Thailand's TDAC: the mandatory and FREE form you have to submit 3 days before arriving

⚠️ Sensitive information — always check the official source

Visa requirements, quotas, amounts and dates change often. Every fact in this guide was checked against the official source on 2026-09-23 and we re-check it periodically, but before starting any procedure confirm the details on the official links (embassy, consulate or ministry) shown on this page. viajacongus.com does not process visas and does not replace official information.

💵 How much it costs

Free. Zero baht, zero dollars. The official site puts it right in the page title: «Official Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) – No Fees Required». There is no fee, no rush charge and no paid version that comes out faster. Verified on 23/09/2026 at tdac.immigration.go.th.

⏳ How long it takes

None: there is no approval to wait for. You fill it in and submit it, and the system gives you back the card with the QR code on the spot and emails it to you. What the Immigration Bureau does publish is how long the form itself takes: «Only about 3-5 minutes per person, if all information is ready». You cannot save it halfway and continue later: «Unfortunately, no, we recommend getting your info ready first, then completing the submission in one go».

📅 How long it's valid

There are two deadlines here, and they are not the same thing. THE WINDOW FOR SUBMITTING IT: within the 3 days before arrival, including the day of arrival. Verbatim: «The card should be submitted within 3 days in advance of arriving in Thailand (including the date of arrival)», and the guide repeats it: «Foreigners are required to submit their arrival card information 3 days in advance of their arrival date in Thailand». THE CARD'S VALIDITY: «Your TDAC is valid from the time you submit it until you arrive in Thailand». It works ONCE ONLY and for the arrival date you declared: «this Thailand Digital Arrival Card is only valid for one time use for travel on the expected date of arrival indicated. So, you must submit a new TDAC every time you enter Thailand». And the TDAC does NOT give you days of stay: your days come from your visa or your exemption (90, 30 or whatever the visa says), and that is decided by the immigration officer, not the form. WATCH OUT FOR A CONTRADICTION ON THE OFFICIAL SITE ITSELF: the same FAQ page says in one place «within 3 days in advance of arriving in Thailand (including the date of arrival)» and in another «You can submit the form up to 72 hours before your entry». Three days counting the day of arrival and 72 hours are not exactly the same thing. To stay safe, submit it within the 72 hours before your arrival: that way you comply with both readings.

👤 Who needs it?

The TDAC must be submitted by EVERY foreigner entering Thailand, by air, land or sea: «All non-Thai nationals entering the Kingdom of Thailand are required to complete the Thailand Digital Arrival Card online prior to entry». That includes babies and children («Yes, all travelers, including infants and children, are required to have a TDAC»), diplomatic passports if the holder is not Thai, and those entering with a visa on arrival or visa-free. Only two cases are exempt: transit passengers who do not pass through immigration («If you're not passing through immigration, a TDAC is not required. If you leave the airport, a TDAC is required») and flight crew («No, TDAC is not required for crew»). Separate from the TDAC is the matter of the visa, which is a different thing. Of our 28 nationalities: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru enter VISA-FREE for 90 days, under old bilateral agreements that were left untouched. Germany, Australia, Denmark, Spain, the United States and Italy enter VISA-FREE for 30 days, from 15/09/2026 (it used to be 60). And these NEED A VISA, obtained before travelling through the official system of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (https://www.thaievisa.go.th): Andorra, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. Careful: those who need a visa ALSO have to do the TDAC, they are two different procedures.

🧭 The step by step

Sort out the visa first, if you need one, and only then think about the TDAC

The TDAC does not replace any visa. If your citizenship is one of those that need a visa for Thailand (Andorra, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Uruguay or Venezuela), that is handled before travelling through the e-Visa system of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the only channel: you create an account, upload the documents, pay by card and the visa arrives by email to print out. If you enter visa-free (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru with 90 days; Germany, Australia, Denmark, Spain, the United States and Italy with 30 from 15/09/2026), there is no visa to get, but the TDAC still applies to you.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: Getting the TDAC does not entitle you to enter if you are missing the visa. And the other way round: having the visa does not exempt you from the TDAC. They are two separate things and both are mandatory for whoever they apply to.

Go ONLY to tdac.immigration.go.th

It is the Thai Immigration Bureau's site and the only place where it is submitted: «To submit the Digital Arrival Card, foreigners can access the Immigration Bureau website URL: https://tdac.immigration.go.th». Check in the address bar that the domain ends in immigration.go.th. There are dozens of sites with similar names —«tdac-thailand», «thailand-arrival-card», «digital arrival card official»— that charge between 20 and 60 dollars to copy your details into the Government's free form.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: If a website asks you to pay, it is not the official one: the TDAC costs nothing. And if they ask for card details to «verify your identity», it is simply a scam.

