10 Million Baht Investment Visa

[suk22fool]

I see a few references to an Investors Visa via BOI with a THB10 million investment in government bonds or bank. Is this still an option?

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

[rainman]

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

Marriage visa perhaps? I'm sure if you have 10M+ Thai Baht you can show at least 40k coming from overseas each month.

[palm]

I see a few references to an Investors Visa via BOI with a THB10 million investment in government bonds or bank. Is this still an option?

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

Have you tried the Thai Elite card? Gives you a 5 year renewable visa. http://www.thailandelite.com/ - it has lots of detractors from people who can't afford it, but at 1.5m its still fairly good value IMHO.

The 3m baht Investment Visa was canceled in late 2006, and I believe the 10m baht option was too? I am not 100% sure about that though.

[THAIJAMES]

There is a permanent visa available for those investing 10 million Baht or more in Thailand. When I called immigration they mentioned that it had to be in Thai bonds and only certain other securities, for which I could not get the details. Regarding the bonds, the lady mentioned that they were selling at a premium and would actually cost 12 or 13 million to buy (I never understood that)

If you are in Bangkok, go to room 302 for permanent resident applications, they are friendly, I am sure they will give you more details.

But basically you need to hold the investment for 3-5 years.

If anyone has the details on this, I would also be interested in the information.

[midas]

I see a few references to an Investors Visa via BOI with a THB10 million investment in government bonds or bank. Is this still an option?

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

Have you tried the Thai Elite card? Gives you a 5 year renewable visa. http://www.thailandelite.com/ - it has lots of detractors from people who can't afford it, but at 1.5m its still fairly good value IMHO.

The 3m baht Investment Visa was canceled in late 2006, and I believe the 10m baht option was too? I am not 100% sure about that though.

No palm i feel the need to correct you ! I am sure there are many people out there

who can afford ot just as much as you ! But in my case i made my money by making shrewd business

decision ( maybe you just inherited yours ? ! so you need to think ! )

The Elite card is not for those who are shrewd in buisness because it simply doesnt make for

cost effective solution......................

[stevemiddie]

I see a few references to an Investors Visa via BOI with a THB10 million investment in government bonds or bank. Is this still an option?

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

Have you tried the Thai Elite card? Gives you a 5 year renewable visa. http://www.thailandelite.com/ - it has lots of detractors from people who can't afford it, but at 1.5m its still fairly good value IMHO.

Hhahahahhahah Good value?? Best laugh all day. 5 years of 90 day border runs ?

Let me see. Return flight to the UK..average 40-50k baht.

Multi Non Imm O from Hull on basis of visiting friends, family. Mmmmmmm 7000 baht?

Times all that by 5 = 285,000 baht max. I,ll buy my own round of golf thanks.

[Maestro]

Suk22fool, for annual extensions based on marriage to a Thai you need a letter from your embassy certifying your signature on a declaration that you have an income of minimum 40k Baht per month, or evidence (tax receipt) that your wife earns that amount per month, or a combination of both types of income making a total of minimum 40k.

The foreign income you declare can be anything, including interest and dividends on your investments.

--

Maestro

[LivinLOS]

There is a permanent visa available for those investing 10 million Baht or more in Thailand. When I called immigration they mentioned that it had to be in Thai bonds and only certain other securities, for which I could not get the details. Regarding the bonds, the lady mentioned that they were selling at a premium and would actually cost 12 or 13 million to buy (I never understood that)

If you are in Bangkok, go to room 302 for permanent resident applications, they are friendly, I am sure they will give you more details.

But basically you need to hold the investment for 3-5 years.

If anyone has the details on this, I would also be interested in the information.

I was told (back when the 3m visa's came out) that the 10m visa was stopped at the introduction of the 3m and lead to understand it was never restarted at the end ?? Can anyone confirm the details on the 10m investor visa ??

I also know a guy who did the 40m investment thing, he gained PR from his deal (no speaking Thai, or questions asked) but that was a good few years back. I have been discussing a development deal which would involve investment numbers well in excess of the 40m amount, I have also heard that the 40m investment allows a farang to own up to one rai for private home use ?? Can anyone confirm a little more along these lines. I think that the 40m the person brought into Thailand in the past had some kind of min term lockup (bonds ?) but can it be used in a biz / development venture ?? With coastal land in prime spots rapidly heading up to 20m rai by the time you have done a rai or two in land alone you have hit the magic 40m now.

