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Sunbelt Asia
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Posts posted by Sunbelt Asia
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1. Do you have a one year multi entry non immigrant B visa?
2. If yes then you have to return before the expiration date - if you do that you receive a new 90 day permitted to stay stamp.
Yes I do have a multi entry non B, thanks so much for the info.
You will get 90 days every time you enter Thailand as long as the multi entry stamp is valid.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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What marriage agent did you use?
I would like to get married to my Filipina girlfriend here in Thailand. We have notarized “free to marry” affidavits from both of our embassies. Next we have to have the documents translated into Thai and then on to the Thai district office to register the marriage.
I would like to find a service to do the translations and leg work to complete the marriage. I see a lot of such businesses near Wireless Road; I am looking for a recommendation to help choose one.
Regards
Sunbelt Asia would be happy to help you in processing your marriage registration. You can drop by in our office located at Fortune Town Floor 26 1 Ratchadaphisek Road. By Subway please take Rama 9 exit 1. We are on the 26th floor of the CP Tower.
By Taxi simply tell the driver “ For –June Hotel” and they will take you to the Fortune Town Complex. The tall office building in the middle is called CP Tower 2 is where our main office is located.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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I am trying to find out if I can legally employ our filipino domestic worker in
thailand. My husband & I will be applying for a retirement visa.
I get conflicting answers from people and want to know what is legal and NOT ILLEGAL
I am just looking for straight answers on this and no illegal work arounds...
Not legal/possible thats fine
No not at this time at Bangkok. Only in cases that were grandfathered in last year and before. We had 100’s of these cases approved before, many with expats with multi nationals but the current Labor Dept in Bangkok does not allow it. We still have around 100 cases or so that have the job title of maid in the work permit.
The only solution in Bangkok that some maids have done is getting an educational visa. This of course does not allow her to work legally or apply for a work permit.
The other district that will allow her to get a work permit is if your residence is in Nonthaburi Dept. If you will be living in this province, and had paid Thai tax of 50,000 Baht last year she can qualify. As you stated you are coming to Thailand to retire so the bottom line in your case it will not be possible to legaly hire her.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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Another poster mentioned getting a multiple-entry non-B visa in Kuala Lumpur very recently.
I have seen no recent post about getting this type of visa in Vientiane.
List of recent successes in getting visas in the region: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=189375
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Maestro
Three different clients that had gotten a one year multiple entry "B" visa last year.... this past week (including one today) only was able to get 90 days. All had the work permits but the KL officer stated "they want to push more people to apply for the extension of stay" was what one client reported being told why they were giving only the 90 days instead of the multiple one year “B’ visa.
Anybody else?
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Why did you submit an application for visa (TM.87)? According to your OP you have a non immigrant B visa and you do not indicate you paid the 2,000 baht fee for a visa issue so don't believe it was required or used. I believe your TM.7 extension of stay is what was approved. At any rate seems like another happy ending.
The Op was applying for the renewal of the extension of stay permit. I surmise he only got a 30 day under consideration and will be going to get the one year extension in 30 days or even will then get another 30 day consideration from immigration. Very rare to ever get a extension of stay based on business the first day of the renewal unless it's a BOI company.
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you're paranoid, simply sign the paper, the officials will not appear from the wall while you're holding the pen ready to sign the papers....
Probably no need to be paranoid, however if there is a signature, there is a name, which means that this will be around as an official record for years....
Exactly, especially why have a smoking gun if in the years ahead you either want to go "legal" or if your competition reports you to the government. We have seen fines ranging from 10,000 Baht to as much as 50,000 Baht from the police when a work permit is applied for by the foreign managing director. If the company has been in existence several years, they need to show the audit. If the foreign managing director has signed in the previous years, they may need to show they were out of the country or the foreign managing director may be fined. Has this happen in every case… no, but it has happen especially in Chiang Mai.
Same day signing as long as you can show the passport exit stamp is fine. Keep a copy of this page of your passport in a safe place, in case you ever lose your passport.
