LTR Visa is Now available for Long Term Residency

[Misty]

On 10/29/2022 at 11:08 AM, aublumberg said:

So this morning I arrived in Bangkok for the first time after receiving my LTR-T visa sticker at the Royal Thai Consulate in Hong Kong. Used the Fast Track channel, LTR is not specifically written on the signage but Smart Visa is. This is the same channel used by Air Crew and what I normally also use with the APEC card. No material difference in queueing time as it was fairly quiet today, but can be helpful if it’s busy.

 

The very charming immigration officer Khun Annie had never seen a LTR visa and had to ring her colleague on the phone first to clarify but then swiftly figured out the five year entry duration. Her supervisor walked by and she double confirmed with him again. She was quite curious and asked how long it took to get the visa. Most pleasant conversation. 

Another update: arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday and went through the Fast track channel. Gave the IO a print-out of my LTR e-visa.    As with aublumberg's report above, the IO hadn't seen this type of visa below and called for a supervisor to come take a look.  After a little bit of consultation, the IO put a stamp in my passport - admitted "11 Nov 2022" until "9/11/2027."  Hand wrote in "LTR- " and "E-visa" and my flight number. All pretty straightforward. IO said "you can stay for 5 years" as I collected my passport and looked at the stamp. 

 

I'm planning a trip flying out of Don Muang over the holidays.  Will report back what happens upon exiting Thailand at DM.

 

Just a side note - my flight was fully booked and airport was extremely busy, much more busy than I've seen it since pandemic.  Not sure if this is related to APEC, or was just a normal Friday as tourist travel picks up.

[aublumberg]

Does anyone have an answer or consulted legal advice on this topic of 90 day reporting requirement? Of course we have all read it in the BOI brochures but where is it anchored in the law? I wasn’t able to find anything in the LTR website regulatory section.

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

47 minutes ago, aublumberg said:

Does anyone have an answer or consulted legal advice on this topic of 90 day reporting requirement? Of course we have all read it in the BOI brochures but where is it anchored in the law? I wasn’t able to find anything in the LTR website regulatory section.

 

 

Only once a year reporting is necessary if you stay in the country for the full year. If you leave near the end of the year and then return your 1 year clock starts anew. I posted the piece of paper they stapled in my passport when I was stamped into the country for my 5 year period. This was verified by the LTR BOI folks as well. The immigration section it is listed under is listed as B.E. 2523 section 76

[aublumberg]

44 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Only once a year reporting is necessary if you stay in the country for the full year. If you leave near the end of the year and then return your 1 year clock starts anew. I posted the piece of paper they stapled in my passport when I was stamped into the country for my 5 year period. This was verified by the LTR BOI folks as well. The immigration section it is listed under is listed as B.E. 2523 section 76

Thank you @ThailandRyan. Yes if you travel in and out then it resets every time, even for 90 day reporting.

 

Section 76 only talks about the penalty mechanism: “Section 76 : Any alien, alien, who fails to comply with the provisions of Section 37(2),(3),(4)or(5) shall be punished with a fine not exceeding 5,000 Baht and with and additional fine not exceeding 200 Baht for each day which passes until the law is complied with.”

 

Section 37 lists the actual requirements for reporting: “Section 37: An alien having received a temporary entry permit into the Kingdom must comply with the following:  […]
5. If the alien stays in the Kingdom longer than ninety days, such alien must notify the competent official at the Immigration Division, in writing, concerning his place of stay, as soon as possible upon expiration of ninety days. The alien is required to do so every ninety days. Where there is
an Immigration Office, the alien may notify a competent Immigration Official of that office.”

 

Of course I am not disputing the stapled notice in your passport nor the BOI material. I’m just after the legal details that provide the foundation of the LTR reporting rules.

[Misty]

4 hours ago, aublumberg said:

Thank you @ThailandRyan. Yes if you travel in and out then it resets every time, even for 90 day reporting.

 

Section 76 only talks about the penalty mechanism: “Section 76 : Any alien, alien, who fails to comply with the provisions of Section 37(2),(3),(4)or(5) shall be punished with a fine not exceeding 5,000 Baht and with and additional fine not exceeding 200 Baht for each day which passes until the law is complied with.”

