Retirement Extension in Surin

Bandersnatch

Bandersnatch

Surin Solar Legend
Firstly apologies in advance to the visa grammar police if I get any of the names wrong. I know that some folk get very upset if you talk about "retirement visas" etc. I will more than likely make some slip in this post, so please make allowances as I have apologised already.

I want to know if any of the rules currently being applied in Pattaya are also being applied in Surin. Maybe Surin has it's own interpretation of the new rules. I will report back my experiences when I try to extend my visa later this week. The reason for posting this is that I plan to use the 800,000 baht deposit for this extension and then change to the income method for my 2020 extension.

"NOTICE: The new rules governing financial requirements were effective January 1, 2019 for use of
the monthly income method and March 1, 2019 for using the 800,000 baht deposited in a Thai bank
or for the combination method (monthly income plus amount deposited in a Thai bank to be equal to
or greater than 800,000 baht).

Because these rules are new and subject to each Immigration Offices interpretation, current
reports indicate inconsistency in their application, not only between Immigration Offices, but
also between Immigration Officers within the same Immigration Office."
http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/ExtendingStay.pdf

"The following applies to Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration located on Jomtien Soi 5.

Qualifying for extension based on 800,000 in Thai bank:

Effective with initial application and renewals on or after March 1, 2019.
The 800,000 must be on deposit for 2 months for retirement extension. The 800,000 must also be kept
on deposit for an additional 3 months after the extension of stay is granted. After that, a minimum of
400,000 baht must remain on deposit in the account, thus if using this method, you should never let
your account fall below 400,000.

PLEASE NOTE: If at any time the amount goes below the required amounts, even if only 1 baht, your application for extension will in all probability be denied. Several members who renewed their retirement extension from March through July 2019 at Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration report that they were required to sign a document which included a copy of the Police Order 35/2562 followed by an acknowledgement that they must return on a date 90 days from date of application to show their bank passbook to Immigration."
http://www.pcecnews.com/permNL/UPDATE REGARDING CHANGES IN THAI IMMIGRATION RULES.pdf
 
I think your understanding of the requirements should result in you receiving a 12-month extension based on retirement.

As to the following year, the monthly transfer in excess of 65,000 baht/month. This is the method I will be using to renew my permission to stay come mid-November, in just over 4 weeks time. I understand that some flexibility is being allowed this year though the rules will be strictly applied for future years. In other words, you will need to show that you have transferred from overseas more than 65,000 baht for each and every month of the year. If using Transferwise for the monthly transfer, ensure the reason for transfer shows 'to move funds to Thailand', the last option on the pull-down menu. This shows up on your bank statement as 'International Transfer'. The other options do not.

I might add that I have been using the monthly income method, albeit with a letter from the Embassy to support my income statement, for the past 16 years without problems. I always submitted a bank statement showing international transfers in excess of 65,000 baht/month with the letter from the Embassy. The only difference as I see, I save myself 2,500 baht by not providing the letter from the Embassy.
 
I have never had Transferwise indicate that funds sent were an International Transfer. Although I do not need this information I will indeed use the last item on the drop down menu next time I make a transfer to Kasikorn Bank. and see what happens.
 
The drop-down menu looks like this:

upload_2019-10-9_17-28-38.png

The last item on the list, "Funds for long term stay in Thailand" shows up as an International Transfer (with Bangkok Bank at least).

upload_2019-10-9_17-30-52.png

When I have used "General monthly living expenses", the second item on the list, I have had this annotation:

upload_2019-10-9_17-32-29.png


For a retirement extension based on the monthly income, as shown on the bank statement, there may be problems proving to Immigration that the funds came from overseas unless you use the correct option.
 
Bandersnatch said:
PLEASE NOTE: If at any time the amount goes below the required amounts, even if only 1 baht, your application for extension will in all probability be denied. Several members who renewed their retirement extension from March through July 2019 at Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration report that they were required to sign a document which included a copy of the Police Order 35/2562 followed by an acknowledgement that they must return on a date 90 days from date of application to show their bank passbook to Immigration."
Click to expand...

For information I renewed my "extension" in early June this year at SI. There was no mention of returning 90 days later to show my updated passbook.
 
I have been informed today that Siam Commercial Bank (Surin) will not "update" your fixed deposit account passbook unless there has been any change in the amount in the account.

I had a similar situation with Kasikorn a few years ago (before the same date letter requirement) but eventually they agreed to provide a print out of the balance at the date requested.

What's the matter with these employees? Do they not realise that we are the customers (and are effectively paying their wages)?
 
Yorky, I copy the information and balance pages of my SCB term deposit book and get the SCB staff to stamp, date and sign them when I get my deposit letter for immigration. I also take the passbook with me as my td matures in late July. Has worked the last two years. This year only a week ago. I do not use SI.
 
Night Stroker said:
Yorky, I copy the information and balance pages of my SCB term deposit book and get the SCB staff to stamp, date and sign them when I get my deposit letter for immigration. I also take the passbook with me as my td matures in late July. Has worked the last two years. This year only a week ago. I do not use SI.
Click to expand...

Good idea. But is that the staff of SCB in Surin?
 
Yorky said:
I have been informed today that Siam Commercial Bank (Surin) will not "update" your fixed deposit account passbook unless there has been any change in the amount in the account.

I had a similar situation with Kasikorn a few years ago (before the same date letter requirement) but eventually they agreed to provide a print out of the balance at the date requested.

What's the matter with these employees? Do they not realise that we are the customers (and are effectively paying their wages)?
Click to expand...


If it is a fixed deposit how can the balance change ? ;)
 
CO-CO said:
If it is a fixed deposit how can the balance change ? ;)
Click to expand...

You could take money out or put money in?

But that's not the point. Immigration require a letter dated the same date as your application for an extended stay together with passbook backup.
 
CO-CO said:
Then that should be acceptable to SI.
Click to expand...

It was. But I had trouble getting them to update the passbook to reflect the date of their letter. As I said, they eventually gave me a dated print out of the balance.
 
Yorky said:
It was. But I had trouble getting them to update the passbook to reflect the date of their letter. As I said, they eventually gave me a dated print out of the balance.
Click to expand...


That didn’t work for me with BI.

Bangkok Bank, Buriram could not update my FCD passbook so they gave me a letter, to back up the balance letter. Not good enough for our man at BI...... he insisted that the book was sent to Bangkok for updating.
 
CO-CO said:
Bangkok Bank, Buriram could not update my FCD passbook.......
Click to expand...


"Could not" or "would not"?

Surely if you send the book to Bangkok when it is returned it will be "out of date", i.e. it will not have the same date as the date of your application?
 
I have always updated my passbook and obtained the confirmation letter at the Bangkok Bank opposite Surin Immigration on the same day as my application.
I wonder if they will still do it
 
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