LTR visa application

[Luv2Phuket]

Hoping someone can give me their actual experiences in the LTR visa application process.

Here is my concern:  The document checklist for Work Form Thailand says I need:

Employment letter from the company signed by an authorized person. The letter must include the following information: current position, date of employment, and date of termination (if any)  AND Permission letter or related documents issued by the company for the applicant to work remotely from Thailand or other countries. The letter must be issued no more than 3 months before the submission date. 

It also has:

Evidence of full employment contract with an overseas company signed by authorized persons within the company stating employment details e.g. position, duration of contract, income, or termination date. (if any) 

I have an employment contract that specifies remote work, but I would prefer NOT to bug my CEO/CFO for a letter confirming I am employed and stating permission to work from Thailand. 

If I'm required to jump through that hoop, I am more likely to shift my focus to a DTV visa or even a Non-Immigrant O visa (although that presents its own set of problems, specifically, how to deposit 800k baht into a Thai bank when I can't open a Thai bank account? 555)

Have any of you successfully applied for a LTR via under the Work From Thailand option?  Did you have to get the letters referenced above?

[HimBadMan]

Not LTR related.   But seriously just get the DTV.  $400 USD and mutli entry.   Very little needed for the remote work option..       The biggest difference is just need to leave every 6 months and no bank account available.   Which for me doesn't really matter anyway ..

It's just super cost effective and easy.     I was also considering LTR.  But fortunately for me the DTV was introduced right before I was looking into LTR

Im also under 50.     I would still get a dtv vs a retirement visa as well.      Imo no reason to get anything other than dtv at this point.   

The ltr had some tax benefits.    But thailand imo is far from finding a way to tax anyone here longer than 6 months anyway.  

[Luv2Phuket]

I'm leaning more and more towards the DTV.

My CEO basically told me last year that I didn't need to let them know when I was traveling, as she knew I would be online and working wherever I was (and she's 110% correct).

I don't want to have to throw in their face that I like to split my time between Thailand and the US any more than necessary, so that "permission letter" nonsense was something I prefer to avoid.

One hiccup on the DTV - I know it has a 6 month limit, but I thought that was total time in Thailand per year.  Is it just 6 months, then leave for 2 and come back?

[HimBadMan]

7 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I'm leaning more and more towards the DTV.

My CEO basically told me last year that I didn't need to let them know when I was traveling, as she knew I would be online and working wherever I was (and she's 110% correct).

I don't want to have to throw in their face that I like to split my time between Thailand and the US any more than necessary, so that "permission letter" nonsense was something I prefer to avoid.

One hiccup on the DTV - I know it has a 6 month limit, but I thought that was total time in Thailand per year.  Is it just 6 months, then leave for 2 and come back?

Yes.  On the DTV you get a 6 month entry stamp.   You just need to leave and anytime you reenter you get another 6 months .    

Once you are over the 6 months per year in thailand you are considered a tax resident.  Even if you are on a tourist visa.   Weird huh. 

Many expats stress over this.    But I have zero fear.  With no thai bank acct.   Only atm withdrawals there isn't a way for them to realistically target me..    also if for some weird reason they do.   You just have to prove its money uph saved prior to 2022 or something like that that you are using.     Easy easy.. 

Many guys will tell you u need a bank acct here.   You really dont.       They talk about QR codes.   But believe me cash is still king.  

[Thomaz73]

10 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

a Non-Immigrant O visa (although that presents its own set of problems, specifically, how to deposit 800k baht into a Thai bank when I can't open a Thai bank account? 

Not true, mate. You get the initial visa from back home. Enter with that and open an account. That's very much still possible. You would then have some time to transfer funds to prepare for the yearly extension. I would recommend using Maneerat for that part. 

[freedom42]

Integrity Legal just did a video on the DTV and denials. He basically said that the govt intended it to be a "come here multiple times in 5 years", not "come live here for 5 years". Even the Elite visa holders are getting told that their 5 year stay is for "tourism" and that it is not to be used to live here (even though they sell it with condos - I guess you are not supposed to stay permanently in your own condo????).

 

I have the LTR pensioner visa, and used to be on the elite when I was under 50. I have to say that no 90 day reporting, and the tax exemption is great.

Would you be able to have someone else in your company write the letter (a manager?), other than the CEO if you don't want to bother them? The LTR would give you that much more assurance of your stay as it is truly a "residency" visa, as opposed to a short stay visa (anything under 1 year to me is a "short stay")

[HimBadMan]

1 hour ago, freedom42 said:

Integrity Legal just did a video on the DTV and denials. He basically said that the govt intended it to be a "come here multiple times in 5 years", not "come live here for 5 years". Even the Elite visa holders are getting told that their 5 year stay is for "tourism" and that it is not to be used to live here (even though they sell it with condos - I guess you are not supposed to stay permanently in your own condo????).