 

Section 37 lists the actual requirements for reporting: “Section 37: An alien having received a temporary entry permit into the Kingdom must comply with the following:  […]
5. If the alien stays in the Kingdom longer than ninety days, such alien must notify the competent official at the Immigration Division, in writing, concerning his place of stay, as soon as possible upon expiration of ninety days. The alien is required to do so every ninety days. Where there is
an Immigration Office, the alien may notify a competent Immigration Official of that office.”

 

Of course I am not disputing the stapled notice in your passport nor the BOI material. I’m just after the legal details that provide the foundation of the LTR reporting rules.

I'm not sure if this helps, but have you seen this document on the BoI's LTR site:  https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/laws-regulations.html   If you click on the link, you get a pdf file of "Order of the Immigration Bureau No. 150-2565 TH" .  Go to page 4 of document, ตัวอย่าง ใบนัดรำยงำนตัว 1 ปี (LTR Visa)

 

 

[JimGant]

8 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

I posted the piece of paper they stapled in my passport when I was stamped into the country for my 5 year period.

At least that piece of paper says you can report to a competent official at either a central Imm office, or a local one. One report on this thread has someone being advised that you must go to Bangkok for your annual report, which is bonkers. Even having to go to your local Imm office is nuts, if this new visa is trying to cut out bureaucratic irritants. By mail would be ok; piggybacking on the 90 day system, even better. Of course, if you travel at least once a year, no reporting needed.

[K2938]

10 hours ago, Misty said:

To answer your question, yes, we applied for and received two LTR visas - one main one and one for family member. 

Did you have to pay extra for the family member visa or was this all included in the 50 000 THB LTR fee for you (or respectively your marked up version of this if getting the visa outside Thailand which I think you did)?

Edited November 12, 2022 by K2938

[aublumberg]

2 hours ago, Misty said:

I'm not sure if this helps, but have you seen this document on the BoI's LTR site:  https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/laws-regulations.html   If you click on the link, you get a pdf file of "Order of the Immigration Bureau No. 150-2565 TH" .  Go to page 4 of document, ตัวอย่าง ใบนัดรำยงำนตัว 1 ปี (LTR Visa)

 

 

Thank you @Misty yes this helps indeed, missed this.

 

Also on middle of page 6 ข้อ 6 กำรรำยงำนตัวแจ้งที่พักอำศัยทุก 1 ปี
คนต่ำงด้ำวที่ได้รับอนุญำตให้อยู่ในรำชอำณำจักร LTR Visa ต้องมำรำยงำนตัว 
แจ้งที่พักอำศัยเมื่อพ ำนักในรำชอำณำจักรครบทุก 1 ปี นับแต่วันที่ได้รับอนุญำตให้อยู่ในรำชอำณำจักร
โดยให้คนต่ำงด้ำวยื่นแบบกำรแจ้งอยู่เกินกว่ำ 1 ปี ของบุคคลต่ำงด้ำวที่ได้รับกำรตรวจลงตรำประเภท 
คนอยู่ชั่วครำวเป็นกรณีพิเศษ ประเภทผู้พ ำนักระยะยำว (LTR Visa) ตำมแบบ ตม.95 (ผนวก จ).

[stuarty]

12 minutes ago, K2938 said:

Did you have to pay extra for the family member visa or was this all included in the 50 000 THB LTR fee for you (or respectively your marked up version of this if getting the visa outside Thailand which I think you did)?

The charge is per person. I paid £1500 each for me and my wife. Just as well no other dependents because for a family of 4 say, it’s expensive 

[JimGant]

On 11/11/2022 at 7:02 PM, Zuman said:

Today I received an email requesting additional information, specifically a 1099-R form for 2021. I found this to be a strange request as my pension and IRA distributions are listed on my 2021 1040 tax return which they already have

Your 2021 tax return is self-prepared, which wouldn't hold much water, unless accompanied by 1099s or W2s. Particularly if your tax return is joint, thus necessitating a break out of each's income, which a 1099 would do.

 

But, in the "documents required" for Wealthy Pensioners I cannot find a requirement for tax returns, only the following:

 

Quote

Evidence showing the incomes in current year e.g bank statement or pension

https://ltr.boi.go.th/

And, of course, a tax return wouldn't show "incomes in current year."