Count the days properly: the window opens 3 days before

You cannot submit it weeks in advance: the system only accepts the form within the 3 days before the arrival date, including that day. If you arrive on Thursday, the window opens on Monday. Set an alarm on your phone for the day it opens, because it is easy to forget once the trip is under way and you are coming off connecting flights.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: The official page itself is contradictory: in one place it says «within 3 days in advance of arriving in Thailand (including the date of arrival)» and in another «up to 72 hours before your entry». Submit it within the 72 hours before and you comply with both versions.

Gather ALL the details before opening the form

The form cannot be saved halfway: «Unfortunately, no, we recommend getting your info ready first, then completing the submission in one go». What it will ask for, according to the official list: passport details; flight number and arrival date; accommodation address in Thailand; purpose of travel; health declaration; and an email to receive the card. Have your passport, your boarding pass or the airline's email, and your hotel booking with the full address at hand.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: If you close the tab halfway through you lose everything and start again. And the address field takes up to 215 characters: if your accommodation has an extremely long address, trim it.

Enter your personal and passport details (or scan the MRZ)

You press the «Arrival Card» button and the form starts. There is a shortcut that saves errors: you can scan the two lines of the passport's machine-readable zone (MRZ) with the camera or upload a photo of that area, and the system fills in the name, number and date of birth by itself. EVERYTHING goes in English and in Latin characters: «All details must be entered in English». In the drop-down menus, type three letters and the system filters the options.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: Verbatim warning from the manual: «Please recheck your information every time you retrieve data from the MRZ». The automatic reader swallows hyphens and second surnames. And there are four fields that CANNOT be corrected afterwards: full name, passport number, nationality and date of birth.

Enter your trip and accommodation

In go the exact flight number (with the airline code, for example TG 103), the arrival date, the country you are departing from, the purpose of travel and the accommodation in Thailand: type (hotel, hostel, private home), province, district, sub-district, postal code and address. If you enter by land or sea, you still have to fill in the means of transport. If you will be moving around a lot, put the first accommodation, which is what immigration cares about.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: The system warns you if the arrival and departure dates are only one day apart, so you can check before saving. Do not ignore it: it is almost always a typo in the year or the month.

Complete the health declaration

This is the part requested by the Thai Ministry of Public Health. If in the previous two weeks you were in a country listed by that ministry, or you departed from one, or your nationality or your flight are on the list, the system will open additional health questions. If not, it is a couple of clicks. Answer truthfully: the countries you visited in the last two weeks are kept on record.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: Declaring incorrectly carries no fine for the airline but it does have consequences for you: «Passengers may be denied entry based on immigration discretion».

Check the Preview screen before submitting

Before submission the system shows a summary. Use the «Edit» button to go back and correct whatever is needed. Look especially at the name exactly as it appears in the passport, the passport number, the nationality and the date of birth: those are precisely the four fields that are locked afterwards.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: If you made a mistake in one of those four fields, it cannot be corrected: you have to submit a whole new TDAC. The system takes the latest one as valid: «The system will consider only the most recent submission valid».

Enter an email that works and accept the terms

The last step before submitting is entering the email address where you want to receive the card with the QR, and ticking the terms and conditions box. Use an email you can access from your phone while travelling, not a work one with two-factor authentication. If you do not have an email, the official recommendation is to create one: «It is recommended to create an email address as it is the source data to receive TDAC information».

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: If the email does not arrive, the system does not resend it on its own. And you will not receive any reminder before the flight: «TDAC System will not send notification or alert messages to the passenger entering Thailand».

Download the card with the QR code and keep it

On submitting, the system lets you download the Thailand Digital Arrival Card as a PDF, with the card number and the QR, and emails it to you. Save it on your phone AND take a screenshot, in case you have no data on arrival. Printing is not mandatory: «No, you don't have to print it. Just download the document with the QR code after submitting or from your email, to show it on your phone or any device. But if you don't have a device with you, it's a good idea to print a copy just in case».

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: Write down the card number («TH Digital Arrival Card No.») separately: you will need it, together with your date of birth and nationality, if you later have to use the «Update Arrival Card» function.

If your flight or hotel changes, update it

You go in through «Update Arrival Card», search with the card number, date of birth and nationality, correct it and submit it again. It can be updated as many times as needed before entry: «Your submission must be accurate and complete before your entry into Thailand. If anything needs to be corrected, you can update or submit a new form before your entry».

