Visa information

Thailand offers three named routes in the 2026 guide: the five-year Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) for remote workers, the Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa for wealthy pensioners and professionals, and Non-Immigrant O-A / O-X retirement visas from age 50. The guide scores Thailand 72/100 for visa and bureaucracy — but, as with the pilot countries, it prints durations and categories rather than deposit or income amounts.

The routes the guide names

Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) — for remote workers, 5 years multi-entry; the remote-work section adds 180 days per entry, for remote workers and soft-power activities.

Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa — for wealthy pensioners and professionals; the schemes list adds an LTR variant with 17% flat tax for high-skilled (see Tax & Legal).

Non-Immigrant O-A / O-X retirement visas — listed with age 50+.

Thailand Privilege (Elite) visa, 5–20 years — named in the schemes list only, with no price or conditions in either source.

The income and deposit figures — what the sources actually say

The guide prints no income, salary or deposit amount for any Thai route. For retirement it says only that visas run from age 50 with a modest deposit or income requirement. The one amount anywhere in the sources is in the Hub's site data (the app.js country FAQ, separate from the guide), which describes the Long-Term Resident visa for remote workers earning at least $80,000 per year and notes that tourist visa extensions are also commonly used. Treat the $80,000 as the site's planning figure for one LTR category, not a guide-stated threshold, and confirm current amounts before filing.

At the guide's exchange rate of $1 ≈ ฿32.9, baht figures convert at roughly that rate for planning.

What the paperwork costs — plan budgets, not government fees

The guide does not list individual government visa fees. Its bundled “Visa, permits & translations” plan lines are the only sourced cost figures for the application itself:

• $650 — Affordable plan (you file yourself)
• $950 — Mid-range and Retirement plans
• $2,250 — Luxury plan (the plan notes the luxury tier adds an immigration lawyer)

The Retirement plan carries one further, separate line: $1,750 for “Retirement visa, lawyer & pension certification.”

Application steps and timelines, by tier

The guide builds the application into each plan's timeline rather than printing a single step list. The common sequence is:

• Choose the route first and print its requirements; the Affordable checklist starts with “Visa route chosen and requirements printed.”
• Gather and legalise documents — apostilles and translations are named in every tier; the Retirement paperwork stage adds pension or income letters certified and apostilled, a police certificate, a medical, and birth and marriage certificates translated.
• Check your passport — the Affordable checklist requires a passport valid 18+ months.
• Arrange health insurance before you file.
• File — yourself on the Affordable tier, or with a lawyer or agent on the other tiers.

Paperwork-stage durations: ~10 weeks filing yourself (Affordable), ~8 weeks with a lawyer or agent (Mid-range), ~6 weeks with a lawyer filing everything (Luxury), and ~14 weeks for the Retirement paperwork stage. After the move, the settle stage includes registering your address and opening a bank account.

Renewals and long-term status — the honest limit of the guide

The DTV's structure is the only duration detail the guide gives: 5 years, 180 days per entry. The Privilege (Elite) visa is listed at 5–20 years. Neither the guide nor the site data gives renewal intervals for the retirement visas, years to permanent residency, or absence limits, so this page does not state them.

Frequently asked questions