Tofer

Why would anybody pay to use an agent, unless you are trying to circumnavigate the rules. You still have to produce all the necessary documentation to hand over for the agent to present to the IO, presumably, and pay him for that simple task.

That could be a deal breaker, depending on the details of the coverage required.

No, I haven't, and since you point out the criteria about not allowing historic investments, I won't bother.

We don't all live in your sphere....

1,900 is not a multi-entry extn.

That's 50k verses 38k for a multi entry annual visa extension. Then add on the regular trips to the IO for reporting and extensions, and it would probably work out cheaper.

I think you'll find you don't need to be a millionaire. $80k / ann. income does not a millionaire make.

Personal choice - and why not?

From what is currently reported, there are no other requirements, so as long as you qualify with the requisite financial evidence, it would appear less onerous than the O-X, and far cheaper than the Elite, and gives more benefits to working applicants. Fingers crossed there are no health insurance conditions, and since the Elite does not require health insurance, why would the LTR necessarily be any different. Obviously I'm playing devils advocate here, since nobody yet knows the full detailed conditions, we will all have to wait and see in September. It has, however, been very interesting to see the alternative options presented in this post, and has made me look closely at the alternatives. Hopefully a healthy and informative debate for all interested parties.

All the foreign transfers for land purchase & development funds came through my personal bank account, with the requisite Foreign Exchange Transfer Forms / receipts of deposits, which the bank designated purpose 318069 (condo purchase). So, assuming, historic investments can be applied retrospectively, there's no issue. Having said that, I believe if you can show an income in excess of $80k, on the wealthy pensioner basis, you don't need to show the investment, so it may be a mute point, mitigating the objections some have regarding the large investment. I don't see any real benefits from an O-X visa, especially considering; The amount of money you need to retain in a Thai bank account. 90 day reporting still required. Expensive health insurance, especially as you're required to provide outpatients as well as inpatient cover. I currently have a Marriage visa annual extension with no insurance requirement, and no requirement to leave any funds in my account after the 2 month seed period. I have no real issue with this status, but saw the LTR visa as a positive improvement for those with the means to qualify, for a nominal additional annual fee, and the benefits noted in my original post.

I would suggest it wouldn't then be called a 90 day report then, perhaps an annual extension, as with the Elite visa. However, let's wait and see what transpires in terms of detailed conditions, when they eventually launch it in September. On the surface, it appears a desirable option, for those that can qualify.

I've just checked the Elite visa scheme, and you still have to get annual extensions, and make 90 day reports. Plus the concierge facilities are limited to specific areas of the country. I would therefore say that the LTR scheme is preferable at only B50K for 10 years , for those that can prove the required income / investment, subject to sight of the full details of the scheme.

Let's not start that little nugget. Of course I don't own the land, it's we as in my Thai wife and I. Although, we could easily form a company in which I could own 49%, which would justify the declaration of "we".

Neither had I, hence my previous post.... ????

Absolutely. I recall a programme on property investors in the UK BTL market, wherein a guy was boasting he owned 5m pounds of property, in actual fact he owned nothing because he bought developer units through a devious loan mechanism with 125% mortgages. Seriously misguided....! Or more correctly, greedy and inept.

If you live another 30 years, that's B3.6M @ B600k per 5 year Elite visa, down the pan, and probably more as they increase the fees again.

No, but it's completely wiped out as a fee, gone, finished, never to be returned.

Property goes up, if you buy knowledgably, i.e. right time and right place.

Presumably the latest one to be renewed.

Fair point, no mention of that as yet. But, I assume it can't be any worse than the current marriage visa extension requirements in terms of bureaucracy , and if all your documents are in order, it's just a copy and repeat exercise, hopefully. I would agree, there would possibly be some mechanism to ensure that you are still invested in Thailand in the sums required. Our investment is property, and we have no intention of selling unless we're made a ridiculous offer. But even then, we still own the remainder of our land in our chosen location, and would build ourselves another home, and will continue to qualify.

The Elite visa fee, is exactly that, a fee payment for the application / membership, i.e. paid up / gone / lost. Whereas the $250K is an investment, which you can, hopefully profit from, and withdraw at a later date.

I must confess I cannot say categorically that this isn't the case, however, in the Thaiger news report, they clearly state the investment sum must be proved "BEFORE" you apply.

Fair comment. I also made inappropriate assumptions, that people were aware of this visa and it's generally required higher financial qualifications.

Not only illogical, but inept, inefficient and totally disinterested. They are a private outsource company that handles passport applications and, it appears, they are more concerned with finding excuses to justify not meeting their required performance targets, since they are clearly overwhelmed with the current volume of applications. I had 2 other applications for my wife and Son's passport renewals, and they have withdrawn them stating they have not received their documents, but I have their own acknowledgement email confirming receipt of documents, as well as my courier tracking confirmation of delivery. I'm still arguing over those....

https://eforms.homeoffice.gov.uk/outreach/Passport_Enquiries.ofml Everything goes on hold when they ask a question or for additional information. I only had the one passport in for renewal, but it was a second passport, and they decided to object to it.