No More 3mil Investment Visas In Thailand

[sfokevin]

As of October 1, 2006 the 3 million baht investment visa will no longer be available

It has been brought to the attention of Sunbelt Asia that as of October 1, 2006 the 3 million baht investment visa will no longer be available.

This includes bank investments, condominium investments, and bond investments.

Not only will it NOT be issued, but you CANNOT renew your current investment visa on this basis.

The official statement from Thai immigration is expected this week.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Sunbelt Asia - Thank you for starting a premature and incorrect thread and scaring the h*ll out of a bunch of people...

I will now refer any scared condo owner/investment visa holder who is thinking they be kicked out of Thailand to your revised thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...c=82975&hl=

Very Professional...

[solesman]

Yes I believe that the investment visa is now 10mil baht......not sure about this. I was checking Thai Consul-general Sydney site yesterday.

Why would anyone sink 10mil baht into the place after they just screwed so many lesser investors. I would give up on Thailand if I were you. Unless you are willing to bend over for every capricious new "law".

[Sunbelt Asia]

Good news.

They are accepting application till the end of the month. As long as you have a 30 day consideration stamp before Oct 1st and are approved, you will be 'grandfathered in"

By the way, the logic why they are doing away with the scheme. “It was too easy for mafia influences to get a visa as 3 million Baht was nothing for them.”

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[ya5702]

I have just bought a condo for Bt5 mill in BKK. I have a work permit, but if the worst came to the worst, I could always rent it out and live in another country.

Not ideal if I had a Thai wife here I agree, but financially I am not buggered.

Am I missing something here? I just leave Thailand and rent out my condo.

I think you are missing something here!

Who will rent your condo after the foreigners are gone? (To return a yield of 6% from a Bt5 million condo, you need to rent it for Bt25,000/month.)

[Thaiquila]

I have just bought a condo for Bt5 mill in BKK. I have a work permit, but if the worst came to the worst, I could always rent it out and live in another country.

Not ideal if I had a Thai wife here I agree, but financially I am not buggered.

Am I missing something here? I just leave Thailand and rent out my condo.

I think you are missing something here!

Who will rent your condo after the foreigners are gone? (To return a yield of 6% from a Bt5 million condo, you need to rent it for Bt25,000/month.)

I have also considered this point. Clearly, the pool of potential long term renters is going to be cut Oct 1. What percentage of renters/buyers that represents, who knows? Any guesses?

[mark lamai]

Burma has never looked so good!

[mark lamai]

"It was too easy for mafia influences to get a visa as 3 million Baht was nothing for them.”

well doesn't that say it all in a nutshell.

is there a Nobel Prize for stupidness?

gee if 3 mill is nothing, they just might have the 10 mill do you think?

even if they suddenly reverse all this nonsense and let you stay forever for free,

the damage is done, foreigners now know for sure that Thailand can't be trusted,

will this be the trigger for a Thailand recession?

reading on here, i can see a lot of money will not be coming in,

including me,

i was thinking of it, but now, not in a million years.

hello Cambodia!!

[liketobe]

Hi,

We have just called Immigration and they told us that renewal still will be possible?

From Jomtien Immigration Office (Pattaya) about 2 hour ago :

"The 3 million baht investment visa will no longer be available in October...

... but a 10 million baht investment visa will substitute it."

"The renewal will be possible by investing 7 million baht more..."

"Most visa financial requirement will be "updated" before the end of 2006"

"The 2 border runs limitation will not concern people arriving in thailand by plane"

There was an "unofficial meeting" this afternoon at the Immigration Office

with several people of the "Pattaya Expat Club".

I suppose they will make soon a complete report on their web site.

Wait & see...

Pataya46

Thanks for the info. Still, 10 mio is a drop in the ocean compared to, for instance, HK's USD 1 mio for a similar one. Not sure how other countries in the region compare.

I did forward details of the Philippines special visa that was mentioned on the other, big, thread to a mate who's married to a filipina but lives in HK. He chortled that it was a waste of money (USD 75k).

special retirement visa was reduced months ago to $20k-not many go that way-he is married to a philippin citizen-has other options-there are many Philippin forums PM me for the seriuse forum with real answers-turist visas extendable for one year or get married-can do buisness with phil partners holding 60%-but all the rules are different and change depending on which judge you get and how much bribe money you have-there is no way you can pull out of thailand and go back in to buisness in the PI with out learning on the grownd for a wile-PI exports thousands of teachers every year only work for none citizen would be in private language schools for koreans low pay-good cheep health care but perscriptions for blood pressure or diabetie(?) cost more than U.S.-it's a place to retire $1,200-1,500 month-it's simple there invest or loan=you lose-don't listen to some one who goes to Manila and angeles for two weeks-avoid Manila go Hong Kong direct to Cebu and listen to those who live there. Sorry about getting of subject got carryed away.

