Can I qualify for a Long-Term OA visa in Thailand with a brokerage account instead of a bank deposit?

Phew! You had me worried there!

Bangkok Bank New York is a routing conduit only - money goes through there - not to there. And AFAIK... Only Bangkok Bank Branches can receive money in Thailand via that routing method. Other banks would have to use a Swift code.

Tod Daniels you use the US embassy in Bangkok to notarize your income letter for the extension and not the initial visa . You use the Thai embassy in the US to get your initial visa with a bank or brokerage statement. I addressed both initial visa and extension in initial comment in regards to depositing money in a bank in Thailand.

If you do decide to set up a bank account in Thailand for convenience ( not needed for the visa for Americans) the best choice for Americans may be Bank of Bangkok since they have a branch in NYC. Most American banks will not allow you to wire or transfer money from the USA to Thai banks. You can move the money to the Bangkok bank in NYC and they will transfer to Thailand.

You cannot use the US consulate notary letter to get an O-A visa from the US consulates.

you are confusing getting an extension of stay inside the country with getting an O-A visa from a thai consulate in your country before you come here.

@JD ******

well stated and easy to understand.

@Tod ********

the Australian Embassy now requires some form of documentation to support the income Statutory Declaration.

And I think the discussion involved an American - actually I got lost in the discussion :)

I didn't mean to exclude other nations - just an oversight

@JD ******

, about the only thing I can add is almost ANY nationality can go to their consulate here and get a notarized affidavit of income from abroad AND they can put what ever they want on the letter they write too. That's because the consulate is only notarizing your name is on the top of the letter and you signed it in front of them.

The only two countries I know where you submit documentation to the consulate proving the amount of income you get and the consulate writes the letter for you is the UK consulate and the Canadian one.

Terminology:

Inside Thailand: 90 day O Visa to be used for an Extension of Stay and the actual Extension of Stay

1. Cash in the Bank Method 800,000 THB.

2 month seasoning 1st time, 3 month seasoning second and third time, etc.

2. Income Method - for Americans requires only the Income Affidavit (Embassy Income Letter). Most Thai Imm Offices accept at face value without bank records - some don't.

Non Imm O-A - obtained at a Thai Embassy / Consulate in the Home country. Must have Equivalent of 800,000 THB* in a Home Country bank.

I wrote this because the above back and forth is very confusing.

*certain investment might be able to be substituted for a bank cash account

The US consulate that comes to Pattaya stopped accepting cash and they now require a bank draft. The check needs to say American embassy Bangkok and it needs to be an exact amount of Baht posted on the web site a few days before their visit that is equivalent to $50. My check said US embassy Bangkok so I had to go to the bank and get another Check.

I just remembered I knew an American that died last year and he also had a bank account in a Thailand. I think he did not like paying the $50 notary fee to the US embassy (haha). It can be a pain to get the income letter if you have to travel to Bangkok. Here in Pattaya, the US consulate makes frequent visits. I use the letter because I would rather invest the money or keep in an insured bank account. There are those (not Americans) that also don’t have a lot of money that appear to use visa services for a high fee that seem to be more like the local mafia since 800,000 Baht temporarily shows in their account and somehow it gets through someone in immigration.

@Steve ******

I agree. We’re lucky to have the consulate in CM

@R**

. Im out in isaan about 600kl from Bangkok so there's no point in making the trip if you have the 800,000bt

And for what it’s worth, if you don’t have 23 or 24K USD, odds are you don’t have whatever income you’re swearing you have anyway. Thankfully for Americans the Thai use the honor system so you can basically say you have as much cash as Mark Cuban and immigration won’t care

@Steve ******

understood. Not sure why it’s a pain. Here in CM, the consulate is quick easy and painless. We need a marriage affidavit each time because my wife isn’t 50 so she “follows” off mine. You simply make an appointment, fill out the boilerplate template form and walk in with no real wait time. Easy as pie

@R**

. Yes, nearly everyone I know uses the 800,000 banked lump sum, they all say its a pain in the butt getting the confirmation letter from Bangkok every year. The few americans I know that use the income letter do so because they dont actually have the 800,000bt.

Dan Geisser nothing you say is incorrect but lo and behold. Now you know an American that does use the 800K in a Thai bank account to maintain a retirement visa

We lived in Malaysia for two years on the MM2H visa and wanted to move to Thailand. As you can’t get an O-A visa outside the USA, we got two single entry non O visas in Penang issued on the basis that we’d extend based on retirement once in Thailand long enough to do this (45 days or less til the expiry date).

In order to extend to one year based on retirement we did have to transfer and keep the 800K THB seasoned for 60 days. We opened an account at Bangkok Bank which makes transfers cost efficient and easy via ACH from another US bank.

Although it’s possible to get the “income letter” from the embassy here in Bangkok, we also have a large retirement brokerage portfolio but will not be using it for years and I’m old fashioned and not comfortable swearing income than I’m not actually drawing despite having enough investments to back it up. So we actually live on the 800K as living cash and it’s enough for at least a year. We transfer another few hundred thousand THB at the same time to account for the 90 days you can’t use the 800K

When 90 days before the extension period arrives, we will repeat the process and keep it seasoned for 90 days and then reapply for continued stay based on retirement for as many years as we wanna stay. We have liquid cash in fixed deposits in the USA so don’t need to use the investment income. But you are mistaken when you say nobody uses the 800K process. We know several others that do. In fact, we followed everything

@Tod ********

told us to do to the letter and if worked like a charm.

@D**

Yes. Now we're on the same wavelength, hahaha!

Ok, yes you have 2 choices (1.Thai bank account without embassy letter or 2. embassy letter). To get the letter/affidavit from the US embassy requires no backup or statements. Other embassies appear to have tougher requirements for their letter and those foreigners may need to set up Thai bank accounts.

Dan Geisser. That's what ive said twice, but if you use the 800,000 lump sum method rather than confirmation of income from your embassy, it needs to be seasoned in a Thai bank account for 2 months, 1st extention, 3 months for subsequent extentions

Steve Greir I am only talking about the yearly extension of stay only. Initial visa you can use statements from home country. Initial visa also does not require a bank account in Thailand for any nationality.

Dan Geisser. Im talking about the yearly extention of stay you get at an immigration office in Thailand using the lump sum of 800,000bt. No nationality needs a Thai bank account for the non imm O or OA visa. I think you're confusing the visa with the extention of stay

Steve Greir Not sure what you are trying to say “You do need a Thai bank account if you use the 800,000 lump sum for the yearly extention of stay, although you can have the equivilant in a foreign currency account”. This may be required by your embassy but it is not required by the US embassy in Bangkok. I do not think you are American. The US embassy requires no statements for the income statement to get the letter but you have to swear to tell the truth to them as if you are in court in the US. This is an affidavit. Thai Immigration only requires the notarized letter from your embassy about your income. The form/affidavit provided by the US embassy only allows you to write in a monthly income. You can decide what your monthly income is. I just completed this about 3 months ago.

/05/income-verification-affidavit-bkk-0517.pdf. I don’t know any American that have a retirement visa that keep 800,000 Baht or equivalent in foreign currency in a Thai bank. It is my understanding other foreign embassies are different and have different requirements.

@Dan ********

. No nationality needs a Thai bank account for the visa or the extention of stay if you have confirmation of income from your embassy. You do need a Thai bank account if you use the 800,000 lump sum for the yearly extention of stay, although you can have the equivilant in a foreign currency account

Americans do not need a bank account in Thailand for initial visa or extension. See below.

I got a letter.

@Kevin ************

I used a monthly statement of my brokerage account for initial visa with Thai embassy in DC.