MPoll

English translations of documents required for various government services is standard here in Thailand. It’s not new. That it is expensive to translate documents in Europe is not the BOI’s problem. The Thai immigration involvement is integral to the LTR process. You are asking to get a visa after all. I got my pensioner LTR in January 2023. The process was incredibly easy (compared to the 1 year extension process) and the BOI has been incredibly helpful.

If they really want to know where you live then the GPS coordinates makes sense. It's just not something many expats are used to getting for themselves. If you have a smart phone it is easy enough to download and app the will quick and easily give you the coordinates.

I did the same for many years. Extensions were very simple. It’s one of those things you do if you can afford it and the cost is worth the benefits for you. It’s a personal decision.

I'm another LTR holder who applied in 2022. I remember having to upload all of the pages of my passport since my last entry in 2019. So I would recommend doing this. Once they start processing your application and looking through your uploaded documents they will contact you if they have any questions. They were very accessible once they started processing the application. In 2022 I was on an extension of my OA visa. The BOI did all the work for the switch to the LTR at the Bangkok office. I had just moved to Sisaket province when I got my LTR stamped into my passport. I visited the Sisaket immigration office just to let them know I had moved there and that I was on an LTR visa. They had never seen one before in January, 2023. The head of the office did however, download a long document explaining the LTR to the various immigration departments. So the information is available to immigration offices if they need to learn about it.

There are workplace pensions as well that have nothing to do with profession. I retired from the University of at 55. Every employee at UC has a pension benefit if you’ve worked there long enough.

The rule is don’t fall below the 800k. I have one bank account where I kept the 800k + a 400k buffer + my daily/monthly expenses whenever I decided to transfer the money to Thailand. I did this for 6 years of extending my OA visa in Bangkok before switching to an LTR. I submitted 1 year bank statements when I applied for each extension and I assume they just scanned the total bank balance column to see that I followed the rules. The actual financial rules are that you have to have the 800k in your Thai bank account, in your name only, for 2 months before you apply for the 1 year extension, 3 months after, and not less than 400k the other months. Then you have to bump it back up to 800k two months before your next extension. I just kept 800k+ all the time because it was easy and I could afford to do it.

The pensioner LTR was never 100,000 baht. It was talked about but the price was 50,000 baht when it launched in September 2022. I applied in Oct 2022 and got it in January 2023.

I am an American and get my $80,000/year passive income from my work pension and then there is Social Security on top of that. If you reach a management position with an employer with a pension defined benefit plan then it is not that unheard of to be able to get 80k in pension benefits. I was an engineer at the University of California for 30 years. Pension plans still exist. This is a decent income but I am middle class or upper middle class, by no means wealthy, depending on where you live in the US.

I have Pacific Cross with a 40,000 baht deductible. I’ve had PC for six years. During that time I haven’t made a claim and I am getting about a 20,000 baht no claim discount. Whatever your deductible, it you are not making claims then you can get a break on the cost. Just because I haven’t made a claim I don’t consider my PC insurance to be useless. I have it for a catastrophic health event, the most likely and obvious would be a vehicle accident but it could be any number of other types of illnesses and injuries. I just had a case of Dengue fever. I was lucky it wasn’t serious but I was happy to have the insurance it it had because serious.

I used the 800,0000 method because it was easy and I could easily afford it. It was a case of deposit and forget. Seven years ago I had never done international wire transfers. The idea of having to move money every month seemed like a chore. My transfers never showed up in my Thai bank account labeled FFT so there was having to trace the origin of the money, another chore. It was only a couple of years later that I had heard about TransferWise. A couple of years ago I tried setting up a Wise account. It was a disaster. Wise wasn’t any help sorting it out. I don’t trust them with my money (no matter how many rabid Wise fans are out there). It doesn’t matter now. I got an LTR vise which relieved me of any bank deposit requirements.

I just ignore the “wealthy” label. It probably scares off some people that might otherwise qualify.

This thread has 92 pages of questions and stories of people obtaining a version of the LTR. I switched from an OA visa to a pensioner LTR which appears to be fairly common within the pensioner category. The LTR has been available for 18 months. There has not exactly been a tsunami of people applying for it so either the yearly income is a barrier or people don’t know about it. What else is there to say?

