Answered4 years ago

What are the investment requirements for the LTR visa in Thailand for high-income foreign individuals?

LTR visa Thailand visa requirements High income foreign individual visa Thai bonds Property investment in Thailand Visa application process

Anup **********

asked Jan 13, 2023

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Hello friends, have a question about the LTR visa - specifically the "High income foreign individuals" category, since I am under 50 and don't qualify for the LTR Retiree option. As far as I understand, there are 3 main requirements - $1m+ net worth, $500k investment, and $80k/year income proof for past 2 years. I meet the 1st and 3rd criteria, but I am confused about the $500k investment, and would like to hear from anyone who has successfully used this option. Do you first make the investment, and then apply for the visa? And if so, is the Thai bonds a safer way to apply, compared to property investment? My concern is that after putting $500k in property, what if the visa is denied? Would it be safer to put $500k in Thai bonds, and then once approved, can I use that money to buy property? Thank you in advance for your time!

Answer summary

The user seeks clarification on the investment requirement for the LTR visa, specifically the category for high-income foreigners under 50 years old. They understand the criteria of a $1 million net worth, $500,000 investment, and $80,000 annual income proof for the past two years, but they are unsure about the timing of the $500,000 investment in relation to the visa application. They ask if it is advisable to invest in Thai bonds for safety or invest in property first, expressing concerns over potential visa denial after such a significant investment.

8 repliesnewest first

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Will ************

You will also have to continue to make 80k plus annually and report this to immigration each year

4 years ago

Anup **********

@Will ***********

Could you please share your source? They didn't put this anywhere on their website as far as I know. Plus, can you even work for own company on an LTR visa? Wouldn't you need another work visa if you wanted to claim income in Thailand?

4 years ago

Todd *********

@Will ***********

that's incorrect, there is no annual requirement

4 years ago

Natalie ********

@Will ***********

what’s your source for this info? That’s not the case for the LTR Wealthy Pensionner category so I doubt it would be the case here. Proof of income required again in 5 years only…

4 years ago

Anup **********

@Natalie *******

Do you pay income tax on this income? Are you even allowed to work from Thailand, even for a foreign company, while being on a wealthy pensioner visa? I thought LTR was similar to Elite in the sense that you're not allowed to work from Thailand, unless you specifically applied for that category of LTR, which I believe is called "Work from Thailand LTR Visa".

4 years ago

Natalie ********

@Anup *********

yes, we pay income tax in Canada on this income, although it is possible at this point to initiate the steps to become non-resident of Canada for tax purposes, and thereby minimize taxes.

It is possible to work in Thailand with the LTR Pensioner visa but as I am not interested in doing this, I didn’t look into it . You should contact the BOI and ask for clarification. There is also information about this on their website.

Finally, we were asked to provide evidence of income for the past year only and that is what we did in order to obtain our visas. I don’t see why it would all of a sudden be evidence of 5 years’ worth of income when we go to renew in 5 years. I see nothing that indicates this so I doubt that is correct and would love for someone to show me otherwise. That said, our income is fairly stable generally speaking so it is not something we need to worry about so we did not ask about this in our conversations with the BOI.

4 years ago

Paul *******

@Natalie *******

The only question is, will they be checking the last 4 years to make sure the 80K requirement was met and if not, denying a further extension? That's what they do if you switch immigration offices in the case of a marriage visa extension and somehow can't prove you had the 400K in the bank for the previous extension! So I think it's best to make sure that the 80K USD threshold is met every year even if you only have to prove it again after 5 years for the next 5 years.

4 years ago

Paul *******

@Will ***********

So they want to see evidence of this every year not just once every 5 years?

4 years ago