 

Now, in the same document, the documents required for a Wealthy Global person are:

 

Quote

Evidence of income tax payment or annual personal income tax
return showing income of no less than 80,000 per year in the past 2 years

Now, in the following link, both pensioners and global folks have the same requirement:

https://visa.boi.go.th/

 

Quote

Evidence of income tax payment or annual personal income tax return

Anyway, I have yet to apply -- waiting for the learning curve to flatten. But, as a pensioner, is there, indeed, a requirement to submit evidence of tax payments -- or can I just show official evidence of current income? Thanx.

 

 

 

[Pib]

 

Update:   Known LTR Approvals as of 12 Nov 2022 based on posts in this thread I saw.  Added misty's family member to the list who got approved the same time as Misty.   Also ordered list by date of initial approval date.  I may have missed some...please speak-up if you have been approved.   

 

Note: the last initial approval was on 12 Oct which makes it a full month since anyone has identified themselves (or family member) in garnering an initial approval.

 

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

[Misty]

1 hour ago, K2938 said:

Did you have to pay extra for the family member visa or was this all included in the 50 000 THB LTR fee for you (or respectively your marked up version of this if getting the visa outside Thailand which I think you did)?

In the US it was $1600 per LTR e-visa (so x 2), payable by debit or credit card online.

[K2938]

1 hour ago, JimGant said:

But, as a pensioner, is there, indeed, a requirement to submit evidence of tax payments -- or can I just show official evidence of current income?

The BOI still seems to be working out what it requires and is learning on the go (which is good!).  As there are countries without income tax and as in many countries with income tax with careful structuring at least some income can legally be received tax free, e.g. if it is offshore and the country has a territorial tax system, it would be silly for the BOI to insist on an income tax statement for everybody as a matter of course

Edited November 12, 2022 by K2938

[keemapoot]

14 hours ago, JimGant said:

Anyway, I have yet to apply -- waiting for the learning curve to flatten. But, as a pensioner, is there, indeed, a requirement to submit evidence of tax payments -- or can I just show official evidence of current income? Thanx.

I just applied yesterday, and I used tax transcripts, combined with 1099s etc.. I seem to recall that someone else had maybe used tax transcripts (which are much more official than tax returns), so we will see if they accept these.

[mudcat]

I submitted my IRS transcript which is non-editable with Social Security number(s) showing only the last four digits.  

 

Be helpful to point out the lines showing the income you wish to be considered, e.g. Social Security full benefit, pension, and any IRA distributions.

[K2938]

3 hours ago, mudcat said:

IRA distributions

Do you know if the BOI accepts "IRA distributions" for the 80k USD income proof?

[Pib]

18 minutes ago, K2938 said:

 

Do you know if the BOI accepts "IRA distributions" for the 80k USD income proof?

According to the BOI rep in this youtuble video (same as the one I posted earlier in this thread) it sure seems it would be for a Wealthy Pensioner since it's not a wage, salary, or tip.   Watch the video from 12:50 to 15:45 where it's addressed.

 

 

 

[JJJJJJJJ]

@Misty

Do you need to go to the embassy in person for the evisa? Does the visa say you have to enter Thailand on some specific date? 

 

PS: I applied the LTR and got BOI approval last week. 

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by JJJJJJJJ

[Misty]

20 minutes ago, JJJJJJJJ said:

@Misty

Do you need to go to the embassy in person for the evisa? Does the visa say you have to enter Thailand on some specific date? 

 

PS: I applied the LTR and got BOI approval last week. 

 

Hi J - congratulations!  Just for Pib's records, when did you apply?

 

If you live in a location where the Thai embassy or consulate grants e-visas, no, you don't go there in person.  It's all done online, and you'll get the e-visa as a pdf by email.  Once you have the BoI's "Notification Letter" of approval, you can create an account at this site to apply for the LTR e-visa:  https://www.thaievisa.go.th/

 

My LTR e-visa says:

 

Date of grant: 25 October 2022

Visa must be used by: 24 October 2032

 

So that's five years....hope this helps!

 

[Pib]

51 minutes ago, JJJJJJJJ said:

@Misty

Do you need to go to the embassy in person for the evisa? Does the visa say you have to enter Thailand on some specific date? 

 

PS: I applied the LTR and got BOI approval last week. 

 

Congrats.  We'll add you to the list of approved folks.   

