10-year visa needs a bail out

[reader]

From Pattaya Mail

By Barry Kenyon

Less than 3,000 expats have shown any interest in Thailand’s golden visa and there are no figures on how many of those have dropped out. Data from 10-year schemes in Malaysia and Cambodia suggest many potential applicants fail to complete. The Thai LTR (Long Term Residence) visa was launched in September 2022, but the Board of Investment is now seeking foreign investment companies to encourage the laying of more golden eggs by wealthy foreigners. There are problems to overcome.

As Thailand is pushing its brand of LTR, other countries are cancelling their versions. Both Portugal and Ireland have very recently cancelled their 10-year options because foreigners, especially Chinese and Russians, have been using their residency permits to buy up choice properties, thus fuelling inflation and making it impossible for poorer citizens to get onto the housing ladder. The same sell-out complaints were heard in Thailand last year and forced the government in November to abort any plans to let rich expats buy freehold properties or land. Just condominium units are allowed.

Alarm bells have been ringing in Britain too where the 2 million pounds cash-LTR was cancelled last year after fears that Russian oligarchs and investment exiles were buying up parts of London. Security minister Tom Tugendhat now says that countries in the Caribbean and Central America are selling citizenship and second passports to foreign nationals who are then landing in the UK for nefarious purposes. This concern mirrors the recent scandal in Thailand where corrupt police and bureaucrats have been issuing longstay visas to Chinese nationals who did not qualify for them.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/thailands-10-year-visa-needs-a-bail-out-425421

---------

Visa extensions for sick foreigners are now tougher to obtain

By Barry Kenyon

There are numerous reports, from Pattaya and Phuket in particular, of foreigners being refused a visa extension on medical grounds unless they have copious proof of being a hospital inpatient as opposed to a casual outpatient. The crackdown appears to relate to a working party set up by immigration police commander Lt Gn Pakpoompipat Sajjapan last November to close loopholes which had facilitated fraudulent visa extension applications based on voluntary work for foundations, being an adult language student or claiming to be ill.

Police regulations do allow for visa extensions based on “inability to travel” to be issued on a discretionary basis. In the past, outpatients who collected a letter from a hospital doctor or consultant specifying the medical issue, outlining the treatment and giving clear time lines were often successful in receiving an extra 30 days, a repeatable procedure. In theory, a 90 days extension was possible though rarely granted. But medical visa extensions were – and are – only possible after other legitimate options have been exhausted.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/visa-extensions-for-sick-foreigners-are-now-tougher-to-obtain-425502

[PeterRS]

I have never undersood why the retirement visa prohibits working on a voluntary basis for a registered charity. Retirees tend to have a lot of free time and when I reach that point in life I would be very happy to donate some of my time. But TIT and it's a no-no. 

[alvnv]

10 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I have never undersood why the retirement visa prohibits working on a voluntary basis for a registered charity. Retirees tend to have a lot of free time and when I reach that point in life I would be very happy to donate some of my time. But TIT and it's a no-no. 

So that charities hire locals to do the work retirees are willing to do for free. I guess the government prioritizes protection of job market for locals over the benefits to charities from free labor.

[Gaybutton]

They are so strict about that some may remember when that terrible tsunami struck Thailand in 2004, foreigner volunteers who went to try to help were getting arrested for working without a permit.  That really happened.

In Thailand, when you're here on a retirement visa, then you're retired.  If my car gets a flat tire, I would be afraid to change it myself.

[gayinpattaya]

If people are financially stable enough to get the LTR visa, they avoid the hassle and get the Elite instead.

[PeterRS]

7 hours ago, gayinpattaya said:

If people are financially stable enough to get the LTR visa, they avoid the hassle and get the Elite instead.

I understand the 10 year LTR visa has benefits the Elite Visa does not. Perhaps we should recall that the Elite Visa was a near disaster when it was first launched. There was even a time after a few years when it as going to be dispensed with. Now it has become far more popular.

[gayinpattaya]

3 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I understand the 10 year LTR visa has benefits the Elite Visa does not. Perhaps we should recall that the Elite Visa was a near disaster when it was first launched. There was even a time after a few years when it as going to be dispensed with. Now it has become far more popular.

I know a few people on the elite, a couple of which quite wealthy. It's the easiest option at this point.