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My situation, have 2 consecutive non-immigrant B visas and a work permit from my school. Both expire on 31 May. I have renewed contract with the school and will be jumping through the visa and WP renewal hoops next week.
As it's been a year since the last time I did this I'm a little foggy on which one to do first. Do I renew the work permit first at the Ministry of Labor, or renew the non-B visa first at Immigration? I want to get started off on the right foot. Thanx for your replies…
Do the extension of stay first at Immigration.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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My ED (student) visa will expire in mid-September of this year. It was issued for my study at Chula. however, having completed 50% of this course, I need to postpone further study due to a change in my circumstances! I'm actually going to start a new job as a lowly-paid teacher in a temple school, and I need to see what visa I can obtain after my ED visa expires.
I cannot extend my visa based on marriage to my Thai wife because I divorced her last week (bliss....)
I am under 50 years old.....
I think that I cannot obtain a WP with an ED visa...
So, AFAIK, I need to go and get a non-imm B visa from a nearby friendly embassy/consulate, and then do 3 month visa runs. Is my understanding correct? Or is there some way that I can extend my existing visa without leaving the country?? (I could sign up for a Thai language course, but I think that I will not have the money for this, nor the time to attend/travel to the school).
Thanks for advice!
Simon
Simon,
Sorry to see, life or the women you have met in Thailand has not treated you kindly. I think you could write a novel.
You still have the telephone service biz back home?
You cannot work with an ED extension of stay permit or ED visa. Up to Jan 2007 it was possible but times change.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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A friend told me Sunbelt reported that work permit extensions for sole proprietors under the US-Thai Treaty of Amity now need 4 Thai employees. Is this actually a requirement now? My WP is due to be renewed 3 August.
I've had a sole proprietor WP since 1992. I'm a self-employed technology and technology management consultant. I've never had any staff and I have no need or reason to have any staff.
If this is true, it would seem to be a blatant violation of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article IV of the Treaty:
4. Enterprises which are or may hereafter be established or acquired by nationals and companies of either Party within the territories of the other Party and which are owned or controlled by such nationals and companies, whether in the form of individual proprietorships, direct branches or companies constituted under the laws of such other Party, shall be permitted freely to conduct their activities therein upon terms no less favorable than like enterprises owned or controlled by nationals of such other Party or of any third country.
5. Nationals and companies of either Party shall enjoy the right to control and manage the enterprises which they have established or acquired within the territories of the other Party, and shall be permitted without discrimination to do all things normally found necessary and proper to the effective conduct of enterprises engaged in like activities.
My reading of paragrpah 4 is that, unless a Thai national working as a self-employed technology and technology management consultant is required to have 4 Thai employees, requiring me to have 4 Thai employees constitutes less favorable terms. My reading of paragraph 5 is that I have the same right to control and manage my business as does a Thai national, and if doing so requires that I also have a work permit, the Ministry of Labor consequently must issue it.
Has anyone ever been denied a Treaty sole proprietor WP on the grounds of not having 4 Thai employees? If so, has anyone gone through the appeal process and/or filed suit in the Administrative Court?
If you talk with the U.S. commercial service they will tell you that just because you have Amity does not guarantee you the right to a work permit. The work permit is another division.
As for Thais applying in the USA under the E-2 investor visa via the Amity Treaty. Unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules as to which businesses will qualify for visas for Thais to own the business and work and which won't, as some factors may count more heavily than others.
However consensus guidelines are that they like to see five American employed or at the very least there should be ideally at least two current full time employees OR equivalent part time employees OR it can be shown that the investment in some way has a significant impact on the local economy. If there are no current employees but the business profits can clearly support American employees (and a good case can be made that the investor will employ new American workers), this may also qualify. Bottom line Thais in most all cases are required to employ Americans.
The USA-Thai Amity treaty was set to expire on December 31st 2004 but has been extended. For a short time from mid Jan- March 2006 the Thai government stopped taking new applications. They then reopen the window in April 2006 for new application in a three month time frame. This was extended every three months till December 2006 when it was extended indefinitely until further notice.
In Jan 2007 for several months we had a very hard time getting new work permits for Amity treaty companies as the requirements changed everyday from showing some cash in the bank to showing 2 million Baht transferred from overseas. The USA commercial services called the Labor Dept countless times with no returned calls. Finally an appointment was made and then cancelled. They then stopped this criterion which was the correct decision as in August 2004, the two sides had already agreed that in August 2009, that Amity treaty companies will require three million Baht registered capital and that this money was transferred overseas. They were jumping the gun in Jan 2007.
In Thailand, what requirements are set for new applicants are not necessary required for old work permit holders which may be grandfathered in and the Labor Dept. exercises considerable discretion. For new applicants of a Sole Proprietorship the Labor Dept wants to see 4 Thai employees or 2 Thai employees if you are married to a Thai. This is per the Work permit regulations.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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according to sunbelt some of their internals have a salary of 18k, this is allowed for small jobs.
For the record, our interns on scholarship get paid a stipend of 6,000 Baht per month.
As for the work permit salary, it’s up to the discretion of the Labor Dept. If you are an Executive type they like to see 30K per month. If you are in a non- executive position it can be 10,000 Baht or lower. We have gotten a number of work permits done with no salary required for volunteers or interns.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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Did you get a single entry or a multiple?
They will only give single entry.
A copy of a background check from your home country? Is this required?Only if you are a teacher.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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Any of you guys know what the going rate is for a local Thai "agent" to charge for handling a WP application for the director of a Thai Co.?
In Bangkok, our professional fee is 6,500 Baht for the first work permit application. The second year our fee fot the renewal is 3,900 Baht.
The range charged by most firms is 6,000 Baht to 50,000 Baht and they charge the same fee for the second year renewal.
We deal with volume and this is why our professional fees are low. Last year our lawyers handled around 5,000 inital applications, revalidations and renewals for work permits.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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I know so many people who works without a WP and NO ONE have not heard anyone that got busted for it.
Give Post #3 a good thorough read.
Sorry, arrested ok. But it would be interesting to know what kind of penalty they got, if any.
From Post #3
http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Weekly2006/weekly265.htm
Barry Kenyon the Honorary Consul (Pattaya) for the British Embassy in a Q&A....
Chonburi is not known as the easiest place in Thailand to get a work permit and there are a lot of foreigners working here without the little blue book. Do many foreigners have problems related to this?
They do, not because they cannot get one, but because they have not applied for it in the first place. The work permit is about paying tax and capital investment in a company. The people who get in trouble are often the people who would not be able to apply for a work permit, or because they have not put sufficient capital in, or do not even know about it. Or perhaps they work in a sector where you cannot get a work permit, such as a gogo bar. It is very difficult to get a work permit to work in a gogo bar.
But generally, if your application is in order, it should be ok. A lot of people are married to a Thai and think having a work permit doesn't matter. Just because you are married to a Thai does not excuse you. The Alien Labour Act 1980 applies.
What's the typical penalty?
There is little point pleading not guilty! The penalty will be quite small in the sense that the Thai courts will fine you or 2,000 - 3,000 baht. If you can pay it, which they rarely can, because they are often on overstay, you will not be let out, but rather you will be deported. If not, you have to wait in the jail until someone comes up with the money. There is one jail in Bangkok, the Immigration Detention Centre, where they end up.
What about if you just don't have the money, or the means to raise it?
You can pay it off by spending time in the prison cell. The rate is 200 baht per day. So a 2,000 baht fine would be 10 days.
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The biggest problem is paying for the cost of the airfare to your home country and getting a flight. Then the threat of not being able to come back to Thailand. It's up to the discretion of Immigration.
If you are allowed back, you can not apply for a work permit for one year after you committed a crime with Labor Laws in Thailand.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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American 100% Owned business in Thailand:
I was told a special arrangement exists between America and Thailand. This agreement allows an American to own a business in Thailand totally i.e. 100%. Can anyone confirm this and I would love hearing the “pros and cons”? I am somewhat certain there must be cons.
If this topic exists elswhere please advise.
Thanks in advance for your input.
