Pib

Mine is exactly the same...status says Complete. Now, next to where it says Complete mine has two icons of Print and View. When clicking View you can see your application....then Click Step 4 Upload....this is where all your upload/submitted docs are located. Some docs will have a "Remove" icon next to them....if clicking Remove it "does" Remove them "until you leave the screen" and then go back into the Step 4 Upload area...then that previously removed doc(s) "has reappeared."

Check Status, View, Step 4 Upload and then clicking Remove where allowed. When clicking Remove the file disappears but when leaving the Step 4 Upload area and then coming back to it the file has reappeared.

I don't think you can now after LTR approval. I just tired removing/deleting some of my LTR docs....they would appear to be removed/deleted but once leaving he screen and coming back to it the docs that you thought got removed/deleted are back again.

Update: Known LTR Visa Approvals as of 15 Mar 2023 "based only on posts in this thread I saw." Added in bold text "MPoll" and "8X5ZD" who received their LTR Pensioner visa approval or had it inked to their passport 5 Jan 2023 and 28 Feb 2023, respectively. See their posts above for more details. Congrats!!! Poster & Date Final Approval Notice Rec'd 1. BKKNono - 15 Sep 2022 2. ashkale - 28 Sep 2022 3. ThailandRyan - 28 Sep 2022 4. pepper402 - 29 Sep 2022 5. gajah - 30 Sep 2022 6. Alotoftravel - 4 Oct 2022 7. James7 - 4 Oct 2022 8. & 9. Misty (and family member) - 4 Oct 2022 10. mudcat - 4 Oct 2022 11. & 12. stuarty (and wife) - 4 Oct 2022 13. Boomer6969 - 5 Oct 2022 14. aublumberg - 12 Oct 2022 15. JJJJJJJJ - 8 Nov 2022 16. F Groenen - 22 Nov 2022 17. smic - 28 Nov 2022 18. Paul3456 - 30 Nov 2022 19. anotherexpat4444 - 7 Dec 2022 20. User3847385 - 8 Dec 2022 21. & 22. Zuman - 16 Dec 2022 (and Mrs Zuman on 27 Dec 2022) 23. lextsy - 21 Dec 2022 24. Pib - 23 Dec 2022 25. Saraburi121 - 23 Dec 2022 26. khunjeff - 26 Dec 2022 27. TaiMaiTai - 4 Jan 2023 28. MPoll - 5 Jan 2023 29. digitalnotmad - mid Jan 2023 30. Oorinara - mid Jan 2023 31. & 32. Ramilf (and family) - 20 Jan 2023 33. OneZero - 17 Feb 2023 34. pablo el sueco - 20 Feb 2023 35. 8X5ZD - 28 Feb 2023

