LTR Visa is Now available for Long Term Residency

[Pib]

Maybe the TM95 isn't for download from the main immigration website because HQ immigration thinks many people will download/use it instead of the TM47 commonly used for 90 day address reporting.   Maybe the TM95 is only meant for use when the BOI immigration office is your serving immigration office.

[Pib]

 

Update:   Known LTR Approvals as of 4 Nov 2022 based on posts in this thread I saw.  ashkale added to the list...don't know when he got the initial approval notice based on this posts...probably early/mid Oct.   I may have missed some...please speak-up if you have been approved.

 

Poster & Date Approval Notice Rec'd

1.  ThailandRyan  28 Sep

2.  pepper402  29 Sep

3.  gajah  30 Sep

4.  mudcat  4 Oct

5.  Misty   4 Oct

6.  stuarty  4 Oct

7.  Boomer6969   5 Oct

8.   BKKNono  15 Sep

9.  Alotoftravel  4 Oct

10. aublumberg 12 Oct

11.  James7  4 Oct 

12.  ashkale ?? Oct?

[mudcat]

Sorry about attaching the wrong TM - here is the TM.95/

TM.95 blank.pdf

Edited November 4, 2022 by mudcat
correct

[ashkale]

Got my approval notice September 28- deadline for endorsement was November 28. Re Bank - I opened at SCB Terminal 21- Went there earlier in the week with the approval notification letters and the staff were patient enough to make enquiries with the HQ and told me to contact them in a couple of days ( even without the stamp they would have probably opened the account). Bangkok Bank would open an account if I could get a letter or a certified passport copy from my consulate even without any visa. Other banks  ( UOB/TTB/K/LH) totally refused to entertain the LTR- claiming they are not part of the scheme, whatever that meant.

I was also under the impression that it was all digital payments- got a kind colleague with a thai bank account to accompany me just in case.

[Pib]

Just now, mudcat said:

Sorry about attachinTM.95 blank.pdfg the wrong TM - here is the TM.95TM.95 blank.pdf

Thanks....Did you get it from some Thai govt/immigration website?  If so, which one?  

[ashkale]

All the forms are prefilled and available to download/ print from the system- I had brought along the blanks but the staff at BOI asked me to login at the computer terminal in the office and helped me print all the prefilled forms. 

[Pib]

 

Update:   Known LTR Approvals as of 4 Nov 2022 based on posts in this thread I saw.  ashkale's initial approval notice date updated.   I may have missed some...please speak-up if you have been approved.

 

Poster & Date Approval Notice Rec'd

1.  ThailandRyan  28 Sep

2.  pepper402  29 Sep

3.  gajah  30 Sep

4.  mudcat  4 Oct

5.  Misty   4 Oct

6.  stuarty  4 Oct

7.  Boomer6969   5 Oct

8.   BKKNono  15 Sep

9.  Alotoftravel  4 Oct

10. aublumberg 12 Oct

11.  James7  4 Oct 

12.  ashkale 28 Sep

[mudcat]

I doubt that the TM.95 is intended to be used only at One Stop Service Center, as the notice of when to review states:

 

Any alien who has been granted a Long - Term

Resident Visa (LTR Visa) and permitted to temporarily

stay in the Kingdom must notify a competent official

at a local or central immigration office of his/her

address every year.

[ashkale]

The BOI officer asked me to come back next year to them for the reporting..

[mudcat]

Traveling to Bangkok annually for a ministerial report of address makes no sense, and is counter to the approved notice from the Royal Gazette that aublumberg kindly posted and I repost here. 

The  notice we receive from immigration is on page 4 ant the TM.95 we are required to file is page 16. 

T_0024.PDF

[Pib]

9 minutes ago, ashkale said:

Got my approval notice September 28- deadline for endorsement was November 28. Re Bank - I opened at SCB Terminal 21- Went there earlier in the week with the approval notification letters and the staff were patient enough to make enquiries with the HQ and told me to contact them in a couple of days ( even without the stamp they would have probably opened the account). Bangkok Bank would open an account if I could get a letter or a certified passport copy from my consulate even without any visa. Other banks  ( UOB/TTB/K/LH) totally refused to entertain the LTR- claiming they are not part of the scheme, whatever that meant.

