BANGKOK — Thailand’s Board of Investment has significantly relaxed its Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa requirements in a bid to attract more foreign talent, including lowering income thresholds and expanding eligibility for family members.
At the Cabinet meeting on January 13, 2025, it was decided to revise the criteria for the special visa program (LTR Visa) to attract high-potential foreign professionals to Thailand.
Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary-General of the Board of Investment (BOI), explained that the LTR visa is a special visa program for which the BOI is primarily responsible. He explained that due to escalating geopolitical tensions and growing business opportunities worldwide, there is a significant movement of foreign professionals seeking long-term residency and work opportunities, including in Thailand. This is in line with Thailand’s aspiration to become a global talent center.
The LTR visa aims to attract highly skilled foreigners from four main groups:
- Individuals with special skills
- Professionals working remotely for foreign employers from Thailand
- High net worth individuals
- Retirees, including their family members.
LTR visa holders may stay in Thailand for up to 10 years and have an unlimited right of re-entry. They are also allowed to work in Thailand and the income tax for specialized professionals is reduced to 17 percent. The obligation to register with the Immigration Department will also be relaxed from every 90 days to once a year.
The target sectors for qualified specialists have been expanded to include teachers at universities and vocational training institutions in various fields. This is intended to improve the skills of Thai talent.
In addition, the work experience requirements for skilled professionals and remote workers have been removed to reduce redundancy with other qualifications, such as minimum income, educational background, working in the target industries and the stability of foreign employers, which already reflect the competence and potential of foreign applicants.
Income requirements for foreign employers of remote workers in Thailand have been reduced from a minimum of 150 million dollars to 50 million dollars over the past three years. This now includes subsidiaries with parent companies earning at least 50 million dollars, expanding eligibility. The income requirement for high net worth individuals has also been removed, shifting the focus to stable assets and long-term investments in Thailand (minimum $500,000) rather than annual income.
Eligibility for dependents has also been extended to include not only spouses and children, but also parents and other dependents, with no upper limit on the number. This is in line with other visa types and should boost domestic spending by family members of foreign skilled workers.
Currently, the BOI has approved LTR visas for more than 6,000 highly skilled foreign professionals worldwide. Most of them come from Europe (2,500 people), followed by the United States (1,080), Japan (610), China (340) and India (280).
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