LTR Visa

Presnock · March 2

On 12/4/2024 at 6:57 AM, PJ71 said:

I find this unlikely, i signed one form two times, was in the bank and immigration office for a total of not more than 10 mins for my retirement visa ( using an agent ).

Pls explain how this was 'waaaaaay easier'?

your money so do what you think is best for you. I had a retirement O for 20 years, went through many changes at immigration and from US Embassy during that time so that the last few years have been really easy with very little time actually spent but did have to get bank letters, no money in bank, just did the monthly remittances, and now 90-day on line so that too is an easier change but, the LTR basically is cheaper over the 10-year period (no agent fees on top of that savings), no 90-day reports at all, once a year walkin or have someone take a filled in form 95 to BOI or immigration if one doesn't leave the country - in that case, the 1-year report is extended until that date a year from reentering. No bank letters, no agents needed at all and anything one has to do can be done at home, not anywhere else. I fail to see how having an agent could possibly be easier than the LTR - no taxes on remittances to Thailand of foreign funds either! In any case this is the best visa for me and my finances.

PJ71 · March 2

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

your money so do what you think is best for you. I had a retirement O for 20 years, went through many changes at immigration and from US Embassy during that time so that the last few years have been really easy with very little time actually spent but did have to get bank letters, no money in bank, just did the monthly remittances, and now 90-day on line so that too is an easier change but, the LTR basically is cheaper over the 10-year period (no agent fees on top of that savings), no 90-day reports at all, once a year walkin or have someone take a filled in form 95 to BOI or immigration if one doesn't leave the country - in that case, the 1-year report is extended until that date a year from reentering. No bank letters, no agents needed at all and anything one has to do can be done at home, not anywhere else. I fail to see how having an agent could possibly be easier than the LTR - no taxes on remittances to Thailand of foreign funds either! In any case this is the best visa for me and my finances.

I'm happy for you - another superstar, well done.

ronnie50 · March 3

On 12/4/2024 at 10:23 AM, oldcpu said:

My 'pensioner' income comes from 3 separate sources to make the qualifying amount. BUT what BoI were more interested was my last 2 Canadian tax returns which had the 'lump sump' of my non-Thai income as a singular (sum) amount. I also provided the proof as the 3 separate pensioner income sources (German Pension, European organisation pension, and CanadianOld Age Security) and that was accepted.

In order to tally up your passive income, to make sure you 'measured up', did the BOI want to see the gross amount of the pensions, etc., or the net amount of the three different income streams? I guess there might have been taxes at source, or global medical insurance deducted each month from one of them. Do you know if it was gross or net income they tallied up? Cheers.

JimGant · March 3

46 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

Do you know if it was gross or net income they tallied up?

Gross. That was a question many of us had early on in this game, and they came back very emphatically saying "gross."

ronnie50 · March 3

23 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Gross. That was a question many of us had early on in this game, and they came back very emphatically saying "gross."

Great, thanks for the quick reply.

Felt 35 · March 4

This thread seems to have several people with mostly good experience with LTR visas, so I allow myself to ask a few questions!

If as a retired person with under US 80K annual income but well over US40K but the rest of the finances back home, do I then have to invest / deposit the money in a Thai bank or is it enough to prove that the finances are available? Btw, the insurance US 50K requirement is that totally cover for a year?

Thanks

Felt

NickyLouie · March 4

Quote

6. Evidence of global asset ownership of no less than 1 million USD (cryptocurrencies, tokens, gold futures, amulets, arts, designer items, watches and jewelry are NOT accepted) Note: Documents must be in Thai or English only, translated documents must be notarized

So a stock portfolio with 1 million would be adequate to satisfy this ?

No other supporting financial documents would be needed ?

oldcpu · March 4

3 hours ago, Felt 35 said:

This thread seems to have several people with mostly good experience with LTR visas, so I allow myself to ask a few questions!

If as a retired person with under US 80K annual income but well over US40K but the rest of the finances back home, do I then have to invest / deposit the money in a Thai bank or is it enough to prove that the finances are available?

If less than $80K US equivalent income/year (but more than $40k US equivalent), for an LTR-WP you need to prove at least $250k US$ equivalent investment in Thailand, and simply having the money in a Thai savings account is NOT IMHO adequate. I believe just money sitting in the bank is not considered an investment.

You need something like $250k (or more) US$ equivalent in real estate purchase in Thailand (such as a condo purchase) or $250k US$ equivalent purchase of Thai government bonds, or possibly some specific Thai mutual funds or a mix there of.

