heretostay

Here's my strategy:  I do an online application for the re-entry permit in advance, booking a time slot quite late in the day.  Then after getting the extension done and making the photocopy of the extension stamp, I go to the internet-booked re-entry permit desk and they never seem to mind if I'm way ahead of my booked time.  They guarantee five-minute turn-around time, and my experience is that it is never more than 10- minutes.

Good luck!

No idea on the 1-year ME Non-B.  When I did it, the Non-B was only issued for three months, during which time I got a WP and extension of stay for a full year.

To be sure about it, have your employer call Immigration or, surest way, go there and ask.  They may be able to give you some sort of document with the rules.  I have had luck doing it that way in the past.  Time-consuming but, in the end, more efficient.

Hi, coming in late here and maybe beating a dead dog.  I will admit not having read the whole thread.

One fact, and my two cents:

FACT:  The mother always has the final say in all matters concerning children in this country, whether the father is Thai or foreign, whether married, divorced, or otherwise.

ADVICE:  Get a court order from the Family Court formalizing your agreement with the child's mother concerning your rights and responsibilities.  If the court has formally awarded you "joint custody," then immigration shouldn't be questioning your situation.

Sorry to be late with this.  And thanks for taking care of your kid.  Kids deserve all of our time, effort, and attention.

This is how it went for me:

1. Get a letter from the new employer stating your start date.

2. Get a letter from the current employer that you are leaving, saying that you no longer work there as of a given date.

3. On the date mentioned in (2) - your last day of work - go to immigration and ask for a 7-day extension of permission to stay based on the letter from your new employer.

4. Once you have the 7-day extension, go to the Labor Ministry and request a new work permit based on the new employer's paperwork.  They should give you a limited duration work permit (maybe three months).

5. Back to immigration with the work permit, so they will extend your permission to stay for the same period as the work permit.

6. Back to Labor Ministry to extend the work permit for the full length of the new contract.

7. Back to immigration to extend the permission to stay for the full length of the new contract.

I strongly suggest that someone from your new employer accompanies you through all of this.  I did it (and changed provinces, too), and got over all the hurdles.  But it took great perseverance on the part of the admin person from my new employer (a school).

Good luck to you!

Word to the wise: avoid "dodgy" employers.  Generally, they will win and you will lose.  IMHO.

1 hour ago, Tanoshi said:

I used to try online reporting 15 days before, and if it wasn't working I'd do the mail application that same day.

 

I asked, because an expat colleague who also had 2 warnings for late mail applications (used the failed online procedure as an excuse) was asked to attend in person the third occasion. They informed him in the future he would have to report in person, (4 hour round trip by car), which he had to do for 18 months until a local office opened.

 

Don't push it to the point they feel your being disrespectful or defiant as they always have the answer.

Thanks for the advice!  Will do!

40 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

If they ask you to send in at least15 days before, why do you regularly send it one week before?

Is it just a show of defiance?

Not at all!  

I try to use the internet fifteen days ahead and if I have not success, I send it by post a week before, since they seem to be OK with that and it works for me.  Naturally, the internet means less work for me, so I prefer it.

I'm usually a "good boy" about stuff like this - don't want to make trouble!  Life seems more pleasant this way (to me, anyway).

I regularly mail in my 90 check from a BKK post office to CW a week before the due date (after trying the internet for several days beforehand but without success), and have never had a problem getting it approved.  When it comes back, it does have a red stamp saying something to the effect of "Please send in at least 15 days in advance next time," and, yes, the word "please" is there!

6 hours ago, Label89 said:

heretostay, for example, if the last working day is 1st August, so can I get visa extension on 25 July until 7 August? Or I have to go to Immigration for visa extension on 1st August?

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that you cannot do any of it in advance, which is part of the challenge.  But why not give it a try?  In the worst case, on 25 July they will deny you the 7-day extension and have you come back on 1 August.  Let us know how you fare!

Yes, your visa runs out as soon as your WP runs out, which happens on your last day of work at the current company.

On that day, you need to go to immigration and get a seven-day extension and make sure your new employer is ready to run the race that will follow.

Soooo....

Please go to your the new employer and ensure that they know how to get a new WP for you.  If they failed the first time with WP3, they should try again with WP1, as someone mentioned earlier.  If they do not show their willingness to go through these hoops, then I think you need to forget this new job.  The new employer is the key to getting through the immigration/labor process.  

1. Last day of employment (letter of termination of employment), go to immigration for 7-day extension

2. Labor ministry for WP extension, which will probably be issued with three-month validity; must be issued within the 7 days of the visa extension 

3. Immigration to get visa extension to end of validity of WP

4. Labor ministry to get new WP extension, for full year

5. Immigration to extend permit to stay for full validity of WP

This was my experience.

Good luck.

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

was the old employer involved ? if someone resigns, there may be hard feelings from the old employer and they may refuse to cooperate in any way (especially if the new employer is a competitor); 

No, the old employer simply provides the confirmation letter that employment has ended.  They may or may not return the WP to the Labor Ministry.

Most of the work is on the new employer, with multiple visits to Immigration and Labor.

My two cents:  I have done it (changed companies)!  And switched provinces in the process. I did not leave the country.

It's complicated.  There are many steps.  And fees.  But it IS doable - without an agent.  The main support must be provided by the new employer.

Good luck to you and hope it works out!