[jbaldwin]

Good news.

They are accepting application till the end of the month. As long as you have a 30 day consideration stamp before Oct 1st and are approved, you will be 'grandfathered in"

By the way, the logic why they are doing away with the scheme. “It was too easy for mafia influences to get a visa as 3 million Baht was nothing for them.”

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Any idea whether applications will be accepted from people with more than 30 days on their current stay. I am stamped in until 3 November. I understand that you generally cannot apply for an extention until the last 30 days of a stay.

[jdinasia]

"It was too easy for mafia influences to get a visa as 3 million Baht was nothing for them.”

well doesn't that say it all in a nutshell.

is there a Nobel Prize for stupidness?

gee if 3 mill is nothing, they just might have the 10 mill do you think?

even if they suddenly reverse all this nonsense and let you stay forever for free,

the damage is done, foreigners now know for sure that Thailand can't be trusted,

will this be the trigger for a Thailand recession?

reading on here, i can see a lot of money will not be coming in,

including me,

i was thinking of it, but now, not in a million years.

hello Cambodia!!

Mark .... do you mean your bar isn't giving you all you need for a work-permit and permission to stay? hmmm

[Dazzler]

I have just bought a condo for Bt5 mill in BKK. I have a work permit, but if the worst came to the worst, I could always rent it out and live in another country.

Not ideal if I had a Thai wife here I agree, but financially I am not buggered.

Am I missing something here? I just leave Thailand and rent out my condo.

I think you are missing something here!

Who will rent your condo after the foreigners are gone? (To return a yield of 6% from a Bt5 million condo, you need to rent it for Bt25,000/month.)

The current rental rate for my condo is Bt45,000 per month. Hopefully it won't drop to Bt25,000!

[Happy Jack]

So many people complaining about this - but recently returned to New Zealand with my Thai wife and the drama has been about a million times that I had (virtually zero) in my two years in LOS, even just to get her an initial 9 month visitor's visa. Thailand might be tightening up their policies, and sometimes these may even seem illogical, but the buerocracy involved for Thai people to get into other countries is still a million times worse - and the policies of other nations are probably a big influence on the direction the Thai government takes in establishing its own. With a general trend to bring Thialand up to date with other countries we can only expect to see things get more involved. Hopefully out of all this there will eventually emerge a sensible and logical system. How long this may take is anyone's guess though.

There is a reason for this.Thai people are about a million times more likely to overstay.

Not so. It's this difficult for anyone from anywhere to get into New Zealand.

[Happy Jack]

There is a reason for this.Thai people are about a million times more likely to overstay.

And what do you think this whole issue of banning border runs is about, then?

Jesus Christ man, wake up! The two countries are so vastly different that your comparisons are moronic. If a Thai dissapears into a country like NZ, he will be a burden on the system and he will "take" employment opportunities from locals. If a farang stays long term in Thailand, what burden is he on the Thai government? What benefits are given to him? What work does he steal from the Thais? All he does is bring money in and spend it and this is something that the Thais should be encouraging.

Um, some moronic questions:

Do the number of farangs who stay in Thialand and run businesses there make their living money from overseas or from Thialand (and the bar girls many of them exploit)? Do the people who live in thialand for many years employed by Thai businesses or schools make their money overseas or in the local economy?

The original post which bendix and chuchok were commenting on was not about comparing the two countries but demonstarting that Thai imigration has a long way to go before it is as tough as New Zealand (which is probably indicitive of the immigration policy of most western countries) and as such we still have it relatively easy. Incidentally, I was told a few years ago by Thai immigration that there was a procedure for gaining Thai citizenship and whilst I don't remember the finer details apart from it being several years (of living in Thailand) before I would qualify it didn't seem like it was a difficult or excessively harsh process.

[ronw]

Hi,

We have just called Immigration and they told us that renewal still will be possible?

From Jomtien Immigration Office (Pattaya) about 2 hour ago :

"The 3 million baht investment visa will no longer be available in October...

... but a 10 million baht investment visa will substitute it."

"The renewal will be possible by investing 7 million baht more..."

"Most visa financial requirement will be "updated" before the end of 2006"

"The 2 border runs limitation will not concern people arriving in thailand by plane"

There was an "unofficial meeting" this afternoon at the Immigration Office

with several people of the "Pattaya Expat Club".

I suppose they will make soon a complete report on their web site.

Wait & see...

Pataya46

Sounds like more bad news coming. This time for retirement and marriage visas. This stuff really stinks for all.

As i have said on another post....."where is your EVIDENCE for this statement?"

This is sheer rumourmongering....boy, are you running scared, or what?

