What is the new policy from Bangkok Bank regarding long-term visa holders and bank account balance certificates?

Came back from bkk bank (BigC Onnut) the bank is obligated to issue u a letter or statements as long as it's your name in the acct.....the immigration have a set of rules for extensions BUT it does not cover bkk bank they are different establishments....bkk banks job is to show proof of acct and that's it...you can request for a copy of letter or statements everyday BUT does immigration accepts it is another thing

Sku for meget efterhånden

Banks should not be immigration enforcement.

So my question is and apologies if this has been asked in the multiple comments on this thread, What about the first extension when you have only been in the country less than three months and have seasoned the 800,000 for two months, will they just require the money to remain untouched for a further period of time and still provide the letter as per IO requirements?

If they do for one bank then for all banks

That’s why many of us just open a separate account and leave the required monies there

Does this apply to the 2 months initial 400k bhat when applying for 1st extension on arriving with non o marriage from UK?

I've just done my retirement visa today and went to Krungsri bank and got a year statement print out and letter for the immigration, nothing said to me about this subject

Another example that shows Thailand loves farang only for their money!

It is not a bank policy, you can clearly read that it is an immigration decision.

But....That order comes from an internal bank policy, based on the requirements set by the Thai Immigration Bureau for the renewal of certain types of visas, especially retirement visas (O or O-A), which require maintaining a minimum bank balance (such as 800,000 THB) for a specific period.

To protect itself legally and ensure compliance with these rules, the bank imposes its own additional policy: not issuing the bank balance certificate until the required amount has been maintained in the account for 4 months. This is not directly established by immigration, but rather a measure by the bank to prevent the certificate from being used fraudulently or temporarily.

The bank applies this internal rule as a precautionary or control measure, but it is not supported by any law or official decree.

What about the 65k/mth acct bkk bank is not going to issue the letter? Absolutely nonsense I'm going down the bank to check tmr....if i do get a different answer.....it means someone's words can't be trusted anymore

It’s a bank. They make money on your deposits. They’re saying. If you want to do business with us then we welcome you. If you want to manipulate the bank and BI system then we don’t want your business. Let the smaller banks handle the shenanigans.

It’s the biggest bank in Thailand and they don’t want to be caught up in farang manipulation of the system. It’s business not a grudge.

Park

Is this your personal experience or did you find this in another group?

Surely the answer is to provide immigration with bank statements covering the 2 month seasoning period.. right up to the day prior to making your non-o application.. and tell them the bank is no longer issuing balance certificates.. you have proved your balance was consistently maintained at the requisite level and therefore have met the financial criteria.. if they reject your application and everyone's application because of this.. they will either have to change the rules to remove the need for a balance certificate.. or they will have to have words with Bangkok bank to resolve the issue.. at the end of the day you can't give them something that is impossible to provide.. and if you follow immigration's guidelines to the letter and the bank won't give you said letter then it's outside of your control.. the bank cannot change immigration law but it can refuse to supply said letter if you don't agree to their 'rules'.. so something has to give here.. switching to the income method alleviates the problem of course.. but you can't use this for an initial non-o.. and most people applying in country for their first non-o use the preliminary 90-days to get their funds in place.. meaning they are not even starting the process a full 4-months before applying.. but ultimately, if this is just a BB 'thing' to boost their deposits.. they are going to find a lot of customers switch banks fairly rapidly.. so they'll shoot themselves in the foot!

All branches?

this notice is from Chiang Mai. The Pattaya Beach Rd branch told a customer the same thing this week.

I think that an account at zero Would violate the visa

Time to go to Vietnam, marry a girl get citizenship. Full benefits

But the extension on an O Immigrant Visa is only 90 days to invest the monies in a Thai account, not 4 months 🤔

Not happy with BB gave me so much hassle when I went for letter last time, one branch said no have to go to your branch so I did and then they said No because I had renewed bank book in different branch, so had to declare lost get new bank book and then new passport details had to be verified for the 3rd time. Time to change main bank account been with them since 1989.

I call BS. Signed by who? What bank? FB sucks sometimes

Left BB 5 years ago for SCB - never regretted it, they are unhelpful, dishonest - never looked back and SCB give me 2.5% on my 800k get statements for immig same day And their on line app is excellent

Me things to hey not want foreigners to have accounts with them

It's an unethical, illogical and exploiting policy only. Shame!

Must be very new. Renewed my visa less than two weeks ago without any problem although the local immigration wanted to see a statement for 3 months before the date of renewal. Question is, will they do 4 months on the spot, or will the statement have to be ordered? That can take 10 days.

Must be very new rule. I just got my extension last week. Only had funds in back for just under 3 months with Bangkok bank in Hua Hin

Just went Bangkok Bank pattaya ask for monthly 65k letter immigration needs. Gave me something totally different from last year. Showed woman paperwork from March said I need same for few months. Gave me something totally different.

The death knell is sounding for visa agents! 😂😂😂

If they hold to this I'll be looking into opening an account at another bank. Not a fan of having that much money just sitting and not earning interest or gains.

It seems 'unfair' at best that a bank can effectively refuse your visa extension?? Surely it's not in their power?

Has this been confirmed at multiple branches Stuart?

I’m in the process of getting the non -o visa based on retirement. I sent the required amount to Bangkok bank from the U.K. in mid March. I am due to go to immigration on Friday for the 12 months extension but reading this post the funds won’t have been in the bank for 4 months. Am I reading this correctly and will there likely be an issue

Thanks

Yes those agents really messed up and complicated a lot of things with what I’d consider outright fraud. At this point everyone should go with an online bank that has no international fees for their travels. I prefer SoFi.

This is just another typical bank scam from Bangkok Bank…

They want your money in their hand as soon as and for as long as possible for obvious reasons… %%%

They’re just doing their usual and being so greedy they scare off the customers who just go to other banks… 🤷🏻‍♂️

It’s not impossible like some make out

They “think” the ball is in their court 🤣🤣🤣

We don’t need an exit visa to leave Thailand and it’s a much better deal in Vietnam & Cambodia right now that’s for sure!

But they don’t allow accounts for dtv holders

I think you are reading it wrong. To me it reads that the bank will freeze (pledge) your funds of 400k/800k in your account and issue you the letter for immigration. After 4 months they will release the funds back to you. I don’t think it reads as prior but as frozen going forwards.

awesome

/ then less fake transfers / for agents /

Has it been reported at any branches other than the one out at chaengwattana

@Stuart ********

?

How the fk are you supposed to get a long term visa these days?

That is the right way to do it, allways has been according to Immigration.

That will put a spanner in the works of the agents. No more helping with the financials.

Not my problem i have 10 years LTR Visa!

Ridiculous now more hurdles