Requirement For B Non Immigrant Visa?

[Andyman11]

Hi

I am new to this forum, and would like to ask two questions.

1. I have my own business in Los Angeles (corporation) and educate i the health field, i.e massage, sports medicine, fitness, etc.

I want to aquire a B type non immigrant visa to later in Thailand receive a work permit (have contacts), and I wonder if it is possible for me to aquire this needed B type visa before I have certain employment in Thailand? I will work in Thailand teaching my own classes to different establishments.

2. Can anyone recommend a good visa lawyer in the Los Angeles area?

Sincerely

Anders

[LivinLOS]

While I cannot say every consul will issue a non imm B I would say you have a ver4y good case for one and that friendly consuls (houston Denver) would probably issue you one.. Call them and discuss and mail to them. I think I have read LA is not an easy going consul.

Secondly I have to point out the style of work you intend to do (sole proprietor) is not easy to just arrive and get a WP.. You will need to form a company with all the associated headaches, registrations, hassles and up front costs to then employ yourself. Thailand doesnt have the structure to handle WP's to people running as sole traders easily.

I doubt you will need an LA visa lawyer (call the consuls above).. You will need a lawyer in Thailand to set up your Thai company and help with the WP.. Sunbelt is spoken very highly of..

[davidsetagaya]

Hi Anders,

hope this info can help you out.

I'm not sure if you're American, but I am, and I started a sole proprietorship here in Thailand registered under the Treaty of Amity (spelling?) that the U.S. has with Thailand. I'd say that was pretty much a big mistake. After an endless amount of struggle, I was able to get a Work Permit, but it required some of my Thai friends to sweet talk some of the people at the Department of Labour Foreign Employment Office and explain to them my situation. They had never heard of someone registering under the treaty as a sole proprietor before. (most people use it to register a corporation, which I'd recommend now after my experience)

Basically, here's what you can do if you'd like.....

get to Thailand on any visa....doesn't matter.....

go to the u.s. consulate, then the embassy commerce office (diethelm tower), they'll give you all the info you need about the treaty of Amity.

follow their step by step plan to set up your company (if going the corporate route, get a lawyer, but don't worry, they're cheap to do this kind of stuff)

you have to go to the ministry of commerce in nonthaburi a bunch of times, which is a hassle, but they're really nice there and speak decent English. Still you have to write a bunch of stuff in Thai, so get a friend to help you or hire a lawyer who'll take care of it for you.

The cost for registering the sole proprietorship is 20,000 baht, which I found out after I did everything already. It totally defeated the purpose of me setting that up, because pretty much day 1 of business school you always learn that sole proprietorships are cheap to set up....hel_l, in the u.s. I can set one up for about $60 (cost of a D.B.A.).

Anyways, I don't know how much it is to register a Thai corporation at the office, but could be the same. The only difference will be, in order to sponsor your own work permit and visa, you'll have to bring in capital into the country (3 million baht if my memory serves me right?).

Anyways, if you're serious about setting up a company and doing business in Thailand, I'd say do it this way (if American, under the Treaty of Amity, 100% ownership of a Thai company....best option I believe)

If you're not american, I believe you have to look at the Alien Business Act and see what your options are there.

The reason why I'm not recommending my route, is because my sole proprietorship can only give me a B visa, not the coveted O, which means I have to leave the country every 3 months. This isn't so bad, except the Ministry of Labor will only extend my work permit up until the date my visa stamp is for, so I have to renew that every 3 months as well...which is a big ole biyatch. so if I could do it all again, I'd either say screw it, and just work completely underground, use a work permit service, where you pay a company a couple hundred bucks a month to give you a work permit, or set up a legit Thai corporation 100% owned by me under the certificate of Amity, bring in my savings account, get my visa and work permit, then send my savings back to my brokerage account in the U.S....

anyways, just my 2 cents.......

cheers,

D

[davidsetagaya]

also, about the B visa, it's really for visiting business people, so you'd need a letter from a thai company and its registration documents to get it.

I wrote these for myself after I set up my company here, then went to Hong Kong and got my 1 year multiple B visa, no problem. They were very nice there.

It sounds retarded to have to write a letter to yourself, but this is Thai bureaucracy at its finest we're talking about here.

If you don't have anyone here yet, and you want to get a B visa before you come, use a service that gives you a letter....there are many companies out there that do this.....

[lopburi3]

A "B" and "O" visa are the same non immigrant 90 day stay type of visa - one is issued for business/work and the other for "other" reasons. They can both be extended on a yearly basis if you meet the requirements.

[LivinLOS]

Anyways, I don't know how much it is to register a Thai corporation at the office, but could be the same. The only difference will be, in order to sponsor your own work permit and visa, you'll have to bring in capital into the country (3 million baht if my memory serves me right?).

Anyways, if you're serious about setting up a company and doing business in Thailand, I'd say do it this way (if American, under the Treaty of Amity, 100% ownership of a Thai company....best option I believe)

I kinda presumed the full company and the 2 million paid up capital etc may have been more than the OP wanted..

If you're not american, I believe you have to look at the Alien Business Act and see what your options are there.

