OliveZM

On 10/7/2021 at 8:07 AM, ubonjoe said:

That depends upon the Department of Employment office you apply for the work permit at. The application for one should be accepted with proof that your non-o visa was issued for volunteer work since the non-o visa can be issued for retirement and family members of those on other extensions of stay.

Agents probably not fully aware of what is needed to apply for work permit. The rules only state you need a non immigrant visa to have one issued but they can be applied for with a tourist visa entry and issued after the applicant get a non immigrant visa.

You only need a work permit application approval letter to change to a extension based upon working.

It’s the one in Bangkok. They gave me the WP 25 and it looks straightforward. The Employment Office were quite clear I didn’t need to leave Thailand to apply. They double-checked between staff.

The visa agent also told me to cancel my current non-O and ask for a three-week extension even before my employer and I have gathered all the required documents  to attend the Employment Office in Din Daeng.

If I can successfully get a work permit application approval letter without cancelling my current visa extension, then isn’t it safer for me to not cancel it until before I actually go to immigration to change it to a non-B?

It seems like the rush to cancel my current non-O extension with a month remaining is just more *bad information from the agent again? Or are they actually right about this one for some technical reason?

Just saw this thread. Has anyone had any success?

Hello Joe.

I am on a non-O extension but it is for volunteering not marriage.

I have an offer of employment but the visa agent is adamant that I must have a non-B visa first, and must leave the country.

When I told her that I would like to change my reason for extension of stay, she didn’t seem to understand. She says I need a non-B visa for a work permit application.
 

My first question is 1. Do you know of any concrete examples of people who have successfully changed from a volunteering visa to a non-B in Thailand?

My second question is 2. Or do you have a link with the official information explicitly saying this is possible?

Thank you

It should be legitimate as of today, as the MOE just announced teachers can get a non-B in Thailand

Good news: The Ministey of Education just announced this afternoon new teachers can get Non-B in Thailand without leaving the country. 

Says ask at your local office for details. 

Any details from people going to IOs, especially CW would be great.

Would be very grateful if anyone can give personal experience or insight into my situation, especially with this pandemic and visa amnesty.

First of all, I am not asking to switch between Non-O visa to a Non-B visa inside Thailand. I know this is not usually possible.

Question: What I want to know is: Can I change from an extension of stay (based on an original Non-Immigrant O visa for volunteers) to an extension of stay for paid work (usually based on Non-Immigrant B visa).

1. If my prospective employer has all the documentation, is it just a straightforward process at IO to pay 2000 Baht?
2. Does it also depend on how long I have left on my extension of stay?
3. Does my change of extension to stay require me to get a Ministry of Labor work permit (for paid work) first - or just documents from my prospective employer?
4. Does it depend on the IO? My local one is CW in Bangkok.

5. Does the current pandemic / visa amnesty change any of the previous rules?

Many thanks for anyone with relevant experience or understanding

Does anyone know if the original sponsor of your initial 90-day non-B must be the same company that provides you all the documents for the Work Permit and subsequent 1-year non-B extension?

For example; company A helped me get an initial 90-day non-B stamp. But now that I am in Thailand with the stamp, I want to be employed by company B (company A is fine with that). I have yet to begin the work permit process.

Does it matter to either the labor department who does the work permit, or to Immgration who gives the 1-year extension that company A and B are different? Do they even check or know who sponsored my initial 90-day business visa stamp? - (since the details are not visible in your passport)