[palm]

I see a few references to an Investors Visa via BOI with a THB10 million investment in government bonds or bank. Is this still an option?

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

Have you tried the Thai Elite card? Gives you a 5 year renewable visa. http://www.thailandelite.com/ - it has lots of detractors from people who can't afford it, but at 1.5m its still fairly good value IMHO.

The 3m baht Investment Visa was canceled in late 2006, and I believe the 10m baht option was too? I am not 100% sure about that though.

No palm i feel the need to correct you ! I am sure there are many people out there

who can afford ot just as much as you ! But in my case i made my money by making shrewd business

decision ( maybe you just inherited yours ? ! so you need to think ! )

The Elite card is not for those who are shrewd in buisness because it simply doesnt make for

cost effective solution......................

Again 1.5m baht is not a lot to ask to get a renewable 5 year visa. For people like me who are under 50, and not married, the Elite card is a relatively painless way to be assured of staying 'long-term' in Thailand.

I make my own money, and would not be concerned about saving a couple of weeks of income in return for a 5 year Visa; if there are problems in the future with my Investment Visa not being renewed, the Elite card is what I'd buy.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

Unconfirmed, but check it out: The 40 million investment must be done under BoI (Board of Investment) privileges. If so, you can also own some land. But I believe the BoI link is essential for land ownership (and in the name of a BoI approved REAL company, not your own name). I do think you will qualify for a one year extension of stay (renewable) based on the 40M. But if you plonk down 40 mill and start a real operating company, you can easily get a workpermit and non-imm B visa anyway.

But even this amount will not grant PR (Permanent Recidency), from what I gather, this will only be given after a few years of non-imm visa stay, taxes paid, Thai spoken, and some other more vague criteria. Check out Camerata's pinned thread for PR, that is A-1.

As an aside: Please correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the Elite Card only give you permission to stay for 90 days at a time, so you need to keep doing border runs? For 5 years, and 1.5 mill? PLEASE say I am wrong on this!

[Meerkat]

As an aside: Please correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the Elite Card only give you permission to stay for 90 days at a time, so you need to keep doing border runs? For 5 years, and 1.5 mill? PLEASE say I am wrong on this!

Ok then, as you insist, yes you are wrong!

Firstly the scheme doesn't just give you a visa for five years, it gives you a five year visa which automatically rolls over for life (or perhaps more likely for the lifetime of the scheme). Once the original visa expires, you get another five year visa without having to pay anything more. Also, if you get a new passport because of expiry or because it gets full of visa stamps, you will get a fresh five year visa in the new passport (as opposed to a visa which just goes up to the original five year expiry date).

Yes, you only get a 90 day entry stamp, but you do not have to leave the country every 90 days to get another one. You can get 90 day extentions (all the way up to the five year expiry date) by going to an immigration office and paying the usual 1,900 baht fee.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

Well, sometimes it just feels good to be wrong!

So this should be a good alternative for the idle rich, not old enough for the retirement option, and not ready to marry. I was lucky to benefit from the 3m visa extension for a few years, carrying me over to retirement (oblivion). But if this card option is open, we should hear no more from all the rich and beautiful people, complaining that there are no ways for them to stay here. So now we know: Get the card, pay up and shut up! And enjoy!

But 1.5 mill is still a steep price for most of us, since I assume (now I might have to be arrested again) that this is a one-off payment never to be returned? For the previous (and current) investment visas, the only cost was really the interest rate differential and some small amout in tax, plus the risk of investing in Thailand vs a safer haven (that risk was close to zero since it was in a government bank, with full account insuranceprotection. That insurance is now gradually being removed, so watch out if you have a lot of money in bank deposits).

[Meerkat]

Well it's worked out fine for me over the last 18 months, although when I got mine it only cost 1m baht (and what with the depreciation of the dollar in the intervening period, it works out as almost 50% cheaper than it is now).

