01What the Non‑Immigrant B Visa Actually Is

The Non‑Immigrant "B" visa is Thailand's standard entry category for anyone coming to work, run a business, invest, or take up a professional or teaching post in the Kingdom. It sits under the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979), and it is issued by Royal Thai Embassies and Consulates‑General abroad — not by an office inside Thailand. A foreigner cannot legally start working on the strength of the visa alone.

That last point trips up more applicants than anything else in this guide, so it's worth stating plainly: the Non‑B visa and the work permit are two separate documents issued by two separate authorities. The visa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Immigration Bureau) lets you enter and remain in Thailand for a business purpose. The work permit (Department of Employment, Ministry of Labour) is the document that actually authorises you to perform work. You need both, and the work permit can only be obtained after you've entered the country on the Non‑B.

The Non‑B family of visas

"Non‑B" is really an umbrella for a few related categories that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and individual embassies issue depending on your situation:

• Category B (Business/Work) — the standard route for employees, business owners, traders and frequent business visitors. This is what most people mean when they say "Non‑B visa," and it's the focus of this guide.

• Category B‑A (Business‑Approved) — a variant granted at the discretion of the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok, where the sponsoring Thai company applies on the applicant's behalf domestically; holders get a full year from first entry.

• Category IB (Investment & Business) — issued to foreign personnel working on projects promoted by Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI). We cover this route in detail in Section 12.

• Non‑B (Teaching) — for foreign teachers at schools below university level, requiring a letter of acceptance from the school and, often, approval from the Office of the Private Education Commission or the Office of the Basic Education Commission.

02Who Actually Needs One

You need a Non‑B visa (followed by a work permit) if any of the following describes you:

• You've received a job offer from a Thai-registered company, a branch office, or a representative office and will draw a salary in Thailand.

• You're being transferred to Thailand by a multinational employer to manage or staff a local entity.

• You're setting up or already own a Thai limited company and intend to actively manage it (director roles that involve actual work in Thailand require a work permit, even without a separate salary).

• You've been offered a teaching position at a Thai school, language centre, or training institute.

• You're a specialist, consultant or technician being brought in under a BOI‑promoted project.

You almost certainly want a different visa if any of these apply instead: remote work for a company with no Thai operations (look at the Destination Thailand Visa, DTV), retirement after age 50 with no employment intentions (the Non‑Immigrant O‑A), short tourism (a tourist visa or visa exemption), or family reunification/marriage to a Thai national without employment (Non‑Immigrant O).

03Visa Types & Validity

The standard Non‑B comes in two flavours at the point of issue, and almost everyone starts with the first one:

However you enter, the visa itself does not equal a long-term stay by default. A single-entry Non‑B gives you a 90‑day stamp on arrival. To stay beyond that on the same basis, you extend it into a one‑year permission to stay from inside Thailand — but only once your work permit has been issued (see Section 10). The visa is renewable indefinitely for as long as you remain employed by, or continue to operate, a qualifying Thai entity.

04Employer & Eligibility Requirements

Two sets of conditions run in parallel: what's expected of you, and — just as important, and the more common reason for refusal — what's expected of the Thai company sponsoring you.

What the company must show

• Registered capital. Under the standard Ministerial Regulation, a company needs at least 2 million THB in fully paid-up registered capital for each foreign employee it hires (rising to roughly 3 million THB per foreign hire for companies under majority-foreign ownership). A company already married — sorry, with a foreign employee married to a Thai national — can sometimes hire that person against a reduced 1 million THB threshold. Companies that can't meet the capital test may qualify instead through tax paid (broadly, at least 3 million THB in corporate tax over the preceding three years per foreign hire) or export revenue (at least 3 million THB brought into Thailand in the prior fiscal year).

• The 4‑to‑1 rule. Outside the BOI system, a Thai company generally needs four Thai employees, registered for social security, for every one work permit issued to a foreigner. This single rule disqualifies more small companies than any document on the checklist — plan for it before you plan anything else.