I do pay US taxes on my pension income in the US but my tax rate is way below the 35% I would be subject to in Thailand. This unexpected windfall associated with my LTR is much appreciated.

Thanks for this guide. I emailed Sherrings to double check on your point #4. They confirmed that LTR visa holders, except the Highly Skilled Professional category, are exempt from paying taxes on money transferred into Thailand and also said we do not have to file a tax return. Yeah!

Regarding the new tax rules and the LTR visa There is another chat threat in the Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits area titled, "Taxation of Ex-Pats pensions etc." There is a nice summary of the tax rules by Mike Lister on page 7. His #4 point is that the LTR visa holders are exempt from paying tax on funds they transfer into the country. I decided double check this and sent an email to a Thai Tax firm named Sherrings (referenced in the chat thread). They responded confirming the LTR visa holders don't pay tax on money transferred into Thailand nor do they have to file a tax return. The exception is Highly Skilled Professionals category of LTR.

I got a new US passport in June. I brought the old and new passports to the BOI office and they handled everything. It couldn’t have been easier.

I have had a pensioner LTR for 1 year. If you are going for a pensioner LTR then you definitely don’t need an agent. It is a simple online application. Once they start working on your application they may ask some additional questions. The BOI staff speak English and are very helpful getting you through the process.

There is another answer to this question and that is to get an OA visa in the USA. I am an American who came to Thailand on an OA visa in 2017. In 2019 the Thai government added a health insurance requirement so I am not necessarily recommending this visa now but it is something a US citizen is going to see on the Thai consulate website in the US. He can get this visa using funds in his US bank accounts. It is a one year visa and the other features are a bit complicated. If the insurance requirement, for both the visa and subsequent extensions, doesn't bother him then it is an option that is out there. I had an OA and extensions for 6 years and then switch to a pensioner LTR visa and the Thai insurance I used for my OA visa also qualified me for the LTR. It would be a bit of a chore but he could switch to an O visa without the insurance requirement sometime in the future. So . . . I am not recommending the OA over the O but he should be aware of the two visas. I got my OA visa and all my subsequent extensions myself so I am not really recommending agents either but (before everyone jumps on me for this comment) lots of people use agents and swear by them.

All my vinyl warped when I stored them in my garage in California. I can only imagine what a sea voyage and Thailand’s heat and humidity will do to these records. Digitize them as a backup.

The first time I had to present an insurance certificate to extend my OA visa there was some confusion and I had to leave and return a couple of days later after I sorted out the insurance certificate issue. The senior Immigration officer told me that they would keep my document package and that I should return within 7 days. Other than that experience I always obtained my bank letter and year bank statement at my local Kasikorn branch in Phra Khanong and went to CW 2 or 3 days later. When I arrived at CW I would withdraw 1000 baht at the Kasikorn ATM and then update my bank book at the update machine. This was the only time all year that I would update my bank book. I assumed that the same day bank book update was covering any transactions between the date of the bank letter and year statement and when I arrived at CW to apply for the extension. I did this process 5 years in a row.

At CW the bank letter is valid for 7 days. I am surprised you can’t get the bank letter same day. Some banks take longer for a year bank statement.

At CW the bank letter is good for 7 days. They want a same day transaction and your updated bankbook. This is easily done at the bank branches downstairs even before the banks open in the morning. I am able to get a 1 year bank statement from Kasikorn same day but it is also good for several days, probably 7. I would get it at my local branch a few days before I went to CW. If Bangkok bank is one of those banks the make you wait a week to get a 1 year bank statement then just plan accordingly. You can apply for a 1 year extension at CW 45 days before your current extension expires. Go as early as you can. Don't wait until the last minute.

With regard to applying for a 1 year extension just ask for a 1 year statement of your bank account. At CW in Bangkok they will only want to see a same day transaction in your most recent valid bank book.

They just want the most recent. They are making sure you are currently up-to-date with your immigration requirements. Ah! I just remembered, this is the 1 year anniversary of my pensioner LTR.

If you can qualify for a pensioner LTR then there is no banking requirement.