Citizeo
Pathway

Thailand Long-Stay Visa for Wealth or Skills

Thailand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Thailand's BOI-administered Long-Term Resident visa is for four narrowly defined groups. Qualification is normally endorsed for an initial five-year stay and may be extended for another five years only if the holder still meets the rules.

Type
Long-term visa endorsed by Thailand's Board of Investment
Eligible profiles
Four defined wealth, pension, foreign-remote-work, and highly skilled categories
Core requirements
Category evidence plus insurance, Thai social security, or the deposit alternative
What to know
Approval depends on the category evidence and endorsement by Thailand's Board of Investment
Salary requirement
Category-specific; USD $80,000 is one standard income test
Job offer required?
Varies

Summary

Thailand's Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa is a Board of Investment program for four high-threshold groups: Wealthy Global Citizens, Wealthy Pensioners, Work-from-Thailand Professionals, and Highly Skilled Professionals. It is not a general ten-year residence visa.

“Ten years” means an initial five-year permission followed by a possible five-year extension. The holder must continue meeting the relevant qualifications, and the second period is not automatic. Applicants first seek BOI qualification endorsement and, if endorsed, must complete visa issuance with Immigration or a designated Thai mission within 60 days. The issued permission cannot run beyond the passport's validity.

Every principal applicant must meet one category's financial or employment rules and the program's medical-coverage rule. Current alternatives are qualifying health insurance with at least USD $50,000 coverage and at least ten months remaining, Thai social-security coverage, or at least USD $100,000 held in a bank account for at least twelve months.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

Wealthy Global Citizen requires at least USD $1 million in personal assets and at least USD $500,000 already invested in qualifying Thai government bonds, a Thai company, or Thai property. Current BOI material no longer lists a separate personal-income test for this category. Qualifying government bonds must have at least five years of remaining maturity when the application is filed.

Wealthy Pensioner requires age 50 or older and passive or unearned income. The standard band is at least USD $80,000 per year. An applicant with USD $40,000 to USD $79,999 per year may qualify by also holding at least USD $250,000 in qualifying Thai government bonds, a Thai company, or Thai property. Salary or active employment income is not a substitute for this category's passive-income test.

Work-from-Thailand Professional is for employment by a qualifying foreign company, not a Thai employer. The usual personal-income test is an average of at least USD $80,000 per year over the past two years. The USD $40,000–79,999 band requires a master's degree, intellectual-property ownership, or at least USD $1 million in Series A funding. The employer must be publicly listed or meet an approved alternative. Under the standard private-company test, it must have operated for at least three years and have at least USD $50 million in combined revenue over the past three years. BOI also publishes rules for some wholly owned subsidiaries.

Highly Skilled Professional requires qualifying expertise and employment with a Thai business in a BOI-targeted industry, a higher-education, research, or specialized-training institution, or a Thai government agency. Income is normally an average of at least USD $80,000 per year over the past two years, or USD $40,000–79,999 with a relevant science or technology master's degree. Thai government employees are exempt from the income threshold. The BOI removed the former work-experience requirement in the 2025 revision, but it did not remove the qualifying-role and expertise tests.

The program also performs immigration, document, and background review. Evidence must be current, traceable, and match the chosen category. The BOI may request more information and can withdraw or decline endorsement if the qualifications are not established.

Current BOI Announcement Por. 4/2568 expanded eligible dependents beyond the older spouse-and-four-children description. It covers a lawful spouse, parents, legitimate children under 20, and legal dependents and removes the numerical cap. Each family member still needs the required relationship and application documents; do not rely on stale summaries that still say “maximum four.” A dependent also needs the applicable medical-coverage evidence: USD $50,000 insurance with at least ten months remaining, Thai social security, or a USD $25,000 bank deposit per dependent held for at least twelve months.

What This Route Allows

An approved holder receives multiple-entry long-stay permission, annual reporting instead of ordinary 90-day reporting, and access to the program's immigration service arrangements. A principal holder may bring family members who fit the current dependent definition.

Work treatment depends on the category and activity. An LTR holder who will work for a Thai entity must obtain the program's digital work permit. A Work-from-Thailand Professional does not receive a Thai work permit because that category is for remote employment by a foreign company. Wealth or pension category holders do not gain an unrestricted right to work merely from the category name; Thai work requires the proper digital work permit and a legally permitted role.

The program advertises a 17% personal-income-tax rate for qualifying Highly Skilled Professionals. That benefit is category-specific and subject to tax law and BOI conditions. It is not a universal LTR tax exemption.

What This Route Is Not

LTR is not Thai permanent residence, citizenship, or a guarantee of ten uninterrupted years. The five-year extension depends on continued qualification.

It is not a general digital-nomad route. A remote worker must meet both the personal-income and qualifying-foreign-employer tests. Someone below those thresholds should compare the DTV rather than describe any foreign remote job as LTR-eligible.

It is not a passive route based on one large bank balance. Wealthy Global Citizens need the asset test and the specified Thai investment. Wealthy Pensioners need the age and passive-income test, with Thai investment only supporting the lower income band.

Endorsement is also not a work permit. After LTR issuance, a holder who needs a digital work permit must apply immediately and before starting Thai employment. BOI currently describes a limited temporary permission to work while that filed digital-work-permit request is pending; it does not permit work before LTR issuance or before the required permit application.

Next Steps

  1. Select exactly one principal category and download the current BOI criteria and evidence list for that category.
  2. Calculate the financial tests in US dollars using documents that show ownership, valuation, income period, investment date, and the qualifying Thai asset or employer. Do not use a rough self-declared estimate.
  3. Arrange the health route: a policy meeting the amount and ten-month duration, Thai social security, or the USD $100,000 twelve-month deposit alternative.
  4. File the qualification application through the official LTR system and respond to BOI document requests. Do not apply for the visa as though BOI endorsement were optional.
  5. After endorsement, complete visa issuance within 60 days and ask whether the Bangkok Immigration route or a Thai mission abroad applies to your case. Check that passport validity will cover the requested initial period.
  6. If working, confirm whether you need the digital work permit. If bringing family, use Announcement Por. 4/2568 and the current dependent checklist rather than the stale four-dependent language still found on some summaries.
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