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#1
16-04-2007, 16:48
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Retirement Visa
For those of you who have gone through the exercise of getting a retirement visa from a US consolate, I have a couple of questions. If you feel the country the consolate is in does not matter then my questions still stand.
1. How do you get your initial 800,000 into the bank. Bring cash, wire transfer or some other way? Would the Thai bank accept a check on your home bank account? I understand the problems with cash so that is not really desirable. I only ask because I hate those steep wire transfer fees. In my case it would be about $225. 2. On the retirement visa I was reading the requirements on the Los Angeles Thai Consolate web site and it is pretty clear except for the documents they want from your local police authority stating you have no criminal record. They don't provide a form, like they do on a couple of the other requirements, nor do they say exactly what needs to be said by who and how it should be presented on the form or piece of paper. I am not even sure I would get a dumb stare from my local police department like OK want do you want us to sign, etc. Is it as simple as asking for a RAP sheet that of course would be blank? I have e-Mailed the consolate, but gotten no answer. Thanks for any insight here. 
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#2
16-04-2007, 16:58
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Thats a high wire fee but it pales into insignificance re the offshore and onshore exchange rates which are nearly 10% different currently !!
I would open a Thai account and wire it fees be damned myself.. Also the 800k can (I understand) be shown outside of the country if you are getting a retirement (O-A) visa.. Then next extension it has to be shown in Thialand 12 months later.. If you are getting a non imm O visa on the basis of lookign to retire and then wanting to extend that for 12 months on the basis of retirement inside Thailand you need the 800k in Thailand 12 months prior to the extension. Theres a difference between a 'retirement visa' and 'extending an existing visa on the basis of retirement' (sometimes you think they are making it as confusing as they can.. Nothing is worded with out an ambigious meaning, nothing is spelt out in clear steps).. If you do everything outside of Thailand and get a O-A retirement visa you get 12 months entry immediately...
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#3
16-04-2007, 17:18
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I recently sent a wire and got a rate of 31.28, so you don't want to go this route with big sums if you are money conscious, and it sounds like you are. A $25,000 wire, and you would be taking an 80,000 baht hit in rate differential ($100 notes get 34.6 on-shore currently). I would bring over $10,000 at a time or have a friend bring in another $10,000, or if you like to gamble... then bring in $25,000+ and pray you get through Customs...
Some banks in Thailand will take a US based bank account personal check (SCB does), but it takes 3-5 weeks for the first one to clear, then two weeks for checks thereafter... and I am not sure which rate (on-shore or off-shore you will get using this method. The best method might be forty 20,000 baht ATM withdrawls (which will take roughly a month and a half to do... i.e. one every 24 hours), but this is assuming you will get the on-shore rate... If it bank to bank, and without a transfer agent (like with a wire), then you might (again, not sure) get the better on-shore rate.
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#4
16-04-2007, 17:21
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A couple of threads that may be useful.....
http://www.phuket-info.com/forums/ex...etirement+visa http://www.phuket-info.com/forums/ac...etirement+visa
__________________
Here for a good time, not a long time!!!
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#6
16-04-2007, 17:51
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Is it as simple as asking for a RAP sheet that of course would be blank?
An expat with a blank rap sheet!!!!!!! Think you'd be quite a rareity.
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#7
16-04-2007, 18:01
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Quote:
I live by ATM withdrawals but recently have been quite distrubed by the bank charges that I get charged every time I make withdrawl. I have even been charged a transaction fee when the machine denied my request. Better put a pencil to how much it would cost in bank fees to take out 800K
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#8
16-04-2007, 18:04
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Thanks
That answers my question. I like the idea of bringing in $10000 at a time or maybe even $9000 over a couple of visits and make up the rest in ATM withdrawals.
Tanman, that sounds right on the RAP sheet. It makes sense they would want to cover any charges anywhere in the US so go federal. Thanks
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#9
16-04-2007, 18:47
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Quote:
Simple.. Dont send THB (which is changed at that awful offshore rate) send USD and have the Thai bank change to THB at the onshore rate (34 / 35).. This is exactly the same as my bank.. If I send to thailand they offer to change it (they make the spread) but insist on sending EUR and the Thai banks change at good rates.
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#10
16-04-2007, 20:18
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Quote:
Livin, I did ask my bank to send USD to Thailand... it didn't work.. My bank gave to CitiBank-US, who in turn gave to Citibank-Thailand, who then in turn gave to Siam Commercial Bank. Well, lot's of calls from the front end and the back end got me nowhere. Not to mention the time zone differences... That's why I stated that it is important to cut out the transfer agent (middleman), if possible. Luckily, for me it was not that much cash... but, $25,000 on a rate differential (80,000 baht) is enough to go back home and then some. Why give to the transfer agent IMO? Maybe your circumstances are different, but these were mine...
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#11
16-04-2007, 20:26
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Quote:
And those fees will never work out to be more than the "charge" from an exchange rate differential... I don't know what is happening now with this on shore/offshore rate differential, but I used to get charged 1% fee on ATM withdrawls... much better than the 10% rate differential that is at least happening with wire transfers with a middleman... Maybe I should go to the ATM and test the theory into practice, but I was hoping that some US citizen would have already done so and reported back on the rate they got...