jeffandgop, Your report above is definitely a Manila SSA FBU horror story. It sure appears the Manila SSA has major problems for whatever reason(s). Now while other posts over the years and my own experience with my application years back reported the Manila FBU did a fast job in processing a person's application there are also posts like yours above "and my wife's" SSA application thru Manila that were horror stories. In my wife's case although the telephone interview and application processing went fast the Manila FBU made a typo on when the wife's benefit's were to begin which resulted in a lower monthly payment----and correction of this error which involved SSA recalling the money paid too early and correcting her master SSA record took around 4 months of numerous calls/emails to the Baltimore SSA head office.....what a mess because the Manila FBU rep made a typo in the application submitted to Baltimore for final processing/approval (and Manila admitted they made the typo in an email). But when the dust settled everything was fixed....but as mentioned it took a lot of calls/emails to Manila and Baltimore....mostly Baltimore as they were the ones who had to fix Manila's error as Manila basically serves as a middleman in the application process with Baltimore being the final processing/approval office. Regarding sending in original docs....that is, passport and marriage certificate or whatever asked for, when the wife applied she had to do the same thing since she was applying based on my earnings record (i.e., a spousal pension). But you do "not" have to send in the "originals"....instead, you can send in certified/notarized copies which is what the wife did by getting the notarized copies at the U.S. Embassy-Bangkok (we live in Bangkok)...and there is no fee for this notarization since it deals with the application for federal benefits such as social security. So, for those folks applying who live kinda close to the U.S. Embassy/Consulate in Bangkok/Chiang Mai I would recommend sending notarized copies of whatever copies the SSA may ask for. It varies from person-to-person as to what the SSA may ask for, but a naturalized U.S. citizen, a spouse applying based on the other spouse's earnings record/a spousal pension, etc., are likely to have to provide a certified/notarized copy of their Naturalization Certificate, U.S. passport, marriage certificate, etc. You can send in the original if desired but sending certified/notarized copies satisfied the SSA and eliminated the possibility of the originals going MIA. Anyway, I'm sure your wife's application will be approved after getting thru the Manila FBU obstacle course. Additionally, unless something has changed anytime a FBU sends a package to Baltimore (it's all done electronically) Baltimore has up to 60 days to just review the submission....kinda like sending someone an email but they have 60 days just to open/read it before taking further action. And then if they need more info/docs then that process repeats. Yea, some SSA pension applications sail thru fast & smooth while others get caught in a Manila FBU hurricane.

What's the status on the support ticket/fix? Thanks.

More googling talking Thai-US Amity Treaty and Work Permit requirements. https://www.bangkokpractice.com/thai-us-amity-treaty-company/

From some quick googling. Talks a work permit with 1-2 employees "if married to a Thai" on a Non O visa, but doesn't say anything about being single and raising a Thai child (but since it's allowed if married to a Thai then "maybe" it would apply also if single & supporting a Thai child). https://franklegaltax.com/how-many-thai-staff-are-required-for-my-business-2/

And here I went and spent Bt50K to get a 10 year LTR Pensioner visa...do that again in 10 years and my cost is now up to Bt100K..... when I could have gotten a 20 year Elite visa for Bt1M or Bt2M. What the heck is wrong with me!!!!??? Wait a minute!!!!....on second thought I definitely made the right decision!....and saved Bt900K or Bt1.9M. Fact is, a LTR visa is a very, very good deal if you qualify.

A "self insure" option is available when a person does not have acceptable insurance. The self insure option requires the applicant to show 100K USD equivalent in a bank acct (foreign or Thailand) for at least 12 months....no additional/special approval needed....only standard bank statements from the foreign/Thai bank. Some LTR applicants have also been able to use their 401K/Retirement Acct type investment/savings as substitute to a cash bank acct.

During my application in late 2022 I had little problem in calling/talking to a rep at BoI (but I was calling from within Thailand)...and it usually required around 5 to 10 minutes listening to elevator music before a human came online. I called around 10 times during the 1 to 2 month period my application was processing. Yea, after the first month when my application didn't seem to be moving along I started calling at least a couple times each week to see what the hold-up was. But as mentioned in an earlier post my application was approved in a little less than 2 months. Now getting an email response from BoI could have been better.....for me a response usually took a couple of weeks but on a few occasions I did get an email response within 2 to 3 business days. I think the response time depended on what the question/issue was.

Either this is untrue or you meant to say your family member allowed a lawyer to use the family member's BoI online acct credentials to submit/upload the necessary docs. Application for an LTR visa is all done online up until the point of actually having the visa inked into your passport after receiving the online approval notice. And as of today/13 Mar 2023 BoI has not approved any "Certified Agents" to act as go-betweens between an agent and the applicant (i.e., kinda like a visa agent). The BoI website even stresses that as shown in the snapshot below from the BoI LTR website. But the BoI did put-out a request to interested parties in Dec 2022 to companies interested in becoming a LTR CA....interested parties needed to submit a package/respond by 31 Jan 2023....then BoI was going to evaluate any parties interested in providing CA services and at some point announce BoI CA's which to the best of my knowledge has not happened yet.

