1tent42

I applied this past April over the Songkran holidays. It only took 3.5 weeks from submission to BOI to e-visa issuance.
 

The application online was super easy. Not sure why one would need an agent. 

7 hours ago, Pib said:

Did you ever get the LTR visa you applied for?  If so, you should go to Chamchuri Sq Immigration vs CW Immigration.

Yes, I did.  Thanks for this information. I would’ve been lost. 

41 minutes ago, sabaiguy said:

Just filed for certificate of residence this week.  Just showed LTR and TM30, told to come back in a week to pick it up.  I don't even know what a TM47 is.  Chiang Rai.  About as laid back an immigration office as I can imagine.

This is good to know. 

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Yes...you'll probably need to show a TM30 receipt which is the  "Notification From For Housemaster, Owner or the Possessor of the Residence Where the Alien Has Stayed" form.    I say "probably" because I just attached a copy of my TM30 receipt when I applied for the Certificate of Residence.   

 

And about 5 years ago when I was still on a Non 0 type visa and when to get a residence certificate at CW I had to provide a copy of my TM30 receipt.

 

LTR visa does not use a TM47 as there is no 90 day address reporting requirement; instead, a TM95 one year address report is used.  I also attached my TM95 receipt since I haven't left Thailand for over a year. 

Edit....correction...I just remembered that I got the residence certificate before I had one year under my belt with the LTR visa and just included a copy of the address reporting slip they give a person when first getting the LTR visa issued.....I didn't file my first TM95 until a couple months later.

 

Sorry I can't be more specific because when I went to Chamchuri Sq Immigration to get the resident certificate I just had a copy of my TM30, TM95, and TM6 that I offered with the application form and they took them all....they didn't have to "ask" for any form.  

Thanks for the reply.  I’ll guess I’ll find out what is required when I go to CW. 

3 hours ago, Pib said:

Misty,

  Direct to Immigration...no appointment....just walk-in....pay Bt500...talks approx an hour.  When I paid the fee they said come back in one hour for pickup....I came back in 50 minutes and the certificate was ready.  Done...out the door I go.

If you have an LTR visa and have never filed a TM47, will immigration still require one when you apply for a certificate of residence?

I tried Kasikorn at Silom Complex on an OA e-visa last February.   They had no problem with the stamp but they wanted to see a certificate of residence which I didn’t have. 

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

 

 

If I don't go down the Investment route then I believe I'd need to wait until I've received 2 years of pension before I could show the required ">$80K for 2 years". 

 

 

You don’t have to earn your pension for two years to qualify. You only need to show that you are earning $80K/year in passive income at the time of application for LTR-WP.

I retired last year and my tax returns showed that my passive income did not reach the $80K threshold. Though I was able to show that my annual pension meets the requirement. 

Hello all, 

Can someone confirm that one can download the LTR e-visa at the Thai e-Visa website?

I can’t seem to click on the download icon for what I assume is the e-visa copy (found at main dashboard, View All Applications link, then Available link).

Thanks!

23 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

I think you may have answered your own question. You have a Thai wife but only travelling on a tourist visa so the IO decided you should get the "proper" O-A marriage visa next time. Doesn't make it right but it is understandable. 

I wasn’t married then. 

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

In future a METV would provide trouble free 6+ month stays. 

I may be an outlier but this was not the case for me. 
 

I got an METV last year. Stayed 55 days went out for 10 days. Came back and was sent to an interrogation by a supervisor in BKK. Was allowed entry but had to sign a document and purchase an outbound ticket. IO supervisor made it clear that I needed to have an OA visa to reenter Thailand. 
 

Previous to this, I have only travelled to Thailand 4 times. 3 times for less than a week and the 4th was 44 days. 
 

I am still confused as how people here can travel multiple times on TVs and visa exempt for years without encountering any issues. 
 

Once my Thai wife gets her US visa, I have no intention of staying in Thailand long term. 

2 hours ago, Excogitator said:

Having travelled in both Thailand and China, I must say I had far more issues with food and hygiene there than here in Thailand, including a severe food poisoning..

As a counterpoint, I lived in China for a few years, Philippines too.  I’ve eaten a fair share of local foods. 

The only time I suffered severe food poisoning is in Thailand. 
 

I avoid street food now. 

2 hours ago, JimGant said:

That's bizarre. Never heard of airport immigration asking about health insurance -- only visa issuers and extenders. They certainly didn't when I was traveling on my OA visa. Anybody else experience this? If so, I guess if I ever travel again on my LTR visa, I need to carry a copy of my Tricare  bonafides.

This happened to me this past February arriving to BKK on an OA visa.  IO asked me for proof of health insurance but I didn’t have a copy since nobody asked for it first time I entered on the OA visa. 
 

I held up the line trying to find a copy on my phone. 
 

I was stamped in only up until the health insurance is valid. 

2 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

 

When obtaining my LTR Visa, I first submitted my pension paperwork proof, and BoI still asked for my tax returns.   So I would say it is normal.

.

Thanks for the reply!

I wasn't retired the full year last year so if they go by my 2023 passive income alone I will be just under the $80K requirement. 

I applied for the LTR visa and submitted my pension benefit letter that showed I have a pension of at least $80K a year.

BOI keeps asking me for my tax return and 1099s.  Is this normal?  I thought the pension benefit letter would be sufficient since I've exceeded the $80K minimum requirement for passive income.

On 12/21/2023 at 9:14 AM, GypsyT said:

Never been asked for at Immi. Airlines have asked every time -:)

 

 

I got referred to an IO supervisor at BKK this year on an METV.  The supervisor would not permit me entry unless I bought an outbound ticket.  I had to purchase a ticket right there and then.  I was stamped for 60 days. 

don't you have to put your name/passport number in the search field  (in the screenshot above) and click on your name on the results?