I was also under the impression that it was all digital payments- got a kind colleague with a thai bank account to accompany me just in case.

The part about Bangkok Bank only opening an acct if you get a letter from your home country embassy which is basically just confirming it a valid passport has been Bangkok Bank's policy for any type of visa, whether you are a potential or long time customer.   While Bangkok Bank can also opt to accept some other docs/references in lieu of the embassy letter most (not all) Bangkok Bank branches will ask for the letter.  As This Is Thailand some branches will not ask for the embassy letter which is going to cost a person $50 at the embassy.

[ThailandRyan]

7 minutes ago, mudcat said:

Traveling to Bangkok annually for a ministerial report of address makes no sense, and is counter to the approved notice from the Royal Gazette that aublumberg kindly posted and I repost here. 

The  notice we receive from immigration is on page 4 ant the TM.95 we are required to file is page 16. 

T_0024.PDF 941.34 kB · 1 download

Yet one wonders if it can be mailed in to the BOI OSS when the time comes.

[Pib]

16 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

Update:   Known LTR Approvals as of 4 Nov 2022 based on posts in this thread I saw.  ashkale's initial approval notice date updated.   I may have missed some...please speak-up if you have been approved.

 

Poster & Date Approval Notice Rec'd

1.  ThailandRyan  28 Sep

2.  pepper402  29 Sep

3.  gajah  30 Sep

4.  mudcat  4 Oct

5.  Misty   4 Oct

6.  stuarty  4 Oct

7.  Boomer6969   5 Oct

8.   BKKNono  15 Sep

9.  Alotoftravel  4 Oct

10. aublumberg 12 Oct

11.  James7  4 Oct 

12.  ashkale 28 Sep

Other than BKKnono and blumbery who got their initial approvals in mid Sep and mid Oct, respectively, all other initial approvals occurred the final days of Sep/early days of Oct.   Expect all of these folks submitted their applications in early Sep.,,,folks who were knocking on BOI's door as soon as they opened for applications in early Sep.

 

Other than aublumbery's initial approval notice in mid Oct it's pretty much been a dry spell for new approvals since early Oct.   Wonder why?  Maybe a lot fewer applications?   Or maybe BOI is bogged down in trying to process many applications?  Maybe AseanNow members simply not posting their LTR application results on AseanNow?   Maybe ?????

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, Pib said:

Other than BKKnono and blumbery who got their initial approvals in mid Sep and mid Oct, respectively, all other initial approvals occurred the final days of Sep/early days of Oct.   Expect all of these folks submitted their applications in early Sep.,,,folks who were knocking on BOI's door as soon as they opened for applications in early Sep.

 

Other than aublumbery's initial approval notice in mid Oct it's pretty much been a dry spell for new approvals since early Oct.   Wonder why?  Maybe a lot fewer applications?   Or maybe BOI is bogged down in trying to process many applications?  Maybe AseanNow members simply not posting their LTR application results on AseanNow?   Maybe ?????

 

 

Maybe not many are members of the forum herein.  I have looked on Reddit and a few others,have not checked Facebook as I don't use it, but there are probably folks talking about it somewhere else.

[K2938]

7 hours ago, ashkale said:

paid in cash

Just to confirm:  You paid the 50k THB for the visa without problem IN CASH at the BOI office in Bangkok?  I am asking because earlier on there were reports that they neither accept cash, nor credit cards but only the QR code payment with a Thai bank account (which of course people who have not lived in Thailand before probably will not have)

[ashkale]

Yes 50k in cash in a brown envelope which was intended for my colleague LOL.

[ashkale]

While I was at the BOI 3 tables were occupied with what appeared to be mainland Chinese talking about investing Millions ( or was it Billions) of baht, while the actual immigration side was full of Japanese waiting to be stamped (Not LTR), LTR window I was the only applicant the time I was there and the only one in the building without a mask...