Keoki
Pros:
Peace of mind being the major shareholder or owning the business 100% as a sole proprietor.
You are 100% legal
If they stop the Amity in the future for new applicants…. The odds are high your company will be worth more.
Cons:
You may need to show 3 million in paid up capital transferred into Thailand after August 2009 to get your work permit renewed. You will however be able to use these funds.
If you are a sole proprietor, you will need to hire 4 Thais to get a work permit.
You cannot own land.
If you decide you want to do this and are in a hurry to set one up, we have an Amity treaty Limited company for sale with a recent audit done. The investment is 100,000 Baht.
BKK13294GL-This Thai Limited Amity Treaty Company has 3,000,000 baht of capitalization; the audit for 2007 has been completed and the company is free of any outstanding liens. For an asking price of 100,000 baht, the company would give considerable benefits to the American majority buyer, especially as it can be 100 percent owned by foreigners. The Amity Company is registered to encompass the following objectives: consumer products retailing, consumer products wholesaling, advertising, hotel management, tour guide, food and beverage sales, IT development, business management consultant and internet café. The new owner would therefore be able to establish any new type of business with these objectives in Thailand under the full protection of the company format. Investors should be aware that the 3,000,000 baht registered capital will need to be paid up by showing money coming from overseas in the month of August 2009. The payment of shares, however, could then be borrowed as a Directors loan, if the Board of Directors would allow it (the buyer could be the sole director and hold 99.994% of the shares). This company has never traded, but is ready to commence operations from day one; there is no need to wait seven weeks to get registration approval or invest government and legal fees including the fees for the registered capital and company setup on the Thai side totaling around 120K as this already has been done.
If you are not in a hurry, we can help you set an Amity Treaty Company up. Our firm is known to be one of the largest volume firms handling this application process.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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No rate attached but i presume this is the 50,000 Baht for UK citizen?
yes
The Co. was set up five months ago. The only monies introduced to the company so far have been 3.1 million Baht for purchase of premises, (purchase completed 3 months ago). In the first year of trading I am predicting revenue of approx 800,000 Baht. Any chance you could explain to me how the 3.1 mil introduced to purchase assets relates to the phrase above highlighted in red and how 1 million Baht "equity" can be shown.It’s your liquidating value of your business without taking in account any good will. Assets - any liabilities you owe = Liquidating value. Assets are anything of hard value not only cash. Where many have a problem is they book the paid up capital as a loan to the director and this is not included in the hard assets.
Your property is 3.1 million. You owe 500,000 Baht. Your liquidating value is 2.6 million Baht.
[Excuse my paranoia, but didn't I see it posted before, that a foreign director is not allowed to do "work" such as signing business papers without a work permit?
You are signing a work permit application. You are not going to get arrested for asking to be legal to work. You do not need a Thai director to file the forms to the government when you are setting up the company.
If you do not get a work permit and don't work in Thailand, you still can be the only Director a year later. Even when you sign the tax audits by being outside the country. You must prove if asked however that your passport was outside the Kingdom when you signed the audit.
Also, could you confirm that I can initially apply for a work permit on my current 1 year multi non-im O visa?yes
Many many thanks for your time Sunbelt settling my queries with your expertise and up-to-date experience because quite frankly, I'm getting a headache with all this "localised interpretation on the law"You are welcome.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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i want to thank all the replies by Thailand experts. I am a complete Thai newbie. And my girlfriend wrote the address of the visa office in Bangkok in some samll street and I showed to the taxi this morning. She gave me the birth certificate, all in Thai language, and gave me a hospital note saying our daughter's premature birth and in ICU, and told me to bring some fotos, and I went to the visa office this morning.
First to the info counter, they gave me a form to fill and told me make copies of my passport, the immigration landing card, then told me to come back, then after make copies and went back to info counter, then gave me a number, I write on the extension application wish to extend 15 days, but later when my term, the lady took my paper, and I showed her the birth certificate and the hospital note, then she said not 15 days, its 60 days, and told me to pay 1900 bahts, then in 15 min, call my number to collect passport, so the extension for kid's emergency is 60 days.
