Pib

@oldcpu Based on your govt bond purchase and previous 7 Dec post (at bottom) talking condo deed ownership change (i.e., putting the condo in your name only vs your "and" the wife's names) do you still plan to go thru with the deed change in order to qualify for a LTR.....Or, maybe you already have? And when I read your bond post today your previous 7 Dec deed ownership post immediately came to mind. I thought that oldcpu is kinda like Shelton on the American Big Bang TV show series and where Shelton sometimes goes to talk to a neighbor across the hall and he will just keep knocking on the door until let in. I see the door as BoI and you as Shelton....just ain't going to give up until BoI opens the door by issuing you a LTR visa. Keep knocking....I salute you!

Below is an 16 Nov 2022 article from the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce blog webpage....lists various ways to stay long term in Thailand ordered from the most familiar to more unconventional options. The article lists the LTR visa as #3. #2 is a Non-O Marriage visa and #1 a Non-O Retirement visa. Of course what each individual sees as best suiting their needs & desires will vary from individual-to-individual. https://www.austchamthailand.com/6-ways-to-stay-in-thailand-for-the-long-term-and-how-to-decide-which-is-best-for-you/#

Thank goodness BoI didn't require a spelling certificate as a requirement; otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten my LTR visa. ????

I wouldn't say rouge as they are not advertising they are a direct representative or a BoI/LTR certified agent. They are just saying describing the LTR visa and to contact them if you want assistance/advice in getting one. No different than any visa service who will hand-walk a person thru getting a Non-O/OA/B visa/extension of stay, Elite visa, LTR visa, etc.

;According to Whois.com the website/domain registrant info is based in Reykjavik Iceland. Seems to be associated with Star Visa Service as both www.ltrvisa.net and starvisaservice.com have the same registrant info in Whois.com. And when you go to the starvisaservice.com website and click on its LTR tab you go to ltrvisa.net. https://www.whois.com/whois/ltrvisa.net https://www.whois.com/whois/starvisaservice.com So, it looks like the ltrvisa.net site is really Star Visa Services based in Chiang Mai....one of those persons/organizations the LTR Disclaimer below informs about....below Disclaimer is as of 4 Jan 2023, 2:20pm which is when I took the snapshot. And the window for interested parties to apply to become LTR Certified Agents does not close till 31 Jan 2023....how long after that before the BoI completes evaluation & selects LTR Certified Agents is anyone's guess. I bet Star Visa Services will be applying to become a LTR Certified Agent and if they become one they already have their LTR webpage up and running. And I notice the Star Visa Services website says the LTR can be issued at "Thai Immigration Offices in Thailand" which implies "all" immigration offices which is "not" the case at least right now as within Thailand currently the LTR can only be collected at the BoI Chamchuri Square Immigration Office in Bangkok. From the BoI website From Star Visa Services website

Although this thread is focused on LTR visas while youtubing last night I came across below 20 minute video talking the Thailand Elite visas in layman's terms. I think the video host does a really good job in explaining the Elite visas pros, cons, requirements, etc. (pretty much just a police check and payment for an Elite visa), etc. For those trying to decide whether to apply for a LTR or Elite visa this video should help explain the Elite visa in layman's terms. And of course this l....o.....n.....g thread has extensively talked the pros, cons, requirements of a LTR visa. Now the video host is an agent in Chiang Mai for Thailand Elite visas so the video is almost totally focused on Elite visas, but the host doesn't shy away from pointing out the cons of the visa such as high cost. Maybe this agent will also end-up being a LTR agent also...who knows how this LTR Certified Agent thing will pan-out. Yea, this video may be helpful to those considering whether to apply for a multi year LTR or Elite visa....or a 1 year Non-XYZ type visa. Need to understand all the various types of long stay visas (1 or more years) before making a decision.