In my case I used the 50% of the purchase price of my foreign freehold condo (1/2 was in my condo deed/chanote, and hence ownership, is in Thai wife's name - so I could not claim 100%) and I made up the remainder (to reach the $250k US$ equiv) by purchasing 2-million THB in Thai government bonds. I purchased a 7-year term bond. When I go to reprove my finances in 5-years (which will be year 2028 for me), I will either go the proof of $80k US/income per year, or buy another 2-million THB Thai government bond.

If you are unsure if your 'investment' will qualify for the $250K US$ equivalent investment in Thailand, then simply phone BoI and ask them. They have many employees who speak English language.

3 hours ago, Felt 35 said:

Btw, the insurance US 50K requirement is that totally cover for a year?

Someone else may need to answer this.

I went the self health insurance route (with $100k US$ equivalent in a Thai bank as my proof of health insurance finances).

Possibly in 2028 I will go with a letter from my European Health Insurance company. I think thou you simply need to have to prove another year left in your coverage - but again, you can check with BoI on this.

Felt 35 · March 4

5 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

If less than $80K US equivalent income/year (but more than $40k US equivalent), for an LTR-WP you need to prove at least $250k US$ equivalent investment in Thailand, and simply having the money in a Thai savings account is NOT IMHO adequate. I believe just money sitting in the bank is not considered an investment.

You need something like $250k (or more) US$ equivalent in real estate purchase in Thailand (such as a condo purchase) or $250k US$ equivalent purchase of Thai government bonds, or possibly some specific Thai mutual funds or a mix there of.

In my case I used the 50% of the purchase price of my foreign freehold condo (1/2 was in my condo deed/chanote, and hence ownership, is in Thai wife's name - so I could not claim 100%) and I made up the remainder (to reach the $250k US$ equiv) by purchasing 2-million THB in Thai government bonds. I purchased a 7-year term bond. When I go to reprove my finances in 5-years (which will be year 2028 for me), I will either go the proof of $80k US/income per year, or buy another 2-million THB Thai government bond.

If you are unsure if your 'investment' will qualify for the $250K US$ equivalent investment in Thailand, then simply phone BoI and ask them. They have many employees who speak English language.

Someone else may need to answer this.

I went the self health insurance route (with $100k US$ equivalent in a Thai bank as my proof of health insurance finances).

Possibly in 2028 I will go with a letter from my European Health Insurance company. I think thou you simply need to have to prove another year left in your coverage - but again, you can check with BoI on this.

Ok many thanks, will call BOI and check.

Felt

oldcpu · March 4

17 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

In order to tally up your passive income, to make sure you 'measured up', did the BOI want to see the gross amount of the pensions, etc., or the net amount of the three different income streams?

As noted by Jim Gant - the Thai BoI were interested in the 'gross' (before tax) income of my pension to prove it exceeded their $40k US$ equivalent per year.

I am required on my Canadian tax returns to list my total gross before tax global income , which Canada in turn uses to decide my income tax bracket for taxing my Canadian Pension and for taxing my Canadian Old Age Security. Having that global income (from outside of Canada) did drive me into a higher Canadian tax bracket, ... but at least now with the LTR visa, having that proof of my global income (in an official Canadian government tax assessment form) has come in handy for my LTR visa application (which was approved).

17 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

I guess there might have been taxes at source, or global medical insurance deducted each month from one of them. Do you know if it was gross or net income they tallied up? Cheers.

For the medical insurance I went the self health insurance route, with $100k US equivalent in cash in a Thai bank. When I reprove my finances in 2028 I may instead go with a letter from my European health Insurance noting my coverage exceed $50k US equivalent.

Presnock · March 4

7 hours ago, Felt 35 said:

This thread seems to have several people with mostly good experience with LTR visas, so I allow myself to ask a few questions!

If as a retired person with under US 80K annual income but well over US40K but the rest of the finances back home, do I then have to invest / deposit the money in a Thai bank or is it enough to prove that the finances are available? Btw, the insurance US 50K requirement is that totally cover for a year?

Thanks

Felt

The health insurance or 100K $ must be able to cove 50K USD hospitalization.

Felt 35 · March 4

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

The health insurance or 100K $ must be able to cove 50K USD hospitalization.

Ok, then at least I should go clear of that requirement.

Felt

Presnock · March 4

39 minutes ago, Felt 35 said:

Ok, then at least I should go clear of that requirement.

