Myanmar Links Migrant Identity Papers to Money Transfers After Remittances Hit US$5.6 Billion

Workers must show transfers to obtain identity documents

Myanmar migrant workers seeking temporary identity documents in Thailand must now show that they sent 6,000 baht, about US$180, through official channels and paid a 2 percent income tax. The requirements tighten the connection between their ability to work legally abroad and the foreign currency they send home, after Myanmar authorities put migrant remittances at US$5.6 billion in 2025.

Labour Minister Maung Myint announced the annual total in Parliament while describing the operation of five centers issuing Certificates of Identity in Thailand. The documents, known as CIs, serve as temporary alternatives to passports and allow eligible Myanmar migrants to obtain Thai work permits.

The required transfer equals a quarter of three months of earnings calculated at a fixed monthly salary of 8,000 baht. Workers must produce evidence of the transfer before applying, alongside proof that they paid the income tax. The money sent home remains a remittance to families, while the tax is a separate payment to the authorities.

For households dependent on earnings from Thailand, the practical problem is immediate: workers must find money for transfers, taxes and documentation while also paying their own living expenses. Families in remote parts of Myanmar can face another obstacle when they have little access to banks.

The latest requirements extend the pressure described in the earlier remittance restrictions. They place an essential identity document at the center of a policy that directs overseas earnings into Myanmar's regulated financial system.

A sharp increase in recorded money flows

Finance ministry figures put remittances at about 38 percent of Myanmar's foreign inflows in 2025, making migrant earnings the largest source. The US$5.6 billion total compares with US$670 million in 2022, an increase of roughly 8.4 times.

Those figures show why the authorities are concentrating on overseas workers. Money earned in baht, dollars and other foreign currencies enters a banking system in which access to foreign exchange is closely controlled. Myanmar needs that currency to buy goods from abroad, including fuel, medicines and food.

The World Bank recorded a different measure: US$2.1 billion in remittances in fiscal 2024–25, up 46 percent. The finance ministry's US$5.6 billion figure covers 2025, while the World Bank figure covers a fiscal year. The definition and coverage behind the ministry's much larger total have not been publicly detailed.

The International Labour Organization, citing World Bank estimates, put remittances in 2023 at US$1.5 billion, equivalent to about 2 percent of Myanmar's economy. That estimate excluded informal transfers, including money delivered through brokers or carried home. The full amount reaching families therefore extends beyond the recorded banking flows.

The rules began in September 2023

The ILO's Myanmar quarterly briefing dates the compulsory remittance requirement to September 1, 2023. It says migrant workers were required to send at least 25 percent of their foreign currency earnings home and faced a three year ban on overseas work after their work permits expired if they failed to comply.

Some later descriptions date the rules to 2024, but the ILO documents both the transfer requirement and the separate income tax in 2023. The sequence helps explain how the latest identity document conditions fit into a policy already operating for several years.

• February 1, 2021: Myanmar's military seized power.
• September 1, 2023: The compulsory transfer requirement of at least 25 percent took effect, according to the ILO.
• September 23, 2023: The authorities amended the Union Tax Law 2023.
• October 1, 2023: A 2 percent income tax on Myanmar workers abroad took effect, payable in foreign currency.
• December 8, 2023: The Ministry of Labour announced a remittance management mobile application for workers in Thailand.
• 2025: Migrant remittances reached US$5.6 billion, according to Myanmar authorities.

The ILO warned in its briefing that compulsory transfers and taxation could push more people toward migration outside official procedures. Workers already face expensive and complicated recruitment processes, creating demand for brokers who arrange travel and employment outside licensed systems.

Five centers add a new checkpoint

The five CI centers are in Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Surat Thani. Their locations bring the new checks to several important destinations for Myanmar workers in Thailand.

Under the fixed calculation, three months of wages at 8,000 baht equal 24,000 baht. A quarter of that amount is the required 6,000 baht transfer, or an average of 2,000 baht a month. Advocates also describe workers in Thailand being told to remit at least 2,500 baht monthly, so the amount demanded in practice can vary with the process involved.

Maung Myint, the regime's labour minister, described remittances as a matter of "national interest" and said workers should consider them "a donation" to the country. His comments present overseas earnings as a national financial resource, while workers must also budget for rent, food and support for relatives.

Employers, recruitment bodies and embassies can all become part of enforcement. Migrant advocates describe agreements committing workers to regular transfers, checks linked to passport renewals and overseas employment rights, and contact with families when payments stop. The CI requirement adds another point at which workers must demonstrate compliance.

Application costs squeeze family budgets

A CI application costs around 3,600 baht, but agents typically charge between 7,000 and 15,000 baht including service fees. Against the authorities' assumed monthly wage of 8,000 baht, those agent charges amount to between 87.5 percent and 187.5 percent of one month's earnings. Precise charges under the latest requirements have not been announced.

One worker described paying an agent about 15,000 baht through deductions from wages arranged by his employer. Those installments reduced the amount he could send to relatives. Additional documents can also mean more work for intermediaries and higher charges for applicants.

Families outside banking networks face a different difficulty. A worker may be able to send money through an official channel, yet relatives in a remote village may struggle to collect it. Obtaining acceptable evidence of a transfer becomes another task between earning the money and putting it into a family's hands.

