I can't explain why he only gets 6 month any more than I can explain why several people I know, me included, got 5 years for 2 medical appointments.

And with his METV, he has to leave twice in the middle or pay 1900 baht twice. So an METV for a 6 month course makes no sense.

Same in CM if you make an appt online. Last time I was in and out in 25 minutes with a new Non-Imm O extension.

Charles Schwab debit card.

it's never worked for me either. When ask at Immigration "Why", they just say "Easy to come here." Easy for them. They're there anyway!

How would anyone know?

@Graham *****

Double exchange rate losses. Wire transfer fees. Annual fees of 5800+ baht.

Never having t go to Immigration again, PRICELESS!

@Graham *****

We're off on the wrong tangent. My question was about limiting my trips to Immigration and dealing with bureaucracy.

Back when we first got our Non-Imm O visas, using the 65k/mo method meant buying a letter from the US Consulate. Another round of bureaucracy! Then when Immigration stopped that practice, there was no other method than 800k in the bank. Now, of course, we could each do a 65k transfer every month from our investment accounts to "prove" our income. That would be 130k a month and there is no way we can spend that much living in CM. That still means multiple trips to the bank here, then multiple trips to Immigration. And the excess funds I converted from USD to THB? What do I do? Take them out of the Thai bank with an ATM card and convert the baht to dollars and then bring that back to the US and deposit the cash?

@Kim *********

Good point. I've seen a few of those reports too. But not much I can do about it. I can't worry about things I have no control over. My savings account has been open for 19 years so hopefully the bank never questions it. In my case, it's a risk worth taking to switch to a DTV.

@Brandon ***********

I was standing in front of the IO and didn't know what the DTV stamp in my passport would look like when he wanted to stamp me in under my "Retirement Extension". All I knew is that in order for my wife to get a spousal DTV she needed to be the spouse of a DTV holder and her application requires my passport info. I didn't know at the time, and still don't know for sure, that if I entered under an extension of an O visa, whether or not that would qualify her when she applied.

@Lloyd *******

I'm not sure what the difference is but in my case, and my wife's case, there's an easy solution -- we've each had the 800k in the bank for over 6 months since the last extension; we can each withdraw up to 400k and leave 400k in the bank until our extensions expire in a few months. We'll have met both the 800 k requirement and the requirement to never let the balance fall below 400k. Fortunately, I don't need the money anytime soon. It's been there for over 15 years! Once we pass the renewal date, we can withdraw all but a small amount. Just need to keep the account active in case we ever need one again.