Answered4 years ago

Is the income method for retirement visa renewal in Chiang Mai still accepted?

Chiang Mai Retirement Visa NON-O Visa Income Method 800K Deposit Visa Renewal

John ******

asked Nov 26, 2022

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Chiang Mai O based on retirement renewal. 

Is the income method currently accepted? I asked a snarly I/O who said "I recommend you stay with the 800K deposit. 

I don't care about his recommendation, I want to know if the income method works these days.

Previously CM also accepted the income/bank combination method.  Does that still work? 

Thanks much for any current info.

Answer summary

The inquiry highlights concerns about the acceptance of the income method for renewing a retirement visa (O visa) in Chiang Mai. While a user had a frustrating experience with immigration officials recommending sticking to the 800K bank deposit method, other users have shared similar challenges when attempting to switch from the banked method to the monthly income method. The income method requires proof of monthly transfers, and complications arise when trying to satisfy requirements from both previous and current extensions.

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Gooddy *******

Had the same experience yesterday at Nonthaburi immigration (although the officer was really nice). Was trying to move from banked method year one to monthly income method year 2 on retirement extension. I had 12 monthly 70 k payments and had met the 800k banked requirements. Officer said it would be much easier to stay with banked method and they demanded proof of where the 70k a month was coming from.

4 years ago

Tod *********

@Gooddy ******

there is no actual requirement that you show where the funds come from (as in pension, rental income, etc) only that it's at least 65K baht a month transferred into a thai bank account in your name only for 12 months before you apply for your next extension.

Immigration offices don't wanna fool with the paperwork OR the vetting of the monthly deposits (which isn't that hard, just takes them more time than someone using the banked money method)

BUT

you can 'push' them into allowing it if you stand your ground, say you want to see in writing where it says proof of funds origin is in the rules (which it is not 😛 )..

A guy here in bangkok transfers 65K baht from his Cambodian bank account into his account here every month, withdraws it in cash and sends it back to his bank there with Dee Money.

He loses a bit each time with the transaction fees BUT he's 'reused' that 65K baht for many years now and gets a yearly extension without fail using monthly income method every time.

4 years ago

Gooddy *******

@Tod ********

yes I know that there’s no stipulation about proof of the source of funds (he even showed me the document outlining requirements which of course doesn’t mention anything about the funds having to come from a pension). He was adamant though that he wanted to see proof that the transfers were coming from a pension.

4 years ago

Gooddy *******

@John *********

no. I even showed him the previous 12 months monthly transfers with FTT against each transfer. To be honest I think he was confused about the affidavit of income (which some embassies provide) and the 12 monthly proof of funds transfer method.

4 years ago

John **********

@Gooddy ******

are you sure he wasn't looking for proof it came from overseas which is a requirement?

4 years ago

Tod *********

Things aren't fluid and if you used banked money method last year (for the extension you're currently on) the seasoning terms are clearly spelled out.

1 - You needed 800K baht in the bank for 2 months before you applied,

2 - that 800k has to stay IN the account for 3 months after the extension was granted,

3- the balance can never go below 400K the rest of the year.

SO you meet those requirements AND you transfer in your funds for 12 months for the next extension. Switching from banked money method to monthly income is the hardest one because you have to meet BOTH requirements (for the extension you are on now that you got by using banked money AND for the extension you will get by transferring in 65K baht a month)

In other words even with 12 months of 65K baht a month in transfers from abroad, you STILL have to show you have 400K baht in the bank account the whole year <- which was a seasoning requirement for the previous years extension using banked money

4 years ago

Tod *********

what that also means IS

if you're going to try for the "combo method" from an extension you're on that you used banked money method, you HAVE to bank 400K baht <- because that's the amount of banked money you need in your account the entire year for the banked money extension you're on before you apply for the new extension using the combo method.

so you'd have to transfer in to the country about

*****

baht a month to hit the 800K baht total required (33,500 X 12= 402k plus the 400k banked = 802K) for the combo method.

In fact SOME offices say you can't DO the combo method without banking a minimum of 400K baht; because that's the example the police order uses spelling out the seasoning requirements for the banked money portion of the combo method, but actually there is no minimum amount you have to bank for the combo method ONLY that it follows the seasoning requirements (2 months before, 3 months after and then can't go below 50% the rest of the year)

Sheesh, that read more complicated than it is, hope it was understandable 🙁

4 years ago