@Bipin ******

the only thing I was asked for was a receipt for my health insurance. I provided this about a week after initial application. It took another five weeks for final BOI approval certificate, including Songkran break. My wife received hers three weeks after submission with a different officer, so it partly depends on luck (screen 1 was fast, screen 5 was slow). Good luck.

@Brandon ***********

Thanks, much appreciated, will definitely need to be careful about the stamps, I hadn't thought of that.

Update in case it's helpful to anyone. I called the number provided by BOI (ending in 1109 or 1110) but these went straight to voicemail or cut off. VhatGPT gave me a number ending in 1100 and that worked. The fellow was pleasant enough. Although he couldn't explain why my wife has already been endorsed, he did suggest that my approval should come soon. Fingers crossed, perhaps screen 5 operator is a bit of a slacker.

We have also been waiting 5 weeks now. The only request was for insurance receipt and I provided immediately. Despite all the suggestions that BOI are responsive, my experience has been quite the opposite. Either cut and paste response (not specifically addressing the question) or no response at all. Most recently, they ignored my questions regarding health insurance and simply said "no additional documents have been requested". Nothing else. We are with screen 5, FWIW.

I am shipping from Philippines in a month, a 20 ft container with about 26cubic mtrs including two large TVs, some carpets, a Yamaha keyboard. I got customs estimates from two shippers and they were both in the US$800-1400 range. I could likely get the number down by excluding the electronics / keyboard / carpets, but will probably just ship it all. I don't find the amount unreasonable compared to what I was charged on the Philippines move.

I have worldwide (incl USA), high-end insurance coverage through Allianz, not travel insurance. The cost is exorbitant, so I don't really want to add another policy. BOI has responded with cut and paste (or not at all), not tailored to the actual question. I am hoping to hear from someone that actually went through the process with an annual insurance policy such as ours.

@Kool ******

Yes, the school was pushing the education / guardian visa for wife & child for initial entry, so investigating options for myself led me to the LTR idea. Might as well do all of us on the same visa, seems worth the cost in terms of immigration hassles alone

@Todd ********

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'll still be happy to have the LTR even at 150k for the family, especially if the tax benefits remain.

@Todd ********

Wow, that sucks, so 150k for us. Thanks for the bad news.

@John *********

Thanks, I didn't expect a government-related entity to be responsive, if so that's a pleasant surprise.