 

I have the LTR pensioner visa, and used to be on the elite when I was under 50. I have to say that no 90 day reporting, and the tax exemption is great.

Would you be able to have someone else in your company write the letter (a manager?), other than the CEO if you don't want to bother them? The LTR would give you that much more assurance of your stay as it is truly a "residency" visa, as opposed to a short stay visa (anything under 1 year to me is a "short stay")

That guy has some serious discontent with the DTV.  He's always shitting on it.    

[freedom42]

37 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

That guy has some serious discontent with the DTV.  He's always shitting on it.    

I would agree with you that he shits on it, and he shits on a lot of other things as well. But it was not well thought out. It pitted the ministry of foreign affairs against the RTP Immigration Bureau, and it is ultimately the RTP who says you can come in or not. They don't like (or don't want) to process extensions and tell people to leave the country and come back, and then some people are scrutinized upon re-entry that they still have their proof of money in the bank, work contracts, and all the other requirements. I personally would not want to be worried every 6 months if I am going to be let back in when I can have a 10 year visa for 50k baht stamped in my passport. At the 5 year mark, I just show my original "proof ofs" just updated to the present date (my pensions and health insurance) and I get my next 5 year "admitted until" stamp.

[LoneCelt]

19 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

 

Have any of you successfully applied for a LTR via under the Work From Thailand option?  Did you have to get the letters referenced above?

 

I have an LTR.

What criteria are you applying under?

Wealthy global citizen
Highly skilled professional
Work from Thailand professional?

They all lead to exactly the same visa.

Maybe look at qualifying under one to the other criteria.
It really is well worth it.

[CaribbeanDelight]

What did you decide to do @Luv2Phuket?

[Luv2Phuket]

52 minutes ago, CaribbeanDelight said:

What did you decide to do @Luv2Phuket?

What I have decided and what I have DONE are 2 very different things.....

I decided to go the LTR Work from Thailand visa.  Checked with my HR director and she said "I do these letters all the time - just tell me what you need."

I have DONE.....abso-fucking-lutely nothing!  555
Every weekend I think "I need to start on that LTR application" and then I fuck around all day, doing shit like reading and posting on PA!  555

[HimBadMan]

2 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

What I have decided and what I have DONE are 2 very different things.....

I decided to go the LTR Work from Thailand visa.  Checked with my HR director and she said "I do these letters all the time - just tell me what you need."

I have DONE.....abso-fucking-lutely nothing!  555
Every weekend I think "I need to start on that LTR application" and then I fuck around all day, doing shit like reading and posting on PA!  555

May i ask.  Why did you choose this vs the DTV.  55K baht vs 12K baht for similar visas ? (Remote work).   Then can easily switch to a retirement visa when done working.

What was the main factor?.   Sorry if its too personal.    

[Luv2Phuket]

52 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

May i ask.  Why did you choose this vs the DTV.  55K baht vs 12K baht for similar visas ? (Remote work).   Then can easily switch to a retirement visa when done working.

What was the main factor?.   Sorry if its too personal.    

I'll retire before the LTR expires, but I want to lock in something long term.

The 2 biggest factors for me were virtually no time restrictions and the ability to open a bank account.  I know I can get by with my Schwab and Fidelity cards, but having a bank account seems more convenient.

I'm not planning to be in Thailand for TOO long of a stretch at a time, but I prefer having the security of not worrying about the Thai government messing with me on the 6+ month stay or possibly changing the RULES (although I guess they could do that with the LTR).

 

[CaribbeanDelight]

10 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

What I have decided and what I have DONE are 2 very different things.....

I decided to go the LTR Work from Thailand visa.  Checked with my HR director and she said "I do these letters all the time - just tell me what you need."

I have DONE.....abso-fucking-lutely nothing!  555
Every weekend I think "I need to start on that LTR application" and then I fuck around all day, doing shit like reading and posting on PA!  555

Get on it!

[DanGee]

On 08/05/2026 at 20:38, Luv2Phuket said:

What I have decided and what I have DONE are 2 very different things.....

I decided to go the LTR Work from Thailand visa.  Checked with my HR director and she said "I do these letters all the time - just tell me what you need."

I have DONE.....abso-fucking-lutely nothing!  555
Every weekend I think "I need to start on that LTR application" and then I fuck around all day, doing shit like reading and posting on PA!  555

I just finished getting a wealthy pensioner LTR visa on my last trip.  I got the visa itself on April 7.  I thought the process was very easy, with just a few minor stumbling blocks.

Your next step is to fill out the application and attach relevant documents.  The application itself is pretty simple.  In my case I think I needed to attach a copy of the passport, proof of income, and proof of adequate cash to not need health insurance.  It took them about two weeks to get back to me requesting more specific documents for proof of income.