Felt

yeah my US govt sponsored health insurance sent 15-page coverage for 2024 and said for hospitalization was unlimited coverage but BOI said that wasn't sufficient and someone else with the same health insurance told me to send a note to the health insurer to get an email back stating that hospitalization coverage was more than 50K USD and BOI accepted it immediately and within a couple of weeks I was stamped in. Now I go for my 1-year advising of my current address. Really easy as anyone could take the completed Form 95 to the BOI office with my PP but I will go since it is so easy on the trains. Heard that BOI will be moving from Chomchuri to 1 Bangkok on 25 March.

BrandonJT · March 4

11 hours ago, Presnock said:

Heard that BOI will be moving from Chomchuri to 1 Bangkok on 25 March.

March 17th.

Presnock · March 5

3 hours ago, BrandonJT said:

March 17th.

oop! memory must be going! thanks for the correction!

Presnock · March 5

21 hours ago, oldcpu said:

If less than $80K US equivalent income/year (but more than $40k US equivalent), for an LTR-WP you need to prove at least $250k US$ equivalent investment in Thailand, and simply having the money in a Thai savings account is NOT IMHO adequate. I believe just money sitting in the bank is not considered an investment.

You need something like $250k (or more) US$ equivalent in real estate purchase in Thailand (such as a condo purchase) or $250k US$ equivalent purchase of Thai government bonds, or possibly some specific Thai mutual funds or a mix there of.

In my case I used the 50% of the purchase price of my foreign freehold condo (1/2 was in my condo deed/chanote, and hence ownership, is in Thai wife's name - so I could not claim 100%) and I made up the remainder (to reach the $250k US$ equiv) by purchasing 2-million THB in Thai government bonds. I purchased a 7-year term bond. When I go to reprove my finances in 5-years (which will be year 2028 for me), I will either go the proof of $80k US/income per year, or buy another 2-million THB Thai government bond.

If you are unsure if your 'investment' will qualify for the $250K US$ equivalent investment in Thailand, then simply phone BoI and ask them. They have many employees who speak English language.

Someone else may need to answer this.

I went the self health insurance route (with $100k US$ equivalent in a Thai bank as my proof of health insurance finances).

Possibly in 2028 I will go with a letter from my European Health Insurance company. I think thou you simply need to have to prove another year left in your coverage - but again, you can check with BoI on this.

Health insurance must have at least a 50K USD hospitalization. MY insurer brochure said for hospitalization " unlimited" but BOI couldn't accept that so a fellow insurer said to ask the company for an email response saying that the hospitalization was at least 50K USD and BOI accepted it immediately.

Lung Mark · March 5

19 hours ago, Presnock said:

yeah my US govt sponsored health insurance sent 15-page coverage for 2024 and said for hospitalization was unlimited coverage but BOI said that wasn't sufficient and someone else with the same health insurance told me to send a note to the health insurer to get an email back stating that hospitalization coverage was more than 50K USD and BOI accepted it immediately and within a couple of weeks I was stamped in. Now I go for my 1-year advising of my current address. Really easy as anyone could take the completed Form 95 to the BOI office with my PP but I will go since it is so easy on the trains. Heard that BOI will be moving from Chomchuri to 1 Bangkok on 25 March.

I used a locally (Thai) purchased health insurance I had for my O-A. No issues at all. All they wanted to see was the policy and the proof of premium payment. And like others mentioned, two years of tax returns showing passive income in excess of 80K. Social security, pension, annuity and interest/dividends. Really effortless process.

ronnie50 · March 5

4 hours ago, Lung Mark said:

And like others mentioned, two years of tax returns showing passive income in excess of 80K. Social security, pension, annuity and interest/dividends. Really effortless process.

I was told by BOI one year (12 months) of proof of the above mix in order to apply, Where did the 2 year figure come from?

JimGant · March 5

2 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

I was told by BOI one year (12 months) of proof of the above mix in order to apply, Where did the 2 year figure come from?

Yeah, me too. This for a LTR-WP. I do recall seeing a 2 year requirement for some other form(s) of the LTR visa.

fleur3 · March 6

On 3/3/2025 at 5:43 PM, ronnie50 said:

In order to tally up your passive income, to make sure you 'measured up', did the BOI want to see the gross amount of the pensions, etc., or the net amount of the three different income streams? I guess there might have been taxes at source, or global medical insurance deducted each month from one of them. Do you know if it was gross or net income they tallied up? Cheers.

My ltr experience is: gross income

oldcpu · March 9

BoI asked for two years of tax returns for my LTR-WP visa. I went the >$40k US$ equivalent and $250k US$ equivalent investment in Thailand route.

novster · March 14

Has anyone on LTR been able to get a residence certificate at their local immigration office?

