Phuket officials have met with immigration police and the Phuket Chamber of Commerce to find ways of promoting the new Long Term Resident visas, aka. the LTR. From September 1 foreigners will be able to apply for the new Long Term Resident visas.
It’s anticipated that the new LTRs will bring in more than 750 billion baht of investment into Thailand over the next three years.
The Thai Cabinet approved the LTR visas and the categories on May 10 this year.
The program has involved the Commercial Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ministry of Labour, Immigration and the Department of Revenue.
Thailand’s Board of Investment, the BOI, will administer the new program for all provinces, including Phuket.
The new LTRs will also cover up to four direct dependents, including legal spouse and children under the age of 20.
But the terms and conditions of the visa types covered under the new LTR visas will be onerous for most and mainly supports wealthy foreigners and retirees. Just the application fee for the visa is 50,000 baht. The BOI is anticipating it will process all visas within a 20 day period.
The LTR visas also appear to be partly aimed at the so-called digital nomads, the remote workers, who have fallen between the cracks in visa offerings from Thai immigration in the past. But they will need to show proof of high earnings to meet the criteria.
Thailand’s Long-Term Resident Program (LTR)
Thailand is introducing a new visa called “Long-Term Resident” which is a program that provides a range of tax and non-tax benefits to enhance the country’s attractiveness as a regional hub for living and doing business for ‘high-potential’ foreigners.
“Thailand is already home to multinational corporations from all over the world and one of the most important tourist destinations in Asia. Thailand presents itself as a very attractive location for ‘work from anywhere’ professionals.”
This new visa program is expected to attract new foreign residents, technologies and talents contributing to domestic spending and investment while supporting economic growth.
Which categories of foreigners will be offered LTR visas in Thailand?
LTR visas will be offered to four categories of foreigners…
• Wealthy Global Citizens
• Wealthy Pensioners
• Work-from-Thailand Professionals
• Highly-Skilled Professionals.
• Spouses and dependents of LTR visa holders will also qualify for the same visas.
Wealthy Global Citizen
• Wealthy individuals holding at least USD 1 million in assets
• Wealthy Pensioner
• Retirees aged 50 years and older who have an annual pension or stable income
• Work From Thailand Professional / Nomad
• Remote workers working for well-established overseas companies
Highly Skilled Professional
• Professionals or experts in targeted industries working for business entities or higher education institutes or research centres or specialised training institutions in Thailand or Thai government agencies
Dependents
• Spouse and children under 20 years old of LTR visa holders (maximum 4 dependents in total per one LTR visa holder)
What privileges will be offered to LTR visa holders?
There will be many privileges for LTR visa holders that will make living in Thailand long term easier and less bureaucratic. These privileges include: discounted personal income tax rate, the removal of the requirement for employers to hire four Thai citizens per foreigner, fast track at international airports, 1 year reporting to Immigration instead of 90 days, and the overall ease of regulations concerning foreign residents. The LTR Visa program makes the process of hiring foreigners easier and the foreign experts hired will strengthen the private business sector of Thailand.
• 10 years renewable visa (with conditions)
• Exemption from 4 Thais to 1 foreigner employment requirement ratio
• 90-day report extended to 1-year report and exemption of re-entry permit
• Permission to work in Thailand (Digital Work permit)
• 17% Personal income tax for High-skilled professionals
• Immigration and work permit facilitation services
Find ou more information HERE.