[ThailandRyan]

57 minutes ago, K2938 said:

Just to confirm:  You paid the 50k THB for the visa without problem IN CASH at the BOI office in Bangkok?  I am asking because earlier on there were reports that they neither accept cash, nor credit cards but only the QR code payment with a Thai bank account (which of course people who have not lived in Thailand before probably will not have)

Yes, The initial report came from myself witha photo of the issue at hand.  It seems that someone must have finally understood the issue that some who obtained the LTR were here on a different kind of entry visa and might not have an account at a Thai bank.  Lets hope it stays that way for those who get the LTR Visa in country from now on out.  Lots of Hiccups with a new program and we are the first to venture forth

[Pib]

9 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Maybe not many are members of the forum herein.  I have looked on Reddit and a few others,have not checked Facebook as I don't use it, but there are probably folks talking about it somewhere else.

Oh, yea....I'm sure it's being talked on other forums and threads.  Like I saw one reddit thread that had over a hundred posts in it (and a lot of them were clueless type posts) but there was only one or two posters who said they had got the LTR already....one of those reddit posters is also a poster in this thread who posted very good info.  And I also saw one poster here on AseanNow in another thread who said he got approved in a one-liner post but I didn't add him to the list since he hasn't posted/mentioned anything in this thread.    Although I have a Facebook acct I rarely use Facebook.   And my google searches usually end-up at the BOI LTR website or this particular thread.  

[aublumberg]

10 hours ago, Pib said:

[...] it's pretty much been a dry spell for new approvals since early Oct.   Wonder why?  Maybe a lot fewer applications?   Or maybe BOI is bogged down in trying to process many applications?  Maybe AseanNow members simply not posting their LTR application results on AseanNow?   Maybe ?????

I have a slightly different theory: many of the contributors here have been aware of the program for some time and thought about it and were part of the early wave. Interest has been growing gradually since the program was initially announced last year (?) and when the LTR application process launched there was relatively strong demand immediately. BOI has now worked through that initial spike of ~1,000+ applications in the first 6 - 8 weeks. I may be off here but would estimate that the rate of successful applicants is 20 - 25% only, perhaps less. Why? Well, because the requirements are not trivial and at this stage they are being strictly adhered to and there is not a lot of flexibility.

 

Now we are entering the second phase where reality sets in. Word gets around that the criteria are firm, at the same time the LTR program becomes more widely known beyond the small core group of early adopters. More promotion will happen, word gets out. Banks will start to become aware of it, law firms, accountancies (tax benefits), immigration agencies as well as employers etc. The recent discussion in the news about foreigners being able to buy and own up to one rai land and the LTR visa being a condition of that (quite radical) new concept will bring LTR into the mainstream news quickly. (As a side note, I doubt this program will ever launch.) That will drive a second wave of interest, but currently we're in a demand trough. The third phase is the steady state long-term phase where there is very wide awareness and a steady stream of applications. Just how much volume that phase will see is a big question ... early days. It also depends on whether the entry criteria will be static or lowered to expand the addressable market.

 

 

 

[Pib]

8 minutes ago, aublumberg said:

 BOI has now worked through that initial spike of ~1,000+ applications in the first 6 - 8 weeks. I may be off here but would estimate that the rate of successful applicants is 20 - 25% only, perhaps less. Why? Well, because the requirements are not trivial and at this stage they are being strictly adhered to and there is not a lot of flexibility.

Agree.   The government's goal of 1 million farangs over 5 years (200K per year) taking advantage of the LTR visa is going to be a goal missed by a country mile.

[K2938]

3 hours ago, Pib said:

The government's goal of 1 million farangs over 5 years (200K per year) taking advantage of the LTR visa is going to be a goal missed by a country mile

... which is why somebody somewhere will probably be under a lot of pressure because of the performance of this program.  Even the pent up early adapter demand boom only led to about 1000 applications in a little less than two months and that is applications, not visas issued.  This program is attractive to those with an interest in Thailand who happen to either fulfill the $80k income or fulfill the $40k income and already have $250k in real estate investments in Thailand, but this pool of people is very very limited.  From all others who would have to buy Thai government bonds or make new investments into Thai real estate, demand is probably going to be quite limited and even an income of $40k is a very big number for most people.  So the 1 million in 5 years will almost certainly be hugely hugely missed.

