The Thai cabinet approved updates and adjustments to the qualifications, criteria and conditions for the Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa program.

Key Points:

  • The LTR visa program offers 10-year residence, access to a digital work permit and personal income tax privileges, among other benefits to eligible individuals.
  • Updates to the LTR visa program are designed to attract more foreign professionals and investors, and target four categories, namely Highly Skilled Professionals, Work-from-Thailand Professionals, Wealthy Global Citizens and Wealthy Pensioners.
  • Key changes include:
    • An expansion of the list of target sectors for the Highly Skilled Professionals category.
    • The requirement for a minimum of five years of work experience in a relevant field has been removed for applicants in the Highly Skilled Professionals and Work-from-Thailand Professionals categories.
    • 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 US$50 million over the last three years, down from US$150 million.
    • For the Wealthy Global Citizens category, the minimum annual income requirement (US$80,000) has been removed.
    • Finally, restrictions on the number of dependents will be eliminated (previously capped at four), allowing spouses, parents, children and legal dependents to be included for LTR visa holders.

Additional Information: The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) is the agency in charge of screening applicants to the LTR visa program, which was first launched in September 2022. The BOI designed these updates and adjustments to facilitate access to a wider range of foreign experts, investors and executives so the country may boost talent pools and increase international competitiveness. As of the end of 2024, the BOI granted LTR visas to more than 6,000 applicants.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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