Once I got them those extra documents (1040, 1099s, etc), they gave me an approval.  The next part was a bit confusing.  You need to fill out a few more form items including where you want to pick up the visa (Bangkok is the best location).  But they wanted information on your current visa.  So I ended up waiting until I was in Thailand to fill out this data.

The form was a bit touchy too.  Any mistake at all and I needed to refresh the page to get it to work again.  The response from this was just a couple days and then they sent a link for me to make an appointment.  There were plenty of appointments available the following week.

And then once the appointment is made, they give you links for a couple of forms that you need to print out, so I did that at a copy shop.  You also need a passport photo, which I did at home.  But when I rechecked the instructions, I found at that a Thai passport photo is 4cm x 6cm, not 2" x 2" like an American one.  So I got my image reprinted at a copy shop.

The day of the appointment went very smoothly.  You start in the LTR room of the BOI office, which is in a shopping mall.  They take your forms and verify everything is in order.  They came back to me for signatures and to get a few items clarified.  Then you get a picture taken.  Then they escort you to a big room with maybe 20 cashiers and so forth.  They take you to the correct window to submit your paperwork.  Then you talk to an immigration officer.  He asked why I liked Thailand, what were my plans, and that was about it.  The next step (or maybe this was before the interview) is to hand over 50,000 THB.   Then you go back to the original window to submit the receipt from payment.  Then back to the LTR room.  A few minutes later, they give you back your passport with the visa stamp in it and they explain how it works.

I'm really glad I did it because now I don't have to worry about things like them changing the 60 visa exempt back to 30 days.  One more note is that the 10 year visa is granted as a five year visa in your passport and then you revisit them to get the second five years.  But the visa is also limited by the expiration of your passport.  So in my case, the visa stamp is just for two years.  When I get a replacement passport, it is simple to have them transfer the balance of the first five years to the new passport.  This can be done by visiting the office or they suggested it would be easier to use an agent.

[phlampson]

2 hours ago, DanGee said:

I just finished getting a wealthy pensioner LTR visa on my last trip.  I got the visa itself on April 7.  I thought the process was very easy, with just a few minor stumbling blocks.

Thanks for the detailed info. It's great intel.

Couple questions:

1. How many years of passive income did you need to document? I'm planning to move to Thailand very shortly after retiring, so it might be close to 3 years before I have 2 years of tax returns to submit. I wonder if they might accept 1 year with combined earned/passive income. 

2. Did your cash need to be in a traditional checking/savings account to qualify for waiving the insurance requirement? And for how long? My understanding is that they don't allow money/assets held in brokerage accounts. Just wondering if there's a workaround for that. 

Edited May 12 by phlampson

[DanGee]

4 hours ago, phlampson said:

Thanks for the detailed info. It's great intel.

Couple questions:

1. How many years of passive income did you need to document? I'm planning to move to Thailand very shortly after retiring, so it might be close to 3 years before I have 2 years of tax returns to submit. I wonder if they might accept 1 year with combined earned/passive income. 

2. Did your cash need to be in a traditional checking/savings account to qualify for waiving the insurance requirement? And for how long? My understanding is that they don't allow money/assets held in brokerage accounts. Just wondering if there's a workaround for that. 

I sent in 1040's for 2023, 2024, and a preliminary 2025 1040.  They got back to me and just wanted the final 2025 1040 along with the associated 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-R, 1099-B, and schedule D.

The cash was in a money market account at a brokerage.  I sent in one year of statements showing the balance each month.

[phlampson]

15 hours ago, DanGee said:

I sent in 1040's for 2023, 2024, and a preliminary 2025 1040.  They got back to me and just wanted the final 2025 1040 along with the associated 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-R, 1099-B, and schedule D.

The cash was in a money market account at a brokerage.  I sent in one year of statements showing the balance each month.

Thanks. So I presume you were already retired and collecting SS/Pension in 2023, right?

Did they ignore the 2023 and 2024 returns? Or were they ONLY interested in the final 2025 documents?

By any chance, was your money market account a Fidelity Cash Management Account? I guess I could transfer to a dedicated money market account, but it would be easier to leave it in the CMA (with it's automated cash sweep into a MM fund)

[DanGee]

Yes already retired.  Passive income via investments: interest, dividends, and capital gains.

I don't know if they would have requested 2023 and 2024 if I hadn't initially supplied them.  However, they did not ask for any supporting documents (like the 1099s) for those years.

The money market is the Merrill Lynch Preferred Deposit in a Merrill Lynch account.

[hormone]

On 09/05/2026 at 11:27, Luv2Phuket said:

I'll retire before the LTR expires, but I want to lock in something long term.

The 2 biggest factors for me were virtually no time restrictions and the ability to open a bank account.  I know I can get by with my Schwab and Fidelity cards, but having a bank account seems more convenient.

