The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) has announced the approval by the Cabinet of updates and adjustments to the qualifications, criteria, and conditions for the Long-Term Resident (LTR) Visa program.
The LTR program offers successful applicants a ten-year residence permit, access to a digital work permit and personal income tax privileges, among other benefits. The LTR targets four categories, namely Highly-Skilled Professionals, Work-from-Thailand Professionals, Wealthy Global Citizens and Wealthy Pensioners.
The approved changes include an expansion of the list of target sectors for the Highly Skilled Professionals category.
Key Changes
- The requirement for a minimum of five years of work experience in a relevant field for applicants to the Highly Skilled Professionals and Work-from-Thailand Professionals categories has been removed to reduce requirement redundancy and increase accessibility.
- For the Work-from-Thailand Professionals category, the corporate revenue requirement for overseas-based employers sponsoring an applicant has been lowered to a minimum of USD 50 million over the last three years, down from USD 150 million.
- Employees of wholly-owned subsidiaries of major multinational corporations are now eligible for the LTR, provided they can demonstrate financial stability through the parent company’s financial statements.
- The minimum annual income requirement for Wealthy Global Citizens category applicants has been removed to prioritize the cumulative wealth and investments in Thailand which are the core requirements for this category.
- The rights for dependents of the principal applicant to any of the four LTR categories have been expanded without a limitation on the number of dependents. The rights of the principal LTR holder will now include parents and legal dependents.
All changes will take effect following the official BOI announcement on the updated LTR criteria and the Ministry of Interior’s announcement on the expansion of dependents’ rights.
Erickson Insights & Analysis
Erickson Immigration Group will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions.