LTR & Elite visas — what it means
LTR (Long-Term Resident) is a 10-year visa for wealthy residents and investors (a $500k property purchase is among the criteria); Thailand Privilege (Elite) is a membership visa of 5–20 years for a fee. Buying property alone grants no visa, but these programs solve long-stay residence.
What the LTR visa is
The LTR (Long-Term Resident) is Thailand’s 10-year visa, administered by the Board of Investment (BOI). Its categories include wealthy citizens, well-funded pensioners, remote employees of foreign companies and highly skilled professionals. For some categories, investments — property included — count toward the qualifying criteria, alongside income and asset requirements.
What the buyer should understand
Buying property does not itself grant a visa: at most, the property counts toward the investment criterion of certain LTR categories. The alternative is the Thailand Privilege membership programme (formerly Elite), a 5–20-year visa for a fee with no investment requirements. The choice depends on the applicant’s profile: income, age, employment and tax-residency plans.
How this works with us
We help align the purchase with a visa strategy: we indicate which LTR categories or Thailand Privilege options fit the client’s profile and hand the processing to trusted visa consultants. Programme requirements change periodically, so we verify the terms against current BOI publications at the time of application.
Frequently asked questions
Does buying property in Thailand grant a visa?
Not automatically. Property can count toward the investment criterion of certain LTR categories, but the applicant must also meet the programme’s other requirements.
How does LTR differ from Thailand Privilege (Elite)?
LTR is a 10-year visa for qualifying categories, with income and asset requirements. Thailand Privilege is a paid membership programme with no investment criteria: essentially long-stay residence with service, but without LTR’s privileges.
Primary source: BOI — Board of Investment
See it on a real property
Terms matter when there is an actual deal behind them. We will show how this one works on a project from the catalogue — documents and numbers included.
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