Thailand Non-B Business Visa — 2026 Complete Guide for Foreign Employees

What a Non-B is — and what it is not

Non-Immigrant B (commonly "Non-B" or "business visa") is the visa category for foreigners entering Thailand to take up employment, conduct business, attend meetings or invest. It is issued by a Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate-General abroad, and filing now runs mainly through the Thai e-Visa platform: the applicant creates an account, uploads documents and receives an approval by email instead of a passport sticker.

The most damaging misconception is that a Non-B allows work. It does not. The visa governs entry and permission to stay; the right to work comes from a work permit issued by the Department of Employment under the Emergency Decree on Managing the Work of Foreigners B.E. 2560 (2017). Starting work before the permit is issued exposes both the employee and the employer to penalties.

A second distinction matters just as much: the visa validity is the deadline to enter Thailand, while the arrival stamp sets the date by which you must leave or extend. Annual extensions are decided by the Immigration Bureau, not by the embassy that issued the visa.

The correct sequence (getting it out of order is the top rejection cause)

The following is the standard route for a foreign employee of an ordinary Thai company that is not BOI-promoted.

• 1) The employer prepares the corporate document set and employment letter, including the WP.3 or Department of Employment notification where the embassy requires it
• 2) The applicant files the Non-B through Thai e-Visa at the Thai mission with jurisdiction over their country of residence
• 3) Enter Thailand, receive the arrival stamp (single entry is normally 90 days), and have the house master or hotel file the TM30 address notification
• 4) The employer files the work permit through the Department of Employment e-Work Permit system and attends the provincial employment office for original-document verification
• 5) With the work permit issued, apply for the one-year extension of stay at the Immigration office covering the workplace, before the current permitted stay expires
• 6) Obtain a re-entry permit before leaving Thailand — departing without one cancels the extension immediately
• Watch out: Single-entry Non-B holders regularly lose their file by travelling out while the work permit is pending without a re-entry permit, which forces the whole process to restart.

Single entry vs multiple entry

A single-entry Non-B permits one entry within the visa validity and normally yields a 90-day stay. It suits people who will move to Thailand and then convert to annual extensions of stay locally.

A one-year multiple-entry Non-B allows repeated entries within its validity, but each entry still grants no more than 90 days of stay. It suits directors and consultants who travel in and out frequently rather than residing full time. Approval standards for multiple entry are stricter and vary by mission.

For anyone intending to stay long term, single entry plus a local annual extension is usually the better structure, because it removes the need to leave the country every 90 days.

Employer documents that cause problems

In practice the applicant's own documents rarely sink a file. Almost all rejections come from a corporate document set that is internally inconsistent.

• Company affidavit and shareholder list (Bor Or Jor 5) issued recently enough for the reviewing office
• Latest financial statements as filed with the Department of Business Development
• Por Por 20 VAT registration plus recent tax filings (Por Ngor Dor 1, 50, and Por Por 30)
• Social security filings (Sor Por Sor 1-10) evidencing the Thai-to-foreign staff ratio
• Employment contract whose job title, duties, salary and work location match the affidavit
• Workplace map and photographs, plus a lease in the company's own name

Capital, Thai staff and minimum salary conditions

Annual extensions for Non-B holders are assessed under Royal Thai Police orders on criteria for permission to stay. In general, officers look at the employer's paid-up registered capital, the number of Thai employees registered for social security, and the foreigner's salary against a minimum that differs by nationality.

These figures change by announcement and carry many exceptions — BOI-promoted businesses, teachers at licensed schools, representative-office staff. Do not plan a payroll structure from a blog or forum figure: confirm with the local Immigration office or immigration.go.th first.

For employers based in Phuket, annual extensions are filed at Phuket Immigration, which maintains its own appointment and queueing practice.

Non-B versus the alternatives

The Non-B is not always the best answer. Remote workers employed by a foreign company with no Thai employer usually fit the DTV better. Senior professionals with high income may qualify for the LTR visa, which carries work-permit facilitation through BOI. Those who do not intend to work in Thailand at all may prefer Thailand Privilege.

The structural difference is dependency: a Non-B is tied to one employer, so changing jobs means cancelling and re-filing, whereas the LTR and DTV routes are not tied to a single Thai employer in the same way.

What our Phuket office handles

On Non-B files we handle the accuracy-critical paperwork: certified Thai translations of degrees, transcripts, marriage certificates and experience letters; notarial certification of signatures and documents by a lawyer authorised as a Notarial Services Attorney; and consular legalisation at the Department of Consular Affairs when a document must travel between countries.

We do not guarantee the outcome of any government decision, and we will not file documents that misstate the facts. What we do is make the whole document set consistent before it reaches an officer. Contact our team by phone, LINE or email for scope and fees on your actual file.