I'm not planning to be in Thailand for TOO long of a stretch at a time, but I prefer having the security of not worrying about the Thai government messing with me on the 6+ month stay or possibly changing the RULES (although I guess they could do that with the LTR).

 

I respect your decision-- but not your inaction!!  5555 r.e. LTR.   
My thoughts (and actions) are totally aligned with @HimBadMan though.  The simple ease/ low cost of getting the DTV under remote work category, the easy "financial proof" and the ease of coming in/ out of the country, as I travel out of TH >4-5 times a year already.   
My personal circumstances made it that the Thai bank account was a non issue for me-- but I agree it can strongly motivate a choice. 
Only once (out of 12 entries so far) has an IO asked me anything about my DTV ("how did you obtain it?") and as soon as I replied remote work, stating my qualifications and "consulting", she smiled happily.  I always have my laptop with me when I travel so if "evidence" were needed to be shown, it would be easy.  
On "could the govt change RULES" for a particular visa?  Yes, of course, but normally when there is a change of visa RULES, it applies to future applicants. It would be strange to revoke permissions/ change criteria for current visa holders.  And for the DTV, I would see the government modify criteria for soft power much more than for remote workers.  

Thanks to @DanGee also for his info, as I too had lots of questions on LTR... 

[JakatiJohn]

On 12/05/2026 at 15:55, phlampson said:

Thanks for the detailed info. It's great intel.

Couple questions:

1. How many years of passive income did you need to document? I'm planning to move to Thailand very shortly after retiring, so it might be close to 3 years before I have 2 years of tax returns to submit. I wonder if they might accept 1 year with combined earned/passive income. 

2. Did your cash need to be in a traditional checking/savings account to qualify for waiving the insurance requirement? And for how long? My understanding is that they don't allow money/assets held in brokerage accounts. Just wondering if there's a workaround for that. 

I completed the LTR pensioner visa process this February. They were only interested in seeing one year of passive income (2025). It was very clear that it needed to be passive income (interest, pension, capital gains, ect) and not combined with earned income. If you're a little short, you could sell some stock to realize capital gains and that would count. They wanted monthly statements from the relative accounts and the relative tax reports for 2025 as listed by DanGee. 

There is a chance I only needed to show one year as I had some unusual capital gains (for me) in 2025. My original understanding was that you needed two years of passive income that averaged out at $80,000 per year and maybe i ticked that box with just my 2025 returns, but I got the impression you actually only needed one year. 

I can't definitively answer the question on if a Fidelity CMA would count as a savings account for the insurance requirement, but I did run into an issue with that on a different Thailand visa application. If you're planning ahead and looking for an alternative, you could consider parking money in the Etrade / Morgan Stanley premium savings account which earns decent interest and is coded as a traditional saving account Note, I am pretty sure they will want monthly statement verifying the money has been continuously in there for a year. 

Good luck! It really is a great visa with unique benefits. 

[phlampson]

1 hour ago, JakatiJohn said:

I completed the LTR pensioner visa process this February. They were only interested in seeing one year of passive income (2025). It was very clear that it needed to be passive income (interest, pension, capital gains, ect) and not combined with earned income. If you're a little short, you could sell some stock to realize capital gains and that would count. They wanted monthly statements from the relative accounts and the relative tax reports for 2025 as listed by DanGee. 

There is a chance I only needed to show one year as I had some unusual capital gains (for me) in 2025. My original understanding was that you needed two years of passive income that averaged out at $80,000 per year and maybe i ticked that box with just my 2025 returns, but I got the impression you actually only needed one year. 

I can't definitively answer the question on if a Fidelity CMA would count as a savings account for the insurance requirement, but I did run into an issue with that on a different Thailand visa application. If you're planning ahead and looking for an alternative, you could consider parking money in the Etrade / Morgan Stanley premium savings account which earns decent interest and is coded as a traditional saving account Note, I am pretty sure they will want monthly statement verifying the money has been continuously in there for a year. 

Good luck! It really is a great visa with unique benefits. 

Thanks. That's good info. 

In my personal case, I plan to live off cash savings for a few years while doing Roth conversions. My understanding is that Roth conversions qualify as unearned income for the purposes of LTR qualification. After that, social security and IRA distributions should take over. 

I guess there wouldn't be any harm in applying with just one year's worth of conversions. Worst they could do is reject the application, right?

[DanGee]

18 hours ago, phlampson said:

I guess there wouldn't be any harm in applying with just one year's worth of conversions. Worst they could do is reject the application, right?

Certainly that's a good strategy.  You don't have to pay until they approve the application.

[phlampson]

Just saw this posted at aseannow.com earlier this week. This would be good news if it turns out to be true, and it does confirm your experience. 

I am speculating that the BOI is trying to find ways to get their numbers up, as they are massively trailing the estimates they gave at the start of the program.