Cabinet approves long-term 10-year visa to attract foreigners

Conquerbrqvilok · September 24, 2021

The cabinet on Tuesday approved measures to attract foreign investors and experts to Thailand for a long-term stay with a 10-year visa.

Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, the government’s spokesman, said that the measures should attract more than one million foreign investors and experts within five years, which should increase the amount of money spent in the economy by more than one trillion baht.

“This includes 800 billion baht from the expected increase in investment and 270 billion baht from the expected increase in tax collections,” he said.

The measures include:

A 10-year “long-term resident visa,” also for spouse and children
A work permit
Exemption from foreign income tax
Land and real estate ownership and rentership rights
90 days report not required
No quota of hiring four Thais for every one foreign employee

The four groups that can apply for the visa include:

Wealthy global citizen: People with a high income of at least US$80,000 in income over the past two years and a minimum asset of $1 million
Wealthy pensioner: Pensioners, age 50 and above, with a stable pension of at least $80,000 over the past two years
Work-from-Thailand professional: Foreign workers with employers outside of Thailand, more than five years of working experience and make at least $80,000 over the past two years
High-skilled professional: Professionals working in targeted industries such as future services, infrastructure buildings, logistical systems and digital systems who make at least $80,000 over the past two years

The measures will be run by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development.

They will be working with the Board of Investment of Thailand, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Finance and the Royal Thai Police to sort out and provide more details on the measures later, Thanakorn said.

The measures will be reevaluated every five years, he said