There is no fee to apply...repeat, no fee to apply....no upfront fee. Now, after applying and if your LTR application is approved you will then have 60 days to take the final steps to pay the Bt50K fee and have the LTR visa issued to your passport. If you don't take those final steps within 60 days like paying the fee then the visa approval is cancelled....you must reapply if later actually wanting a LTR visa. Regarding health insurance, yes there is the requirement to have a 50K USD insurance policy (foreign or Thai).....Thai social security health coverage.....OR, self-insure with 100K USD in a foreign or Thai bank acct. If using a foreign insurance policy the policy just needs to confirm it provides coverage in Thailand like saying worldwide coverage is provided.....no need to have multiple directors of the insurance company sign some Thai govt form stating such like Thai Immigration requires when applying/extending a 1 year Non-OA visa and wanting to use a foreign insurance policy. Heck, if you are a U.S. military retiree you can even use Tricare to meet the LTR medical insurance requirement....just provide the DMDC/DEERS Tricare benefits letter. And if self-insuring the 100K USD can be in any bank acct....in any country like your home country....just show a bank statement(s) the acct has had the required balance amount for at least the last 12 months. The LTR visa medical coverage requirements are much more flexible than the medical coverage requirements for a Non-OA/OX visa.

And there are those who will almost always opt to pay a service provider to handle as much of the paperwork as possible, hand-walk the applicant through the application process even when the application process is not really hard. That's OK....it's the applicant's choice & money...to each his own.

The article contains a good amount of incorrect, flat-out wrong info. Don't know if the visa company giving the briefing intentionally wanted to make it sound like a long & administrative nightmare to get an LTR visa "and/or" the author of the article simply got it wrong. First of all the LTR program officially kicked off 1 Sep 2022; not 1 Nov 2022 as in the article. And it does "not" take around 18 months to get an LTR visa if you are qualified.....it typically takes 1 to 2 months with some people getting it in less than a month. BoI officially states it takes around 20 "working/business days" which is approx one calendar month. I got a LTR-Pensioner visa in late 2022....my approval took a little less than 2 months....would have been less but the BoI asked me for some additional documentation plus in the early days of the LTR program it seemed BoI was slow in processing many applications. But once again, it does "not" take anything close to 18 months like incorrectly stated in the article. My gosh, since the program officially started 1 Sep 2022, if it was taking 18 months "no one, repeat, no one" would have received an LTR visa approval yet.....wouldn't be until around Feb 2024 (next year) until the first approval would be seen. If you want to read more from AseanNow posters who have applied for/received LTR visa, go to the main thread in AseanNow talking the LTR visa: LTR Visa is Now available for Long Term Residency It's now a long thread of over 1,800 posts.... and keep in mind the early days of the program/thread were like the Wild West days, plenty of misinformation or lack of information, plenty of questions, frequent/major problems with the BoI online application system (and it still has some problems like frequently going down on weekends or even on workdays), etc.....but in late 2022 things seemed to settle down...get better.

Various earlier posts talk the BoI Certified Agent (CA) program BoI may be implementing soon.....or said another way, entities/companies/etc., that are blessed by BoI to assist people who want to apply for a LTR visa. Maybe a more common term would be "visa agent" approved (blessed) by BoI. Keep in mind that as of today/12 March 2023 BoI has not designated any LTR CA's per their website.....any entities advertising they can assist in getting an LTR visa are not a BoI CA (not to imply they may not be in the future once/if BoI does designate CA's).....and the BoI can not be held responsible for advice/service provided by any entity assisting an LTR applicant. With above being said, today when googling an LTR issue I stumbled across a legal company that had a fact sheet on the LTR visa program and that sheet stated their fee to assist in getting a LTR visa. I've' stumbled across other entities also advertising LTR visa assistance but this is the first time I've seen the entity identify their fee. Their fee was Bt80K (excluding VAT)....and you would still have the other govt fees like the basic govt LTR fee of Bt50K...and if also needing a LTR digital work permit another govt fee of Bt15K for a 5 year permit. Boy, oh boy, the individual would still have to provide the CA all the key qualification documents like income/pension docs, employment doc, tax return, education data, health insurance, etc. Seems the CA would pretty much just be someone who reviews/puts a bow on the document package that would be submitted to BoI for review/processing. Now I also seem to remember that any CA would need to get BoI blessing for the CA fee. So, maybe once BoI does implement a CA program then maybe the CA fee will not exceed the basic govt fee. Link to fact sheet https://silklegal.com/uploads/LTR-factsheet.pdf Snapshot/partial quote from the fact sheet showing fees