Just to report my finding today. I am off to hospital to see my little baby girl. Thank you.
Congrats. They did it under Section 7.23 as it was 60 days which is to visit your Thai child.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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thanks sunbelt. can you give me the list of the requirement for Non-B in Laos? I downloaded a list in their website and there it shows a WP3. But as you said this is not the practice as per your experience.
tthanks in advance
bm
I will check with the Specialist on this Tuesday as every Embassy is different and then its even different on the time of the year when you apply.
The WP3 used to be required in Laos, but for awhile now, this has not been a issue.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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I came to see my pregnant girlfriend who was over 6 month preganant with my child. And about 10 days ago she ended up having a premature birth of only 1500 grams and my baby daughter still struggling in the baby ICU, and it seems quite uncertain, and my 30 day visa exempt will expire on 16th May, can I go to the government visa office in Bangkok to extend visa due to emergency of my baby. I don't know who to ask, and I heard about this forum. Thank you.
Congrats on your new baby! Odds are high everything will be ok.
You can get your stay extended for 90 days under clause 7.24 with a new visa.
http://www.lawyer.th.com/National_Police_O...er_Oct_2006.pdf
They should have a Immigration desk at the Hospital. Just be sure to get a certified letter from the Doctor and you will have less stress about your legal stay in Thailand.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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1, Have any one heard a REAL CASE were a farang actually have been deported or even imprisoned for violating Work Permit rules?
http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Weekly2006/weekly265.htm
Immigration Police: Busted!
Paitaya Puenpatom/Hua Hin/Mar. 2008
Since the beginning of 2007, charges have been brought in five cases concerning immigration offenses in Hua Hin. Most of those arrested were working without a work permit.
- The German owner of a local restaurant, who has a work permit, hired two Philippine singers who did not have a work permit. Both the owner and the two singers were arrested.
- A Swedish person who was helping his wife to cook in the kitchen of their business was arrested.
- A guesthouse did not make a report within 24 hours and the owner was charged accordingly.
- A German man whose mother is Thai was arrested for serving drinks to his German friends in his mothers business.
- A Thai builder was arrested for hiring two Burmese workers who did not have work permits
2, If my friend comes over to my office and trade on the Internet stock market or even make some work that his boss have asked him to do during his visit i thailand, for some weeks. Would i be responsible and thrown in jail for that if some one find out?The labor Dept atates "it would be very hard to catch someone working on the internet if when they heard a knock on the door, they clicked away from the webpage. "
3, If i rent out a work station in my office to person or a forign company. Is it on my responsibility to control however they have a valid work permit or not??As long as you were not the employer or contracted work in anyway with them...consultant, etc. then you are not involved. (If you were just the Landlord, you would be ok.)
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Do you mean the Labour office only want to see the Salary mentioned on my contract of employment as opposed to wanting to see proof of payment of tax for the last year? I can't believe the tax office will let me get away with, as you say, not "actually have to pay it out"! Or do I indeed not actually have to pay myself after declaring it to the Labour Office on my contract?
They could care less if you pay yourself or not. But they do care about the tax on the 50K salary per month being paid on the PND91.
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I need some help please. I thought it would be possible to extract the accurate, concise info I want by doing various searches of threads here but I don't seem to have quite got there, in relaton to my personal sittuation. I need to resolve 2 separate issues:
1) Initially obtaining a WP (presently having a 1 yr multi Non-Im "O" visa), based on working for a company with 2 million baht paid up registered capital,
2) In the subsequent year (coming back to thailand on a 1 yr Non-Im "B"), obtaining an extension of stay based on working for the same company.
Correct my understand that at the moment, I can obtain a WP under (1) with there being NO Thai employees in the company. Also I am of the understanding that there is no official wage amount I have to be paid to receive a WP.
In the district you are applying, they are very strict at the moment. They want 4 Thai employees per work permit, a letter of experience from your last employer and a copy of your diploma. This is for the Labor Dept criteria and is not the same criteria at other Labor Dept districts. They also in every case we know will visit your business location.
