4-year Professional Visas Get Green Light

[TechnikaIII]

19 hours ago, Dipterocarp said:

I have an advanced degree, don't want to work here anyway. Can't I get a 4 year smart VISA to "stay" in Thailand?

Just wanting to stay here another 4 years could be viewed as the opposite of smart, therefore you'd be disqualified upon application.

 

[Morakot]

2 hours ago, micmichd said:

 

Would it be possible to change from retirement to smart visa? 

 

Presumably only if you're indenting to go back to work, by resuming your profession...  But why would one like to do that?

[fforest1]

18 minutes ago, ujayujay said:

Whats the definition of highly skilled?

A job that relates to the 10 chosen fields which definitely does not include anything related to tourist,teaching,bars,restaurants, 

small businesses,hotels,farms....

But a big soulless high-tech manufacture just might cut the mustard.....  

[SupermarineS6B]

Oh yeah, let's wait for the price........ Looks as though you'll have to pay to fart shortly......

[LivinLOS]

Lets see the details.. thats where the devil usually lies.. 

 

This may fit me (Owner and MD of 3 active corporations, angel investor of one fintech startup, 2 international corps, turnover close to 10 mil gbp turnover, looking at over 100 staff next year).. I have no Thai staff or operations, I am in and out routinely and doing so makes the marriage visa hard to extend, I am not old enough for retirement. 

 

The last 2 years I have dropped back to multi entry marriage visas an annually applying (even then my constant travel makes it less easy than you would assume). 

 

On paper, this fits my needs, my lifestyle, and I fit thier spec of investor, owner, and skilled management professional. Of course being Thais they might set non business standards like degrees, education standards, etc. 

[LivinLOS]

21 minutes ago, eeyang wah said:

The concept of coming here to conduct business but not actually "working" makes sense to me.

What's to stop you having meetings? I'm sure if for some strange reason immigration or department of labor were to catch you just talking to people, they could not feasibly do you for not having a work permit! Especially if you had this type of visa.

They are trying to catch people who are doing manual work or handling cash or otherwise obviously working, I don't think this includes just talking to people.

You can 'think' what you like.. 

 

Managers and meetings are covered by the 14 day work permit exemption, which must be applied for accompanying a B visa and accompanying sponsorship letter. 

[eddie61]

21 hours ago, Raymonddiaz said:

highly skilled professionals????........not to many will be qualified for that visa.

More professional than the Immigration Department, which publishes their ejaculation in Thai, rather than the language of their target group. This will be another non-starter, just like the 5+5 retirement visa. 

 

Someone in that department needs a functioning brain.....

[maddox41]

What cracks me up is they bring in new visas and have no information about them it same same

But at least here you have options unlike other countries 

Marriage Visa  

Elite visa 

Retirement visa 

This skilled visa 

Bussiness visa 

You think you can have that choice like where I'm from in Australia answer is NO

[Thaidream]

It sounds to me that it is a multiple entry B Visa with a 4 year expiration date.  The maximum extension of stay without visiting Immigration will most likely be 1 year. However, as one poster mentioned- the devil is in the details. What documentation is needed. What will be the education requirements if any and what type of business registration is needed if any. There are many successful  entrepreneurs in the World who have little formal education but have established money making businesses in a variety of countries and have made a great deal of money. They take reasonable chances and these are the type of people that Thailand can benefit from. I am hoping that formal education requirements will not stop them from coming under this Visa scheme.

[Rickster]

21 hours ago, Lingba said:

..and how much do the investors who are applying for this visa have to invest??...another law being passed with more gray areas than a thunder storm

'Grey' areas.....highly skilled professional....highly unlikely!!

[bberrythailand]

Thai women always tell me that I am highly skilled, so maybe I just need to get paid to apply ?

 

 

 

[DieterWiehe]

22 hours ago, gandalf12 said:

What do they consider as "Highly Skilled"?

If one can drill inside your own nose without breaking your finger

[CanuckThai]

The question is, who is getting juiced?  We all know nothing gets done here unless someone gets their entitled dues, or their "cut".  I'm not being cynical, just pragmatic.  The fly in the ointment will be the paperwork hurdles, the fee and the intermediaries.

[JAS21]

2 hours ago, SouthernDelight said:

Industrial sites/plants are designed and build by 'highly skilled' professionals; Developing countries employ these people for specific times and projects. Modern plants do not require this type of "highly skilled" ability to operate the day-to-day activities and is usually handed to (prior) trained natives.

I was being frivolous .... The last CCGT station that I was involved in commissioning was push button start ... as they all are now.

 

(prior) trained natives!!... . Of the operational staff at Barking CCGT only one was an ex power station person. Nearly all the rest were from the oil industry who knew nothing about boilers, steam turbines and some not that much gas turbines.

 

They were selected mainly on the results of psychometric  testing. If you are inferring that the were 'natives' in a derogatory sense,  it very misplaced.  They were some of the brightest personnel  I have ever been involved in training .........

Edited August 19, 2017 by JAS21

[balo]

This is probably the new visa for digital nomads. No need for a work permit since our business is abroad.

