From the good people in this group, I understood that I (married to a Thai national) can come to Thailand on a Non immigrant O visa based on marriage, and that I can extend that immediately with a year once I’m in country before my first 90 days are up.
My question is about the 400k baht I need to have in a Thai bank account for 60 days. Many have mentioned that that money has to show up as a foreign transfer (from outside of Thailand). It’s not a problem to transfer and leave that money there, I also know how I can transfer that money using TransferWise so it shows up as an foreign transaction, but I’ve done some calculating, and I’m not sure it’s even technically possible to meet that requirement in time. Note that I currently do NOT have a Thai bank account.
Count with me:
- I arrive in Thailand. That’s day 0
- I will be “released” from ASQ on day 16. Can’t do anything before that day.
- I will immediately open a Thai bank account on that same day. My wife tells me that should take no more than a day for the account to be ready. So let’s assume I have account details and can send money (which I’ll have ready and waiting) via TransferWise on day 17.
- I’ve sent money via TransferWise before. It usually shows up on the Thai bank account the day after. So that’s day 18 when the money drops on the account.
- To apply for my 1 year extension, Thai immigration tells me I need to request that at least 15 days before my 90 days are up. So that will be on day 75
- on day 75, the money will only have seasoned for 57 days, which is less than the required 60. And that’s if everything goes according to plan and there are no holidays or weekends that delay transfers in between.
Any way out of this? Will immigration even accept my extension request before I have the money in the account for the full 60 days, as long as it will be in there for 60+ days at the end of my 90 days?
BTW: I have enough money on my wife’s Thai bank account to transfer it to my own account the moment it’s ready and since it’s both Bangkok Bank, that transfer should be more or less immediate, which makes me gain a day or 2, but it won’t show up as a foreign transfer and it will still be extremely tight, so I’m guessing that’s of no use.
Am I over-analysing all of this? Thanks greatly if you can shed some light.
