The LTR visa in depth: the four BOI categories, criteria and process

What is the LTR visa, and who is it for?

The Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa is a ten-year visa introduced by the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) and launched in September 2022 for four defined categories of applicant. It is issued as a five-year visa renewable for a further five, giving up to ten years of continuous stay to a person who meets the published criteria for one of the four categories. The BOI screens the qualification; the visa itself is issued through the Immigration Bureau or a Thai embassy.

It is a route many foreign condominium owners look at, because it offers a long, stable footing without the annual financial test of a retirement extension. It does not, however, come from owning property — see the note near the end.

What are the four categories, and what does each require?

The four categories carry different published criteria, set and revised by the BOI. The figures below are the criteria published on the BOI's LTR site at the date checked; the Cabinet materially eased several of them on 14 January 2025. Confirm the current thresholds with us before relying on them.

Wealthy Global Citizen

This category is for high-net-worth applicants. The published criteria are personal assets of at least USD 1 million (held in Thailand or abroad) and an investment in Thailand of at least USD 500,000 — in Thai government bonds of at least five years' maturity, direct investment in a Thai company, or Thai property. The former requirement of USD 80,000 in annual income was removed by the Cabinet on 14 January 2025.

Wealthy Pensioner

This category is for retirees aged 50 or over. The published criterion is passive or pension income of at least USD 80,000 per year. Where income is between USD 40,000 and USD 80,000, the applicant must additionally invest at least USD 250,000 in qualifying Thai instruments (government bonds, direct investment or property).

Work-from-Thailand Professional

This category is for remote employees of established foreign companies. The applicant must earn at least USD 80,000 per year over the past two years (or at least USD 40,000 with a master's degree or above, intellectual property, or Series A funding), and work for a public company listed on a stock exchange, or a private company that has operated for at least three years with combined revenue of at least USD 50 million over the last three years, or a wholly-owned subsidiary of one. The revenue benchmark was cut from USD 150 million to USD 50 million, and the former five-year work-experience requirement removed, on 14 January 2025.

Highly-Skilled Professional

This category is for experts in Thailand's targeted industries, working for a business, higher-education institution, research centre or government agency in the country. The published income criterion is at least USD 80,000 per year over the past two years (or at least USD 40,000 with a master's degree in science and technology; no minimum applies where the applicant works for a Thai government agency).

The condition that applies to all four

Every category requires health insurance with coverage of at least USD 50,000, or a bank deposit of at least USD 100,000 maintained for the preceding twelve months, or a Thai social-security entitlement. Dependents — a spouse and children — may be included under the qualifying applicant; the previous cap of four dependents was removed on 14 January 2025.

What does the LTR visa give you?

The LTR visa's published benefits are the reason applicants weigh it against other routes. They include up to ten years of stay (5 + 5); a digital work-permit route with an exemption from the standard four-Thai-to-one-foreigner employment ratio; annual reporting to Immigration in place of the usual 90-day report; a multiple re-entry permit; and fast-track service at international airports. Two tax notes are published by the BOI: a flat 17% personal income tax rate for Highly-Skilled Professionals, and an exemption from Thai personal income tax on overseas income for Work-from-Thailand Professionals. Tax treatment turns on your facts and on rules that change — take separate tax advice before relying on either.

What documents does an application need, and how does it run?

An LTR application is a documentary exercise, and the process runs through the BOI's online system. The documents typically required are: a valid passport with copies; evidence of income for the past two years (tax returns, employment letters, financial statements); evidence of assets or the qualifying investment, as the category requires; a health-insurance policy meeting the coverage threshold, or evidence of the deposit or social-security alternative; for employees and professionals, an employment letter with proof of experience and qualifications; marriage and birth certificates where dependents are included; and certified translation and legalisation of foreign documents where required.

The process runs in four stages: an eligibility review against the criteria for your category; registration and submission of the qualification application through the BOI's LTR portal; the BOI's screening, which ends in a qualification endorsement where the criteria are met; and visa issuance at a Thai embassy or at the Immigration Bureau's One Stop Service Centre, together with the digital work-permit step where it applies.

Suwanvara Law Firm prepares and files the application under a separate engagement; whether you qualify and whether the visa is granted is assessed by the BOI and the Immigration Bureau. It is discretionary, and we do not promise it.

Does buying a condominium grant an LTR visa?

No — buying a condominium does not by itself grant an LTR visa or any right to reside in Thailand. The LTR is a separate BOI route with its own criteria, and ownership and immigration status are legally distinct. There is one narrow link: Thai property can count toward the USD 500,000 qualifying investment in the Wealthy Global Citizen category. For the wider point on why ownership and residency are separate, read Does buying a condominium give the right to live in Thailand?; if you want the firm to prepare an application, see our LTR visa service.

Important notes

Immigration and BOI rules, thresholds and fees change frequently — confirm the current requirements with us before you rely on anything here. Approval is at the discretion of the Thai authorities; no adviser can guarantee it.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice on your situation, which depends on your facts and requires a separate engagement with Suwanvara Law Firm. It is published in multiple languages; where the versions differ, the English version prevails.

Sources

• Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) — Long-Term Resident (LTR) Visa programme and qualifying criteria, ltr.boi.go.th — checked 25 July 2026.
• Royal Thai Government / BOI — revision of LTR criteria approved by the Cabinet on 14 January 2025 (removal of the Wealthy Global Citizen income requirement; reduction of the Work-from-Thailand employer-revenue benchmark to USD 50 million and removal of the five-year experience requirement; removal of the four-dependent cap) — checked 25 July 2026.
• Immigration Bureau — visa issuance and reporting, immigration.go.th — checked 25 July 2026.