• A genuine, operating business. Embassies and the Department of Employment expect to see real trading activity: VAT registration (Por Por 20), recent tax filings (Por Ngor Dor 50 corporate income tax and Por Ngor Dor 30 VAT returns), a shareholder list, and — for many applications — photographs of the office, signage and staff at work. A shell company with no visible operations is the fastest way to a refusal.

• A role that isn't on the restricted list. The Alien Employment Act reserves a long list of occupations for Thai nationals only (manual labour, many retail and clerical roles, and a handful of professions such as architecture and engineering practised at the Thai-licence level). Your position needs to sit clearly outside that list, or be framed as a managerial/technical/specialist role that genuinely requires foreign expertise.

What you need to show, personally

• A valid passport with at least six months' remaining validity and at least one (ideally two) completely blank visa pages.

• Evidence of financial means — for many posts this now runs through the e‑Visa system as a six‑month bank statement showing no less than 500,000 THB (about 15,000 EUR) held throughout that period, or a sponsorship/guarantee letter from your employer accompanied by the company's own bank statement at the same threshold. This financial-evidence requirement is waived if you already hold a valid work permit, a WP.3/WP.32 letter, or a BOI letter.

• A credible employment story: an offer letter or employment contract on company letterhead stating your position, salary and duration, plus — depending on the embassy — your educational qualifications and CV showing the experience the role calls for.

• A record of your last 12 months of international travel (most e‑Visa portals now ask you to upload your stamped passport pages directly).

05Required Documents

Document lists vary slightly by embassy, but the substance is consistent. Build your file in two halves.

06The WP.3 / WP.32 Work Permit Pre‑Approval

If you've never held Thai employment before — or you hold a nationality your embassy flags for this requirement regardless of history — you'll need a work permit pre‑approval letter before you can apply for the visa itself. You'll see this document called either WP.3 or WP.32 depending on the embassy and the form era; both names refer to the same function: pre‑clearance from the Department of Employment confirming that your employer is allowed to hire you into the named position before you've set foot in the country.

How it works

1. Your employer in Thailand files the pre‑approval application with the Department of Employment, submitting the same company documentation listed in Section 5 (this happens while you're still abroad).

2. The Department typically rules within roughly 3–7 business days.

3. Once approved, the company emails or couriers you the signed approval letter.

4. You submit that letter as part of your Non‑B e‑Visa application at the embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over your residence.

07Applying for the Visa, Step by Step

You must be physically outside Thailand to submit a Non‑B application — you cannot convert a tourist stamp into a Non‑B from inside the Kingdom. If you're currently in Thailand on another status and want to switch, the practical path is to exit, apply from abroad, and re‑enter once it's approved.

1. Confirm your route. Standard companies apply through the embassy/consulate system below. BOI‑promoted companies use the dedicated track in Section 12 instead, which is faster and has different requirements.

2. Create an e‑Visa account. Most Royal Thai Embassies and Consulates‑General now process Non‑B applications exclusively through the online e‑Visa system at the embassy's designated portal; in‑person walk‑in applications and postal applications have been phased out at a growing number of posts.

3. Upload your file. This includes your passport biodata page, a photo of you holding your passport open to that page (a growing anti‑fraud requirement at several posts), proof of current address/residency, and every document from Section 5.

4. Pay the fee and wait. 2,000 THB for single‑entry or 5,000 THB for multiple‑entry, payable through the portal. Processing commonly runs 5–10 business days, though it varies by post and season.

5. Attend an interview if asked. Some consulates conduct a short interview, by video or in person, to confirm the employment relationship is genuine — be ready to describe your role, the company's business, and how your background fits the position.

08Entering Thailand & the TDAC

Since 1 May 2025, the paper TM6 arrival card has been retired. Every foreign national — regardless of visa type, Non‑B holders included — must complete the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online before arrival, at the official portal tdac.immigration.go.th. It's free, takes a few minutes, and any third‑party site charging a fee for it is not legitimate.

• Submit within 72 hours (3 days) of your arrival date — the system won't accept it earlier.

• It covers personal details, trip and accommodation information, and a short health declaration; it is not itself a visa and doesn't extend or shorten your permitted stay.

