Embassies not verifying

If you can't afford leaving that kind of money 'just sitting there's maybe you can 'play' with it as long as you still have it deposited when you renew your visa. If not, maybe this 'Thailand retirement ' thing is not for you? 🤔

@ThailandHereICome. it has nothing to do with whether i can afford to have it sit there. It’s more that I prefer my money to be earning interest which is currently 5%+ in Australia. Your reply is pointless. You really havent even answered my question. I'm not looking for your personal opinion on whether or not its ”for me”. Im looking for some real answers on this process.

@shenpa

the australian embassy , in Bangkok is not interested in verification  of income  by a age pension ,

not   there  job i was told ,

if self funded income ,  you   obviously need  to contact your   Bank , super fUnd , or finacial institution

@petercurr55  contact my bank and say what?   the income has to be shown in a thai account doesnt it?     ive been researching this for months now and im no closer to understanding anything. in fact im now even more confused and beginning to lose hope.    Im currently looking on the thai embassy website here in sydney and the  OX 5 year visa states : must have $150,000 or income of $5000/month.  Why wouldnt anyone just do this option?   I have more than $150k as would anyone wanting to retire surely?

@shenpa

You can put the cash in a deposit account for a longer term at slightly higher interest

Talk to your bank

For what I was told before your retirement income must be passive and you have to been receiving it for 1 year before you apply, be of age. And have a Thailand health insurance. For the LTR visa aka 5 or 10 year visa. You will need a bank statement from your bank to prove that you have the income. 

800,000 Thailand baud is not that much if you can not afford to do it. You may want to try a different way or place. 

@shenpa

i came out of US 2 months ago. no pension. had to show 20k in US bank and that was it. sent them last bank statement and was good to go. hope this helps

@Walnutcharles again i never said anything about not affording it so please dont advise me on my finances.

@Eastcoast steven did you apply before you left US? what kind of visa?

@shenpa

I know someone who does it by having periodic funds say every quarterly transfered to a Thai bank account. Not sure if that works for you.

You can  I suppose use wise, to withdraw from your thai account n transfer back to Australia

Not sure if that helps in your case

Interesting topic.

Could Siam legal not give any advice on alternative methods for verification?

Good morning to all and thank you Shenpa for bringing up this subject.

I agree about your initial statement “sitting there earning no interest”.

I am in the planning process myself.

Does the ฿65, 000 minimum monthly income (pension) visa really exist or only the ฿80,000 deposit?

Thank you

You need to prove income from your country can pay for your annual minimum requirement for Thai retirement visa , you cannot receive an income in Thailand with any visa on offer unless you have working visa, you can invest your money in Australia and keep your accruing interest in Australia as long as you have proof of income, the amount required for Thailand depends on visa. you do not have to put all your money in Thai bank account. The easiest away around long term visas is to  buy a  Tha  ELITE Visa for 5 years.. pay for visa upfront and you are not required to prove income or bank  balance. They cost from 1 million baht but no hassles involved but  again you cannot earn income in Thailand on this visa

@mdullin53  hi,   i think you mean 800,000. not 80,000.   According to siam legal that is correct. The embassies for US, UK, Canada and Australia do not verify so the income option is out

@carolinelouisemaddix  did you even read my post?   Most people move to thailand because its a cheaper cost of living. If i could afford an elite visa I wouldnt even move to Thailand. ****

@Dlcm Thanks Ill maybe do that option

@shenpa

My bad Shenpa, yes 800,000 Bath.

How sure are you that the income (pension visa) is no longer available?

@mdullin53 i contacted siam legal to get some help and thats what they have told me.    Here is a direct quote:

”(**Embassies of the UK, USA, Australia, & Canada are currently not offering the income verification document - for other nations please check with your embassy in Bangkok directly**). As far as we know previous clients from Australia have not been able to obtain income documents from the embassy, they can only verify government issued documents at embassies and will not issue an income verification from your own personal sources unfortunately.

You can use your income for the 90 day visa (if the Australian Thai Embassy will allow it) but once you are in Thailand you will need to make a wire transfer of 800,000 THB directly into your Thai bank account.”

For non-Immigrant O you need 800K in the bank 2 months before you apply for an extension but that doesn't really help. It's not worth moving it around for the interest (AUD 1700 at the most, at 5%, and you may have to pay tax on that too).

I looked into putting it into some sort of interest-bearing account in Thailand but they don't pay enough to make it worth it - there's always a chance Immigration won't like it for whatever reason.

So I'm just parking the money there and leaving it be.

I looked into putting it into some sort of interest-bearing account in Thailand but they don't pay enough to make it worth it - there's always a chance Immigration won't like it for whatever reason.
So I'm just parking the money there and leaving it be.
   

    -@rbakker

Smart move @rbakker . I do the same.

Always good to ask around, @shenpa; but after 15 years here, I've learned to use the path of least resistance.

Live Your Best Life.

Bottom line moving to Thailand will cost you with every visa and red tape

Hello everyone,

Please note that I have put aside some off-topic posts from this thread.

I would invite members to share any useful they might have.

Regards

Bhavna

@rbakker

Hi there, reading your recent post it appears that you are on a non-immigrant O visa with a 12 month extension for reasons of retirement.

I am looking to do the same soon, and intend to use the 800k method.

Slightly unrelated question. Did you have to buy insurance to get your 1l2 month extension?

My understanding is that O type visa doesn't require the insurance. I ask because my local Thai Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand states that you need to show insurance to get the O type visa, but I'm thinking that's only insurance to cover the initial 90 day term.

What's your experience  on this?

Alf

Hello Alf

It is my understanding (based on what I've read on these forums, and nobody has denied it) that you do not need insurance for the 1-year extension of the O-type visa (of course, I think it's very unwise for someone to not arrange their own health insurance regardless but at least this way you have more choice in the matter).

Note - I have not yet done my first 1-year extension, that happens next month.

When I was first looking into all this the website for Canadians said you needed insurance for the initial 90-day period but once I actually applied (in October I think) that requirement was gone and in the end I didn't need the insurance and nobody ever asked for it. Unfortunately it seems that the embassies in different countries have different requirements so this may not be the case in NZ.

The Siam Legal website says of the "Thai Retirement Visa ... Non-Immigrant O" : "This type of retirement visa does not require a criminal background check, medical certificate, and health insurance."

regards

rbakker

@rbakker

Correct. No insurance required for Non-Imm O.  Only for the O-A.

@rbakker

Thanks for your reply. It goes someway towards confirming my research.

Alf

@Karambit

Thanks for your confirmation, it gives me some confidence that my understanding is reasonably accurate.

Alf