The reason why I'm not recommending my route, is because my sole proprietorship can only give me a B visa, not the coveted O, which means I have to leave the country every 3 months. This isn't so bad, except the Ministry of Labor will only extend my work permit up until the date my visa stamp is for, so I have to renew that every 3 months as well...which is a big ole biyatch. so if I could do it all again, I'd either say screw it, and just work completely underground, use a work permit service, where you pay a company a couple hundred bucks a month to give you a work permit, or set up a legit Thai corporation 100% owned by me under the certificate of Amity, bring in my savings account, get my visa and work permit, then send my savings back to my brokerage account in the U.S....

What difference does a B visa or 'the coveted' non imm O make ?? They both are equal in this way..

[calibanjr.]

Anders,

Put simply, I can assure you that if you're American, Sunbelt in Bangkok will be able to get you a B visa (legally even) for a year. There are probably marginally cheaper workarounds, but for simplicity and legality, they got me a legal B visa before I set up my Amity company and handled that as well. I get nothing from Greg or whoever else at Sunbelt, not even a free Subway sandwich, since I live in CM now, just telling you what I consider the easy way (organizationally) out.

[Andyman11]

Thank you for all the info.

I am an American citizen, and Swedish too...

I think as a Farlang, you have to set up a company with a minimum of 2 000 000 baht, meaning you have to transfer in 25% of that (500 000) to set the company up.

I can do all this, but wonder if I can have access to that money once the company has been set up? I am planning to marry my fiancee in Thailand and as you know there are many costs moving to a new country...

Sincerely

Anders

Edited April 16, 2007 by Andyman11

[Andyman11]

Well, I called the Thai Denver Consulate and they referred me back to the Los Angeles Consulate...

Is there anything special I should say (to avoid being told to contact the L.A office instead) presenting my case to the consulate in Dallas?

[davidsetagaya]

as for the visa conversation above,

if you have a B visa, you have to leave the country every 3 months, while with an O, (or at least one type of O), you only have to report to the immigration office inside the country every 3 months. this is why I called this the 'coveted' one, because it's better in this regard,and also more difficult to get.

And for the 500,000 baht brought into the country, yes, you can use that for whatever you'd like once it's in the country. you might have to wait a set amount of time, so I'd check that out first.

Well, I called the Thai Denver Consulate and they referred me back to the Los Angeles Consulate...

Is there anything special I should say (to avoid being told to contact the L.A office instead) presenting my case to the consulate in Dallas?

[Crouton]

I'll second the advice to do anything you need through the Denver consulate ( if you can ). The two woment who work there are extremely nice and friendly and do not seem very busy at all so , just my opinion, they aren't jaded by people trying to pull fast ones on them. I'm not sure if this is the same in other US consulates for Thailand but the head of the office isn't even Thai!. It appears to be a real estate business that does Thai visa's on the side. If you are in the area they work by appointment and couldn't be more helpful.

I'm surprised they refered you to LA as they originally thought I wanted a "B" and asked me to bring a letter from copany when I came. Im almost certain they would have given me whatever I asked for when I got there even without supporting documents as they really just wanted to please me ( and get me out of there as they take appointments up until noon and close at 12:30 and after chatting for a while first it was almost 12:30 ). If you happen to go there its immediately next to the Pepsi Center where the Colorado Avalanche play ( in their real estate company office lol ).

[lopburi3]

as for the visa conversation above,

if you have a B visa, you have to leave the country every 3 months, while with an O, (or at least one type of O), you only have to report to the immigration office inside the country every 3 months. this is why I called this the 'coveted' one, because it's better in this regard,and also more difficult to get.

And for the 500,000 baht brought into the country, yes, you can use that for whatever you'd like once it's in the country. you might have to wait a set amount of time, so I'd check that out first.

Well, I called the Thai Denver Consulate and they referred me back to the Los Angeles Consulate...

Is there anything special I should say (to avoid being told to contact the L.A office instead) presenting my case to the consulate in Dallas?

A visa allows a 90 day stay be it B or O. But people with a Thai spouse can use the extension of stay for family provision for one year at a time if they have the income and that allows stay with only 90 day address reports required. The same type of thing can be done with a B visa but the documentation is quite high and if job is lost you have to leave the country - with the O you can stay as you are not here on the basis of your job (although if you have no income at next years application time you may be in trouble meeting requirements for a new extension of stay).

[LivinLOS]

as for the visa conversation above,

if you have a B visa, you have to leave the country every 3 months, while with an O, (or at least one type of O), you only have to report to the immigration office inside the country every 3 months. this is why I called this the 'coveted' one, because it's better in this regard,and also more difficult to get.

And for the 500,000 baht brought into the country, yes, you can use that for whatever you'd like once it's in the country. you might have to wait a set amount of time, so I'd check that out first.

Well, I called the Thai Denver Consulate and they referred me back to the Los Angeles Consulate...

Is there anything special I should say (to avoid being told to contact the L.A office instead) presenting my case to the consulate in Dallas?

Sorry but your impression is not correct.. either a non imm B or a non imm O issued outside of Thailand is the same in giving you 90 day stays per entry..

To get either of these extended in country for 1 year you need to comply to the requirements of the extension, these can be retirement, marriage, working, support of a child, etc etc etc

The non imm O is no better and hence no more 'coveted' than a non imm B if you dont qualify under the grounds for an extension (which it sounds you dont) a non imm O issued outside Thailand certainly does not give you a 12 month stay (a non imm O-A retirement can)..

EDIT :: Lop beat me again

Edited April 23, 2007 by LivinLOS

[davidsetagaya]

ok, sorry about that.....thanks for the clarification