Three things changed for 2026, and a travel agent who knows them looks sharp to clients. First, Vietnam introduces a new mandatory health declaration from 1 July 2026 for all travelers. Second, Thailand's Digital Arrival Card is now compulsory for every foreign arrival. Third, Thailand's visa-free allowance is being cut from 60 days to 30, a change approved by the Cabinet and awaiting publication. On top of those, the perennial trap still bites: the European Union is not a single visa rule, so a nationality check is essential, especially for Vietnam. This is a current, practical card for trade partners, and it sits alongside our evergreen entry and visa requirements overview. It is guidance, not legal or immigration advice, so confirm each traveler's nationality against the official sources we link before booking.
Thailand: the Digital Arrival Card is mandatory
Almost every foreign arrival to Thailand must now complete the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, the TDAC, before they reach the country, by air, land, or sea, whether they hold a visa or enter visa-exempt. It has been mandatory since May 2025, it is free of charge, and it replaced the old paper TM6 entirely. The submission window is within 72 hours before arrival, so it is one of the last steps before a trip rather than something to do at booking. The form is filed on the official portal at tdac.immigration.go.th and includes a short health-status section, with extra screening only for travelers flagged by Thai health authorities. A new submission app called THIM is being rolled out as an alternative channel, with a fuller launch expected later in 2026, but it is not mandatory; the TDAC remains the requirement.
The "new Thailand health app" confusion, cleared up
Partners have been asking about a new mandatory Thailand health application said to go live on 1 July 2026, and it is worth stating plainly: there is no separate Thailand health app launching on that date. We checked the Thai government sources, and the only Thai development in this area is the THIM submission app, which is not a health declaration and is not tied to 1 July. The 1 July 2026 health declaration that the story describes is Vietnam's, introduced under a new decree, and the date and detail match exactly. In other words, a genuine new rule has been attributed to the wrong country. This matters operationally, because a client flying into Bangkok needs the TDAC, while a client entering Vietnam is the one who meets the new health declaration described in the next section.
Thailand visas: 60 days now, 30 days coming
For our core markets, Thailand is currently a visa-free arrival. Nationals of the European Union and Schengen area, the United Kingdom, the United States, and all six Gulf Cooperation Council states enter for tourism without a visa, for 60 days, extendable once by a further 30 days at an immigration office. That is the rule in force in mid-2026. However, the Cabinet has approved cutting the standard exemption from 60 days to 30, and that change takes effect once it is published in the Royal Gazette, which had not happened as of this writing, so the 60-day allowance still applies for now. Because the reduction is imminent and the exact country list is not yet published, treat the allowance as a live value and confirm it at booking. For remote workers and long-stay visitors, the five-year, multiple-entry Destination Thailand Visa is a separate route, applied for through the official e-Visa portal.
| Thailand 2026 | Visa needed? | Stay (mid-2026) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU/Schengen, UK, US, GCC | No, visa-exempt | 60 days, plus a 30-day extension | A cut to 30 days is approved and pending publication; confirm at booking |
| Remote workers, long-stay (any nationality) | DTV | Up to 180 days per stay, 5-year visa | Apply via thaievisa.go.th |
| All foreign arrivals | TDAC (not a visa) | n/a | File free within 72 hours at tdac.immigration.go.th |
Vietnam: the new health declaration from 1 July 2026
This is the headline change of the year. From 1 July 2026, Vietnam requires a health declaration from all inbound, outbound, and transit travelers crossing its border gates, under a new decree implementing the country's disease-prevention law. There is no nationality or visa-type exemption. Travelers complete it within seven days before entry, exit, or transit, either electronically or on a unified paper form available from airlines and at border gates, in Vietnamese and English. It asks for personal and transport details, recent travel history, and a symptom self-disclosure, and health officers carry out temperature screening on arrival. As of late June 2026 the authorities had not published the web address for the electronic version, so the paper form is the confirmed fallback at the border. This is brand new, so brief clients to expect it and watch the official channels for the online portal.
Vietnam visas: who is exempt and who is not
Vietnam is where the nationality check matters most, because the European Union is not a single rule. Two exemption resolutions currently grant 45 days visa-free to a defined list of countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom in one group, and Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and several others in a second. But many nationalities are not on either list and need an e-visa, including Portugal, Austria, Ireland, and Greece among EU states, along with the United States and all six GCC countries. The e-visa is straightforward: valid for up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, applied for online at evisa.gov.vn, currently around USD 25 for single and USD 50 for multiple entry, and issued after review, so allow several working days. One detail catches people out: the applicant's name must match the passport exactly. Vietnam has also been expanding the international checkpoints its e-visa is valid at, so confirm the currently accepted ports of entry on the official portal rather than assuming a single fixed gate.
| Vietnam 2026 | Visa needed? | Stay | How to obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK | No, exempt | 45 days | Valid passport, 6-month validity |
| Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland and others | No, exempt | 45 days | Valid passport |
| Portugal, Austria, Ireland, Greece | Yes, e-visa | Up to 90 days | evisa.gov.vn, around USD 25 single / USD 50 multiple |
| United States | Yes, e-visa | Up to 90 days | evisa.gov.vn |
| GCC (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman) | Yes, e-visa | Up to 90 days | evisa.gov.vn |
Passport validity and the details that trip people up
Two requirements cause more refusals than visas do. The first is passport validity: both countries want a passport valid for at least six months, but the blank-page rule differs, with Thailand expecting at least one blank page and Vietnam at least two, which is easy to miss on a combined trip. The second is proof of onward or return travel, which is not a written statutory rule in either country but is commonly checked by airline staff and border officers, so treat it as a booking best practice rather than an optional extra. Beyond those, build a buffer for Vietnam e-visa processing, check each traveler's nationality individually rather than assuming a group is uniform, and note the exact ports of entry, since the e-visa is tied to declared gates. If a document is lost mid-trip, our lost passport guide sets out the steps.
How we keep partners current
As the destination management company operating in both countries, keeping these rules straight per booking is part of what we do. We check each traveler's nationality against the right list, flag the TDAC and the new Vietnam health declaration at the right moment in the trip, build the e-visa lead time into the schedule, and watch for the Thailand allowance change so a client is never briefed on a stale number. Partners stay the client-facing brand throughout while we hold the documentation logic underneath. Send us a group's nationalities and routing through our experiences page, and read our how many days and seasonal risk guides as you shape the trip around the entry rules.