Long-Term Resident Visa · Thailand
Thailand LTR Visa for Highly-Skilled Professionals
A ten-year Thai residence visa for specialists in targeted industries, with a flat 17% income tax. Emerhub checks your eligibility, prepares the documents, and handles the BOI submission.
10-year visa (5 + 5)Flat 17% income taxUSD 80K incomeDigital work permit
Overview
What is the Highly-Skilled Professional LTR visa?
The Highly-Skilled Professional category is one of four categories of Thailand's Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa, the ten-year residence visa administered by the Board of Investment (BOI). It is built for the specialists Thailand is actively trying to attract: people working in, or with proven expertise in, the industries the country is developing.
What sets it apart from the other three categories is tax. Instead of an exemption on foreign income, Highly-Skilled Professionals pay a flat 17% personal income tax on their Thai employment earnings, against a standard rate that climbs to 35%.
The 17% rate is the biggest benefit here. It applies to employment income from work in a promoted industry, and your employer notifies the Revenue Department to apply it. That is a different deal from the other LTR categories, which exempt foreign-sourced income instead. Which one works out better depends on where your income comes from, so it is worth modeling before you choose.
What you get
Benefits of the Highly-Skilled Professional visa
Ten years of residence, the right to work, and a tax rate built to keep talent in the country.
Ten-year residence
Five years up front, renewable for a further five.
Flat 17% income tax
On your Thai employment income, against a standard rate of up to 35%.
Digital work permit
Work legally in Thailand, with the four-Thais-per-foreigner rule waived.
Multiple re-entry
Enter and leave Thailand freely, and report once a year, not every 90 days.
Fast-track service
Expedited immigration lanes at Thailand's international airports.
Family included
Spouse, children under 20, and dependents can join.
Eligibility
Key requirements for the Highly-Skilled Professional LTR visa
Three things define eligibility: your income, the industry you work in, and your health coverage.
USD 80K
Annual income
Averaged over the past two years. From USD 40K with a relevant master's; waived for Thai government roles.
Targeted
Industry employment
A contract with a qualifying employer in a BOI-targeted industry, or proof of expertise.
USD 50K
Health coverage
Or a USD 100,000 deposit, or social security in Thailand.
Income
Your average personal income must be at least USD 80,000 a year over the past two years. There are two ways this flexes: if you earn between USD 40,000 and USD 80,000, you can still qualify by showing a master's degree or higher in a science or technology field; and applicants employed by Thai government agencies are exempt from the income minimum altogether.
Employment and expertise
You need a contract with a Thai or foreign company whose activities fall within the BOI's targeted industries, or you must provide proof of expertise in a field the BOI specifies. The role can sit with a business, a higher-education institute, a research center, a specialized training institution, or a Thai government agency.
Health coverage
As with every LTR category, you need health insurance of at least USD 50,000, social security benefits in Thailand, or a USD 100,000 deposit held in your own name for at least twelve months. And every condition behind the visa, your employment, income, and coverage, has to be maintained for its full term, not just at the point of application.
Who qualifies
Targeted industries for the Highly-Skilled visa
Your employer's activities, or your area of expertise, need to fall within the industries the BOI promotes. These are the targeted sectors for this category.
Automotive
Electronics
Affluent tourism
Agriculture and biotechnology
Transportation and logistics
Automation and robotics
Aviation
Biofuels and biochemicals
Digital
Medical
Defense
Petrochemical and chemical
International Business Center (IBC)
Circular economy
The list also covers other industries where an applicant brings special expertise the BOI recognizes. If you are not sure whether your role or field qualifies, talk to our team and we will check it against the current BOI list before you apply.
What to prepare
Documents required
- A passport from your country of nationality, valid for at least six months.
- Proof of income for the past two years, such as pay statements or tax records.
- Your employment contract, and evidence the employer operates in a targeted industry, or proof of your expertise in a BOI-specified field.
- A master's degree or higher in science or technology, if you are qualifying on the USD 40,000 to USD 80,000 income route.
- Evidence of health coverage: a USD 50,000 insurance policy, a USD 100,000 deposit, or social security benefits in Thailand.
Where the BOI tends to push back is on the quality of the evidence, that the employer clearly falls within a targeted industry, that the income period is right, and that documents are properly apostilled or legalised, rather than on the thresholds themselves.
How Emerhub helps
How to apply
From confirming the category fits, through the BOI endorsement, to the work permit at the end.
1
Eligibility check
We confirm your income, that your employer's industry (or your expertise) qualifies, and your insurance, and we check the 17% tax route actually works in your favor before you commit.
