USA LLC + Thailand resident visa....what are pro and cons ?

[wellington]

@wellington @Skenners do foreign financial institutions and those in Thailand, recognize your Thai Elite Visa (Privilege Entry Visa "PE") as a form of legal residency (not tax residency) in Thailand? I don't want to buy it and realize it's not treated similar to residence permit like with people who actually work/study/retire in Thailand. But in the end, expat retirees also get just "Retirement Visa" and not residence permit, so I guess it's not a problem after all...?

Yeah, the TE (Gov) contact the banks and arrange account openings...

Mind some immigration officers don't even know how the visa works lol was once told i was on overstay...

Otherwise yeah the banks recognise its 1 yr visa stamp in a 5 yr visa stamp...

I got the process down as:
-email Thai Privilege Concierge (head office guys of the Thai elite program) guys with a copy of the forms you need
-they pass it to a third party
-you pay third party
-they wait in line and fill out forms
-when it comes back after a few days to a week, TP will email you to come pick it up at sathorn hq (st louis bts).

This is the DIY steps and required forms:

Or you could just go to immigration and they'd do it whilst you had a cup of tea lol.

 

[Skenners]

Or you could just go to immigration and they'd do it whilst you had a cup of tea lol.

nah, lines are for chumps!

I really hate that monument to red tape, the immigration building. Let someone else deal with it!

-Skenners

 

[zzzzzz]

No, not on its own. Thats what a residence certificate (tm 16) is for. Cost 200b and a longass wait at bureaucratic hell that is immigration building b or 3k through an agent that Thailand Privilege will organise for you. I don't like lines, so I'm going that option so I can get my motorbike license.

I got the process down as:
-email Thai Privilege Concierge (head office guys of the Thai elite program) guys with a copy of the forms you need
-they pass it to a third party
-you pay third party
-they wait in line and fill out forms
-when it comes back after a few days to a week, TP will email you to come pick it up at sathorn hq (st louis bts).

This is the DIY steps and required forms:
https://tdl-service.com/thai-residence-certificate-in-bangkok/
The Elite visa is just a tourist visa with a concierge service, nothing more, really. its convenience.

EDIT: oh, some embassys will give a residential certificate equivalent, not sure which ones or what they are though.

-Skenners

Do foreign FI also ask for this Residence certificate or just utility bills, bank/card statements...etc? I assume foreign FI also wanna se your PE visa?

 

[Skenners]

Do foreign FI also ask for this Residence certificate or just utility bills, bank/card statements...etc? I assume foreign FI also wanna se your PE visa?

In general, I'm told that a rent agreement will be sufficient for a bank account on non elite visas, but I never tried so I don't know. Also, only for certain visas and banks, but that was a while ago.

On the elite visa, I called the concierge service and they set it all up for me, I just had to show up with my passport, a copy of my referral letter that they email you and my rent agreement. They book you in on a day at the bank before 3pm. So, yes, they want to take copies of your visa pages.

Went down to Bangkok bank in sathorn and an hour later I had a passbook and a digital account and eftpos card.
Pretty simple.

if you're talking about opening a foreign bank account with Thai details, I'm not sure. I haven't done it yet.

-Skenners

 

[JackAlabama]

In general, I'm told that a rent agreement will be sufficient for a bank account on non elite visas, but I never tried so I don't know. Also, only for certain visas and banks, but that was a while ago.

On the elite visa, I called the concierge service and they set it all up for me, I just had to show up with my passport, a copy of my referral letter that they email you and my rent agreement. They book you in on a day at the bank before 3pm. So, yes, they want to take copies of your visa pages.

Went down to Bangkok bank in sathorn and an hour later I had a passbook and a digital account and eftpos card.
Pretty simple.

if you're talking about opening a foreign bank account with Thai details, I'm not sure. I haven't done it yet.

Most likely they will ask for the TIN due to this invasive crs - tax id where you claim to be resident. If the bank is nice with you they might accept you are not able to get a tin if you can convince them its not required for your case (this will not work often).
The process is the same for whatever place you claim having residence in tho.
So you might need to get a thai tin in such a case.

-Skenners

 

[zzzzzz]

Most likely they will ask for the TIN due to this invasive crs - tax id where you claim to be resident. If the bank is nice with you they might accept you are not able to get a tin if you can convince them its not required for your case (this will not work often).
The process is the same for whatever place you claim having residence in tho.
So you might need to get a thai tin in such a case.

I read that one solution is to voluntarily pay some tax and get TIN and tax return. Not sure what is the approproate amount for this donation...1000 THB?

 

[JackAlabama]

I read that one solution is to voluntarily pay some tax and get TIN and tax return. Not sure what is the approproate amount for this donation...1000 THB?

No need to pay anything. You can always apply to get it. Applies to every country known to me which has personal income tax. They will issue it for you no matter what.

 

[Mercury]

I read that one solution is to voluntarily pay some tax and get TIN and tax return. Not sure what is the approproate amount for this donation...1000 THB?

https://www.globalfromasia.com/thailand-tax-id/

 

[Bluevelvet]

i have an elite visa, but work and pay tax in australia.

what i think you need is a residence certificate (tm 16) for use in other countries as proof of residence which might get them off your back, tax wise, but i dont know.

the elite visa changes at the end of the year and is only a tourist visa for 5+ years

-Skenners

Whats changing about the elite visa at the end of the year?

 

[Skenners]

Whats changing about the elite visa at the end of the year?

they havent announced them yet

-Skenners

 

[zzzzzz]

the elite visa changes at the end of the year and is only a tourist visa for 5+ years

-Skenners

They should really ditch that "tourist visa" categorization as it sounds like tourist visa on arrival. Privilege entry PE visa is much better than i.e. Retirement visa (if we exclude the cost) but you won't hear anybody saying that Retirement visa is just a tourist visa for +50 age folks (which it is as you can't work and the main purpose is leisure time).