LTR visa: what are the income and investment thresholds?
The headline number is 80,000 US dollars a year, but it works differently in each category: pensioners need it as passive income (or 40,000 dollars plus a 250,000 dollar Thai investment), remote professionals need it as salary from a large foreign employer (or 40,000 dollars with a master’s degree, IP ownership or Series A funding), and Wealthy Global Citizens need no income at all since the 2025 revision, just 1 million dollars in assets and a 500,000 dollar Thai investment. The thresholds were softened in 2025, so older pages overstate them.
Last reviewed 19 October 2026
The four categories
| Category | Money test | Other conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Wealthy Global Citizen | Assets of at least USD 1 million, plus an investment in Thailand of at least USD 500,000 (government bonds, direct investment in a Thai company, or real estate). The earlier USD 80,000 income requirement was dropped in the 2025 revision. | No age requirement. |
| Wealthy Pensioner | Passive income of at least USD 80,000 a year: pension, interest, dividends, royalties, rent. Employment income does not count. Between USD 40,000 and 80,000, you qualify by adding a Thai investment of at least USD 250,000 (a government bond with 5+ years to run, qualifying shares, or property). | Aged 50 or over and retired at the time of application. |
| Work-from-Thailand Professional | Average income of USD 80,000 a year over the past two years, or USD 40,000 with a master’s degree, ownership of intellectual property, or at least USD 1 million of Series A funding raised. | Employed by a listed company, or a private company at least 3 years old with combined revenue of USD 50 million over the last three years (reduced from 150 million in the 2025 revision), or a wholly owned subsidiary of either. |
| Highly-Skilled Professional | Same income test: USD 80,000, or USD 40,000 with a master’s degree or equivalent expertise. Experts working for Thai government agencies have no income floor. | Working for a Thai employer in one of the targeted industries. |
The health cover leg, common to all four
One of three options: health insurance covering at least USD 50,000 of treatment in Thailand with at least 10 months left on the policy (travel insurance is not accepted), or proof of social security benefits covering treatment in Thailand, or a bank deposit of at least USD 100,000 held for 12 months (plus USD 25,000 per dependent). Investment portfolios and fixed deposits do not count as the deposit.
What clearing the bar gets you
- Ten years, issued as five plus five, government fee 50,000 baht per person.
- Annual reporting to Immigration instead of every 90 days, and unlimited re-entry with no re-entry permit.
- A digital work permit (3,000 baht a year) for those working, and the employer is exempt from the four Thai employees rule by name.
- Tax: the wealth, pensioner and remote-work categories are exempt from Thai personal income tax on foreign-sourced income; Highly-Skilled Professionals pay a flat 17% on Thai employment income.
- Dependents: the current announcement admits a legitimate spouse, parents, children under 20 and legal dependents, and no longer carries the old four-dependent cap. Each dependent needs the same health cover, or an extra USD 25,000 on deposit for 12 months.
The application is document-driven and the government fee is fixed, which makes the spread in agent fees the thing to watch: the two published prices we found run from 22,000 to 100,000 baht per applicant, documented on the LTR cost page. If your situation does not obviously fit a category, three agents quoting on the same facts will also, in effect, give you three eligibility opinions for free.
Related questions
- BOI, LTR or SMART visa: which one fits your situation?
- The four Thai employees rule: when does it actually apply?
- What counts as "working" on a tourist visa or a DTV?
Sources
- BOI LTR visa official site: qualifications, privileges and fees
- BOI Announcement Por. 3/2568 of 4 February 2025: LTR visa qualifications, all four categories (official English translation)
- BOI LTR official required documents for Wealthy Pensioners, 30 June 2025 version (PDF)
- HLB Thailand: LTR visa requirements and 2025 updates, all four categories
This is general information about how a filing works, not accounting or tax advice for your company. Confirm anything that matters against the official notice or with your accountant. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.