U Set Aung, an economist and former deputy minister of planning and finance in the ousted civilian government, said workers on low wages were struggling to meet their own expenses. He argued that the decision about how much to remit belonged to them.

"The amount workers send home should be their own decision," he said.

The requirement is especially difficult when earnings fluctuate. A worker without a stable job may still face a fixed transfer calculation while trying to keep documents current and avoid losing access to legal employment.

Why exchange rates matter as much as fees

Myanmar authorities describe formal remittance rules as a way to bring transfers into regulated banks, reduce informal transactions and stabilize the foreign exchange market. For families, the exchange rate used when foreign money becomes kyat helps determine how much food, medicine or rent a transfer can cover.

Migrant advocates say banks initially converted transfers at rates below those available outside official channels. They say pricing later moved closer to market levels, reducing losses for workers. The ILO also recorded a December 5, 2023 announcement allowing authorized banks to set exchange rates according to market conditions.

U Set Aung, the former deputy minister, described the household cost of an unfavorable conversion rate.

"When remittances are converted at exchange rates below prevailing market rates, workers and their families suffer additional financial losses," he said.

Dr Kaho Yu, principal Asia analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, explained why the same transfers matter to the financial system.

"Surging remittance inflows are providing a financial lifeline to Myanmar's tightly controlled banking system at a time when the authorities remain under pressure to stabilise foreign exchange liquidity and external balances," he said.

Foreign exchange liquidity means having foreign currency available when payments are due. The authorities regulate how that currency moves through the banking system, while families generally need kyat for everyday spending. That difference gives the conversion process importance for both government finances and household budgets.

How informal transfers reach villages

Myanmar's informal transfer network, known as hundi, offers another route. Migrants pay a trusted agent abroad, and a corresponding agent arranges payment to relatives in Myanmar. Money often reaches the recipient without the same cash physically crossing the border.

In Thailand, agents can pool baht from migrants and use it to pay Thai exporters. Myanmar importers then provide kyat to agents inside Myanmar, who distribute the money to families. The arrangement connects household transfers with payments for trade.

Typical hundi fees are described as 2 to 2.5 percent. Agents can also offer substantially more kyat than the official reference rate of about 2,100 kyat per US dollar, sometimes twice as much. Actual returns depend on the agent and the rate available when a transfer is made.

Aung, a 31 year old former employee of a state bank in Myanmar's Bago region, sends between 3,000 and 5,000 baht a month to his mother and sister through an agent in his home village. He described personal trust as central to that choice.

I only use the agent in my home village. The exchange rate is better and the military does not get the money," he said. "My agent is like my brother, I trust him 100 per cent.

Hundi is banned in Myanmar, and users also face the risk of fraud. Some migrants test unfamiliar agents with small transfers before sending larger amounts. Formal services offer another option, including partnerships between Thai banks and Myanmar payment platforms such as KBZPay and AYA Pay, but opening a Thai bank account requires documents that some migrants lack.

Thailand is central to the policy

Official Thai figures counted nearly 3 million Myanmar workers in Thailand as of November 2025. The International Organization for Migration estimated that as many as 4.6 million Myanmar nationals were living there as of September in the same year. The figures count different populations: workers in the first case and Myanmar residents more broadly in the second.

Thailand's large Myanmar population makes documentation rules particularly consequential. A CI can help a migrant secure legal employment, while a passport or bank account can be necessary to access formal financial services. Each requirement can depend on obtaining another document first.

Thai authorities also have interests in bringing workers into formal employment and monitoring transfers. Pana Janviroj, executive director of the Institute for Strategic Policy, has pointed to the costs of healthcare, education and other services for migrants and suggested employer contributions to welfare funds for legal employees. He also warned that informal transfer users could face exploitation.

For some people who fled the military, however, registering with Myanmar authorities brings fears about their own safety and that of relatives. Those concerns sit alongside the practical need to earn wages, maintain legal status and get money home.

Workers face pressure on earnings and movement

Myo Ko Oo, a 29 year old employee at a seafood processing factory in Thailand, described how illness and reduced overtime make mandatory payments harder to manage.

We're struggling to make ends meet, particularly when we have to take sick leave or cannot work overtime," he said. "It would be great if we are allowed to freely manage our hard-earned money on our own.

Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher at Amnesty International, said linking passport access to administrative requirements could affect basic rights. He called for the policy to be revised or revoked.

"A state's refusal to issue a passport or extend its validity based on vaguely broad national interest concerns or administrative measures may amount to a violation of that person's right to freedom of movement and the ability to earn a living," he said.

Myanmar's rising recorded remittances bring foreign currency into the country, while the latest CI conditions place more of the responsibility for securing those flows on migrants. Their families depend on the money that arrives. Workers must now account for how they send it as part of maintaining the documents needed to keep earning abroad.

Key Points

• Myanmar authorities put migrant remittances at US$5.6 billion in 2025, about 38 percent of foreign inflows.
• New CI requirements in Thailand demand proof of a 6,000 baht official transfer and payment of 2 percent income tax.
• The ILO dates the compulsory 25 percent remittance rule to September 2023 and the income tax to October 2023.
• Five CI centers operate in Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Surat Thani.
• Agent fees, documentation requirements and access to banks can reduce or delay support reaching families.
• Informal hundi transfers remain attractive for their rates and reach, but carry legal and fraud risks.