Obviously it's not for everybody (nor was it designed to be), but with the absence of the 3m/10m investment visas now it does offer a painless way of staying here longer-term.

In theory you can sell the card on, but you have to pay a hefty cut back to TE and there are restrictions to the person buying it from you, so it's probably not worth doing it if you do want out of the programme. Likewise, whilst there is now an implicit money-back guarantee if the government of the day decides to cancel the scheme (less the value of services you've used whilst being a member), I think anyone joining should basically just fire-and-forget...

Edited March 20, 2008 by Meerkat

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

Meerkat (are you from RSA by any chance?), nice to hear that it has worked out well. And for 1 mill over so many years, I would probably have done the same, it would than have been worth it. If not in straight monetary terms, but for the peace of mind at least.

One question: Do you have to renew it every year, or every five years? I did pick up that you have to do the 90 day reporting, but that is the same as us lesser mortals have to do.

Edited March 20, 2008 by MeaMaximaCulpa

[lopburi3]

We lesser mortals do not pay 1,900 baht for address reporting.

[Meerkat]

Meerkat (are you from RSA by any chance?)

Brit I'm afraid (but I understand why you might have thought otherwise)!

One question: Do you have to renew it every year, or every five years? I did pick up that you have to do the 90 day reporting, but that is the same as us lesser mortals have to do.

Every five years. No idea if you have to leave the country in order to get the new 5 year visa, but I think you might. My first one was ready for me at the airport and was stuck into my passport when I flew in after joining.

There was talk from TE before the coup about extending the 90 day period to 180 days (or even longer), but that was nixed post-putsch (the scheme being one of Thaksin's). With a pro-Thaksin government back in power (for a while anyway!), I would expect them to try again to get this implemented as a way of boosting the admittedly dismal membership count.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

Meerkat, it is OK to be British as well, I was just curious!

Otherwise, the TE card can seem to be a good alternative for quite a few people. Expensive, but if you are ELITE, you should be able to afford it right?

I shall follow the developments with interest, but I do not think that any new government will have these sorts of issues on the top of their agenda. We foreigners tend to think that we are so important for Thailand. Think again, we are a pee in the klong. Nothing more. Be happy as long as you are allowed to be here at all. We have no rights, and never will have. Nothing is permanent.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

We lesser mortals do not pay 1,900 baht for address reporting.

Perhaps that is why we are lesser mortals?

[PattayaParent]

A guy that I know that has an Elite Card tells me he dosn't have to do the 90 day reporting, he just calls up Thailand Elite and they come collect his passport and do it all for him.

What's the score with working when you have a TEC? Is it allowed (subject to the normal rules of employment and WP etc.) I assume the visa is not cancelled if you fins a job?

I'm heading for the retirement visa soon but will likely still want to do some contract works and don't want the hassle of cancelling a retirement visa to get a non-imm B and then reapplying for the retirement visa again.

[Meerkat]

A guy that I know that has an Elite Card tells me he dosn't have to do the 90 day reporting, he just calls up Thailand Elite and they come collect his passport and do it all for him.

Yeah I've heard the same thing, but as I'm constantly popping in and out I've never had to put it to the test.

What's the score with working when you have a TEC? Is it allowed (subject to the normal rules of employment and WP etc.) I assume the visa is not cancelled if you fins a job?

I think I've heard that it's not possible to tack a WP onto the Special Entry Visa that TE provides, but I'm not sure. You'd have to give them a call to find out.

[lopburi3]

You can not obtain a work permit on that type of visa - but you are also unlikely to obtain on a retirement extension of stay either.

[lapamita]

1,5mb baht , in my case for a thaielitecard is much overpriced. better i stay in case only 9 mth in thailand per year and make 3 mth holiday p.y. for the next 6yrs., and pay the money for his.

1.5m +4% intrest in 6yr ( until can get retirement visa) is 1,80 m about or per year 300k,,for a VISA

300 k nice 3 month holiday in a cheaper destiniation like PHP,CU,BRA,MAL or others.

1.5 m is 50.000 USD or 1 half singlehome in the US or a full singlehome in a cheap city

[palm]

A guy that I know that has an Elite Card tells me he dosn't have to do the 90 day reporting, he just calls up Thailand Elite and they come collect his passport and do it all for him.