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#12
16-04-2007, 21:30
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Quote:
I admit I dont know how the US systems work.. However if I say send USD it better arrive as USD.. How about if you said send USD and they decide to change it to THB but in fact you had a Thai USD account.. You would get the short shaft of 10% twice !!! If this was my banker I would be making someones day miserable.. Quote:
Beware on the ATM's.. when the currency controls started out a lot of people on ThaiVisa were reporting VISA Meistro etc were giving the offshore rate to start with.. many reported that the rates had chaged to onshore (good rates) after a while. This prompted me to come up with the following.. I can pull some amount per day out of my visa based ATM, not sure but I think its 500 GBP (platinum visa) would have to ask them to know for sure.. So I pull 500 GBP per day at onshore rates.. Once a week I send money to my account that the visa debits.. This converts back from THB to GBP at offshore rates.. Just for arguments sake lets say that the offshore onshore differential was 10% (its shrunk somewhat).. So you mean I can make 350 GBP per week (ignoring bank wiring costs and ATM fees) simply by going to the ATM 7 times and the bank once.. Thats like >2500 USD a month for 10 mins work a day.. You gotta love arbitrage ops..
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#13
16-04-2007, 22:28
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Quote:
And maybe this IS possible, but for blokes/dudes like me, we get creamed along the way. Yes, I spotted the arbitrage opp as well but, you can only go so far. It seems to me that only CitiBank and their affiliates (transfer agents) have the corner on this type of opportunity. If you know different, then I am all ears...
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#14
16-04-2007, 22:34
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Well except for putting a few mil in a suitcase and doing the border run (not without risk.. But 10% is 10%) the above with visa cards was the easiest I could come up with..
350GBP.. almost 700 USD.. per week.. I reckon many people could live here on that.. Just from going to the ATM once a day and a bank wire weekly !! Not sure it could get any easier..
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#15
16-04-2007, 23:13
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I like your style LiL....They do say if it seems too good to be true..it probably is....but there's always an exception to the rule.
Last edited by Drive : 16-04-2007 at 23:16. Reason: addition
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#16
16-04-2007, 23:24
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Its just because of this crazy currency control issue and the Thai Gov making an onshore and offshore rate structure..
I bet Thai bank managers have been creaming this system.. The Thais have lost a trillion baht.. Currency intervention.. Always a bad idea IMO..
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#17
16-04-2007, 23:51
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Of course it's very convenient to have an interim government with no clear lines of responsibility and plenty of opportunity for plausible deniability....This coup is looking more and more like a smash and grab raid....look everyone there's a bucket of money in the street ...Go and help yourselves.
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#18
17-04-2007, 18:59
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Quote:
My recent experience during 3/36 - 4/9 was this: On all ATM withdrawals I received about 2.5 baht more than what was listed on XE.com - The World's Favorite Currency Site. The fees were .1% from the Thai bank I believe or $5.73 on a withdrawal of $573 and a flat rate of $5 from my bank. Total was $10.73 worth of fees on $573 withdrawn at an exchange of very close to 35 baht.
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#19
17-04-2007, 19:31
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Thats correct Xe is offshore rate.. Us a a Thai bank (BoT or BKK bank) website to see what you should get from an ATM..
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#20
17-04-2007, 20:00
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Retirement Visa
I remember reading somewhere that if you're applying for a retirement visa outside of Thailand, you can just show that you have more than 800,000 baht in some non-Thai bank. Or, you can show proof of 65K baht per month income, such as from a pension.
As for the police rap sheet, if you get a non-immigrant "O" visa outside of Thailand, you can then extend it in Thailand, on the basis of retirement, without the need for a police check. By that time, you can also open a Thai bank account, if necessary, and have the US dollars wired in. As for the money you spend in Thailand? So far, I've just been using the ATM, drawing 20,000 at a time. With all the fees, I'm still getting a good rate. It varies a little bit, but I think the last withdrawal was about $574 US dollars, plus a $5 bank fee, plus a similar Thai bank fee. Rex
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#21
17-04-2007, 20:47
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Theres a difference between a retirement visa (non imm O-A) and a non imm O extended on the basis of retirement (sometimes I think they make this stuff up to confuse everyone).. If you get a non imm O-A before you come into Thailand you get a 12 month entry and if you visa run days before it expires you get another 12 months.. Two years before you need to bother with immigration at all..
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#22
17-04-2007, 21:51
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I don't get it
So, if a person with an OA visa does a visa run right before the end of the original 12 month period they'll stamp you in for another 12 months when you return? That sounds too good to be true. Maybe it is, though. In any event, I went with the multiple entry non-immigrant O, and tomorrow I'm going to Immigration to have it extended for the full 12 months. I assume, though, that that 12 month period will end as of the date the visa was first issued.
Rex
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#23
17-04-2007, 22:14
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Thats how the O-A visa works.. You get a 12 month entry each time instead of have to get a 12 month extension in country.. So arrive one day before the visa expires and get a 12 month entry (like if you arrive 1 day before a non imm expires you get an extra 90 days)..
Also you should get 12 months extension from the day you visit immigration I understand.. That then is your date next year to see them again for another extension etc etc etc rolling forward each year..
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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