The new regulations are to ensure that people comply with the law.....

ie... if you want to stay..GET A VISA....AND THEN STOP MOANING ABOUT YOUR HARD LUCK...

AND COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE COUNTRY... simple, really!!!

[pschef]

and if u dont have the 800k or 400k ina bank, those people must leave. Kidt to support etc. this is one side for sure.

[Mr Hugh Jarse]

Any indication of why this option will be cancelled?

Lack of interest (ours, not theirs)?

Too much attempted rule bending?

Too difficult to administer?

Beause they are trying their best to rid Thailand of Foreigners , no other reason .

OR Perhaps it is the low enders: crooks,sexual degenerates,economic migrants and dodgy business women/men who do not benefit the wider society that are being winkled- out, rather than 'foreigners per se.as you suggest.

The official line is to welcome genuine tourists retirees and those who presence in the Kingdom is condusive to the wider societies that make up The Kingdom of Thailand.Do you agree?

H.J

[jbaldwin]

Good news.

They are accepting application till the end of the month. As long as you have a 30 day consideration stamp before Oct 1st and are approved, you will be 'grandfathered in"

By the way, the logic why they are doing away with the scheme. “It was too easy for mafia influences to get a visa as 3 million Baht was nothing for them.”

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Any idea whether applications will be accepted from people with more than 30 days on their current stay. I am stamped in until 3 November. I understand that you generally cannot apply for an extention until the last 30 days of a stay.

I spoke to Pattaya Immigration today. They told me that I could not apply for an extention on investment grounds until the last 30 days of my current stay ie not until after 4 October. They also said that they expected that the proposed changes would not be implemented because it was causing problems for too many people. I assume that this was just the normal Thai telling me what I wanted to hear. Immigration could suggest nothing other than waiting till after 1 October and seeing if the change is made

Sunbelt - if you can do anything to get me an investment visa before 1 October please PM or e-mail me

[zeusbheld]

is there a Nobel Prize for stupidness?

no, but TRT should collectively win a darwin award, and they'd be among the few to win without offing themselves.

gee if 3 mill is nothing, they just might have the 10 mill do you think?

good god. never thought of THAT! i'm going to notify the authorities RIGHT AWAY, this borders on a crisis!

[tracer0]

Khon Kaen MP Premsak Pearyura, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Labor, said that 300 baht was a very small amount for a foreigner to pay, especially if converted into US dollars or Euros. “The government should charge more than this to stop foreigners grabbing jobs from Thais. “The [initial] work permit fee should bring in more revenue for Thailand. It should be 30,000 or 300,000 baht.”

=============

Grabbing jobs from Thais??? Why, it isnt worth it...

Anyway I know quite a few people considering moving to Cambodia (you can buy your house there in your own name) Also maybe an idea to do 2-3 months Thailand/Laos etc before returning to Thailand. I cannot do that but maybe in a few years even the wife will be so pissed off that we move the familly elsewhere when kids are out of school...

[Wonderboy]

Last November I bought a condo for about 9.5M baht. It is supposed to be finished some time next year. As it is not completed, I dont yet have a title deed. Hence there is no way I can meet the 1. October dead line to apply for an investment visa. Now I am basically stuck with a condo I can only stay in from time to time, and probably will have a hard time selling.

There are two versions of the future of investment visas flouting around right now, one is that after Ocotber 1, you will no longer be given such a visa no matter what, and the other one is that amount will be lifted to 10M. Is anybody able to confirm either version?

Nobody working ilegally in Thailand are able to invest 3M on the minimal wages they are making. If they say it is to stop criminals, well, laws did not stop them before, and it will not stop them now. Criminals probably juggle two or more countries already anyway.

!

[Firefan]

Wonderboy; sorry to hear about your situation.

There has been NO official info about a new 10 M baht investment visa.

IF it comes, you might (at least that is how it worked under the 3M Baht system) be able to put 500k in a time deposit getting you up to the 10 M Baht requirement.

I fully agree that the cancellation of the investment visa is probably the most bizare change in the new rules. While the visa-free-entry stamp back to back changes are sad for many, at least, REASONS can be explained (not that we all agree).

If one wants to fight gangsters I think that police effort in fighting crime should be the way - not cancelling a visa type where most are law abiding people who put a big chunk of their nest egg in the country based on invitations from Thai gov. and visa incentives...

Cheers!

[Firefan]

Lapamita; I understand your frustration but please keep the finger from that Caps Lock button.

Stock market holdings do not count towards the 3 M baht investment visa requirement.

Condo (which now has to be new, and yes; amount based on land office price on which taxes paid during purchase), government bonds(well; nobody knows how to buy them apparently) and then time deposit (5.15% interest - 15% withholding tax on interest) in gov. bank.