 

What specific date did you get your initial notice of approval last week?  And as good info for those listening-in who are wondering how long it takes to get that initial approval, what date did you apply? 

 

Thanks...and congrats again.

[Boomer6969]

On 11/12/2022 at 10:02 AM, ThailandRyan said:

If you leave near the end of the year and then return your 1 year clock starts anew.

I haven't seen anything explicit written to that effect, even though one can think is is implied in "an alien who has been staying in the kingdom longer that 1 year".

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, Boomer6969 said:

I haven't seen anything explicit written to that effect, even though one can think is is implied in "an alien who has been staying in the kingdom longer that 1 year".

 

I asked the LTR BOI unit this exact question and they said leaving and returning resets your year stay as far as reporting. It's the same for a 90 day report as well.

Edited November 14, 2022 by ThailandRyan

[Boomer6969]

4 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

I asked the LTR BOI unit this exact question and they said leaving and returning resets your year stay as far as reporting. It's the same for a 90 day report as well.

What bothers me is that it is an address reporting requirement, so it could be understood in many ways. Everyone wants to assume it is a clone of the 90 days report, while it could be more of a yearly TM30. Hence requiring filing after returning to the Kingdom. The truth is we don't know anything for certain yet, neither does BOI/IB, they'll probably look into it not before next August.

[JJJJJJJJ]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Congrats.  We'll add you to the list of approved folks.   

 

What specific date did you get your initial notice of approval last week?  And as good info for those listening-in who are wondering how long it takes to get that initial approval, what date did you apply? 

 

Thanks...and congrats again.

I applied on Sep 1, the first day of the opening and got approval last Tuesday. 

[JJJJJJJJ]

2 hours ago, Misty said:

Hi J - congratulations!  Just for Pib's records, when did you apply?

 

If you live in a location where the Thai embassy or consulate grants e-visas, no, you don't go there in person.  It's all done online, and you'll get the e-visa as a pdf by email.  Once you have the BoI's "Notification Letter" of approval, you can create an account at this site to apply for the LTR e-visa:  https://www.thaievisa.go.th/

 

My LTR e-visa says:

 

Date of grant: 25 October 2022

Visa must be used by: 24 October 2032

 

So that's five years....hope this helps!

 

In your visa, in the line of the visa condition, there is a sentence of Thai, What does it say? Does it give you the date you have to enter Thailand for the first travel to active the visa, otherwise the visa will be void. Something like that? 

[K2938]

49 minutes ago, JJJJJJJJ said:

I applied on Sep 1, the first day of the opening and got approval last Tuesday. 

That is quite a long approval time given that the BOI says they would aim for 20 business days for approval.  Did they ask for a lot of additional documents or were they just slow?

[Pib]

 

Update:   Known LTR Approvals as of 14 Nov 2022 based on posts in this thread I saw.  Added JJJJJJJJ who received his initial approval on 8 Nov.   I may have missed some approvals...please speak-up if you have been approved.   

 

Note: glad to see another approved application with JJJJJJJJ's approval on 8 Nov....he applied 1 Sep.  Until he announced his approval our last known approval was back on 12 Oct....then before that a bunch the last days or Sep and early days of Oct who applied in early Sep.  Yea, since early Oct the number of approvals has really dropped off...or at least it appears that way based on those who post in this thread.

 

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

Edited November 14, 2022 by Pib

[Pib]

14 minutes ago, K2938 said:

That is quite a long approval time given that the BOI says they would aim for 20 business days for approval.  Did they ask for a lot of additional documents or were they just slow?

I was wondering the same thing.   Hopefully JJJJJJJJ will give us more insight on how his approval went like any requests for additional/updated docs which may have greatly slowed down the processing....or, if additional/updated docs didn't slow the process then it sure appears BOI is just slowing down in processing applications.

[JJJJJJJJ]

BOI people are slow. But sooner or later you will get it. 

[Misty]

5 hours ago, JJJJJJJJ said:

In your visa, in the line of the visa condition, there is a sentence of Thai, What does it say? Does it give you the date you have to enter Thailand for the first travel to active the visa, otherwise the visa will be void. Something like that? 

No, the Visa conditions in Thai just say the visa was approved according to the BoI's Notification Letter.  There is a line in English which says  "Visa must be used by 24 October 2032"