At CW last year, they forced me to make a transaction (e.g., withdraw 100 baht) on the account where I have the 800K on the day that I was applying for the extension based on retirement.  (A transaction made the day before, apparently, did not count.)   On the other hand, the "statement of account" letter from the bank was dated the day before, and that was accepted.  This year, they accepted the bank letter dated the day before, but I made a transaction at the bank branch at CW on the day of my application, just before getting my queue number, just to be sure.  It worked (again).

Apologies to all for my poor translation of เจ้าบ้าน  You're all right: it should be house-master or head-of-household or something like that.  The Yellow Book is not proof of ownership.

I guess I got off easy, listening to your stories!  Sometimes you just get lucky!

Just for the record, when I did the same process, I changed provinces, too, so it IS possible WITHOUT traveling outside the country, I believe.

Hi.  Someone else will do a better job at explaining this.

But I just wanted to let you know that the process is doable, but long and arduous!  I went through it and survived!

It goes like this:

You have to give up the first WP, then ask for a seven-day extension of your visa at immigration (bring letters from both schools with you).

During those seven days, the new school needs to procure a new WP which may only be valid for a few months, which was my case.

Then you take the WP back to immigration to get a new extension of the visa (or they may only give you the same period as the WP).

Then back to the labor office to get the WP extended for the full year.

If needed, back to immigration to get the full year extension.

There are fees all along the way.

Good luck to you!

Not sure anyone mentioned the FIRST step in this process - the passenger needs to ask the check-in desk at his departure airport to check his luggage through to his final destination.  Once that's done, yes, he goes through the transit hall at DMK and proceeds to the transit desk or to his ongoing flight's departure gate.  Be sure that the luggage tag on the bag has the final airport in big letters at the bottom!

Bon voyage.

IMHO, the online 90-day report option solves all of our problems. I know, I know, it rarely works the first (or second time), but it does work (use Explorer, ignore the warning about a certificate). I'd rather sit at home in front of the computer and try that three or four times than take the time to go to an immigration office (or to the post office with photocopies and a self-addresses stamped envelope) than take a chance of meeting up with an immigration officer who got up on the wrong side of the bed that day. Make your life simple. Accept that things may not be as streamlined as you'd like or expect. Stay calm.

Glad to provide feedback.

There seemed to be five or six front-line officers working. I didn't do a formal count. We all seemed to get funneled to a single second-line officer for a second check. Some of the 26 before me left before I did, but some were still there when I left, as well as people who had higher queue numbers than mine. (As mentioned, a stack of about 20 passports came out at the same time, among them mine.)

Only one surprise today in the annual request for an extension of stay based on retirement: they insisted that there be a transaction on the bankbook dated today (the day of application for the extension), saying that the one I'd done yesterday (when I got the account statement from the bank to present to immigration) was not acceptable - there had to be a transaction today. Maybe this is an old requirement, but it was new to me.

I also had to sign a statement saying I was aware of the new overstay rules and another statement saying that my extension would be cancelled under certain conditions (no surprises).

I had arrived at 8:30 a.m. just as the doors opened, had queue number 27 at 8:45, was called in at 9:30, went to the second officer before 10:00 where I was told to add a transaction to my bank account and bring back the bankbook and a photocopy, which I accomplished in ten minutes. Then I had to wait an addition hour and a half until I was given my passport back. They were not handing passports back continually; a whole stack (maybe 20) arrived all at once. Looks like the processing is not continuous after all.

I had booked a re-entry appointment for 2:00 p.m., but high-tailed it to the re-entry counter at 11:40, hoping to make the noon break deadline - and was successful. The officer noticed that my appointment was in the afternoon, but simply smiled and processed me anyway. Out at 11:50.

Hope that someone finds this info of interest.

Make an appointment online with CW for the re-entry permit and avoid the queue altogether. In and out in five minutes! It works. I've done it.

I did my retirement extension at CW a couple of months ago and no proof of residency was required.

Fished out the document I got from Immigration two years ago entitled, "Requirements and documentations (sic) when applying for extension of temporary stay in case of retirement"

The "documentations" section lists the following:

1) application form TM7 with a photo of the applicant

2) Passport

3) evidence of financial support (they then describe the 800K option and the 65K option and the combination option); you'll need the updated bank book and the letter from the bank.

4) application fee is 1,900 baht

As I mentioned earlier, you will also need a letter from your employer saying you have left their employ. If at all possible, have everything dated on the day of your application - this is my personal advice; nothing official about it.

As for the bank letter, I always prefer to have things ready in advance, before going to CW. Whatever can go wrong does go wrong. The day I did my extension this year happened to be the annual "half-year holiday" for civil servants and banks, so my bank was closed in CW and I had to taxi to Central CW and back to get the letter. Not fun. I should have done it in advance. Just saying.

As for the work permit, I would suggest giving it back to your employer and letting them bring it back to the Labor Ministry. (Mine did it this way; in fact, mine never let me hold the permit myself!) If they refuse, then you may want to do it after your "retirement extension" has been completed.

Good luck.

I've done this without much of a hassle. There is no need to leave Thailand for this transaction. At CW, I got a list of documents to provide.
Be sure that you have a confirmation letter from your employer that you've left their employ as of the day that you apply for the switch from B to O. Such a letter was not in the list of documents that Immigration had provided me. Plus deposit 100 baht into your bank account the day before your application (and update and photocopy the bank-book) and have the bank issue a letter confirming your bank balance. Check the letter carefully to be sure your account number and balance are correct.

Good luck!

Thanks for that link...not sure what the status is but assume the guy hasn't gone through the process (and the child is still quite young).

Thanks again for the help.