I need one for a driving licence renewal and being told I can only get in Bangkok which is rather inconvenient when you live 500 miles away!

BrandonJT · March 14

10 hours ago, novster said:

Has anyone on LTR been able to get a residence certificate at their local immigration office?

I need one for a driving licence renewal and being told I can only get in Bangkok which is rather inconvenient when you live 500 miles away!

I've gotten a residence certificate from both Bangkok (One stop service center) as well as Chiang Rai (main office at Central). Both while on my LTR. Both of these were in December 2024.

Bangkok will not give you a residence certificate if you're not residing in Bangkok. You must have a TM30 that matches the province/address of where you want the residence certificate for.

novster · March 15

Thank you for the response.

Jangunnim · March 20

LTR doesn’t even have a path to PR or citizenship, yikes… with those requirements you would kind of expect something but apparently not lmao. I don’t know why I assumed in my mind that of course it would have some path because they even have own section for it in chamchuri and now in the one Bangkok I guess. But they hawking a 10 year tourist visa

BrandonJT · March 20

2 hours ago, Jangunnim said:

LTR doesn’t even have a path to PR or citizenship, yikes… with those requirements you would kind of expect something but apparently not lmao. I don’t know why I assumed in my mind that of course it would have some path because they even have own section for it in chamchuri and now in the one Bangkok I guess. But they hawking a 10 year tourist visa

The BOI was telling people there was a path in the past. No idea if they are still doing so.

Ben Zioner · March 21

17 hours ago, Jangunnim said:

LTR doesn’t even have a path to PR or citizenship, yikes…

Why would you get PR when having an LTR. Unless you are keen on paying income tax.

And I do see why someone with an LTR couldn't apply after three years of consecutive work permits.

Also, PR and citizenship are not processed and granted by Immigration.

Misty · March 22

On 3/21/2025 at 12:35 AM, Jangunnim said:

LTR doesn’t even have a path to PR or citizenship, yikes… with those requirements you would kind of expect something but apparently not lmao. I don’t know why I assumed in my mind that of course it would have some path because they even have own section for it in chamchuri and now in the one Bangkok I guess. But they hawking a 10 year tourist visa

No, the LTR visa couldn't be more different from a tourist visa. It's a visa that allows recipients to work, so it's a business visa, except better in so many ways. No need for 4 Thai employees, tax benefits, no messy, exp and time consuming annual renew as its for 10 years, and the BOI is not corrupt etc etc

MPoll · March 23

On 3/14/2025 at 1:31 PM, novster said:

Has anyone on LTR been able to get a residence certificate at their local immigration office?

I need one for a driving licence renewal and being told I can only get in Bangkok which is rather inconvenient when you live 500 miles away!

I went to the BOI office in Bangkok to ask about a residency certificate. They sent me to immigration across the hall. Once there I showed them my LTR visa and sent me to the appropriate windows. I got there at 11:30am and got the residency certificate just after lunchtime. The BOI office doesn't do anything in the process. I would definitely ask your local immigration office.

oldcpu · April 29

This post is about my (successfully) opening an SCB savings account on an LTR-WP visa.

A few days ago, my Thai wife suggested I open an SCB Bank account, so to get a "Planet" debit card, which has some benefits that we would likely use (I think it was obtaining a "Dragon pass" (for airport lounge access) if one uses the debit card for more than 20,000 THB transactions in a foreign currency). Most likely we will need to spend >20,000 THB in a different currency, so i went a long with her idea.

The thing is, this was suggested to me by my wife at the last minute during a visit to a mall with the bank in the mall. I happened to have my passport with me, and my yellow book (proving residency also) , and Thai driver's license so I said, ok, why not.

They wanted to see Yellow Book, and Driver's License and obviously my passport (with LTR visa stamp inside), but they would not let me open a saving account because I did not have my LTR notification letter of endorsement with me. I have various Thai bank accounts (most opened before on a Type-O visa) so it never occurred to me to check the BoI web site, which clearly states, to open a Thai bank account, one must show that LTR notification letter of endorsement.

So i went back to the bank a day letter, this time with the stamped BoI Notification Letter of Endorsement (and passport, yellow book, driver's license) and successfully opened a savings account with SCB. I also had online access to the account setup on my smartphone, and an application for the Planet Card initiated, where the card should show up in a week or so.

Hence for other's on the LTR visa like me, don't be lazy like I was, but check BoI webpage, before trying to do things like opening a bank account.

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