THAI GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES ‘SMART VISA’ PROGRAM
The government has introduced the Smart Visa giving privileges to foreigners working or investing in Thailand in order to attract more skilled individuals from abroad who can contribute to the kingdom.
Smart Visa is a special type of visa granted to foreign experts executives and investors or entrepreneurs in the claim targeted industries or the so-called s-curve industry and this is part of the initiative to attract foreign talent and technologies which will help us drive the Thailand 4.0 policy.
There are different groups of people who are our target. This Smart Visa is classified into four different categories namely Talents(T) or experts, Investors(I), Executives(E) and Startups(S) and all of these four groups people have to be directly involved in the technology companies in the 10s focused industries.
The first group is technology experts, such as those working with data, data analytics and mechatronics.
The second is investors who are interested in Thailand, particularly in the 10 S-curve sectors, for which Depa will be responsible for the digital sector. A minimum investment of 20 million baht is required.
The third is high-level executives in S-curve sectors.
The fourth is foreigners working in startups or individuals who plan to open startups in Thailand, who will need to open the business within one year of obtaining the Smart visa.
The Smart Visa scheme allows four groups of people to work in Thailand for four years, though they need to report annually. A tourist visa lets foreigners in for up to 90 days, after which they need to reapply for extensions.
Before the applicants can put in a request for the visa at a Thai consulate or embassy their application must be approved by the BOI, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.
There are also some additional requirements such as the minimum salary of 200,000 baht in case of
Talents and Executives, the minimum fixed deposit of six hundred thousand baht for startups.
Those foreigners who receive Smart Visa, they can work in Thailand with no work permit and also no reentry permit will be required, so they can come in and go out of the country many times without having to obtain a reentry permit and the 90-day reporting to the immigration will then be extended to one year. That means instead of having to report every 90 days, then they just have to report on a yearly basis and in order to facilitate their stay in Thailand, their spouses and children are allowed to stay in Thailand and their spouses would have the right to work in Thailand without a work permit as well.
Foreigners who are already in Thailand on a different type of visa for example if they’re on the non-immigrant visa. If they can qualify for this Smart Visa then they can also apply for Smart Visa, so it is possible for people who are already here can change the type of visa into the Smart Visa.