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Brits dilema proving income?


pe7e
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After the recent announcement by the British embassy regarding no longer providing proof of income certificates, what are the options available/workarounds to Brits wanting a retirement visa?

My own situation is I genuinely have a 65,000+ bt monthly income (state pension + rental income) but without proof what can I do?  I'm in the fortunate position of being able to deposit 800,000 bt in a Thai bank account, but as I'm sure you will understand, I really don't want to do that for fear of not being able to repatriate the money if I decided Thailand wasn't for me after all, or I needed to return to  the UK because of health issues. Worst still, if I fell victim to my less than perfect health and old age, would my (adult) children be able to get the cash back to the UK without major difficulties? I could supply evidence of my income ie several years of UK bank statements showing the state pension going into my account plus a copy of a rental agreement, and would be happy to deposit a meaningful amount 75K - 100K or so into a Thai bank account, could that be acceptable? 

Any opinions would be appreciated.

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If you do transfer money here to cover the visa requirement, make sure to retain evidence that you did so. Then you can get it back out. Without that record and it can be hard to transfer it back.

As to what evidence of income might be accepted, I have no idea. Over to the Brits on that. I'm sure someone will come up with an alternative ... eventually.

p.s. Some years ago I had a colleague who had a Bangkok Bangkok account here and another at the Bangkok Bank in London. He could transfer money back and forth between his accounts. Perhaps showing sufficient money in the London account might be acceptable? But this being Thailand, who knows.

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Repatriation of funds from a Thai Bank Account  is not that difficult since they can be withdrawn from any international ATM. I don’t know about other backs but SCB (Siam Commercial) using their easy net online I can set the daily limit of ATM withdrawals, not sure of the maximum limit but I have mine set at 20,000 per day / equivalent in local currency. I think the limit is 200,000 but don’t trust me on that, afigure that springs to mind last time I looked at it. 

TO Be Honest Thai electronic banking is more secure than the UK, I am not joking. Everytime I use the ATM I receive an instant SMS telling me I have made a withdrawal, if I didn’t just reply and the card wold be instantly cancelled, when using Credit Card online usual Card Number, Expirery Date, Card Name and Securety Number but they also have the next layer, apply for one time password (OTP) a 6 digit code is sent via SMS to registered phone number and has to be entered within 60 seconds for the transaction to go through and agin within a few seconds an SMS telling me of the charge on the card, even when using at Point of Sale as in physically with card i also get an instantaneous SMS informing me of the transaction. 

I am from the UK, have been based in Thailand for more than 25 years but spend a good amount of my time working in other ASEAN Countries. I always transfer funds from my offshore account to my Thai Account and use my Thai ATM and CC  for the aforementioned Securety reasons.

Personally I have no qualms about having funds in Thai banks and no worries about access to / repatriating / withdrawing in a third country. I have used the Thai ATM card in USA, UK, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Japan, amongst others, over the years and never had an issue. 

Best of Luck

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Like Kong, I feel Thai banking is pretty good, I’ve also banked in the Middle East and generally found that better than uk when it comes to moving money in and out. I could do an online transfer from my Qatar account to anywhere in the world for a million baht equivalent at a time, money would be in Uk account in 24 hours Thai bank in 3 days (my only quibble). All the security with sms, otp’s the works. Sms on every account activity. Global ATM access, really never a worry. My impression is that uk banking is tied in knots over everything from drug money laundering to the funding of terrorism. Last time I wanted to do a wire transfer from my uk account to overseas it had to be in person at the branch, positively medieval.

As for keeping money here for extension of stay renewal it really is not difficult. Move it in in good time, three months and one week before renewal. Once done move it straight back out again. Might cost you a few quid but what price peace of mind if that’s your thing. Bypass the crappy uk and keep the money up in Hong Kong where you can do everything online.

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48 minutes ago, Mekong said:

Strange that about 3 Days to Thai Bank must be a Qatar problem, HOT OFF THE PRESS so to speak, I transferred  a  lump sum at around 19:30 yesterday and just received SMS from SCB at 0930 this morning telling me funds available in Thailand

I think it's just a general location thing, not a problem as such they just hold the money for 3 days or therabouts I reckon. When questioned the Thai bank response is that it can be up to 5 working days before it shows on the account but I found 3 is typical. Bank in Qatar when questioned confirm the transfer done immediately and supply telex docs to show it.

It could well be dependent on where the money is coming from. If you are doing it inside Asean that could be quicker. It is certainly quick sending it from Singapore.

 

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No idea then. But I found it pretty consistent doth from my Commercial Bank account and from a direct wire service, UAE Exchange. This was both before and after the embargo started. Get the same sort of delay with money transferred from UK also. IoM is offshore banking and might be different, dunno.

 

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Thanks for the replies Guys, I'm feeling a bit more reassured regarding the Thai banking system, I've never really distrusted the banks themselves, it's the politicians that concern me the most. I've already got a couple of accounts in Thailand, SCB and TMB if they are still open, I've not used them for around 10 years so they may well have been closed, I'll check that out. I've got plenty of time before any move would be possible, there's a lot that would need to be sorted out including a business to close and equipment to be disposed of. The more I think about it, the more daunting the process becomes, but the thought of spending the rest of my time living in my current situation is a powerful motivator. I may be back for more advice soon, once again, Thanks

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pe7e,

You are more than welcome mate, feel free to ask further questions and If we can assist we will.

I am sure it is daunting at a crossroads of your life, I am unsure if I would consider relocating from my homeland at my age. Fortunately I sort of landed here when I was young and fearless (i.e.read stupid and freckless) way back when, first visited in 89 and gave it a try in 91, it ain’t worked out too bad considering

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