My laptop calendar/task reminder notified me today it was time to do my 90 day report again. But instead, I happily reset my task reminder to a 365 vs 90 days address reporting schedule since I now have a LTR visa and my next report is not due till late Dec 2023. ???? Yea, yea, I know that with the latest new online reporting system it is easy and "usually" reliable to report online. That is, it's a lot easier to get your 90 day address report "approved" online but even the new system can give your rejection...usually with no reason given for the rejection. However, in my case when I started using the new online reporting system in Dec 2021 my 1st report was rejected with no reason given. I immediately tried again after that rejection as people reported that sometimes works for them but I was rejected again. So, I reported by mail....or maybe it was in person...I forget. Then in early March 2022 I tried online reporting again and Yea!!!! I got approved. And then in late May 2022 I got approved again for my next report. But for my Aug 2022 report I got rejected probably because I had renewed my passport although I had earlier went to immigration to have stamps transferred from the old to new passport.... but I still got the 90 day address rejection. So, I did an in-person report and immigration said online 90 day reporting should start giving me approvals again. Now when I renewed my marriage extension of stay in Oct since I was at the immigration office to pick my new 1 year marriage extension stamp I just did my report in person since it was almost due instead of chancing the online method which "should" work for me. But I just played it safe since I was already at immigration for another reason. This made my next report due in mid Jan 2023....the self-reminder I just got. Yeap, although the latest 90 days online reporting system is much more reliable in terms of a person being able to get approved online vs having to do the report in-person or by mail, the LTR one year address reporting is a nice benefit. Snapshot of my success rate using the latest online 90 days address reporting system. Only 2 out of 5 approved.

You can apply up to 45 days early at some Immigration Offices (IO) like Bangkok/CW; up to 30 days at other IOs. When I was doing marriage extension of stays (for the last 3 years) I always applied 40 to 45 days early at the Bangkok/CW IO. You don't lose any time off your current or new extension by applying early assuming your last extension was also a marriage extension. I would never have dreamed of applying on the last day before expiration. Recommendation: Don't wait till the last day because one or all of Murphy's three laws may bite you. What are Murphy's three laws? Murphy's First Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's Second Law: Nothing is as easy as it looks. Murphy's Third Law: Everything takes longer than you think it will.

Yea....Thai Elite uses agents also.....and those agents receive a minimum 10% commission of each Thailand Elite membership sold. Like the Bt2M, 20 year Elite Ultimate Privilege membership would earn an agent at least Bt200K. The lowest cost Bt600K, 5 year Elite Easy Access membership would earn an agent at least Bt60K. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bGZ5sckoHZl1HdJFiaD_5svGq53Pq0xE/view Just for others listening in, to get a better idea of the number of "Agents" the Thailand Elite scheme has take a look at below Thailand Elite webpage.....look at the bottom of the page for the "View Our Agents" button. https://thailandelite.com/ Maybe a lot of these Thailand Elite agents will also want to be LTR agents....who knows. And once going to above webpage you will see many agents, their locations, etc. Just for example one of the agents is Siam Legal...and if you go to Siam Legal's Thailand Elite webpage (below) you'll see the type of Thailand Elite application service they provide. https://www.siam-legal.com/thailand-visa/thai-elite-visa.php Now based on the BoI LTR Certified Agent document posted several posts up I doubt any commission would be allowed/earned from processing a LTR application. Instead the LTR agent would set their own fee above and beyond the Bt50K govt fee....a fee that would have to be pre-approved by BoI per the BoI LTR Certified Agent document. And hopefully the BoI will still allow a person to apply directly to BoI as currently setup so an applicant could avoid using an agent if the applicant desires. Just like current 1 year visa/extensions of stay....up to the individual if he/she applies directly or has an agent hand-walk them. Now it will be interesting to see what fee LTR Agents will charge especially since there is a lot more application paperwork involved with a LTR application compared to an Elite application.

I have not changed my password but I expect if you select the Forgot Password link on the Login screen that process will email you a new one time/temporary logon password which will allow you to also create a new/updated password.