Edited November 4, 2022 by K2938

[Mike Teavee]

6 hours ago, K2938 said:

This program is attractive to those with an interest in Thailand who happen to either fulfill the $80k income or fulfill the $40k income and already have $250k in real estate investments in Thailand

The wording on most sites seems to be a bit ambiguous on this point...  

In case of personal income below USD 80,000/year but no less than USD 40,000/year, applicants must invest at least USD 250,000 in Thai government bonds, foreign direct investment, or Thai property 

 

But I read it as new investment & @Pibposted a link earlier in the thread that seemed to confirm this....  https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Announcement_of the Office of the Board of Investment No.2-2565 (EN).pdf

 

Does anybody know for sure whether existing investment can be used to meet the criteria or does it have to be fresh investment brought in after applying for the visa.... E.g. If I already own a 10Million baht Condo would this count as the additional $250K investment or would I need to bring in another 9.4Million baht?

Edited November 4, 2022 by Mike Teavee

[Pib]

 

Mike,

   To me the requirement is clear....the property investment must have occurred "before date of LTR application."  The requirement does not say within 90 days before application, within 1 to 365 days before application, etc., or some recent date.   The property investment just needed to occur "before" the date of LTR application and you need to provide the documents proving the investment.  And I'm fully expect it can not be an investment you made before but sold before applying....it needs to be a property investment you made before applying and you still own.  Some snapshots from the application below.

 

 

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, Pib said:

To me the requirement is clear....the property investment must have occurred "before date of LTR application." 

Thanks... I originally read the image you posted  

...as needing $250K plus an existing investment in Thailand but I can see now that it probably worded badly & really should be read as any investment you have in Thailand can be used to cover/offset against the $250K.

 

This obviously makes a massive difference to guys who already own property (in their own name) and brings the LTR Visa within the reach of many more Retirees. 

[Pib]

Yea, the BOI announcement is not worded well regarding the $250K investment for below $80K but at least $40K pensioners as it can imply a person needs to invest $250K in something they don't define "and" then they start talking about an investment in bonds, investment in a company, or property which can imply an additional investment amount on top of $250K.

 

What they really mean to say is a person must make an investment of at least $250K in bonds, company, or property. The BOI info graphics are much clearer.

 

[stuarty]

I got the visas for me and mrs stuarty yesterday from the London embassy 

it took 7 working days. They were said ( in the status online) to be emailed and I did get an email with my visa but wife did not. However when I went back into her online account I saw that it was there ( so watch for that if you are waiting for an email) for downloading so we just did that and printed both out. 
The length of stay is 5 years so we will see what happens at immigration at Phuket airport in December 

My wife’s passport will expire next year. Can any visa like this in an expired passport be transferred to a new passport by Thai immigration upon request? Or will she need to carry both passports for 4 years?

 

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by stuarty

[Billpro785]

In the process of applying now, have the docs to show the 80K USD for the 2 years and the medical insurance, but stuck on the lines 3 and 4 . What did you guys submit for that ? 

[Pib]

 

Update:   Known LTR Approvals as of 5 Nov 2022 based on posts in this thread I saw.  Added stuarty's wife to the list  as #7.   I may have missed some...please speak-up if you have been approved.

 

Poster & Date Approval Notice Rec'd

1.  ThailandRyan  28 Sep

2.  pepper402  29 Sep

3.  gajah  30 Sep

4.  mudcat  4 Oct

5.  Misty   4 Oct

6. & 7.  stuarty (and wife) 4 Oct

8.  Boomer6969   5 Oct

9.   BKKNono  15 Sep

10.  Alotoftravel  4 Oct

11.  aublumberg 12 Oct

12.  James7  4 Oct 

13.  ashkale 28 Sep

[ThailandRyan]

8 minutes ago, Billpro785 said:

In the process of applying now, have the docs to show the 80K USD for the 2 years and the medical insurance, but stuck on the lines 3 and 4 . What did you guys submit for that ? 

I left it blank.  I only uploaded my Pensions letter of income my PCH Health certificate, a photo and a word document Indicating I did not require a work permit. Unless you do not have 80k annually on a pension those documents are not needed.

Edited November 5, 2022 by ThailandRyan