Is there a way to switch my work permit to a new company without leaving LOS?

[Jaws1973]

I am currently on a WP with a family company and am about to take a position with a multinational organization who wants to employ me in the Kingdom through a PEO (Professional Employment Organization) who has a branch in Thailand.  Since my outgoing company is certainly friendly in terms of when to cancel my Work Permit etc. is there a way I could switch my WP and my Wife's dependent Visa without either of us having to leave the country and go through ASQ etc?

[ubonjoe]

You would not need to leave the country to change your extension of stay issued by immigration from one company to another.

Your new employer will need to apply for the work permit and the get application approval letter.

You need a termination letter stating the date you will no longer employed by them to cancel your current extension of stay. Then on that day you would apply for a new extension of stay with supporting documents from your new employer and the work permit application approval letter.

Then at the same time your wifes current extension for being a member of your could be canceled and a new one issued based upon your new extension of stay.

Then after you have your new extension your current work permit could be cancelled and the new one issued.

[Jaws1973]

Many thanks for your swift reply Urban Joe! 

 

Since you are the resident "Guru" in these respects, I tend to trust your advice 100%.

 All the best...

[StillHereToStay]

I did this some years ago, and successfully changed employers AND provinces without leaving the country.

The trick is timing!  On the day you "leave" the first employer, you need to go to immigration (in the new province, if you are changing provinces) and they will give you a seven-day extension of stay based on a letter from your new employer.  Then you go to the Labor Ministry where your new employer has get you a new Work Permit.  With the receipt from the Labor Ministry, you go back to Immigration, and they will extend your stay for three months.  Then back to the Labor Ministry for the full-year work permit and, yes, back to Immigration for the full-year extension.

 

Anyway, that's how it worked for me.  And it did work.  The key is to have a friendly, flexible person from the new company who is available to accompany you to the two offices (Immigration and Labor).

 

Good luck to you.

[ubonjoe]

2 hours ago, StillHereToStay said:

The trick is timing!  On the day you "leave" the first employer, you need to go to immigration (in the new province, if you are changing provinces) and they will give you a seven-day extension of stay based on a letter from your new employer. 

There is no seven day extension now unless using the one stay center for BOI companies and etc.

The 7 days now are only to leave the country.

[BritTim]

Note what @ubonjoe has written.

 

Very luckily, you should be able to get a 60-day Covid extension to run from the day your current permission to stay based on working ends. This allows plenty of time to sort out the new work permit application and a fresh extension of stay based on working.

 

Without the Covid extension, what you want to do would require perfect timing, with several steps to be accomplished on the same day.

[problemfarang]

i suggest you to go and talk with the both labor office and immigration. Because i have 2 friends moved to our company from another and they didnt leave the country.

But they did all the paper work in the same day.

But yes, its possible to change your working place and work permit without leaving the country. 

[ubonjoe]

33 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Without the Covid extension, what you want to do would require perfect timing, with several steps to be accomplished on the same day.

Others have been able to do it without getting an extension. If moving from a one province to another it can be more difficult.

What some people have done is get the termination letter early and go to immigration before the termination date and immigration would post date the cancelation to that day.