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: The only things that cannot be touched are full name, nationality and date of birth (and the passport number). If the error is there, submit a new TDAC: the latest one counts.

If you travel as a family or a group, enter them together

There is a group entry mode: you fill in traveller 1's details, press «Add Other Travelers» and repeat the steps for each one; if the flight and accommodation are the same, choose «Same as Previous Traveler» and you do not have to type it again. The limit is 10 people per submission: «A maximum of 10 entries can be submitted per submission». An adult can do it for someone else: «Yes, you may complete it for family members, children, or group travelers».

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: Babies need their own too. There is no age exemption.

If you arrive without a TDAC, it gets sorted at the airport but you lose time

They do not deport you, but they hold you up. The Immigration Bureau has set up self-service terminals (kiosks) and wifi at airports for those who arrive without having done it: «Upon arrival in Thailand, kiosks and internet Wi-Fi will be provided». There are kiosks at five airports: Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai. If you arrive at a land crossing or a port with no kiosk, you depend on having data on your phone. And if you filled it in at a kiosk, take a photo of the QR on the screen, because the card is only sent by email.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: With the immigration queue at Suvarnabhumi at peak time, sitting down to fill in the form at the airport can cost you a good hour. And if the QR did not reach you by email, the official instruction is «Please contact the Immigration Officer at the entry checkpoint»: in other words, a manual procedure at the counter.

Do it again every time you enter Thailand

The TDAC is not reusable: it works for one entry and for the arrival date you declared. If you do Bangkok – Luang Prabang – Bangkok, you need two TDACs, one per entry, each submitted within its own 3-day window.

Go to the official site for this step →

Watch out: Plenty of people doing a «visa run» to Laos or Cambodia forget the second TDAC and end up in the kiosk queue on the way back.

Go to the official site →

Immigration Bureau, Kingdom of Thailand — Thailand Digital Arrival Card

📋 What you need at hand

Valid passport (to copy the exact details; the MRZ, the two lines at the bottom of the biometric page, can be scanned with the camera)
Flight number with the airline code and exact arrival date
If you enter by land or sea: the means of transport and the border crossing or port
Full address of your accommodation in Thailand: type, province, district, sub-district, postal code and street (up to 215 characters)
Purpose of travel
List of the countries you visited in the previous two weeks (for the health declaration)
Country you are departing from and city and country of residence
Occupation
An email address you can access from your phone while travelling
The Thai visa or e-Visa, if your nationality needs one: it is a separate, prior procedure, at thaievisa.go.th
The TDAC PDF with the QR code, downloaded on your phone and with a backup screenshot
The card number («TH Digital Arrival Card No.») written down separately, in case you have to update it

⚠️ The mistakes that cost you

Paying for the TDAC. It is free: the official page is titled «Official Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) – No Fees Required». Any site that charges is an intermediary or a scam.
Believing the TDAC is a visa or that it replaces the visa. The official guide says so verbatim: «Please note that the Thailand Digital Arrival Card is not a visa».
Believing the TDAC gives you days of stay. Your days come from the exemption or the visa, and they are set by the immigration officer.
Trying to submit it a month early. The window only opens 3 days before arrival; before that the system rejects it.
Trusting that the system will remind you. It sends no reminders: «TDAC does not send notification or alert messages».
Starting the form without having the details. It cannot be saved halfway and continued later: you lose everything.
Trusting the MRZ reader without checking. The manual expressly asks you to recheck every time it autofills from the passport.
Getting the name, passport number, nationality or date of birth wrong: those are the four fields that CANNOT be edited afterwards and force you to submit a new TDAC.
Writing your name in Spanish with accents or ñ. Everything goes in English and in plain Latin characters, just as in the passport.
Using the same TDAC for two entries. It works once only and for the declared arrival date: each entry needs its own.
Not doing the TDAC for babies and children. All travellers need it, with no age exemption.
Doing more than one TDAC «just in case» and not checking which one stands. The system takes only the last one submitted as valid.
Giving an email with two-factor authentication that you cannot access from your phone: the QR arrives only by email and the system does not resend it.
Arriving relying on airport wifi. Kiosks exist only at five airports (Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai); at a land crossing you can be left with no way to fill it in.
Leaving the airport during a layover «without entering the country». If you pass through immigration or leave the terminal, the TDAC is mandatory; only transit that does not pass through immigration is exempt.

🔎 Where this comes from

← See the full entry requirements