G950

22 minutes ago, BritTim said:

You need a visa agent or specialist immigration law firm to help you do this in country. I am unsure of the costs involved, but it should be possible. Unfortunately, I cannot help with a suggested firm in Bangkok to help. You will need to call around, unless someone else has a good suggestion.

I hear you. It is kind of what I thought was the case. I do have a list of the usual suspects to call tomorrow. 

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

A work permit cannot be applied or issued  outside the country. If you are outside the country a company can use a WP3 form to apply for it and then send you the receipt for it to apply for a non-b visa.

It is possible to apply for a work permit while in the country to obtain a work permit application approval but it will not be issued until you have a non-b visa.

Thank you for your reply ubonjoe. 

Just for clarity. Is it possible to complete the whole process of starting a company then moving to legally being able to work and stay without leaving Thailand IE Non-B visa & Work Permit ?

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

YES, if not used already you can still apply for the 30-day extension that Tourist Visa entry entitles you to.

 

If you are planning to stay long-term in Thailand, you would then need to apply for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa (for reason of retirement or for reason of marriage to a thai national - different requirements).  That application needs to be done when there is still at least 15 days (some IOs require 23 days) left on the 30 days permission to stay.  Then during the last month of those 90 days you can apply at that same iO for the 1-year extension of stay based on that original Non Imm O Visa.

You would need to meet the financial requirements on the day of application for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and meet the two month seasoning requirement of the funds when applying for the 1-year extension of stay.

 

NOTE 1: There is a confirmed case of an applicant at CW who was on a Visa Exempt entry and while on the Amnesty successfully applied for the 30-day extension of stay and subsequent 90-day Non Imm O Visa.

But it is strongly recommended if you plan to do the 30-day extension > 90-day Non Imm O Visa > 1-year extension of stay route, to enquire beforehand at your local IO to ensure they are OK with you applying for the 3 steps in that process (and not block you mid-way because you have been on the Amnesty).

In case they would not be willing to confirm one of those steps, you could look for a more accomodating IO in another province, and start the process there.

 

NOTE 2: When you intend to stay long-term in Thailand, providing the following info would be helpful, as it will determine the options you have on that 3-step process.

Your age - nationality - whether officially married to a thai national or with a thai dependant child - your local IO (or place where you prefer to locate.

On the basis of that info, the requirements for the different applications on that 3-step journey can be provided.

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply. This board has provided value information over the years and we all appreciate the time and effort put in by yourselves and other major contributors. 

I am in the process of registering a Thai Export company. This is an established business I have been doing for years and is not covid affected, our sales have actually gone up this year which has baffled us but anyway.......

The issue I have is that the law firm I am using insists that I will have to leave Thailand, apply for the Work Permit abroad and then come back in. I guess technically that is possible through repatriation flight - ASR etc but realistically would cost a lot of time, $ and stress. 

I have heard people say it is possible to obtain a WP without leaving the country and would love to hear any ideas on if and how this is possible. New Zealand Passport / Apartment in BKK / No Thai wife or dependents - here for business purposes only.

If you can jump through all hoops to get your elite visa approved you might be able to jump on a repatriation flight.

That would be a cash price, no points flight.  Availability of seats may be on a waiting list basis but being able to purchase a Business class ticket on that flight may bump you up the list. 

Nothing is simple during Covid. 

19 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

A 30 day extension can be applied for prior September 26th and will start on the 27th. Immigration has already announced that.

I arrived on a 6 month METV in February. When my 60 days was just about to end in late March the first amnesty was announced. 

Would I still have a right to a 30 day extension based on not having extended my original 60 day stay ? 

I think the red bull dude deserves time in jail for his actions after the accident as well as the possibility of being under the affects of alcohol and possibly other substances. 

However, the damage to his car is consistent with a relatively low/medium speed accident. When a car collides at 180km it suffers severe damage - nothing like the damage of the Ferrari in the aftermath photos.

6 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

Yep, they have been quite clear this time. We will be expected to follow the normal immigration laws after sept 26.  Unless the situation unexpectedly worsens and currently operating flights get cancelled, amnesty will end on sept 26.
 

Make preparations now before it’s too late.

Sept 26 will be 6 months of free extensions, more than enough time for everyone to get out that indeed wanted to. 

The people that are still here are the ones that genuinely don't want to leave. Myself included. 

Find a way to stay with a proper visa or prep to leave before Sept 26.

As Ubonjoe pointed out a representative office would be you best option, possibly the only option without registering a Thai Company. 

Just be aware it is quite restrictive in that you can only do certain non-revenue-raising activities. For example you can supply information about various products sold by the head office to local distributors or consumers however you can't actually sell the product yourself - theoretically. 

The biggest issue was not paying the proper red envelop tax 

For the moment this is great news, actually quite generous. Plenty of time to plan exit. 

The last few announcements were made like this. Leaked to media, then became official a few days later. I guess they do this to soften the blow to anyone that may be opposed

3 hours ago, Advocatus Diaboli said:

At a calculated guess it looks like no extension...... Chiang Mai immigration is turning on their second office to deal with the overload from the 23rd July. So maybe the announcement will happen on the 22nd July. 
 

 

 

This doesn't necessarily suggest no further amnesty extension. It would suggest that a visit to immigration will be necessary to pickup any new amnesty type extension. 

You would have to think that they will announce something this week. Usually they leak rumours, then confirm a few days later. 

My guess is wednesday 15th

2 hours ago, akampa said:

Bought a 5 mask packet for 45 baht at local market, cheap as chips ????

I have noticed the price coming down a lot too. You can also buy masks in 7/11 and a number of other places too. In March they were not seen in any stores and you could only buy them online for 2 or 3 times current prices.

80 percent of the new human flu strains in the last 100 years have originated in China. A densely packed population living very closely to animals, usually in markets, is an ideal breeding ground for viruses to jump to humans. 

I personally think there will some amnesty or mechanism to stay through August & September. 

Having said that, I intend to have my bags packed and ready to go on a moments notice by July 15. 

3 hours ago, JackThompson said:

I would NOT advise trying to navigate immigration-corruption directly that way.  If no way to do things straight-up, agents will handle it, and you will have no knowledge of any money-passing.  You pay the agent a fee for his service, and have no idea what he does with immigration.

 

Reports indicate most of the money goes to immigration, anyway, so not much savings for such severe risk - which could be a sting operation making you the jailed-poster boy for a "we hate corruption" PR operation.  Talk about bitter irony.

Please don't take my post above literally.  I merely stated what the price is for such activities in passing and of course I am employing a law firm to register a couple of companies. 

I am in a similar situation, entered on a METV which has now obviously expired so here on the Covid/Amnesty automatic extension to July 31.

I am going through the process of registering a company and have been told I would have to leave and reenter to obtain the work permit.

Leaving the country is obviously sketchy right now as one may not get back in. Even if the borders open they could close again very quickly. 

I have heard rumours about the no leave option which would involved a paper bag with 40,000 inside it. 

80% of vaccines that progress to phase 3 human trials fail.

While that means that out of the 100 currently being developed the chances are that some will be successful is very good.

However the chances that the Thai vaccine will be one the successful ones is probably very low 

19 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

happy as a pig in sh#t

That is very very happy. 

On 6/23/2020 at 7:32 PM, AndyPa said:

I am not one to believe rumors easily but it's starting to get a bit tight to get everyone out within a month. But I don't know either how many people are left here. Hundreds? Thousands?

I believe there are tens of thousands still here. There was 200,000+ when the border closed, a lot have left but a lot are still here too.