Related: Marriage vs Retirement Non-O · Marriage Non-O guide · Family route guide · Visa finder
Start with the relationship and the principal route
Thailand does not turn a couple into one visa applicant. Each foreign national needs a status in their own passport, but DTV and LTR both publish dependant categories. Other couples use two independent statuses. The correct comparison is therefore about the legal relationship, each person's age and work, and whether one applicant can qualify as a principal.
One partner is Thai
A foreign spouse may qualify for Non-Immigrant O status and an extension based on the relationship. As verified on 1 August 2026, the Immigration Bureau's bilingual Thai-wife extension checklist publishes:
- income of at least 40,000 THB per month; or
- at least 400,000 THB in a Thai bank account for the preceding 2 months; or
- a combination of annual income and deposit totalling at least 400,000 THB for the year.
The same checklist requires the relationship to be legal and genuine, both spouses to attend for interview, and relationship, Thai-nationality, address and financial evidence. Other family configurations and initial visa applications have their own lists. The Marriage Non-O guide separates the overseas visa from the in-Thailand extension.
A foreign spouse who independently meets another category may instead hold that status. For example, the Royal Thai Embassy London retirement page publishes age 50, income of 65,000 THB per month or a balance of 800,000 THB for its Non-O retirement application, as checked on 1 August 2026. That is a named embassy example; an in-Thailand extension uses Immigration's own criteria and document timing.
Both partners are foreign nationals
DTV principal and dependant
The MFA's official DTV summary and its current official checklist include a DTV holder's spouse and children under 20 years old. As checked on 1 August 2026, the sources publish financial evidence of at least 500,000 THB, proof of relationship, a 5-year multiple-entry visa, up to 180 days per entry, and one extension not exceeding a further 180 days per entry. Each person still receives an individual visa and the responsible mission decides the evidence for each application.
The MFA summary states a visa fee of 10,000 THB as checked on 1 August 2026. Overseas missions charge local-currency fees and may request different statement periods or extra documents, so that figure must not be treated as a universal consular charge.
LTR principal and dependant
The BOI LTR programme allows a legal spouse and children under 20 years old, with a maximum of 4 dependants per principal applicant as checked on 1 August 2026. BOI now expressly includes legally married same-sex spouses but not unregistered partnerships. Each dependant must meet BOI's health-evidence route: insurance of at least USD 50,000, Thai social security, or a deposit of at least USD 25,000 per dependant held for at least 12 months.
As checked on 1 August 2026, BOI describes the LTR as 10 years in two stages: an initial 5 years and another 5 years if qualifications remain met. BOI's issuance page publishes a 50,000 THB per-person fee when collected in Thailand; overseas and e-Visa collection fees may vary.
Two independent statuses
Two retirees, two DTV workcation applicants, or partners on different categories each need to meet their own route. Immigration's in-country retirement-conversion checklist says the account evidence must be in the applicant's name. It does not publish a rule that one shared balance automatically satisfies two applications.
Reporting and travel are individual
- Ordinary Non-O and DTV stays: the Immigration Bureau's bilingual TM47 form and online manual returned 403 responses during the 1 August 2026 check, so the more-than-90-days reporting statement is retained as last confirmed on 30 July 2026, not freshly re-verified; see the verified reporting guide.
- LTR: BOI publishes annual reporting instead of 90-day reporting and an exemption from a separate re-entry permit, as verified on 1 August 2026.
- Extension-based Non-O: travel can end the permission to stay unless it is preserved with the appropriate re-entry permission; see the verified re-entry guide.
- Address reporting: TM30 concerns each foreign guest at the residence; see the verified TM30 guide.
What remains office-specific
Consular fees, financial-document look-back periods, translations, appointments and additional evidence can differ by mission. Jomtien also decides local extension files on the documents presented. This page does not average those variations or promise that two applications can be processed together.
Information only: this comparison is not legal advice and does not predict an embassy, BOI or Immigration decision in an individual case.