LTR Visa on SS from USA - Medical Insurance

[Faltu]

Planning to get an LTR Visa using US SS pension. As the payment at FRA is exceeding 3K USD/month for many people (mine will be $3600 in 2026 without COLA) in the USA, what are the prospects of getting an LTR visa? It still requires a health insurance or 100K USD in a bank, I assume. What are forum members thoughts on this visa? Is it better to get an LTR or the traditional Non-O retirement? My plan is 50/50 in Thailand and USA from 2026. Right now I stay 50/50 in the USA/Thailand using an agent assisted (12.5K THB/year) Non-O. The only benefits I see for me is the ability to work legally (which I do right now anyway as a remote worker) and to avoid 90-day reporting (which costs me 100 baht now). Hence, I don't see great benefits using an LTR for retirement. 

Any thoughts and other benefits? Pros and cons? Thank you all. 

[Captain Monday]

Will you have to buy $500 thousand USD in Thai govt bonds or condos still?

[CartagenaWarlock]

Just now, Captain Monday said:

Will you have to buy $500 thousand USD in Thai govt bonds or condos still?

I may be wrong as I am not looking into it but a friend told me that if you have 80K USD as your pension, you don't need any bond or condo. 

[Captain Monday]

I think I am referencing the “wealthy global person” option. I can take SS from 62 also. 

[Martyjustice]

The METV is so much easier and if planned right can get you close to 8 months if used just before expiring. Close to 9 if you ask for a 30 day after the last use. It helps to be close to a border. Just pop out and in every 60 days. 

[leinez]

For LTR - Wealthy Pensioner -, the requirements are pretty strict, $80k in passive income per year. That can be SS, Rental income, dividends, interest, capital gains.  They will add it all together and "follow the rules". You will have to provide tax returns/evidence.

In terms of insurance, you either have to have $100k in "liquid savings" over the last 12 months (cash/deposits - investments are not accepted) or you can get the min required health insurance.  AXA offers a health insurance plan for LTR (THB 300,000 deductible, THB 2,000,000 max), if you are in the 65-70 age range, it will be about THB 21,000/year. 

Once a year reporting, fast track airport access for immigration and THB 50k cost for 10 years make it attractive IMHO

 

[Srikcir]

29 minutes ago, leinez said:

can get the min required health insurance. 

You can use foreign healthcare insurance. Just need endorsement letter from the provider with original signature(s) from appropriate company executive(s) ascertaining your policy duration, overall coverage, in-patient/out-patient coverage, etc. that meets the minimum required for LTR. For any clarifications you can call or email the Thailand Board Of Investment in Bangkok, sponsors of the LTR visa.

[Srikcir]

34 minutes ago, leinez said:

You will have to provide tax returns/evidence.

From my experience, do not redact any information in what you submit or documents will be rejected.

[Pib]

OP,

  Income-wise $3600/month in pension equates to $43.2K/year which means you would need to apply for an LTR Pensioner visa under the "at least $40K but less than $80K" LTR criteria where an investment of at least $250K in Thai govt bonds, foreign direct investment, or property would also be required.  Now, if you "already" own a residence in Thailand you bought in the past for at least $250K and still own the residence then that would satisfy the $250K investment requirement; no need for a new $250K investment.   

  

   If  you have other retirement investments/fixed income like an IRA, 401K, annuity, bonds, etc., which when added to your $3600/year SSA pension gets your annual pension/fixed income to at least $80K then no investment in Thailand is required.

  

   And assuming you do not have Thai social security medical coverage you will need a $50K health insurance policy or self-insure for $100K regardless of the LTR visa applying for.

 

   Sounds like in your case you are probably better off sticking with the annual Non-O visa.   But if you can meet the LTR requirements, especially if your income is at least $80K year which bypasses any investment requirement personally I think an LTR visa is an excellent choice. 

 

   A 10 year LTR visa would cost Bt50K (a "one time: fee only if approved; if LTR application is not approved then no fee).  As mentioned this is a onetime fee for the 10 year visa which is really a 5 yr + 5 yr visa....gives you a Permitted to Stay stamp for an initial 5 years and then you must extend at the LTR visa mid point to get the 2nd 5 years....no fee cost for the 2nd 5 years as the initial Bt50K covered visa fees for the entire 10 year LTR visa period.   

 

   You also qualify for a  work permit (if desired...it's optional when applying for a LTR visa) but that work permit does cost an additional Bt3K/year and you pay for 5 years at time for a total of Bt15K....you would need this work permit if also planning to work in Thailand for a Thai employer or work in your own Thai company.  But if you are working remotely paying for that work permit would not be required since you are not working for a Thai company.

 

   Personally, I think an LTR visa is a good way to go "if", repeat, if a person meets the $80K income requirement which requires no further investment OR receives $40K-$80K income which requires a $250K investment "which is met by a Thai residence they own/plan to buy that's worth $250K (regardless of visa type...retiring to Thailand no matter what).  Not needing to worry about an "annual" renewal, maybe associated agent-assisted annual fees like the Bt12.5K you pay...also getting a work permit if a person wants to continue to legally work while retired...a multiple reentry permit good for the life of the LTR visa (no extra fee)...address reporting every 365 days vs 90 days, etc.,  just provides a great deal of "peace of mind" visa-wise.  Instead of the "annual" visa game (concern....worry...effort) you only play the game every 5 years. 

 

Up to you.

 

 

[Pib]

10 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

Will you have to buy $500 thousand USD in Thai govt bonds or condos still?

5 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

I think I am referencing the “wealthy global person” option. I can take SS from 62 also. 

The LTR Wealthy Global Citizen visa requires $80K/year income, $1M in assets (foreign and/or Thailand) "and" a $500K investment in Thailand.  Income-wise "all three" income requirements must be met....not one, not two, all three.   Also health insurance required. 

 

Each LTR visa type (5 different types when also counting the Spouse/Dependents LTR visa) has different requirements such as the income requirement.   Like the LTR Wealthy Global Citizen visa income requirement is the toughest as discussed above  and the LTR Spouse/Dependents visa is the easiest with no income requirement.

 

See BoI LTR website for full details on the various LTR visa types.

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

[mudcat]

A U.S. tax transcript has one's personal identifications redacted or truncated.  Simply point out the lines for one's pension, IRA withdrawals, and total social security income.   The transcript is write protected so information cannot be altered or copied. 

 

There has been considerable back and forth on the $100,000 deposit as a substitute for health insurance.  When I demonstrated more than that amount in my Roth IRA and provided information about the availability of the funds BOI did accept it.  

 

Although I used my Roth IRA to qualify, I would urge anyone who is able to obtain either international or Thai based health insurance to consider that as an option - I have always considered insurance to cover expenses I would not choose to pay for out of savings.  The last thing I would want is to be in an argument between my Medicare provider and a Thai hospital about who is going to pay for my treatment.   

 

I carry a Pacific Cross Maxima policy with both inpatient and outpatient care with high limits that are reduced  by a high deductible and a number of pre-existing exclusions.  At 74-years old after three-years of no claims my annual premium is ~105,000 Thai baht.  Not cheap, but I don't want to be scrambling around trying to cover initial treatment cost and looking for an airline to haul me back home to get treatment under Medicare in whatever condition I am in.

[Pib]

2 minutes ago, mudcat said:

There has been considerable back and forth on the $100,000 deposit as a substitute for health insurance.  When I demonstrated more than that amount in my Roth IRA and provided information about the availability of the funds BOI did accept it.  

But your application was during the first few months of the LTR kickoff (i.e., Sep-Nov)...it appears around late Nov/Dec 2022 BoI stopped accepting investment like 401K, IRA, etc., for self insuring based on various posts, DMs, and follow-ups with BOI. 

 

Instead it needs to be a cash/highly liquid type of acct where month/very periodic cash balance transactions could be shown like a bank savings/checking/current/CD acct.  Note on Certificates of Deposit (CD): it will need to be the type that shows monthly/very periodic interest payments which in-turn generates a balance update that will be shown on the monthly/very periodic statement.   A CD that might only pay interest when it matures say after 1 year will not hack it.   Apparently BoI wants to ensure the self-insure acct is cash/highly liquid and not affected the possibly of a stock market crash/downturn which could turn a $100K or more balance into a much, much less than $100K balance overnight.

[BritTim]

Personally, I think your current solution with an agent assisted Non O is simple, and fits your needs pretty well. Switching to LTR-WP seems to be beneficial only if you want the opportunity to work for Thai companies. However, I am lazy, and strongly influenced by the hassle involved in applying for the LTR visa. If you do not mind this, maybe there are some small advantages to the LTR.