Question about Long Term Residency Visa

[Eddie45]

I understand if Thailand introduces the new tax laws in 2025 for expats the Long Term Residency Visa's will eliminate you from having to pay tax on the money you bring into Thailand. Only problem is you need to invest 10,000,000 Baht into Thai property or bonds. As foreigners we cant not buy house or land without setting up a company first. If you set up a company and bought a house/land for over 10,000,000 Baht would this enable you to apply for a Long Term Residency Visa or does the investment need to be in condo/condos in your own name. Any feedback appreciated.

[Pattaya57]

Have you checked the 100 page current thread on the LTR visa?

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1265383-ltr-visa-is-now-available-for-long-term-residency/

 

[DrJack54]

OP, apart from thread  mentioned above there is thread dealing with taxation.

Suggest look for advice there.

 

Here one example.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1316348-a-simple guide-to-personal-income-tax-in-thailand/

[oldcpu]

1 hour ago, Eddie45 said:

I understand if Thailand introduces the new tax laws in 2025 for expats the Long Term Residency Visa's will eliminate you from having to pay tax on the money you bring into Thailand. Only problem is you need to invest 10,000,000 Baht into Thai property or bonds. As foreigners we cant not buy house or land without setting up a company first. If you set up a company and bought a house/land for over 10,000,000 Baht would this enable you to apply for a Long Term Residency Visa or does the investment need to be in condo/condos in your own name. Any feedback appreciated.

 

There are different types of LTR Visa ... 

 

Not all of them require an investment of $250,000 US$ equivalent. For example, if one is applying for the LTR-WP (wealthy pensioner) and if one has a passive/pension income of $80k US/year, then one need not show such an investment in Thailand.

 

As you point out, it is possible to purchase a foreign freehold condominium unit in Thailand, and that condo unit will be in the foreigners name - and such a condo is considered an investment for LTR visa purposes.  If the purchase price of one's condo is not enough to meet the $250K US$ equivalent, then one came make up the difference with other investments in Thailand. For example, in my case I simply purchased 2-million THB in Thai government bonds to make up the difference (after my 50% ownership of a condo) to meet the $250K US$ equivalent investment in Thailand.  ... Having typed that - I don't consider buying Thai government bonds a competitive investment, but it does meet the Thai LTR-WP investment requirements, and for some of us, such an amount is not a big thing. My view is in the case of the LTR-WP (wealthy pensioner) visa, it is called 'wealthy' for a reason.

 

Possibly for you to get the best advice on an LTR visa, if the long thread is too much for you to wade through, it could help for you  to point out exactly what LTR variant you are looking at.   Else you could get replies that are not relevant to your situation.

Edited April 29 by oldcpu

[Presnock]

actually, just google the LTR, Board of Investment (BOI) and get the 4 categories direct with requirements and benefits.  Is very short so doesn't need to consume a lot of one's time.  One of the least costly and beneficial to many expats.  No more 90-day reports either.  Cheaper in many cases than the yearly extension of stays.

[Tomio]

I just received my LTR under the wealthy pensioners category. If you can meet the requirements, it's quite a good deal. If you earn more than $80,000 annually in pensions, you're almost there. If you don't want to fork out money for what sounds like a waste for health insurance, you can elect to self insure by showing that you've had a sizeable balance ⚖️ n your bank account. The rules state that you must have at least $100,000 in your account for the past 12 months. This is not exactly correct. Of the account is a joint account, you must have at least $200,000 in your bank account for the past twelve months. I started the process dealing with BOI online. Once I receives their approval, I has to switch to Thai Consulate in lis Angeles because I am not physically in Thailand. Cost me a little more. $1600 vs 50,000 baht. Six weeks from start to finish 

[Presnock]

7 minutes ago, Tomio said:

I just received my LTR under the wealthy pensioners category. If you can meet the requirements, it's quite a good deal. If you earn more than $80,000 annually in pensions, you're almost there. If you don't want to fork out money for what sounds like a waste for health insurance, you can elect to self insure by showing that you've had a sizeable balance ⚖️ n your bank account. The rules state that you must have at least $100,000 in your account for the past 12 months. This is not exactly correct. Of the account is a joint account, you must have at least $200,000 in your bank account for the past twelve months. I started the process dealing with BOI online. Once I receives their approval, I has to switch to Thai Consulate in lis Angeles because I am not physically in Thailand. Cost me a little more. $1600 vs 50,000 baht. Six weeks from start to finish 

I had overseas health insurance coverage so only 3 weeks from start to finish.  In my opinion the best for the least cost.

[Eddie45]

Thanks for the replies. At the weekend I will read through the links above. For you guys that have replied to the thread and have the LTR. Did you use a visa agent to get the LTR or did you fill out all the forms and apply yourself. 

[oldcpu]

3 hours ago, Eddie45 said:

For you guys that have replied to the thread and have the LTR. Did you use a visa agent to get the LTR or did you fill out all the forms and apply yourself. 

 

I did not use an agent to get the LTR Visa.   I did most my document submissions to BoI electronically, uploading via Internet, from my seafront condo balcony, with my feet up, sipping a glass of wine.

 

It took me longer than most to get the LTR visa, as I more or less very slowly fed information to BoI on my finances,  tooth and nail (as i didn't want to reveal my full financial state).   The biggest delays for me was (1) BoI wanted government response/proof of my income from my latest foreign income tax return (which I had not yet submitted - and that took me time to put together, submit a tax return to the foreign government, and get the foreign government income confirmation response), and (2) BoI wanted a copy of a Thai Government bond certificate (which is not nominally issued any more, but rather one is provided a bond book by the banks).  After a few weeks of no progress I finally was able to get the Thai bank to write a 'to whom it may concern' letter to BoI about the bond and also get the Thai bank to edit my bond book to add the detailed bond information BoI wanted to see (where that information is not nominally in a bond book, but it is in a bond certificate).    Still pretty much most of the delays boiled down to me slowly feeding BoI the information they wanted, avoiding to provide a full reveal of my financial status.

 

I don't think an agent will offer any advantages here - one still need to provide the financial proof to the agent.

Edited April 30 by oldcpu

[Presnock]

8 hours ago, Eddie45 said:

Thanks for the replies. At the weekend I will read through the links above. For you guys that have replied to the thread and have the LTR. Did you use a visa agent to get the LTR or did you fill out all the forms and apply yourself. 

Agent not needed.  BOJ officers extremely helpful and speak English well.  If you have the proper documentation to provide proof of the requirements, it goes smoothly and quickly. Good luck

[Eddie45]

Thanks again for the replies.

[DrJack54]

4 hours ago, Eddie45 said:

Thanks again for the replies.

Thread closed