. The govt uses that format for the deposits.

[Soi7]

13 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

BB-NYC will now only accept transfers that use the IAT format. The govt uses that format for the deposits.

They have extended using ACH transfers are allowing them through September 1st I just had one come in today

[Soi7]

BB-NYC will now only accept transfers that use the IAT format. The govt uses that format for the deposits.

It's been said that they're only using that format if you have a foreign address that's what's been posted elsewhere I can't confirm or deny it. I use a Us address to avoid the are you still alive letter and all the other bullshit. By using the US address I don't have to get involved with Manila at all.

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[forcebwithu]

16 hours ago, Soi7 said:

It's been said that they're only using that format if you have a foreign address that's what's been posted elsewhere I can't confirm or deny it. I use a Us address to avoid the are you still alive letter and all the other bullshit. By using the US address I don't have to get involved with Manila at all.

Good to know about another extension to Sept 1. Also good to know that having a US address avoids the still alive letter. I'll keep that in mind when I apply for social security sometime in the next couple of years.

[JAI DEE MAK]

On 18/07/2019 at 10:38, Garzan said:

I just completed my eighth retirement extension based on monthly income of >65,000b per month. As an US passport holder I no longer have the option of an Embassy Letter. 

So, as it turns out, under the new rules it has actually been less expensive. I don't need to go to Bangkok or hope the Embassy Outreach timing is good, or pay $50 USD for a notary signature. I got two documents from my local Bangkok Bank. One document for 200b was a print out of all my account transactions for the last year. The other document was a letter listing all my foreign deposits for the last year along with a year total for 100b. Significantly less than the Embassy, and local as well. 

My first attempt was unsuccessful. The examining officer wanted to see documentation of the source of my income. I do not know if it was him being exacting, or a general policy. Since the two sources of my income are a US Govt pension, plus monthly withdrawals from my retirement savings account, the documentation was easy, but needed a second trip to Immigration. I printed out one year of income statements from each source and brought them along. The second trip was successful and I was in and out within about 30 minutes. 

While the new rules were a bit worrisome prior to getting the extension, in retrospect, the new requirements were not all that difficult, and ended up costing me less money in documentation and travel. Now that I know what to expect, I am sure next year will be less troublesome.

Was this done in Pattaya ?.

JDM

[Garzan]

2 hours ago, JAI DEE MAK said:

Was this done in Pattaya ?.

No, and while there are difference between provinces, even though they all are working from the same rule book, there should be some similarities at the Jomtien office. For example, the BB letter detailing my monthly foreign deposits was copied from a letter generated by a Pattaya BB branch office for another board member working on his own retirement extension. 

[davidge]

Well, the Police Order re. Compulsory Health Insurance has now been issued.

From 31 October all applicants for a Non O-A Visa (only available in your home country) must have the required insurance cover.

Doesn’t apply to Extensions of Stay nor to Non-O visas (which are issued in Thailand).

TBH, a bit of a waste of time imho. Hopefully, it will stay as only for a Non O-A as it will affect relatively few people and then only for one or 2 years - except those who get consecutive O-As in order to spend most of their time in Thailand.

 

[Oukiva]

40 minutes ago, davidge said:

Well, the Police Order re. Compulsory Health Insurance has now been issued.

Here is the full Police Order :  (scroll down for English)

https://www.immigration.go.th/download/1570519806090.pdf

And here is in short the added rule : (O-A only!)

[davidge]

I may need to rethink my original conclusions. One huge concern is that the English version appears to indicate that this will also apply to Extensions of Stay when the underlying visa is an O-A.

That would be really bad news for a lot of people!

 

[davidge]

Once again, I guess we have to wait to see how this plays out and how it is enforced after 31 October. Hopefully, the section above is just a clumsy translation.

[Scuba+]

Once again, I guess we have to wait to see how this plays out and how it is enforced after 31 October. Hopefully, the section above is just a clumsy translation.

Ubonjoe seems sure it just relates to the Non imm O-A, not Non imm O and extensions, so won't effect most retirees

[davidge]

1 minute ago, Scuba+ said:

18 minutes ago, davidge said:

Once again, I guess we have to wait to see how this plays out and how it is enforced after 31 October. Hopefully, the section above is just a clumsy translation.

Ubonjoe seems sure it just relates to the Non imm O-A, not Non imm O and extensions, so won't effect most retirees

The announcement would seem to indicate that - as I said in my first response. It’s just odd that they’ve changed the Extension of Stay bit as well. As long as it is as it seemed at first then not a big deal - other than for quite a small number of people.

[forcebwithu]

If they do make insurance mandatory for those with an extension to stay, I sure hope they eliminate the requirement "must buy a Thai health insurance online". I've looked at those policies and they're both expensive for the limited coverage, and IMHO the coverage is inadequate. I have a much better policy through IMG Global that far exceeds anything the Thai insurance companies offer.

[Scuba+]

If they do make insurance mandatory for those with an extension to stay, I sure hope they eliminate the requirement "must buy a Thai health insurance online". I've looked at those policies and they're both expensive for the limited coverage, and IMHO the coverage is inadequate. I have a much better policy through IMG Global that far exceeds anything the Thai insurance companies offer.

Yes the thai insurance is expensive for the poor cover. But it doesn't effect non imm O and extensions so why worry?

 

[forcebwithu]

6 minutes ago, Scuba+ said:

Yes the thai insurance is expensive for the poor cover. But it doesn't effect non imm O and extensions so why worry?

My post stated "If they do make insurance mandatory for those with an extension to stay", keyword "if". Not losing any sleep over it, so no worries about what may or may not happen. Just posting a wish if it does come to pass, and in reality, that's all it is, wishful thinking as I see this as a good money maker for Thai insurance. Another reason not to worry, it's just one more tick in the positive column for using an agent.

Edited October 10, 2019 by forcebwithu

[Scuba+]

My post stated "If they do make insurance mandatory for those with an extension to stay", keyword "if". Not losing any sleep over it, so no worries about what may or may not happen. Just posting a wish if it does come to pass, and in reality, that's all it is, wishful thinking as I see this as a good money maker for Thai insurance. Another reason not to worry, it's just one more tick in the positive column for using an agent.

Mandatory for a non imm O-A extension of stay" not for non imm O extension of stay, just making it clear because the last time this came up there were 100s of posts of people confused, not understanding the difference