Thailand’s cabinet decided to cut the long-term resident (LTR) visa fee by half on Tuesday, to 50,000 baht, for foreigners who have “high capability or potential” and want to stay in the country for up to ten years, according to Deputy Government Spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek.
The measure, to come into effect 90 days after it is published in the Royal Gazette, is targeting four groups of foreigners, their spouses and no more than four children who are not over 20 years old. They are high-income individuals, foreign pensioners, people who want to work from Thailand and specialists.
The incentive is to encourage foreign investment in Thailand and to stimulate the economy, with an aim of up to one million such foreigners entering and staying in Thailand in the next five years. They could inject up to one trillion baht into the Thai economy, including 800 billion baht in investments, said Rachada.
Today’s decision is to update the guidelines and conditions, originally approved in September 2021, to attract foreigners with “high capability or potential” to stay in Thailand long term.
According to the revised guidelines, pensioners and wealthy foreigners, for instance, must have insurance coverage of at least US$50,000, to cover medical fees, which is valid for at least 10 months or a social security certificate covering their medical expenses while in Thailand or a cash deposit of at least US$100,000 in a domestic or a foreign bank account for 12 months before applying for the visa.
High-income earners must have an average annual income of US$80,000 for the two years prior to applying for the visa.
The foreign specialists must produce an employment contract from a business in Thailand or abroad. They are also required to produce evidence that they have worked in the “targeted industries” for at least 5 of the 10 years prior to applying for apply the visa.
Exceptions are made for work in Thai state universities, government research institutes, specified state training institutes or for those who have a PhD.