Now if that's the case, the Elite card seems an even better deal for hassle-free long term stay in Thailand for anyone under 50yrs.

Also, not having to go to 'Hull' in England is surely worth the 1.5m baht price alone

[midas]

A guy that I know that has an Elite Card tells me he dosn't have to do the 90 day reporting, he just calls up Thailand Elite and they come collect his passport and do it all for him.

Now if that's the case, the Elite card seems an even better deal for hassle-free long term stay in Thailand for anyone under 50yrs.

Also, not having to go to 'Hull' in England is surely worth the 1.5m baht price alone

Palm I am bewildered why you consider 1.5 million for TE to represent a " better deal " ?

For example I have and APEC Travel Card which covers 17 other economies at a cost of only $160 for three years !

Ok admittedly we don't have our own immigration desk at the airport but we can still use the diplomatic channel

in most of these other 17 countries. Anywhere in the USA we can now use the flight crew channel

to get through immigration quickly.

But one of the best parts is you can obtain this three-year visa without needing to have any contact

with the Thai authorities personally. I simply applied to the Australian government and presto

I have all these privileges throughout the Asia-Pacific region and APEC now is far more

reliable and risk-free organisation than Thailand Elite at a fraction of the cost!

Why I regard TE as poor value is because it's restricted to 1 country only. We can also save a fortune

in Visa fees ( and avoid the bureaucracy of visa applications ) in countries like PR of China and Vietnam.

All the other so-called benefits of TE look to me to be not worth the money and anyway

there is no guarantee the TE organisation can continue to survive indefinitely.

[g00dgirl]

Palm I am bewildered why you consider 1.5 million for TE to represent a " better deal " ?

For example I have and APEC Travel Card which covers 17 other economies at a cost of only $160 for three years !

What and you can stay in Thailand for 3 years without having to leave if you don't want to on this APEC Travel Card?

[jstumbo]

Only 90 days per entry. but at $160 vs $50,000, I think I could make 90 day border runs.

[midas]

Only 90 days per entry. but at $160 vs $50,000, I think I could make 90 day border runs.

This is exactly the way i look at it !

[midas]

And to borrow Palm' s expression " Now , the APEC card seems an even better deal " !!

The use of the APEC Business Travel Card could be extended to all 21 APEC member economies following discussions on the scheme at a meeting of the APEC Business Mobility Group (BMG) in Canberra today.

The Chair of the BMG, Mr. Vincent McMahon, said that the four non-participating APEC members - Canada, Mexico, Russia and the United States - had all indicated at the meeting that they were exploring options to participate in the scheme.

"Full participation of all member economies in the scheme, which was initiated by Australia in 1996, has always been the target," Mr. McMahon said. "It is now within reach."

Mr. McMahon said that the United States is recognising the card at its border, Mexico's intention is to give card holders "priority processing" at its borders shortly. Both Canada and Russia are exploring the implications of membership.

"The prospect of having all Member Economies on board is an exciting development for the APEC Business Travel Card," he said. "

Mr. McMahon said the BMG also made significant progress in establishing a Regional Movement Alert System for detecting lost or stolen passports which is designed to increase the safety of international travel. "As was noted in the 9/11 Commission report, travel documents are as important to terrorists as weapons," Mr. McMahon said."The Regional Movement Alert System has already detected hundreds of invalid passports.

[midas]

This is where the APEC card will show exactly how it represents EXCEEDINGLY GOOD VALUE compared to the Thailand Elite card which DOES NOT save

Money and TIME for example if you wanted to travel to these countries :-

Cost of business visa to RUSSIA

Double entry / Business up to 90 days $ 249

Cost of business visa to PR CHINA $100 - $130

Cost of business visa to VIETNAM $ 219

But maybe Palm is stuck in Thailand because he is far too busy looking after his portfolio of condo’s to travel anywhere

[jstumbo]

I would love to have the APEC card. I wish I could have gotten one a long time ago since I travel regularly to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia. But being from the US, they do not fully participate in the program yet. As soon as they do, I will have my paperwork submitted.