For extension of stay, No. (2) above, I understand the Co. has to employ 4 Thai nationals and the Labour dept. WILL visit the place of work to verify. Also being a UK citizen I am required to be paid minimum 50,000 baht a month gross. Please could someone clarify if (and where the law states) the wages (and subsequent tax) MUST be paid out of genuine revenue as opposed to being paid from money loaned to the company. ie the company may take a couple of years to build turnover, in the mean time the 50,000 a month salary could not be met by revenue alone.http://www.lawyer.th.com/National_Police_O...er_Oct_2006.pdf Please look at 7.1
My profile:• I am in Thailand on a 1 year non-im multi "O" visa doing 90 day border runs.
• I am a shareholder (and director) in a Thai company that has 2 million baht paid up registered capital.
• The company has no employees.
• IF I can obtain a work permit as in (1) above, the company will have a revenue/turnover in it's first year of 800,000 baht
• I am a UK citizen (single).
• I will be applying in the Pranbri (Prachuapkirikhan) area.
As a footnote, can someone please confirm that the Co. needs a Thai director as well as myself, as I cannot sign the Co. application for my own work permit?
You are able to sign for your own work permit as the employer and employee
Sunbelt have recently posted about the WP fees going as high as 20,000 baht a year. Anyone know if that has taken effect in Pranburi region yet?Has not gone up yet.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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Hi Everyone,
I have accepted a job in a garments company but they are having problems with the WP3 application. They said I should go out to the Kingdom so they can apply for it.As they said according to the labour department "the alien has not yet entered Thailand the employer should apply for the workpermit in his behalf". I told them I think they can apply eventhough I'm already here. But still they want me to go out to Laos, then have my passport stamp and send them a copy of my passport then they can apply for the WP3. This means I have to stay in Laos until the WP3 has been approved and only after that I can apply for a NOn-B visa in Laos as this is one of the requirement.
Anyone has experience on this, Please help as I'm very confused right now.
Thanks,
BM
You do not have to be outside Thailand for the employer to apply for the WP3. If you are in the Kingdom it does not matter for the WP3 at all. Only after the WP3 is approved do you have to leave the Kingdom to get the visa. We have done thousands of these WP3 cases and not once has this been an issue.
By the way, in the past three months, all the cases that we have seen, Laos does not require a WP3( except with a natural employer.) Now this change like the tide but right now the tide is no WP3 in Laos required.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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I have tried the search but cannot find a reference.
I feel sure there is an option for "consultants" that does not require 4 employees.
I have done some more searching and it appears I am wrong.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...p;hl=consultant
The problem with quoting treads in the archives dated 2006, the Thai interpretation this year is changing by the week if not be the day. For many years you did not need 4 Thai employees to get a work permit. Then in Feb of this year in Bangkok they required it but you could get a waiver if you wrote a letter explaining why you have not hire Thais.
Once again Bkk is more relaxed on the interpretation these past several weeks and are not requiring Thai employees. However other provinces are being VERY strict and requiring them. Like the ocean has tides so does the interpretation, if you want everything to be black and white then go with the stricter version.
www.sunbeltasiagroup.com
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Yes, strangely that site www.thailandsubway.com only lists a few of the restaurants.
Not too strange :-) I'm not the majority shareholder of the other locations and am not a Master Franchisor. So no reason to promote those Subway locations on our website, just the six locations that I'm involved in. www.thailandsubway.com
By the way the Nana location Subway and Coffee World ( Soi 4) will be relocating at the end of May. The landlord is turning it into a tailor shop. That seems to be the only type of retailer that could support the 500,000 Baht rent for the next lease term the landlord is asking for. Kinda sad as that was our orginal Subway store six years ago. Time to move on as they say...
www.thailandsubway.com
Need Help With Extending Non-b
in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits
Posted
You can get an extension for a year if both your employer and you qualify. Otherwise you will need to leave and get another visa outside Thailand. As you don't even have a work permit, you will need to leave and get a new non B at a Thai Embassy/Consulate.
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