Cheers!

[number6]

Any indication of why this option will be cancelled?

Lack of interest (ours, not theirs)?

Too much attempted rule bending?

Too difficult to administer?

Beause they are trying their best to rid Thailand of Foreigners , no other reason .

OR Perhaps it is the low enders: crooks,sexual degenerates,economic migrants and dodgy business women/men who do not benefit the wider society that are being winkled- out, rather than 'foreigners per se.as you suggest.

The official line is to welcome genuine tourists retirees and those who presence in the Kingdom is condusive to the wider societies that make up The Kingdom of Thailand.Do you agree?

Absolutely spot on tooktong agree 100%

Your all paranoid – first as far as I read immigration have said they would honor existing 3 million baht investment visa holders even those in pipeline. The condo scheme was not for any condo over 3 million only for approved projects and only those bought off plan, which is why I rejected it. So immigration have changed rules – that’s up to them. Theirs absolutely no indication they want rid of foreigners per say just those 30 day border hoppers – most of them I would not want within a pole length of me. As for all teachers working illegally well get legal. Get legal or get out. Why should Thailand welcome those with little money? UK does same if you have enough dough your welcome if not get out.

I’m married here – have 2 condos and 2 houses (houses in wife’s name) now buying another 4 condos in wife’s name – stupid me – well see in 10-15 years. And if it all goes pair shaped that’s life. If they really want me to go I wont want to stay simple as that. But ill hang on here happy married etc until then.

Same goes fro those who tried to go round law with company purchase of houses land. You got and will get what you deserve.

Somehow I think ill still be here in 10 years and if they raise money requirement for dependent visa to 1 million fine or even more.

Stop winging stop moaning and get out if you don’t like it. I for one don’t want you here ok.

H.J

[number6]

Last November I bought a condo for about 9.5M baht. It is supposed to be finished some time next year. As it is not completed, I dont yet have a title deed. Hence there is no way I can meet the 1. October dead line to apply for an investment visa. Now I am basically stuck with a condo I can only stay in from time to time, and probably will have a hard time selling.

There are two versions of the future of investment visas flouting around right now, one is that after Ocotber 1, you will no longer be given such a visa no matter what, and the other one is that amount will be lifted to 10M. Is anybody able to confirm either version?

Nobody working ilegally in Thailand are able to invest 3M on the minimal wages they are making. If they say it is to stop criminals, well, laws did not stop them before, and it will not stop them now. Criminals probably juggle two or more countries already anyway.

!

nonsense your not eligable anyway unless its an approved scheme ??? why do people like you not use lawyers ????

[Wonderboy]

nonsense your not eligable anyway unless its an approved scheme ??? why do people like you not use lawyers ????

Thanks for that ample answere. Why do people like you post her pretending to know what they are talking about, when they clearly dont?

!

Edited September 19, 2006 by Wonderboy

[logpoacher]

Question for Sunbelt or anyone else with direct, personal experience:

First, many thanks to Sunbelt for the info given so far.

My question is: at what stage in the application process do immigration reject your request? Is it immediately on your first visit or is it after the 30 days consideration? I have had three, one year extensions based on a 3M baht, secondhand condo. Soon, I will have to go and apply for another year. If they accept the application and take my 1900 baht, does this mean I will be OK, or could I still be rejected after 30 days?

Any ideas?

[Firefan]

The 1900 Baht is a non-refundable fee to simply APPLY for extension. They generally are very good at telling you whether they think it is worthwhile - but final say is with the commission, not the front end staff, so they can not answer 100%.

That said; I think that there is a good chance that you will be renewed (I was, also 2nd hand) as they realized that moving the goal posts all the time is unfair - and now grandfather in existing investment visas.

NEW visa application will naturally have to be new condo. Well if they do not stop it COMPLETELY.

Cheers!

[logpoacher]

Firefan,

Many thanks for that reply. Sounds as though your situation is the same as mine, so I take it as a very good omen. I think I'll wait a few days for things to calm down before I go and apply though! You've cheered me up no end, thanks again.

[Firefan]

Mine was border line and Sunbelt lawyer helped argue my case. It was during this time new rules came out. My purchase was on paper 2nd hand (from Thai bank) as was a non-performing loan and condo taken back by bank - but condo was not decorated(cement and glass only) as owner went bankrupt before decorating so in reality nobody could ever have lived there.

Anyway - wish you good luck. Beers on you if you succeed! Cheers!

[Maizefarmer]

As someone else said - if you have 3mill plus to invest in a condo or whatever in Thailand - you are not likely to be worried about your viusa status (i.e. there are so many different types of visas that can be applied for, that if you are stuck in a situation in which you are not able to successfully apply for one or the other then really the question should be, should you be here?).

Tim