Yea, the govt promoting the LTR visa scheme as drawing 1M farangs over 5 years was basically a political statement not based in reality as political statements/promises so often are. That statement was really focused towards the Thai population as a near term economic boost for the country. In some ways like "highly, highly questionable" Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) annual tourist and economic projections/stats in the pre-COVID 19 days. I'm sure the worker-bees at the govt agencies tasked with developing the LTR scheme were shaking their heads in disbelief.....thinking "yea, in your wildest dreams".....when their bosses said our goal will be 1M over 5 years and that will be our party line from here-on-out! But the worker-bees saluted sharply to their political leadership and marched forwarded to develop the LTR requirements which they knew could never meet a political goal of 1M "approved" applications over 5 years which subdivides to represent 200K per year, 548 per calendar day, or 800 per working/business day. Heck, I'm not sure if they have even reached 548 "approved" applications since the 1 Sep 2022 kickoff date....I think they have only received around 1,500-2,000 applications. My approved LTR Pensioner visa had a number in the mid 300's for 2022. I'm sure the govt now wishes they had "not" stated numerous times the 1M over 5 year goal and such LTR statements will be a thing of the past in future govt announcements on how the program is doing. But future statements and updates will still have a positive spin....but hopefully they will not include TAT-type wild projections. And hopefully the LTR visa program will mature into a successful visa program that will result in many thousands being approved annually.

Having BoI Certified Agents (CA) to assist applicants who want to use such a service (for a fee) should very significantly increase the number LTR visas that get approved, speed the LTR application process, offload workload from BoI, and be good advertisement for the LTR program as CAs will advertise the program in order to round-up more business. And I'm sure there are many potential applicants who are paperwork-challenged, prefer to be hand-walked thru the process, wants a CA to do the heavy lifting, etc., who will gladly pay a CA fee. But I hope the BoI does not go to the point of requiring every applicant to use a CA....that is, not also allowing an applicant to apply directly to BoI like the process currently works.

And below is a Google Lens translation of the "Certified Agent" doc that the BoI released. The translation is far from perfect but it's good enough to give us Thai language challenged folks a fair understanding of what the doc says. Basically, looking to certify agents to assist foreigners in obtaining a LTR visa....hand-walk applicants thru the process....act as an authorized middleman between BoI and the applicant, etc.

It sure appears with the Immigration Bureau announcing the new pilot project E-extension online application system which is currently only available to those who use the Bangkok/CW immigration office (right now a person does not have to use it...it just available if you want to use it) and the BoI putting out a request for interested companies to act as a Certified Agent(s) to process LTR visa applications/website that my guess within 5 years all visa and extension application/renewals will be handled online. The requirement to actually visit an immigration office in most cases will be a thing of the past. This can be good and bad for some applicants....but regardless it's surely in our near future.

And where Misty said above "Perhaps more can follow" relating to contracting-out of the LTR application process, well, it looks like that on 29 Dec 2022 the BoI put out a call/request to interested parties to act as "Certified Agents" with a request for interested parties to submit an application form by 31 Jan 2023. If you go to the LTR public website and select the Application Process menu that menu will reflect a new entry called "Certified Agency (CA)." Then when clicking on CA a Thai language official doc will appear where the BoI is requesting interested parties to apply to be CA's. https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html Yeap, the BoI will be contracting-out more of the LTR program. Probably similar to the recent Immigration Bureau announcement that when applying for certain types of visa "extensions" (not all) that a person will be able to apply online where a company called VFS will handle the great bulk of the "online E-extension application"/approval/disapproval process....and the person will only need to visit immigration for the final steps....pretty much like how the great bulk of the LTR application process is handled online up until the final issuing of the visa into your passport.

Regarding how much of jointly owned real estate could be applied towards your LTR application, oldcpu ran this to ground in early December. See his 7 Dec post below. But basically, as aublumberg said above if the property (i.e., condo) is in your and the wife's name then you could apply 50% of the property value towards your LTR application.

