Non-o Extension & Wp In Unusual Situation.

[soundman]

Hoping for some opinions... On an unusual situation....

I am 36 years old, have been living in thai since 2001, married to Thailand, with children. I have a 12 month Non-O visa approved in 2003, & been approved for 3 x 1 yearly extensions, have to apply for the next extension in April this year.

My wife's comes from a very prominent family in the amphur where we live. The family own a road construction business, petrol stations, hardware stores, rental properties, chicken farms & more that I won't go into. My wife is listed as a director & shareholder on all these business's. She also owns a few properties listed in her name, not the families.

I really want to make myself legal in all aspects of living in Thailand. All the family business's are Limited Partnerships, not companies. Most of the business's seem to appear prohibited to allow foreigners to work in them (constuction, farming etc.) Does any-body have an opinion about how I might obtain a WP to work legally in the family business??

I am also concerned about my next visa extension. Although we have plenty of money, and the means to support ourselves, I am worried that the immigration officials will try to stick me with the rule of having 400K in the bank for a minimum time period. My wife & I have several peronal & business accounts in both our names with greatly fluctuating balances depending on business activities, but we rarely keep large deposits in one location. Does anybody think this is going to a problem on my next trip to BKK immigration?? Can my wife show the business bank statements to prove 40K month income?

Many thanks to anybody having some opinions on WP & visa extension.

Regards,

S.

[lopburi3]

If you are willing to end the grandfather clause (I suspect this would end the 400k option in the future) your wife can qualify with the last three months tax payment receipts showing an income of 40k per month or more.

As for work permits Sunbelt is the best qualified to advise but believe it should be possible to find you a job among the family.

[Maestro]

1. Your extension status is grandfathered and therefore 400K in the bank continues to an option for you. This amount must be in the bank for at least 3 months prior to application and until the application is approved.

2. The other option is 40K per month family income. This can be your income, your wife’s income, or a combination of both. However, it cannot be the business income of companies owned by your wife’s family. Using your wife’s income, it will have to be her personal income (salary, bonuses, etc.) paid to her and on which she pays her income tax.

2. A third option is for one of the companies owned by your wife’s family to employ you. You should be able to get a work permit as a consultant, if the type of work carried out by the companies is restricted to Thais.

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Maestro

[soundman]

1. Your extension status is grandfathered and therefore 400K in the bank continues to an option for you. This amount must be in the bank for at least 3 months prior to application and until the application is approved.

2. The other option is 40K per month family income. This can be your income, your wife's income, or a combination of both. However, it cannot be the business income of companies owned by your wife's family. Using your wife's income, it will have to be her personal income (salary, bonuses, etc.) paid to her and on which she pays her income tax.

2. A third option is for one of the companies owned by your wife's family to employ you. You should be able to get a work permit as a consultant, if the type of work carried out by the companies is restricted to Thais.

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Maestro

Many thanks for the reply..

With regards to the work permit, all the family business's are "limited partnerships" not "company limited". This is where I am confused as to whether a "limited partnership" can or cannot have foreign employees. Also I am under the impression that a "consultant" doesn't quite cut it with the labor department. I was under the impression that the WP had to be very specific with regards to the intended job & if this was a resricted industry there is no chance whats so ever as to obtaining a WP.

Thanks for the info on 400K & 40K. Being "limited partnership" the family members rarely pay themselves salaries. They just collect the yearly, monthly or daily profits straight from the till / bank acc. (& pay tax VAT monthly, business tax Yearly??)

Any idea how much lee-way the immigration official has when processing an application or are they appearing to follow the rules & count the days for example of exactly how long 400K has been in your Bank acc.

Many thanks for your reply.

S.

[lopburi3]

There is no leeway for new applications but you would probably not even be expected to know about the 3 month rule so it may well not be required - it has not been up to now for renewals from reports I have seen.

[soundman]

There is no leeway for new applications but you would probably not even be expected to know about the 3 month rule so it may well not be required - it has not been up to now for renewals from reports I have seen.

Thanks for the reply.

I hope this is the case - because there is less than 3 months from todays date till I have to submit my application for extension. The previous three times I have applied for extension - all that was required was a letter from the bank stating I had 400K (200K initially) in the account when the letter was written. The immigration official never asked for a statement or didnt even look in my passbook. They just accepted the bank MGR's letter and that was it.

From my experience so far, the only grilling I received was when I made the original application for a Non-O visa, & everything since then has appeared to be just rubber stamping the application extensions. With all the changes last October, this is the first time since originally obtaining the Non-O visa that I am worried that immigration might revoke the visa & make me go through the whole process again. As someone who is planning to apply for residency in the next year or two I want to get fully legit. I really don't want to go a step back & start from the beginning. Any information on long term Non-O visas being cancelled?? Is there an appeals process?

Cheers,

S.