Once hired, when do you get B visa?

[ThLT]

I'm getting ready to find work (when it'll be possible to exit and enter Thailand with less strict requirements). I'm calculating my visa options at the moment, and wondering how long it'll take to change to a B visa. 

 

- When you're hired—say by a company, or a school to work as a teacher—1-3 months in advance of starting the job... can you exit the country and only switch to the B visa weeks before you start working at the school/company?

- How early can you change to the B visa, before starting to work?

[BritTim]

Once you have an offer of employment from a suitable, employee, they must usually provide documentation to the Labour Department to get a WP3 which is a preauthorisation for the employer to engage you. Armed with this and a few other documents, you usually apply for a Non B visa at an embassy outside Thailand, though applying for the visa through immigration is usually possible, albeit with stricter requirements. Assuming you apply for the visa outside Thailand, you have 90 days from the date the visa is issued to enter Thailand, and you receive an initial 90-day permission to stay when you enter. You should apply for your work permit (usually the employer handles this) before you actually start work, and this final authorisation is usually quick.

[Jeffro008]

yes and can be done within Thailand but the company needs to provide their full busineness history and sometimes 100 documents and you and local CEO onwer photo together at the main office and your desk location together with owner and more locations like coffee or meeting room locations together.

Why i say this is because I work on site and most IO and Labor Department believe westerners only work in an office 

[Jeffro008]

the company is fully responcible to apply for the Non-B visa

[ThLT]

(BTW, not trying to get a B visa for the sake of a visa—was planning to start working as a teacher before COVID-19 happened.)

 

@BritTim
So once you get the documents, leave the country, and re-enter Thailand with a B visa, it's fine—even if you are officially starting to work in 1-2 months?

Will this affect the validity of the visa for the 1-year length school year?

 

(International schools hire 8 months in advance, for example. I'm guessing they only provide the documents 1-2 months in advance, and you need to make sure you have a valid visa for the 7-8 months during waiting to start working?)

 

 

[VyacheslavKHV]

Now it can be done inside Thailand. At least in Bangkok. 

[BritTim]

4 hours ago, ThLT said:

So once you get the documents, leave the country, and re-enter Thailand with a B visa, it's fine—even if you are officially starting to work in 1-2 months?

You will want to ensure you get the work permit and start work within 90 days of entering with the visa. Regardless, when you apply for the visa, and when you enter Thailand, do not determine when your employment (and permission to stay based on working) will end. Having received the work permit, and towards the end of your 90-day initial stay, you apply for a one year extension of your permission to stay. At the end of this 12 month extension, you can then apply for a further extension as long as you still qualify.

[ThLT]

9 hours ago, BritTim said:

[...]

Ah, okay. That makes sense. Thanks.

[ThLT]

12 hours ago, VyacheslavKHV said:

Now it can be done inside Thailand. At least in Bangkok. 

Is this recent? Is this possible for all visa categories, including tourist, as well as ED visa?
 

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, ThLT said:

Is this recent? Is this possible for all visa categories, including tourist, as well as ED visa?

You cannot apply inside Thailand for all visa types under all circumstances. As a general rule, you can only apply for Non Immigrant visas under specific circumstances after entering Thailand on a tourist visa (or visa exempt). The circumstances under which it is possible have expanded over time. It does seem a little easier to convert to a Non B visa (from a tourist entry) now than in the past as they try to facilitate matters in view of Covid.

[ubonjoe]

7 hours ago, ThLT said:

Is this recent? Is this possible for all visa categories, including tourist, as well as ED visa?

It can only be done if you have a visa exempt or tourist visa entry. 

There are about 14 reasons to apply for a non immigrant visa shown here on the immigration website.

https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=2537