Below 23 minutes Youtube 23 video was posted earlier in this thread and it may provide more insight on your question, specifically the part from approx 10:55 to 15:50 minutes/seconds where they talk Jane's situation/qualifications in relationship to applying for a Wealthy Pensioner application. Jane has a $25K/yr pension, $20K/yr rental income, and $600K in IRA/stocks investments. Below the video I also included a few snapshots from the video where the BoI rep points out the type of retirement savings they are looking for which is primarily pensions or annuities (like IRA, 401K, etc) vs a standard brokerage acct....enough in pensions/annuities to cover the 10 year period of the LTR visa. Please not two parts of the video have incorrect/outdated info.. The parts where they talk it's looking positive that a LTR visa recipient will be allowed to own up to 1 rai of land, but as we know the Thai govt later withdrew that proposal. And also where the guy says buying Thai govt bonds "is a snap"....easy....etc., which is completely wrong as it's hard for the typical foreigner to buy Thai govt bonds.....easy for a Thai citizen but not for a farang. Snapshots from above video

Whoops....previously I misspelled 20 & 21 above....I spelled as Juman (with a J) but correct spelling is Zuman (with a Z) which I have now corrected above. Happy New Year.

You do not need any type of LTR visa and/or work permit for the initial 2 year driver's license and then after that a 5 year driving license. You only need some type of 1 year visa like a 1 year Non B/O/OA visa. Heck I got my initial driver's license (which was valid for 1 or 2 years...I forget which one) and then my 5 year license under my OA Retirement 1 year visa....and have renewed the 5 year license twice under a 1 year retirement/marriage extension of stays.

Regarding the Thai citizenship question it would indeed provide a pathway to Thai citizenship simply because it a way of staying in Thailand for at least 3 years and working on a work permit for at least 3 years which would meet the core requirements of applying for Permanent Residence (PR) if you are a single person. Now if you are married to a Thai then the pathway to Thai citizenship is a little different but even that pathway requires some type of visa to stay in Thailand long enough to meet citizenship requirements. I think below website provides good info on "obtaining Thai citizenship" as each person's particular situation will affect the pathway to citizenship. https://www.thaicitizenship.com/

No....can not. But you can switch from a O/A Retirement extension of stay to an O/A Marriage Extension of Stay. As the underlying visa the original O/A visa will still be in place but the Extension of Stay will be based on Marriage vs Retirement....and this changes the required income and insurance requirements. If doing a Retirement extension based on an underlying O/A the medical insurance is required along with the 800K deposit or 65K/month income. But if switching to a Marriage extension based on an underlying O/A no medical insurance is required and only a Bt400K on deposit for only 2 months before applying or Bt40K/month income. And after getting the Marriage Extension if you were using the 400K deposit method you can take the deposit balance immediately down to zero if desired "after getting the final extension stamp (don't drop below during the Under Consideration period which lasts for about a month after applying). Or said another way you'll need to maintain at least Bt400K for 3 months over the year for a marriage extension vs 800K to 400K the entire 12 months for a retirement extension of stay. Yea, there is a little more application paperwork required for a marriage extension like providing your original marriage certificate, a Kor Ror 2 marriage doc confirming you are still married which you can get easily/very cheap (a few baht) get at any district office in Thailand (I assuming you were married in Thailand), and 4 to 6 pictures of you and the spouse around/in your residence. That's pretty much it in terms of additional paperwork over a retirement extension of stay. Around three years ago I switched from doing a Retirement extension on my O/A for around 11 years to a Marriage Extension on my O/A in order to avoid the Thai medical insurance requirement. And the marriage extension lower deposit/income requirement was nice.

Definitely apply yourself since you've had the Bt800K in a Thai bank for 12 months. It's so easy....just a few short/easy forms to complete/provide. Also, make an appt to avoid the long queue....you can renew up to 45 days early at CW. You'll probably be done within 1 hr after checking in for your appt. Then take the agent-fee money you saved and go buy something nice for yourself or someone else. Happy New Year.