• Core identity fields (name, passport number, date of birth, nationality) lock after submission — if you spot an error there, you resubmit a fresh form rather than edit the existing one.

• On arrival, immigration stamps your passport with a 90‑day permission to stay against your single‑entry Non‑B (or the relevant period for a multiple‑entry visa). Keep that stamp page safe; you'll need it again at the 90‑day reporting stage and at the extension appointment.

09Getting Your Work Permit After Arrival

This is the step that actually makes your employment legal, and it has changed more than any other part of the process in the last year. Since 13 October 2025, the Ministry of Labour's new e‑Work Permit System has been the mandatory route for new applications, renewals and cancellations nationwide, replacing the old paper "blue book." Existing blue‑book permits remain valid until their printed expiry date, but every renewal after that goes through the new digital system.

How the e‑Work Permit process runs

1. Employer registration. Your employer registers the company on the e‑Work Permit portal and verifies its identity through the government's ThaiID mobile app.

2. Your account. You create your own account on the platform and begin uploading documents.

3. Document upload. Both sides upload the required files as PDF or JPEG, each under 5 MB — company documents on the employer's side, and on yours: passport copy, the relevant photo, your educational certificates, and a medical certificate.

4. Medical certificate. Obtained in Thailand after arrival, this must specifically certify the absence of six conditions the regulation flags: leprosy, active tuberculosis, drug addiction, chronic alcoholism, elephantiasis and third‑stage syphilis.

5. Form & fee. The application form (BT.32) is completed and submitted online with payment: roughly 3,000 THB for a 12‑month permit, scaling down for shorter durations, plus a 100 THB application fee.

6. Biometric appointment. Once documents clear automated and manual review, you book an appointment at one of more than 40 Foreign Work Permit Service Centres nationwide for fingerprint, facial — and where required — iris capture.

7. Card issued. The new permit is a credit‑card‑sized document with an embedded QR code and barcode, often issued the same day as your biometric appointment once everything checks out.

Your work permit is tied to a specific employer, position and (often) location. Changing any of those — a new job, a promotion into a materially different role, or a change of office address — requires updating or reapplying, not just carrying on under the old document.

10Extending to the One‑Year Visa

Once your work permit is issued, take it — along with your passport, the original Non‑B visa, your TM.6/entry stamp, and the company documents you've already gathered — to your local Immigration office to extend your permission to stay from 90 days to one year.

• Fee: 1,900 THB.

• Timing: apply before your current 90‑day stamp expires; many offices accept applications a number of days ahead of the expiry date.

• Annual cycle: from this point, your visa extension and your work permit run on broadly parallel one‑year cycles, each renewed annually as long as the employment continues.

• Re‑entry permit: an extension of stay is cancelled the moment you leave Thailand unless you've also obtained a re‑entry permit beforehand (see Section 11). This is the single most common way long‑stay foreigners accidentally void their own visa.

11Staying Compliant: Reporting, Re‑Entry, Tax

90‑day address reporting

Once you've been in Thailand 90 consecutive days, you must notify Immigration of your address — not re‑justify your visa, just confirm where you live. You have a window to do this: from 15 days before the due date to 7 days after it. It can be done in person at your local Immigration office, by registered mail, online, or in some cases through your employer. Miss the window and the fine is 2,000 THB. Leaving and re‑entering Thailand resets the 90‑day clock to zero.

Re‑entry permits

If you're on an extended (one‑year) permission to stay and plan any trip outside Thailand, you need a re‑entry permit first, or your extension is voided the moment you exit — full stop, regardless of how briefly you're away. Single re‑entry costs 1,000 THB; a multiple re‑entry permit, useful if you travel often, costs 3,800 THB and covers any number of trips within your visa's validity.

Personal income tax

Salary earned for work performed in Thailand is Thai‑source income, taxed on a progressive scale that tops out at 35%. Your employer should be filing monthly withholding (PND.1) on your behalf; keep your own copies, since these filings double as proof of income for work permit and BOI renewals.