I think you need some perspective. 

The future being worse than the past is going to be a tall order. In the last 100 years, the world has endured a world war, The Great Depression, Korean War, the Cold War, near world annihilation from the Cuban Missile crisis,  Vietnam War, the energy crisis, ozone hole crisis (remember that one?), the economic implosion of the world’s second largest economy (Japan bubble), the Persian Gulf War, the dot.com crash, Y2K crisis (reading the media made me think we truly were going to be living in caves), The Great Recession, the swine flu, the bird flu, the ebola virus, COVID crisis (the Spanish flu killed off millions!), global warming,  and I’m sure I’m miss a bunch of other examples.

This doesn’t even list any regional economic, humanitarian and political crisis that regularly occurs even now but barely affects the world but is still painful to regional countries affected e.g: Venezuela; Argentina, Africa etc. There is an ongoing war with Russia! and Ukraine and it looks like the world has barely budged.

So given a bird’s eye view, this world has been screwed for centuries and yet here we are afraid of what’s going to happen next when we forget or ignore the many crises that has already happened all around us. 

9 hours ago, andy said:

For a year?  Must be complete garbage coverage at that price, but cheap enough to do it for visa purposes if you have to I guess.

Yes, for a year.  It meets minimum coverage for visa purposes.  I'll never use this insurance policy.  I consider this as a part of the cost of doing business.  I have my own insurance that covers me worldwide but isn't accepted by the Thai visa folks.    

22 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

You might be best to ask BoI that question.

 

In my case (and I think for others) BoI wanted to see an income tax return that proved what we claimed about our pension income.  I ended providing both my Canadian Income tax return (and the Canadian government revenue department letter acknowledging my income) and provided a government document stating my pension income.   I do not know if you will be asked for similar ... 

 

Possibly thou your 2024 income tax return (for year 2023) will have enough information on it to satisfy BoI.  Again, maybe its best to ask them.  You can send an email, or just phone them.  They have many people who can speak very good English.

 

 

My suspicion, is the best time to reply is when you have government proof of your 2023 tax return submission (submitted in early 2024) - but again, check with BoI.

 

As you likely know, over a 10 year period, if you plan to leave Thailand multiple times/year, the LTR-WP visa is about the same cost as the OA visa (maybe a bit cheaper).   In my case, the LTR-WP visa mean it was easier for me to prove "Health Insurance" (on LTR) than it was on Type-OA - which I believe, if that is also true for you, might be a good reason to apply as soon as applicable.

 

 While getting a tax exemption (that will hopefully come with an LTR visa for money brought it to Thailand) is desirable, even without that, I believe there are good reasons for applying for an LTR when you will have the required paperwork.   ....  Again, I suspect tax records (if asked for) could be the documents that may drive your application schedule.

Thanks for the reply oldcpu.

I will miss the income requirement by a few hundred dollars for 2023 tax year (I should have done a Roth rollover).  But after having read through the thread, I saw a post with a screenshot where the entry for the income can be specified by dates.  I'm assuming that the income can be set for any 12 month period not just for the tax year.  I have time since I just got recently issued an OA visa.  So I will wait until I have 12 months of pension income and after I have filed my income tax return next year to apply for the LTR WP.

5 minutes ago, deptrai said:

 

For the non-Immigrant O-A visa, are both local (California) and federal (FBI) criminal background checks required?

I only submitted the FBI checks. 

43 minutes ago, andy said:

How much was that?  Could you buy the bare minimum?

It was around 6000 baht for the largest deductible. I used AXA and they only had one plan to offer. 

Hello folks,

I retired early this year so I have not completed one full year retirement yet.  If my full year of retirement pension will be in April 2024 (it meets the LTR annual pension requirement), would I be eligible to apply for the LTR WP then?  Should I wait until 2025 to apply so the income tax returns would be simpler then? 

I'm on an OA visa now and is valid until December 2024.  But I'd like to get the LTR visa next year to receive the tax exemptions if possible.

Thanks!

I suppose Immigration Officers can do what they want and they can probably get away with it.

I applied for and was approved for an METV this year.  Before I applied for the METV, I have been to Bangkok twice this year on visa exempt, once for 4 days and second for 44 days . In previous years I have been to Thailand a few times for no longer than 1-2 weeks stay.

On my first trip on the METV the IO asked me if I was there for tourism and what my plans were on this visit.  I replied I am here for tourism and to visit my girlfriend.  IO was not happy with my answer but let me in.  I stayed for about 50 days before I left Thailand.

Two weeks later, on my second visit on the METV,  the IO angrily refused me entry stating that I'm intending to stay long term.  They referred me to a supervisor who said that I should get an OA visa instead.  Mind you, I haven't committed any immigration violation with regards to the METV.  I guess the supervisor took pity on me, made me sign a letter stating the purpose of my visit and that I had enough funds and allowed me entry.  He said that I needed to get an OA visa on my next visit.  I got the OA visa and came back.  No issues at immigration.

On 12/10/2023 at 11:36 AM, sqwakvfr said:

#1 Yes

#2. Agree with you and I have been with Pacific Cross for years and the last time I up loaded the insurance document from Pac Cross(page 2 was in Thai) and the consulate still wanted the Foreign Insurance Document?  Pac Cross was nice enough to complete this document for me.  "TIT".

I just applied for my OA visa last month.  My US insurance company would not sign the Foreign Insurance Certificate.  They only issue an insurance verification letter. I had to buy a Thai insurance policy to meet the requirement.