Answered8 years ago
Will Thailand still accept 800,000 baht in the bank for retirement visas or will they require a monthly deposit?
This was dated today ! My question because I’m getting ready to retire this year Will they still accept having 800,000 baht in the bank or will they REQUIRE having 65,000 baht a month deposited in a Thai bank from the US ?
Answer summary
The current requirement for obtaining a retirement extension in Thailand remains unchanged. The 800,000 baht in the bank method is still accepted as long as the funds have been seasoned for the required time. There has been no recent change to this requirement, despite discussions about a new optional monthly deposit method. It's clarified that those using the 800,000 baht method do not need to switch to the new monthly deposit requirement.
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Robert *******
Thanks for this update
@Jay **********
. I will close the commenting.
Jay ***********
OPMy sincere apologies folks . When looking on my phone I saw " The thai visa , The Nation dated January 25th but the article was indeed what's been reported on January 6th . As an American making life changes I became a bit nervous reading this especially after spending thousands of $$ trying to get my Thai partner a visa into the US for the past 17 years . We gave up on that and my plans are to live here . Admins please feel free to delete this post and again Im very sorry for not reading the date correctly . Rather than delete I wanted to apologize first .
Robert *******
And this is the post with the updates and answer to your question:
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5/George *************
Absolutely no change to the 800,000 baht in a bank for 2-3 months method of obtaining a retirement extension. None, zilch, zip, nada. The reference above to the thread at Thai Visa was horribly handled basically to inflate their views. They should have made very clear (crystal) that there was no change to the 800,000 method. Absolutely none! Every third reply in that horrible thread is someone saying does this apply to the 800,000 method, what about the 800,000 method? Disgusting, in my opinion.
The guidance that was posted from Immigration was to explain how the NEW, ADDITIONAL. BUT IN NO WAY REQUIRED, monthly deposit method for obtaining extensions of stay works. They said nothing about the 800,000 method because there were NO CHANGES in that method. The Thai Visa post could have made that clear but for whatever reason, they decided not to. My respect for the visa forum at Thai Visa dropped several notches because of how that announcement was mishandled.
I have to completely disagree with Jennifer's comment above. This is a case where you do not want to wade through hundreds upon hundreds of posts about the NEW, ADDITIONAL METHOD, if you are going to be using the old 800,000 method, because NOTHING HAS CHANGED for people using the 800,000 method.
The guidance that was posted from Immigration was to explain how the NEW, ADDITIONAL. BUT IN NO WAY REQUIRED, monthly deposit method for obtaining extensions of stay works. They said nothing about the 800,000 method because there were NO CHANGES in that method. The Thai Visa post could have made that clear but for whatever reason, they decided not to. My respect for the visa forum at Thai Visa dropped several notches because of how that announcement was mishandled.
I have to completely disagree with Jennifer's comment above. This is a case where you do not want to wade through hundreds upon hundreds of posts about the NEW, ADDITIONAL METHOD, if you are going to be using the old 800,000 method, because NOTHING HAS CHANGED for people using the 800,000 method.
Oliver **********
Lighten up, Francis
George *************
I'm not anti-search. I'm anti reading the nonsense and misinformation that was spread about this NEW, ADDITIONAL METHOD, NOT REQUIRED TO BE USED BY EVERYONE, that was available in many places. You can learn all that you need to know from the Lagas post above without all the scaremongering that led many people to believe that their methods of getting extensions of stay were changing. They were not. The guidance from immigration describes a NEW, ADDITIONAL method and it does not comment on existing methods which have not changed in the slightest.
Jennifer *********
It was merely a suggestion and a correction. Meanwhile the search function is very helpful if one knows uses it correctly.
Jennifer *********
Actually that post is dated January 6. The message was first posted in this group back then and sparked a huge discussion and exchange of information. Use the search function within this group and you'll find answers to every possible question about this crucial topic.
Jay ***********
OPMy apologies for that, Jennifer When i looked on my phone the date of " Thai Visa The Nation " was dated today , but that was just the headline for todays information . Then I see the post WAS dated January 6th . Again my apologies for running this through the wringer . I guess when making life changes as Im doing this year you tend to get a little nervous .
Paul *********
Again I say - no changes for 800k banked method
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Ellie *******
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Stuart *********
They will still accept the 800k in the bank as long as it’s been seasoned for the required time.
Grenville **********
The affidavits were a waste of money for most of us. I still had to show proof of my income with bank statements and income verification from my retirement accounts. One less government agency to pay.