Thanks for above crossfeed. From the BoI response and looking at info at the BoI SMART visa website which is kinda list a 1st cousin to the BoI LTR visa it does seem clear when a person is no longer employed with the company your visa/work permit was based & approved on then the visa is terminated "unless" you changed employment to another BoI approved company which seems to allow continuation of the visa as long as the person does on the proper notifications. Even the last sentence above implies that by saying BoI needs to be notified so they can change the visa employment info....and the SMART visa website talks the same thing. So, it appears (at least to me) that just switching employers where you could be unemployed for a short period in the employment transition might not result in the LTR visa cancellation.

For U.S. govt pensions like SS there are "two" methods: (1) ACH which must go only to a Bangkok Bank special/restricted acct and (2) International Direct Deposit (IDD) which uses SWIFT and can go to a regular/unrestricted acct at any Thai bank. Don't confuse the ACH and IDD methods as they are different funds transfer systems.

My guess is the compliance check at the 5 year point will be just like the initial application requirements minus any fee for approval.

You got a source document/weblink for this statement? A BoI webpage link, a BoI/Immigration form applicable for an LTR visa, etc. Maybe you have a LTR Work from Thailand visa and it was on some BoI/Immigration forms your signed when applying for/getting the LTR visa issued? An LTR visa does not have all the same rules as a regular one year non-immigrant visa such as a Non-B, Non-O, etc. Even the work permit rules are different like not requiring the 4 Thais to 1 farang employment ratio. Now I do know that if a person has a Work Permit based on a "1" year Non immigrant visa that a if the person is on an "extension of stay" of the underlying visa and his employment with organization XYZ ends then he has 7 days to exit Thailand. But if he is "not" on an extension but the basic visa is still valid then when employment ends he has until the end of that visa before needing to exit Thailand. See this webpage for more info: https://franklegaltax.com/visa-issues-when-your-work-permit-is-cancelled/ But as mentioned this weblink is talking a 1 year visa; not a 10 year LTR....so I'm interested in seeing your reference for your statement quoted above. Thanks.

Gosh....Thailand sure gets a lot of vaccine donations....what did Thailand do?....maybe start a GoVaccineMe request for vaccine donations. ????

Good to see the LTR program is still getting attention at the highest level of govt. Hopefully we'll continue to see more changes which will make obtaining a LTR visa more attainable for more people. And once the LTR Certified Agent scheme takes flight that should increase the number of applicants since many people prefer to use an agent to hand-walk them through the LTR visa application process.

Probably has something to do with monthly welfare/old age benefits. I see similar lines at other KrungThai Bank branches during the first week of each month. As KrungThai Bank is government owned it is the bank used when applying for/receiving govt benefit payments.

Why not email a scanned copy also. Email it back to the Manila representative that sent the email....if sent from one of those Do Not Respond To email addresses then send it to the Manila SSA FBU central email address of: [email protected] I couldn't hurt. The first year the wife started SSA she didn't get a 7162....when contacting Manila on 1 Nov about the issue they sent a blank 7162, said to completed it, and "email" back to them which we did. We asked for confirmation the 7162 was rec'd/OK/processed and got a thumbs-up reply after several business days.

Deleted...duplicate post.