[flyingdoc]

I really wonder sometimes!! Why make an announcement like this, without any details???

[Bangkok Barry]

Okay, that's a start. If they can do that for professionals, how about they do the same for those married to Thais. 

[gandalf12]

1 hour ago, DieterWiehe said:

If one can drill inside your own nose without breaking your finger

No that isnt it, the Thais are good at that. Have another go

[StraightTalk]

1 hour ago, JAS21 said:

 If you are inferring that the were 'natives' in a derogatory sense,  it very misplaced.

This remark was uncalled for, it is nothing but speculation; Your conclusion is inappropriate!

Natives are persons or indigenous persons born in a particular place or country.

The 'derogatory' interpretation came from a  bygone colonial era.

My post served to be cordial, informative and inoffensive but admit it can be characterized differently by those with negative mental attitude, oh well.

[simon43]

 

 

I have an MSc in Microwave Comms from UCL and worked for years in the space and satellite business as a... rocket scientist.

 

Yonks ago (maybe 12 years or so), there was a vacancy advertised to head up Thailand's fledgling space R&D organisation.  I applied and passed all the criteria for the job, except one ..... I wasn't Thai.

 

Still, this visa could be good news for me if I ever decide to return from my enjoyable life in Myanmar :)

[

[jabis]

"for up to four years without applying for a work permit"

 

Ho-hum, does this mean the "smart" visa holders can work without a work permit? 

[impulse]

9 minutes ago, jabis said:

"for up to four years without applying for a work permit"

 

Ho-hum, does this mean the "smart" visa holders can work without a work permit? 

 

It's comments like that (4 years without a work permit) that lead me to suspect that there will be a hefty investment required, and/or a requirement to employ Thai people.  Though I wish Balo were correct, I'm forecasting a modified investor visa that basically gives an investor 4 years to build up the business before having to go through some of the formalities like getting a WP.  I just can't see them giving anyone, no matter how skilled up, 4 years without getting a wad of cash out of their pocket.

 

And I'm also making 2 more forecasts:  1) It won't happen before 2019 and 2) When (if) it does happen, the details will be a disappointment.  

 

For the guy lamenting the negatives here, it's too heartbreaking to get your hopes built up again and again by incomplete proclamations, only to have those hopes dashed on the rocks when the details are known.  (Like the much anticipated new 10 year visa that's actually costlier than an Elite Visa when lost interest income is factored in).   I hope I'm wrong, but I know which way I'd bet my money.

 

[thhMan]

Im guessing requirements are..

You must be Chinese

The skill must be in the High Speed Train industry

[Shaunduhpostman]

The catch being that you may, depending on your location and luck, still have to deal with an arbitrary situation in which the rules are not transparent and even if they were wouldn't necessarily be applied fairly. They need to get better people to work as officials who are on the level and not simply on the take or too selfish to help people trying to negotiate the difficulties of remaining legally in this country. New visas will create problems for the older programs. There will be that much less focus and dedication to them. These new visas are bad news and show, not that we are surprised, that there is likely little to no interest in a  revamp or serious attempt at improvement of services or  transparency   on the horizon.

[XBroker]

Most of us/you don't qualify, so I think 7 pages on this topic is way premature. It isn't policy yet; and the woman in the photograph is smiling about something else, she's clearly not qualified for this. And that is my ray of sunshine for the day...

[Nord X]

2 hours ago, balo said:

This is probably the new visa for digital nomads. No need for a work permit since our business is abroad.

No, it's a visa for government projects, ie the high speed rail project.

[pattayadgw]

Sorry but there is NOTHING SMART about this visa and NOTHING SMART about the people who are the brainwaves behind it.  Have these 'brainwaves' ever thought about the average guy who is here retired on a 1 year retirement visa, has bought a house or is renting long term, supporting his gf or wife / family,  spends money daily on food, kids, beer electrics, water, family etc. etc. basically putting money into the thai system every day. Do they ever think how much money is poured into the economy every day by these average retired guys... they seem to not be able to see the wood from the trees!!

[HOOD Robin]

On 8/18/2017 at 5:54 PM, smedly said:

seems to me that someone is listening, Thailand needs highly skilled foreigners, the realisation of that fact is a first for Thailand and almost a public declaration that they do not have the people in house to perform certain tasks and manage certain projects, it could be to facilitate people involved in the construction of the high speed rail network and possibly many other tasks that Thailand does not have the ability to do themselves, they may also be looking closely at other countries such as the UK who rely on foreign workers to fill professional gaps that cannot be filled by UK nationals

 

On the face of it - another great idea that might attract much needed expertise in many areas that are severely lacking. 

 

"another great idea....."

 

ANOTHER ??????    

[Stardust314]

i hope it will be expensive. 

[Argus Tuft]

13 hours ago, gummy said:

And the usual TV supporters of the Junta regime trying to oppress the opinions of others !!!

Oh for goodness sake.  You've totally got it wrong mate if you're referring to me.  Try and be a bit more clever if you're trying to bait me