The Royal Thai Embassy in Abu Dhabi wishes to announce that the Royal Thai Government is to launch a new category of visa, the SMART Visa, which will come into effect on 1 February 2018.

The SMART Visa is specially designed to encourage highly skilled professionals and talents to work or invest in the 10 targeted S-Curve industries, namely;

(1) Next-generation automotive

(2) Smart electronics

 (3) Affluent medical and wellness tourism

 (4) Agriculture and biotechnology

 (5) Food for the future

 (6) Robotics

 (7) Aviation and logistics

 (8) Biofuels and biochemical

 (9) Digital

 (10) Medical hub

The five categories of people who are eligible to apply for SMART Visa are (1) Talent (2) Investor (3) Executive (4) Startup and (5) Others (i.e. legal dependents, namely spouse and children, if any).

The SMART Visa provides benefits and privileges as follows;

• Visa validity up to 4 years (instead of the usual 1 year)
• No requirement of work permit
• Extension of reporting of stay to Immigration Bureau – from every 90 days to every year
• The right of legal dependents (spouse and children) of the SMART Visa holder to live and work in Thailand equivalent to SMART Visa holder (only SMART T Type allow dependents of SMART Visa holder to work in Thailand)