Update: Known LTR Visa Approvals as of 29 Dec 2022 "based on posts in this thread I saw." Added in bold text "User3847385, Saraburi121, & khunjeff" who got LTR visa Approved 8, 23, & 26 Dec, respectively. Two were Pensioner visas and one Work from Thailand Professional visa. See their posts above over the last day or so for more details. Congrats!!! Seems like December has turned out to be a good month for LTR approvals. In below list 5 were approved in Sep, 9 in Oct, only 3 in Nov, and 8 so far in Dec. Remember, this list only accounts for those who have announced an approval in this thread. Happy Holidays To All. I know the folks below who got their LTR Golden Ticket are probably feeling pretty happy. Poster & Date Approval Notice Rec'd 1. BKKNono - 15 Sep 2. ashkale - 28 Sep 3. ThailandRyan - 28 Sep 4. pepper402 - 29 Sep 5. gajah - 30 Sep 6. Alotoftravel - 4 Oct 7. James7 - 4 Oct 8. & 9. Misty (and family member) - 4 Oct 10. mudcat - 4 Oct 11. & 12. stuarty (and wife) - 4 Oct 13. Boomer6969 - 5 Oct 14. aublumberg - 12 Oct 15. JJJJJJJJ - 8 Nov 16. smic - 28 Nov 17. Paul3456 - 30 Nov 18. anotherexpat4444 - 7 Dec 19. User3847385 - 8 Dec 20. & 21. Juman - 16 Dec (and Mrs Juman on 27 Dec) 22. lextsy - 21 Dec 23. Pib - 23 Dec 24. Saraburi121 - 23 Dec 25. khunjeff - 26 Dec

1. The Tricare evidence I submitted consisted of one page memo within my me explaining my outstanding Tricare coverage, a U.S. military benefits letter confirming I was enrolled in Tricare but this benefits letter only shows an enrollment date but no end date, a one page document from the Tricare website explaining how Tricare for Life works, and a chart consisting of around 4 pages showing Tricare outpatient, inpatient, pharmacy, etc., coverage/costs/etc. But since Tricare provides basically "unlimited" worldwide coverage no max dollars are provided like saying inpatient coverage is $100K, $1M, etc. These type of govt-provided/govt-sponsored open-ended/group type policies just look different and are written differently from a typical civilian insurance policy that comes with a policy sheet showing a start and end date, coverage amounts, etc. Basically I patched together a policy resembling a civilian policy since Tricare does not provide a written policy like a civilian policy. Instead, you pretty much just go to Tricare websites and/or your online Tricare acct to see generic docs/booklets explaining your Tricare coverage. Very similar to how Medicare coverage works in that there is no civilian type policy but just an online acct, websites to get info, phone numbers to call customer service for more info, etc. 2. Although I called quite a few times starting after the 20 working days had passed I never got to talk to the specific BoI Screener/Agent that was actually reviewing my application....and actually I don't think it was just "one" Screener but several that may have been involved. I usually ended up talking to "front desk customer service type" although two times I did get to talk to one of the actual application Screeners after I had uploaded the additional docs. But at that time the Screener said the Screening (Reviewing Section) had not yet got around to taking another look at my application after I had uploaded the additional docs. But yea, I think I gave it the ol' college try to get BoI to accept Tricare to include explaining how it's an opened ended policy....has no end date unless I croak or stop paying the premium which is automatically deducted form my retirement pay. But that try was not good enough most likely due to the "no end date showing at least 10 months left on the coverage" which the BoI seems to be firm on....a must-have at least for now. I hope in the future they provide more flexibility to open-end policies (outstanding, basically unlimited coverage) as such coverage/policies are quite common with some groups of people such as govt retirees and even those still serving with the govt.

But regarding when will a person be required to apply for the 2nd 5 years of the 10 year visa although a person might end up with rolling, conflicting permitted to stay until stamps in their passport from traveling in & out of the country, I fully expect a person's renewal window to get the 2nd 5 years will be based on when the LTR visa was actually "issued" at BoI or an embassy. I'm fully expect the clock will start ticking based on the LTR issued date (not the approval date but the issued dat) and we'll see more guidance regarding that on the LTR website. Right now the BoI is probably still developing the exact procedure/process for that 2nd 5 years which will not come due until Sep 2027 since the first LTR visa issued only just occurred staring a few months ago in Sep 2022. Plus I expect BoI knows there could be LTR policy changes (for the better or worst) between now and Sep 2027 which could alter the 2nd 5 years procedure/policy.