The SMART Visa is a type of visa specially designed to encourage highly-skilled professionals and talents to work or invest in the 10 targeted S-Curve industries of Thailand, 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 biochemicals, (9) digital, and (10) medical hub.
The four 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 more benefits and privileges than any other type of visa. These benefits include:
(1) Visa validity up to 4 years (instead of the usual 1 year)
(2) No requirement for work permit
(3) Extension of reporting of stay to Immigration Bureau – from every 90-day to every year
(4) The right of legal dependents (spouse and children) of the SMART Visa holder to live and work in Thailand is equivalent to the SMART visa holder (only SMART T type allows dependents of SMART Visa holder to work in Thailand).