Can I transfer a 6 or 12 month overseas pension payout into Thailand to qualify for a Retirement Visa?

May 6, 2019
5 years ago
Mick **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hi learned friends. I have a question on the Retirement Visa situation. Not all people get their income monthly. Some may get 6 monthly or 12 monthly or maybe some other regular none monthly payouts.

In this situation if these 6 or 12 monthly payouts from on overseas bank or pension scheme are deposited into a foreign currency account in a Thai Bank and then you transfer the equivalent of 65,000 Baht each month from this account to a Baht account at the same Bank will this be acceptable by immigration. As you could obtain a letter from the Bank that the deposits to the foreign currency account are international transactions and also you can show 65k / month being transferred. What you think.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The discussion revolves around the possibility of qualifying for a Retirement Visa in Thailand by transferring monthly equivalent amounts from a foreign pension or bank account. The original poster questions if depositing a lump sum (received either every six months or annually) into a foreign currency account and then transferring 65,000 Baht monthly to a Thai bank account would satisfy immigration requirements. Various commenters provide insights ranging from personal experiences with immigration offices to the stipulations that typically require consistent monthly transfers for visa eligibility.
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Bob **********
I brought mine over every 4 months and they told me no in Jomtien
Shayne **********
The immigration department in Chiang Mai told me average of
*****
baht per month, 130k one month, and 20k, the next and 80k the next are fine for 3 months.
Tod *********
they might have said that BUT the way the rules are written are very specific and at least in bangkok they said NO 130K skip a month OR 120K one month and then 15K the month after that (which totals 65K per month averaged.

The rule is written with NO averaging as a minimum of 65K baht transferred into a thai bank account in your name only each month EVERY month for the previous 12 months before you apply for your extension.

I would NOT trust an immigration officer who said you could use an average for an extension based on being over 50 using monthly income with international transfers.

The averaging is ONLY for extensions based on marriage where you bring in an average of 40K baht a month for the previous 12 months.
Joe ******************
How about you get the 6 or 12 monthly payment (which I'm sure would be more than 800,000 baht), transfer the whole lot into your Thai account, let it sit for the required waiting period and then apply for the visa based on having over 800,000 in the account?

Then you use the money over the course of the year, and repeat the process the following year making sure you transfer it all to Thailand in enough time for the funds to season in your account before renewing the visa?
Joe ******************
@Mick *********
the question is, is the total 12 month amount enough that you would have a spare 400,000 in the account that you could leave untouched for the entire year?
Mick **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Joe *****************
the total 12 month amount is more than 800,000.
Joe ******************
ah OK that wouldn't work then... unless you didn't mind leaving 400k untouched
Tod *********
with the new 800K baht banked money you now need to have it in the account 2 months before you apply leave it in there for 3 months after you apply and then not let the balance get below 400K for the rest of the year.
Richard ********
You have to leave 400,000 of it untouched after your waiver granted.
Tod *********
I think your idea MIGHT work if you had the 6 or 12 month payout put into a bank account in your country and just transferred in 65K baht a month to your thai bank account.

BUT

The only real way to know if what you're saying will or won't fly would be to go to the immigration office and ask them..
Joe ***********
Last month at Krabi Immigration my friend was not even allowed to show his 65k monthly international transfers into Bangkok Bank . They said 800k cash in the bank was the only method allowed if no Embassy Affidavit / Letter.

This was only a few days after Big Joke was canned. The Krabi Immigration Chief was also replaced at the same time. Plus only a week before he had a preliminary interview to see if what documents he had would work. He was told to come back in a week and what he had would be okay. I know this story is true as I had been working with him for a month helping him source and assemble his document/application packet. I do not know if anyone else has received the same denial
Richard ********
Tod Daniels Thanks Tod. I started last month and my extension is due in December. Looks like I will be going the
*******
route (or maybe the Elite) especially as I am in Phuket where I doubt leniency features in their lexicon.
Tod *********
@Richard *******
there are reports of some offices showing leniency NOT in the amount of the monthly transfers BUT in the fact that last year you didn't know you couldn't get the embassy letter. Some offices were allowing people to get extensions based on only showing monthly transfers from Dec 2018 onward BUT now reports are coming in that less and less offices are showing any leniency at all and if you are using monthly income and your consulate doesn't issue the affidavit letter you need 12 months of monthly transfers when you apply for the extension.
Richard ********
Have you had any feedback on their supposed "leniency" for applicants who haven't had a full year because, like me, the new rules came into force mid-visa?
Tod *********
The rule is simple, it's MONTHLY transfers from overseas of at least 65K baht a month into a thai bank account in your name only for the previous 12 months before you apply for your extension.
Robert *******
I guess you talk about an Extension of Stay based on being over 50 years which you apply for at a local Immigration Office. And you are from a country that does not hand out an Income Affidavit?
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