Pradeep ******
@Paul ********
Now I just got my friend's Retirement Visa renewed in Chiang Mai and had a lengthy discussion with the top Officer who was so gentle and patient to explain in detail. 1. You have to have monthly deposits of *****
Baht or more from 1.1 2019 period. But for the year 2018 if you have a total they will waive this *****
Baht per month requirement as long as it adds up to *****
0 Baht for the last 12 months. Even 1 transfer of *****
0 Baht would be acceptable . But from 1 1 2020 one has to have a monthly deposit of *****
Baht. Spouse can follow the retiree and no addition funds required for this. I am an US citizen and am on Retirement Visa for the last 12 years. Hope this helps.George *************
Grenville Berliner That was a decision for Thai Immigration to make. Not the embassies. If it were a problem of honesty why where no affiants ever prosecuted for committing perjury? No, it was simply that those embassies wanted to get out of serving their constituents with this service and used Thai Immigration as the excuse. The embassies were doing nothing wrong. Thai Immigration never threatened to stop accepting income letters from those embassies. The embassies should have continued on as before and if that were unacceptable to Thai Immigration, then TI had the power to require additional evidence from the applicant during the extension process (as they did with Americans in Chiang Mai and other places), or simply not accept the embassy letter.
That was their call. Not the embassies call. The embassies acted in a self-serving way without the least thought to their constituents. Putting their nationals at a severe disadvantage compared to the embassies that didn't join them in their "protest." Luckily for their citizens Thai Immigration came to the rescue and now the staff at those embassies get to sit on their lazy butts. So a win-win, I guess.
That was their call. Not the embassies call. The embassies acted in a self-serving way without the least thought to their constituents. Putting their nationals at a severe disadvantage compared to the embassies that didn't join them in their "protest." Luckily for their citizens Thai Immigration came to the rescue and now the staff at those embassies get to sit on their lazy butts. So a win-win, I guess.
Grenville **********
@George ************
Not screwed so much as made honest.George *************
I know these days the phrase "responsible journalism" is oxymoronic, but is it too much to expect that headline writers and posters make the tiniest effort to explain to people in clearly understandable terms that what is being discussed may not (or in this case does not) apply to them? The Lagas post is a model of how to do this the right way. The Thai Visa post referenced above is a model of how to do this the wrong way.
My opinion is that the people who have scaremongered on this issue should be tied up and put in a room filled with old expats and their Thai families and a "discussion" of how news should be reported should be held until everyone is on the same page ;-)
My opinion is that the people who have scaremongered on this issue should be tied up and put in a room filled with old expats and their Thai families and a "discussion" of how news should be reported should be held until everyone is on the same page ;-)
Jay ***********
OP@George ************
Trust me my blood pressure did raise a bit after reading the statement from Thai Visa news dated today . I didn't see where they also will accept the 800,000 in the bank but actual monthly deposits . I made the decision years ago to stay here and have invested time and money in building a home here and also being able to support myself and partner with retirement investments but not going into a Thai bank monthly . Thank you for putting my mind at ease , also a phone call to my local immigration confirmed that as wellGeorge *************
@Jay **********
You won't find it in print from the Immigration announcement because the announcement is in no way about changes to existing procedures (because there aren't any). It is giving guidance to immigration officers about how to apply the new, additional, not for everyone, method that immigration put together for those nationals who were screwed by their embassies (UK, US, Australia, Denmark) when those embassies decided to unilaterally stop issuing embassy income letters.Some of the headlines about that immigration announcement were absolutely horrible for not making that crystal clear from the get go.
The summary provided by Robert Lagas referenced above is a good one without any baseless speculation. Read that. Don't bother to read the stuff that came before that on this topic unless you would like to raise your blood pressure for no reason ;-)
Paul *********
Previous post on the matter :- NO changes for 800k banked method.
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5Ellie *******
@Bo***
, I think OP is about requirement for extension inside Thailand, not for application at embassy / consulate outside Thailand?
Bobby ********
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OPI hope so but if you read the statement it doesn’t mention the 800,000 only that they want to see that income every month is deposited
Paul *********
There is no change to the '800k banked' method
Stuart *********
Tod will be able to point to it somewhere I am sure. The only changes have been made to the people using their embassy letter/affidavit. As some embassy’s have stopped issuing them. No change to the money in the bank method.
Jay ***********
OP@Stuart ********
I can’t seem to find that in printActivity
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