How can I obtain a retirement visa for Thailand after arriving with only a Thailand Pass?

@Banton ********

you’ll find that a lot in Thailand. They work with the banks. They will help you open the account and it will show the 800,000 you need. They don’t use your money. Just don’t over pay for the service.

@Steve *******

Yes, if he can get a bank account and transfer the money in. Bear in mind, some immigration offices do not issue Non O 90 days in Thailand, like mine Nakhon Si Thammarat.

@Stuart ********

so you think he can get that done on a 30 day? I guess

@Steve *******

you’re confusing the two steps. The first is you apply for the Non O visa. You do not need the money in the account for two months when applying for that (just that it’s been transferred from overseas). It gives you 90 days stay. Once that’s winding down the money will have been in the account for 2 months - which is what’s needed for the year extension.

A SWIFT international wire transfer from US to Thai bank is not a horrible alternative to Wise but will likely cost more. Many US banks will charge a fee for the international wire transfer ($20-$50 or thereabouts, some are cheaper than others) and you will get the Thai bank's telegraphic transfer rate when buying Thai baht with US dollars, which is not a horrible rate but is worse than Wise's mid-market rates (average of bid and ask). Also, Thai banks will charge an international acceptance fee on the transfer of 0.25% (minimum of 200 and maximum of 500 baht) per transfer. Doing it this way is not terrible for funding the 800k baht, but would not be recommended for monthly transfers as the fees would add up. However, it nearly "guarantees" that it will be marked correctly as an international transfer (FTT in the case of Bangkok Bank). (The only reason it might not be marked as international is if an intermediate bank had to be used between your US and Thai banks. I've heard this should not be a problem if using Bangkok Bank as the destination).

Finally, it is possible to "fix": the marking of a transfer that is marked domestic rather than international. Involves getting a "credit advise" from the intermediate Thai bank, which can be an inconvenience and not something you want to have to do, but often this will be accepted by immigration as a legitimate international transfer.

@John ********

My understanding is that they never "guaranteed" it but in practice it very rarely happened that a transfer was marked as non-international. Now it seems that the track record is much worse than it used to be. The group I mentioned above is:

@George ************

Yes, one of those 3 are SCB but it's also happening with Bangkok Band and K Bank There is a group dedicated to discussing this issue. Only people having success are random transactions. One transaction marked foreign, the next isn't for the same customer. Wise issued a statement say they can no longer guarantee it

There is also a FB group dedicated to Wise and Thailand, something like New transferwise in Thailand.

@John ********

I believe Wise only shows up marked as an interbation transfer if you use one of three Wise partner banks in Thailand. One of which is Bangkok bank and if you select "long term stay in Thailand" as the purpose of the transfer it should show up in your account as an FTT, a foreign telegraphic transfer, which immigration understands is an international transfer All that said I do see that people have recently had some trouble with Wise, not so much being marked domestic but taking longer to complete the transfer than used to be the case.

@George ************

Wise etc are no longer showing international transfer, as the money is moved by them domestically. You have to go down the SWIFT route. I tried a few, Wise, Currency Fair, they show it as domestic. I used HSBC to SCB, took 3 days. Send in your own currency, the currency rate is much better in Thailand than your own bank.

@George ************

gotcha

If you arrive in Thailand visa-exempt you have 30 days to open a bank account and fund it with 800k baht. Opening a bank account isn't easy, especially for an American, but can be done with persistence. If you cannot open a bank account on your own there are agents who will help you for a fee. I suggest trying Bangkok Bank or Krungsri Bank. I also suggest getting a Certificate of Residence from your immigration office (if possible) to document your address in Thailand. The process of funding the account (transferring money from the US to Thailand) is not too difficult. You can use a service like Wise or do an international transfer from your US to Thai bank using SWIFT.

The 2-month seasoning requirement is for when you go to extend your permission to stay *after* you have received your Non-O visa, not for when you apply to get the Non-O visa at immigration.

If you don't want to feel rushed you can arrive in Thailand on a Tourist Visa (60 days) and you always have the option of extending your 30 days or 60 days stay by an additional 30 days by purchasing an extension of stay for tourist purposes from immigration for 1,900 baht.

@Steve *******

The two-month seasoning period for the 800k baht in a Thai bank is the requirement for getting the retirement extension. However, it is only required that you have 800k baht in a Thai bank on the day that you apply for your initial Non-O visa at the immigration office. Then before the initial 90-day permission of stay expires one applies for the retirement extension. Suggest one applies with 30 days remaining in one's permission to stay because at that point the 800k baht will have been seasoned for 2 months already.

@George ************

that gives him only 60 days total and that’s not much time when you have to show the money in your Thai bank for 60 days.

@Banton ********

for sure if you can find the right one. You’ll very little time though.

@Stuart ********

if you say so.