H&P Immigration and Visa experts in Bangkok have prepared a summary of the latest updates on immigration law in Thailand as follows:
Thailand lifts visa requirements for 93 nations
Last May 2024, MOFA of Thailand announced the final list of 93 countries whose citizens can enter Thailand without a visa or obtain a visa on arrival and can stay for up to 60 days.
This list includes 57 countries where their nationals can stay for 30 days without visa, 6 countries that can enter without a visa for 60 days and 13 countries for whom the visa requirement was waived.
New Destination Thailand Visa
In the opinion of our lawyers in Thailand, before May 2024, Thailand did not have a realistic solution for all digital nomads and remote employees in Thailand. So far the LTR was the only possibility for digital nomads in Thailand but the requirements were very often unrealistic or difficult to reach for the vast majority of applicants. In most of the cases, the client used to set up a representative office what is much easier to maintain in terms of immigration and tax compliance.
This new visa, Destination Thailand Visa, intends to attract these individuals for a period up to 5 years.
Although the application fee is very low, 10,000 THB, the applicant should prove a minimum of 500,000 THB in the bank account to support the stay. The Destination Thailand Visa holders will need to exit and reenter Thailand every 180 days and pay the fee.
Our immigration lawyers in Thailand still believe that we need to see how this new nomad visa will be implemented in a practical way and its evolution.
New proposed law for land leases and foreign ownership of condominiums
Finally, and not only related to immigration but to property law in Thailand, we would like to highlight the proposed new regulation that will allow foreigners to buy 75% units, as now with the existing regulation is 49% of the units available for a condo project and extension to 99 years for tights over a land.
In the opinion of our Thai lawyers in Bangkok, the extension from 30 years to 99 years might mitigate the problem of nominees in Thai companies holding houses and villas in places such as Phuket or Samui.
On the other hand, in our opinion, the amendment related to foreign ownership of the condominium will not have a significant immediate effect. As a matter of fact, in our more than 10 years of legal practice conducting dozens of due diligences for foreign purchasers of condominium units, we only remember one case that the quota of 49% of the units was already completed for foreign ownership. In the rest of the cases the foreign quota was always available.
If you want to consult with an immigration expert or property lawyer in Thailand, please contact with our law firm in Bangkok at [email protected]