Pib

In your online acct is it also displaying like mine....as in no place to start another application....LTR tab showing application still in process, etc.

This is just a curiosity question at this time, but for you LTR holders whose online acct shows Complete (like in the 1st snapshot below) because you have the LTR inked into your passport "is there any menu/selection in your online acct to "submit another application?" Now if I click the LTR menu I get the popup message shown in the 2nd snapshot which says "Your LTR Application Is In Process." Maybe I get this popup because I didn't request a Work Permit. Like say it was almost 5 years later and it was time for the LTR mid-point/5 year renewal process and assuming another application (maybe a full application, maybe a mini application if BoI decides such) how could a person start another application from within there current online acct? I just don't see any place to do it.

When you get the bank letter the letter will state the balance for a certain date---typically the day before---although the date on the letter might be current or previous day. This is fine. The reason IOs typically want you to show a balance update same day of application via a small deposit/withdrawal or Balance Forward transaction (although your bank letter may report the previous day balance) is to ensure the account is still open with the required balance amount on the day of application.

I see the LTR issue fee for the Thai Embassy in London is 1,500 pounds/approx Bt60K. (1st snapshot below) And the LTR issue fee for the Thai Consulate in New York City is 1,600 USD/approx Bt54K. (2nd snapshot) And per lextsy's post posts above the Thai Consulate in Sydney is 3045 AUD/approx Bt70K. Yeap, governments all too often use fees to fund a major part of embassy/consulate operations & services in other countries....and those fees can vary form country-to-country vs being a standard fee. Thai Embassy in London LTR Fee Thai Embassy at New York City LTR Fee

Yea, $3045 AUD works out to about Bt70K THB. But I expect Thai embassies/consulate have to cover a major part of cost of operations in foreign countries based on fees vs the Thai govt covering all costs. And cost of operations/living in each country can vary a lot. Like U.S. Embassies/Consulates around the world "by U.S. law" must cover a major portion of certain services like many services to U.S. citizens and foreigners based on fees and not funding direct from the U.S. govt. Like charging $50 USD for each document you need notarized.....you are basically helping to pay for that manpower position, salary of that person, benefits, housing, etc.....and all of that does get expensive. I expect the Thai govt follows a similar policy in ensuring people needing service at a Thai embassy/consulate foot a lot of the bill to keep that embassy/consulate running for various services.

Purely from an "annual fee standpoint" a Non O retirement or marriage extension of stay is better (cheaper) unless you get a multi-entry permit each year to go along with the Non O. Then a Non O + multi reentry permit costs more over a 10 year period than an LTR visa. See below Cost/Fee Comparison Chart where a 1 year Non-O extension of stay is compared to a 10 year LTR visa. Not included in the cost comparison is agent fees for those also paying an agent fee to assist them each year to renew their extension....agent fees that can cost far more than the visa govt fees. Then those annual agent fees over 10 years can make an LTR visa look even better. Also not included in the chart is LTR medical coverage requirement if you don't have an acceptable foreign/Thai insurance policy, Thai social security, or can self-insure. The chart is just comparing the core fees. But of course with an one year extension you have the "annual" approval process to prove you still meet visa requirements. That "every year" process combined with the concern over a change in requirements is what many consider a pain in the rear accompanied by stress that they would prefer to avoid. And it seems one year flies by so fast! How much is it worth to avoid that pain and stress "each" year.....what's it's worth over 10 years. With a 10 year LTR visa a person only has the mid point/5 year review process since the LTR visa is really a 5+5 visa.

Not true. Your old visa is not cancelled until the LTR visa is issued to your passport which you have 60 days to do after you get notification from BoI your LTR application has been approved...pay the Bt50K...."take the final step to have the LTR visa actually issued." If you don't take action within 60 days of that approval letter then that approval is void....kinda like running a marathon but never taking the final step to cross the finish line. Your then have to start all over with a new application. Assuming you want the LTR visa inked into your passport at BoI Immigration in Bangkok on the day you have your appt to do such Immigration will first cancel your old visa and then issue/link your LTR visa to your passport....all of this just takes minutes. If using a Thai embassy the cancellation of your old visa would happen in the background as they issue you the LTR visa.

@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