If you leave the job

Resigning or being terminated ends your work permit's validity. The permit itself must generally be returned to the Department of Employment within about 7–10 days. You then have a short grace period — commonly cited as around 30 days — to either secure new sponsoring employment and a new work permit, or change to a different visa category and depart that line of work, before your permission to stay is at risk.

12The BOI Fast Track

If your employer holds — or can obtain — a promotion certificate from Thailand's Board of Investment, the entire process above gets meaningfully faster and the company‑side hurdles in Section 4 mostly disappear.

What changes under BOI promotion

• No 4‑to‑1 ratio. BOI‑promoted companies can sponsor foreign specialists without matching Thai headcount one‑for‑one.

• No fixed capital‑per‑foreigner test. The standard registered‑capital thresholds in Section 4 don't apply in the same way.

• One‑stop processing. Visa and work permit are both handled at the One Start One Stop Investment Center (OSOS) at Chamchuri Square in Bangkok, through the BOI's online Single Window for Visa and Work Permit system, rather than separately at the Immigration Bureau and the Labour Department.

• Faster turnaround. Once a position is approved (commonly within about a week) and the visa/work permit application is lodged at OSOS, issuance is often completed within a few business days — sometimes inside a single visit.

The 2025–2026 tightening: BOI Notification Por. 8/2568

BOI promotion is no longer an automatic free pass on hiring foreigners. Under Notification No. Por. 8/2568 (issued 5 June 2025), new minimum salary thresholds and workforce ratios now apply, fully phased in: from 1 October 2025 for companies whose promotion certificates were issued on or after 5 June 2025, and from 1 January 2026 — now in force — for companies promoted before that date.

• Manufacturing ratio: companies in manufacturing with more than 100 total employees must keep at least 70% Thai nationals on staff.

• Short postings exempt: positions approved for stays of six months or less aren't subject to the salary or ratio rules.

• Proof of income: first‑time applicants are assessed against the signed employment contract; renewals must be backed by PND.1 (or PND.1 Kor) withholding tax filings showing the salary was actually paid.

• Social security evidence: manufacturing firms have had to submit social security contribution records via the Single Window system since late 2025; as of April 2026 this evidence requirement has been extended to all BOI‑promoted companies, not just manufacturers.

Net effect: BOI sponsorship is still the fastest and least document‑heavy route to a Thai work permit, but it now functions as a genuine salary floor rather than a loophole — budget your foreign hires' compensation against the table above before you apply, not after a rejection.

13Costs at a Glance

*Approximate, calculated near 33 THB/USD; exchange rates move, and these figures exclude any agent, courier or legal‑service fees you may also choose to pay.

14Processing Times at a Glance

15Common Mistakes That Cause Rejection

• Starting work before the permit is issued. The Non‑B lets you enter; only the work permit lets you work. Even unpaid or "just getting set up" activity counts.

• Applying from inside Thailand on the wrong status. A tourist stamp can't be converted to Non‑B in‑country — you must exit, apply abroad, and re‑enter.

• The company falls short of the 4‑to‑1 ratio or the capital test. This is the single most common reason small and newly formed companies get refused; check both numbers before filing.

• Stale documents. A bank statement six weeks old, or a company affidavit certified eight months ago, often gets rejected purely on its date — re‑pull anything more than 30–180 days old, per the relevant rule.

• Letting an expired WP.3/WP.32 letter sit unused. Miss the roughly 30‑day entry window and you restart the pre‑approval from scratch.

• Travelling without a re‑entry permit. Leaving Thailand on an extended permission to stay, without one, cancels that extension on exit — even for a same‑day trip.

• Missing the 90‑day report. A flat 2,000 THB fine, and repeated misses can complicate future extensions.

• Working outside the scope of the permit. Your permit names a role, employer and often a location; moonlighting for a second company, or working from an address that isn't listed, is a separate violation even while your main job is fully compliant.

16Non‑B vs. the Alternatives

If your situation is genuinely "I work for a Thai company, full stop," the Non‑B remains the workhorse visa — the others exist for specific profiles (high income, fully remote, or BOI‑targeted tech/investment roles) rather than as general substitutes.