LTR visa improvements approved by cabinet

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI), the agency in charge of screening applicants for Thailand’s long term resident (LTR) visa program launched in September 2022, recently presented the cabinet with a progress report on the implementation of the economic and investment stimulus measures to attract high-potential foreigners to Thailand (LTR Visa measures) and the problems and obstacles in implementing such measures.

The report included proposals to revise the qualifications, criteria and conditions for visas under the LTR Visa and Smart Visa measures. The Cabinet resolved to acknowledge and approve the proposals of the Board of Investment (BOI) as follows:

1. Acknowledged the progress report on the implementation, problems, and obstacles in implementing the economic and investment stimulus measures by attracting high-potential foreigners to Thailand under the LTR Visa programme.
2. Approved the improvement of the qualifications, criteria, and conditions of the LTR Visa measures.
3. Approved the improvement of SMART Visa measures to leave only the group of start-up entrepreneurs (SMART - S) in cases where start-up enterprises have been established in Thailand
4. Assigned the BOI, the Ministry of Interior and relevant agencies to consider amending announcements, orders, or regulations related to granting permission to certain types of foreigners to reside in the Kingdom under the LTR Visa and SMART Visa measures.
5. Assigned the Ministry of Labor to consider expediting the process of amending regulations related to the cancellation of the Baht 2 million registered capital requirement for employment of foreigners holding LTR Visas.
6. Assigned the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to consider implementing national policies and measures to develop foreign language skills for personnel in the country.

Proposed LTR visa improvements

The privileges provided to LTR visa holders aim to make living in Thailand long term easier and less bureaucratic, including a 10-year visa, digital work permit and personal income tax breaks.

LTR visas are offered to four categories of foreigners, namely:

1. Wealthy Global Citizens
2. Wealthy Pensioners - foreigners aged 50 years and older.
3. Work-from-Thailand Professionals - Remote workers working for well-established overseas companies.
4. Highly-Skilled Professionals - Professionals or experts in targeted industries or occupations.

Removal of minimum income condition for Global Wealthy Citizens

The criteria for the LTR Visa for Global Wealthy Citizens require applicants to have personal income of not less than USD 80,000 per annum on average over the 2 years prior to the application date.

The BOI reported that there are a number of foreign LTR Visa applicants who have invested in Thailand exceeding the specified criteria and have a stable financial status, but have not passed the personal income qualification, which is a secondary condition.

The cabinet approved the proposal to abolish the criteria which requires applicants for the LTR Visa for Global Wealthy Citizen to have personal income of not less than USD 80,000 per annum on average over the 2 years prior to the application date.

Relaxation of conditions for Work from Thailand Professionals

Currently, if the foreign employer is not a listed entity, the foreign employer must have revenue of not less than USD 150 million over a 3-year period.

The Cabinet approved the proposal to reduce the revenue requirement to USD 50 million over a 3-year period. In addition, employees of wholly owned subsidiaries of major multinational corporations will be able to demonstrate their employer’s financial stability through the parent company’s financial statements, not the subsidiary as previously required.

Removal of the requirement for a minimum of five years of work experience in a relevant field was also approved.

Highly-Skilled Professionals criteria relaxed

The list of target sectors for the Highly Skilled Professionals category will now encompasses a broader range of non-STEM fields, such as development and sustainability, disaster and risk management, and integrated innovation.  

The requirement for a minimum of five years of work experience in a relevant field will be removed.

Removal of limit on number of dependents

Currently an LTR Visa holder can obtain LTR visas for dependents that are their spouse or children, limited to a total of 4 persons.

The cabinet approved to improve the criteria and conditions for dependents to also cover parents and legal dependents of the main LTR Visa holder and to remove the limit on the number of persons that can obtain an LTR visa as a dependent.

Revisions to Smart Visa programme

Since the LTR Visas and some types of Smart Visas have similar target groups and criteria, which cause confusion among foreigners, it was proposed that the Smart Visa types that overlaps with the LTR Visas and other types of visas should be cancelled because the LTR Visa is superior to the Smart Visa in many respects.

It was proposed to consider retaining only the SMART-S for startup entrepreneurs in cases where startups have been established (2-year type) because there are no other types of visas with similar benefits and relaxed conditions that are appropriate for startup entrepreneurs.