One person in Bank Book

[Gail]

Has anyone heard of this before. My husband and I one years visa expires on the 7th and just been into the Bank to ask for a letter to prove income and have been told a joint account is not acceptable for immigration now, has to be in only 1 persons name, went and checked at immigration and they confirmed this is correct. When did they change this? This will be our 7th visa extenion and when I went in last week the girl in Immigration said that nothing had changed. So now I have a lot of running about tomorrow to open another bank account. Does anyone know why this new rule has been bought in? All sounds really confusing to me.

[PeteC]

I'll let others answer the specifics concerning the change.

The entire scheme IMO is ridiculous and a scam. They say "it's needed to prove the retiree/married person can support themselves for the 1 year period of the visa....". What if they can't, as they can't as non-citizens go on the Thai welfare system even if there was one. All that should be needed on deposit and frozen are funds to purchase a plane ticket out, no more no less, as this relieves any burden on the State.

It's a road block to try to limit foreign residents, and it's a windfall for the Thai banks to increase their low or no interest paying deposit accounts. Pete

[Gail]

As far as I could make out though only 800,000 THB is needed for the one account. at least we have'nt got the have 2 single account with that amount in each, I suppose that is one saving grace.

[Nereus]

I think that it has always been the case, but just another example of how something so simple can be so ambiguous.

If your extension expires on the 7th of this month then I doubt that opening a new account will help, as they can then say that the funds have to be in the account for the previous 90 days.

I suppose that this may be one of those occasions when you should front up with small "gift" and plead ignorance based on the previous 7 extensions. Good luck.

[Nereus]

As far as I could make out though only 800,000 THB is needed for the one account. at least we have'nt got the have 2 single account with that amount in each, I suppose tat is one saving grace.

Yes, that is correct, and it should be in your husbands name as you are classed as dependent on him.

[Gail]

The trouble is having it in my husbands name is'nt good because he is partially sighted and therefore hates doing paperwork of any kind and usually leaves it to me. Well I'll have to see what happens on the 7th and take the old bank book in as well to prove that the 800,000 has been in the bank for 90days . Why do they make things difficult, this is the first time in 7 years we have ever had a problem

[lomuamart]

I thought that the rule changed a couple of years ago, but if the OP got the extension last year based on joint account then my mind's playing tricks on me.
Wasn't it enacted at about the same time as joint or family income was abolished? The reason there was that a Thai wife couldn't contribute to the farang's earnings or savings, therefore ensuring that money was brought in from overseas.
I'm afraid I agree with Nereus. Unless you're very lucky at Imm, you're not going to have time to season the money in one account before your extension is due. If that's the case, then you'll have to do a visa run to say Penang to cover yourself for 90 days. Transfer the money asap, before you go, and then ask for the extension in just over three months time.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Nereus]

The trouble is having it in my husbands name is'nt good because he is partially sighted and therefore hates doing paperwork of any kind and usually leaves it to me. Well I'll have to see what happens on the 7th and take the old bank book in as well to prove that the 800,000 has been in the bank for 90days . Why do they make things difficult, this is the first time in 7 years we have ever had a problem

It is never a good idea to leave the renewal until the last day. Immigration infact prefer you to do it within the last remaining 30 days. Doing it that way also gives you some space to address any problems such as you now have.

[bozzman101]

yes it depends on how the person is feeling on the renewal day if they have had a bad night your going for a visa run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Johan]

Always been like that, you can open a new account and deposit your money inside, go to immigration and show them the money, they will grant you another 90 days to wait. I went there with money in bank for only a few days, they gave me a new "short time visa", then after this new visa ended they gave me my one year visa.

[charleyboy]

The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago, luckily I am married to a Thai and was given a 60 day extension, only 2 months required because I was extending my visa because of marriage. You would need to have 90 days because of retirement and I am assuming you are both "farrangs". I'm not sure whether they will give you a 90 day extension. As someone above said, go in with a present!

[Gail]

still don't understand what it was all about, changed the money into an account in my name, my husband can still sign to get money out of the account, went to immigration today and got our 1 year visa, no problems, very curious

[PeteC]

While we're on this subject, what is the official definition of a 'Thai bank' as it applies to immigration rules concerning needed deposits? Is it strictly a Thai bank such as K Bank, Bangkok Bank etc., or can it be the Thailand branch of a foreign bank? Pete

[Nereus]

While we're on this subject, what is the official definition of a 'Thai bank' as it applies to immigration rules concerning needed deposits? Is it strictly a Thai bank such as K Bank, Bangkok Bank etc., or can it be the Thailand branch of a foreign bank? Pete

It is the same ambiguous regulation as the OP has encountered here. It depends on who you ask, and what they think it should be. Some time ago this came up and one of the "conditions" imposed was that you "must" have an ATM card so that you can draw money out at any time!

Here is the relevant section in the Immigration act:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/2n ... p606EN.pdf

section 7.21 for retirement.