aublumberg

Hi @Misty, looping back. Went to the Royal Thai Consulate in Hong Kong this morning with the BOI notification letter. Unlike the US, HK is not on the e-visa system, hence the visit in person. Filled out a generic visa application form (neither TM94 nor STM8 required) together with one photo. They checked their computer and can see the LTR status from there, I assume it will be similar for the Consulate in the US. Paid the LTR visa fee and can pick up my passport with the visa in two days. Hope you were also able to make progress in the meantime.

Hello, the notification letter is dated 14 Oct 2022 and Duration of permission on the second page is 13 Oct 2032, for Visa Type LTR "T".

For some of the early notification of qualification letters e.g. the one @ThailandRyan shared it states the letter is valid for 60 days. This is also consistent with the BOI communication on email and website. Upon double checking my notification letter however it is valid for 10 years. It seems that BOI may have changed this recently, providing more flexibility in timing and perhaps location to obtain your actual LTR visa.

If it's a publicly listed company then the company's annual reports should also be public and available e.g. on the company's public website. I used the financial sections (including the external auditor confirmation of the financial results) of the annual reports for the last three years and uploaded those in .pdf to the BOI website and it was accepted fine.

Sharing a couple screen shots in chronological order for emails and the LTR portal for anyone who may be interested ... Clicking on the [Print] icon then shows this:

Hello @Misty, hah - you’re raising a lot of most relevant and timely questions here and I went through all the same literally just days ago. So after BOI initial approval they send you an email and ask you to specify where you want to get the actual visa - in Bangkok or at your applicable Royal Thai Consulate. So I specified HK and replied immediately and was expecting the notification letter in “1 - 2 days” as the email stated but it actually took more than a week. They have been plagued with computer system issues including their email system and then this past week were public holidays. That most likely triggered a lot of delays. I also think they prioritised those applicants who pick up in Bangkok directly, which is fine. I understand they may have only signed a dozen or so notification letters this week. When I spoke to BOI they said they will send the consulate the notification as well and I should contact the consulate to make a booking. When I spoke to the consulate in HK (just a couple days before getting the notification letter) they said I’m the first one they have ever come across with a LTR in HK and it’s all very new and once they get something they “will call me”. Would be the first time ever a consulate has called me ha. They also observed the Thai public holiday at the HK consulate so the past week was basically a complete write-off. Last night to my surprise I received another batch of notification letters dated three days later than the first batch and worded slightly differently. They became available in their online website for download. So I assume the system issues still have impact and they re-do some of their notification letters. So on Monday morning I will call the Royal Thai Consulate here in Hong Kong and try to figure out what’s the next step. It’s very new for everyone and I would not be surprised if it takes some more time to get the actual visa stamp / sticker into my passport. I’m in Bangkok for an extended weekend end of October and was briefly considering to pick it up at BOI directly but that would probably confuse everyone even more so I’ll stick to the HK consulate route for now. In any case, I shall keep you posted timely of any progress.

Yup but a pensioner needs to be age 50 or above to qualify, no such age requirement for the wealthy global citizen.

Yes I am indeed and I did that because the original question above was related to the USD1m investment. There is no other category than the WGC that has USD1m referenced (but USD1m in terms of assets, not investments which is USD500k). Whether one category is easier than another depends on each individual's circumstances.

Neither is correct. The requirements are (see https://ltr.boi.go.th/#type) : At least USD 1 million in assets Personal income of a minimum of USD 80,000/ year in the past two years Investment of at least USD 500,000 in Thai government bonds, foreign direct investment, or Thai property Health insurance with at least USD 50,000 coverage or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand or at least USD 100,000 deposit Applicants must fulfill all of the above requirements to be eligible for Wealthy Global Citizens application

Yes one of those not uncommon catch 22s in Thailand. Different banks and indeed different branches at the same bank have varying practices. You could consider to go to e.g. Siam Paragon in Bangkok and try to open a bank account there. I recently checked with Bangkok Bank branch there by phone and they just require a certified copy of your passport from your applicable consulate in Thailand. So you could get that first (may require booking of consulate appointment), then get the bank account, then pick up LTR at BOI office. The LTR notification approval letter may also help as additional evidence when opening the bank account. Shop around among a couple banks. Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Kasikorn Bank are considered the most foreigner friendly. Check out popular downtown places like Siam Paragon and Central World, go from branch to branch. Once you have the account, deposit sufficient money in cash right then or instruct e.g. a Wise transfer to have adequate funding for the THB50k LTR visa fee. It takes 1 - 2 hours to open the account and they help you install the mobile app as part of that. I am not entirely sure whether you can immediately get access to pay from the app on the same day, sometimes the full functionality is only enabled overnight for next day use. So I guess all of this adds up and is rather tight in terms of schedule based on your current planning. If you are planning to stay in Chiang Mai longer term then it may be better to have a bank account there, closer to where you live, to avoid cross-province transfer fees and more flexibility to visit the branch if needed. In that case maybe fly back to BKK once you have a BOI appointment. Or if you plan to fly out of Thailand do it on your way out. I'd suggest you keep a couple days buffer in any case, especially given the current system glitches, public holidays this week (little to no progress for the rest of the week), the growing backlog of LTR recipients and other unforeseen circumstances. Hope it works out for you, good luck.

Hello, appreciate everyone's sharing here. My chronology: 05 Sep 2022 submitted application online for a LTR WFTP 26 Sep 2022 request for additional documents but actually everything was already provided correctly in the first place 04 Oct 2022 email approval received 12 Oct 2022 received formal Notification Letter for Qualifications Endorsement Next step to make an appointment at the Royal Thai Consulate in Hong Kong for the visa stamp. According to the published fee schedule it's HKD15,000 or approx THB72,000 currently. Called a couple times into the BOI office in Bangkok along the way to enquire progress. Always super helpful team, keeping spirits high despite the system glitches, with some still persisting currently.