2
Document preparation
We prepare two years of income evidence, the employment contract, proof the employer sits in a targeted industry or proof of your expertise, any qualification certificate, and a compliant health-coverage document, all to BOI standard.
3
BOI submission and endorsement
We submit through the BOI LTR portal and manage the endorsement by the relevant agencies. The official result comes within about 20 working days of a complete file, longer if anything more is requested.
4
Visa and work permit issuance
After approval you have 60 days to collect the visa, as an e-visa at a Thai embassy or at the One Stop Service Center in Bangkok, with a government fee of 50,000 THB. We then handle the digital work permit, which takes a few working days and costs 3,000 THB a year to maintain.
Find out if you qualify
Tell us your role, your employer's industry, and your income, and we'll tell you whether the Highly-Skilled Professional LTR visa fits and how the 17% tax would apply to you.
Why Emerhub
Why apply through us
The industry question, settled early
The most common stumbling block is whether the employer or role qualifies. We check it against the current BOI list before you spend anything.
The tax handled properly
The 17% rate needs the employer to notify the Revenue Department correctly. We make sure that step is done so the rate actually applies.
Visa and work permit together
This category needs both. We run them as one process so you can start work without a gap after the visa is issued.
In-country and end to end
From the first eligibility call to issuance, the work permit, and renewals, one Bangkok team stays with it.
Common questions
Highly-Skilled Professional visa FAQs
The questions specialists ask most about this category.
What are the requirements for the Highly-Skilled Professional LTR visa?
Average income of at least USD 80,000 a year over the past two years, employment in (or proven expertise in) a BOI-targeted industry, and health coverage of USD 50,000, a USD 100,000 deposit, or social security in Thailand. The income bar drops to USD 40,000 with a relevant master's degree in science or technology, and is waived for Thai government roles.
How does the 17% tax rate work?
Instead of the standard progressive rate that climbs to 35%, Highly-Skilled Professionals pay a flat 17% personal income tax on Thai employment income, when the work is in a BOI-promoted industry. Your employer notifies the Revenue Department, and the rate is applied through payroll. We make sure this step is done correctly — it is the most common point where the benefit gets missed.
Which industries qualify?
The BOI maintains a targeted-industries list that includes automotive, electronics, affluent tourism, agriculture and biotechnology, transportation and logistics, automation and robotics, aviation, biofuels and biochemicals, digital, medical, defense, petrochemical and chemical, IBCs, and the circular economy, plus a handful of others where an applicant brings specific expertise the BOI recognizes. We check the current list against your specific role before you apply.
Do I need to be working for a Thai company?
No. The employer can be Thai or foreign, but its activities (or your expertise) must fall within a targeted industry. The role can sit with a business, a higher-education institute, a research center, a specialized training institution, or a Thai government agency. Government roles are also exempt from the income minimum.
How is this different from the other LTR categories?
The other three categories — Wealthy Global Citizen, Wealthy Pensioner, and Work-from-Thailand Professional — give you an exemption from Thai tax on foreign-sourced income. The Highly-Skilled category instead taxes your Thai employment income at a flat 17%. Which is better depends on where your income actually comes from, so model both before choosing.
Do I still need a separate work permit?
Yes, but it's a digital work permit issued under the LTR framework, not the regular WP.1 process. We arrange it as part of the application package, and it costs 3,000 THB a year to maintain. The four-Thais-per-foreigner rule that applies to standard work permits is waived for LTR holders.
Can my family join me?
Yes. A legal spouse and children under 20 can hold LTR visas based on your eligibility, up to four dependents in total, with the same ten-year validity and re-entry privileges. Same-sex marriages are recognized; unmarried partners are not. Each dependent has to meet the health-coverage condition (USD 50,000 insurance, social security in Thailand, or a USD 25,000 deposit per dependent) and pay the per-person government fee. See the dependents route at /thailand/visas/ltr/dependent/.
How long does it take and what does it cost?
The BOI's official review is around 20 working days from a complete application, though most run over two to three months once documents are gathered. The visa fee is 50,000 THB for the ten years, plus 3,000 THB a year for the work permit, on top of our service fee. We give a fixed quote once we've seen your situation.
Highly-Skilled Professional LTR visa?
Talk to our Bangkok team
A free, no-obligation call: thirty minutes with our Bangkok team to confirm your eligibility, check whether your employer or expertise qualifies, and model how the 17% tax would apply to you.
Emailthailand@emerhub.com
Phone+66 92 554 5444
OfficeUnited Business Center II
591 Sukhumvit 33, Watthana
Bangkok 10110
591 Sukhumvit 33, Watthana
Bangkok 10110