Working whilst on Retirement Visa

[hhtown]

Can any one advise,

I am currently on a Retirment Visa, (will be getting married soon ) I have a strong possibility of employmnet in Bangkok in the very near future.

What are my options to legaly meet the requirements for employment here in Thailand .

TIA

[ubonjoe]

You need a work permit to work legally and you would not be able to get one issued while on non-o visa or extension of stay based upon retirement.

You would have to change the reason for your extension of stay from retirement to one for working or if you get married to one based upon marriage to a Thai.

[hhtown]

Thanks Ubon Joe for your reply.  I understand i would need a Non Imm B Visa ?  would you have any idea how long it takes to aquire a non Imm B visa ?. Thanks 

 

[puchooay]

7 minutes ago, hhtown said:

Thanks Ubon Joe for your reply.  I understand i would need a Non Imm B Visa ?  would you have any idea how long it takes to aquire a non Imm B visa ?. Thanks 

 

No, you don't need a B visa. You can use the O that you already have but change the reason for staying in Thailand. The important bit is that you are already at Non Immigrant status.

 

You need to get the documents for the new reason for staying ready. Take them to immigration and get extended for the reason chosen.

[problemfarang]

I dont know if you can change your retirement to marriage non-o in thailand. I think no. Im also not sure if you can change your retirement extension reason to working reason. Sounds like cannot. Because you get this visa because you are retired. And with that visa you cannot work

 

To work like ubon said you need non-b or non-o marriage. Both will do. 

 

For non-b you must be hired already. For non-o marriage well you are already married. I would go with non-o marriage. Many reasons. The best reason is if yoy lose your work you dont need to leave the country and get a new visa. If you lose your job with non-b you need to go out and get a new visa. Also you are still not hired. 

 

If you are planning to do in the very near future, cambodia is the best option to get your visa. For both marriage and work  it will take probably 1 week time in cambodia. If you apply on monday you will get on friday afternoon. My friend is doing it right now. 

 

Probably you already know the rules how to come back to thailand.

 

If its not urgent, i would wait for june. It seems there will be no more 1 day hotel and the test anymore. Just ATK when you arrived to thailand.

 

Good luck

Edited April 3, 2022 by problemfarang

[Peterw42]

4 minutes ago, problemfarang said:

I dont know if you can change your retirement to marriage non-o in thailand. I think no. Im also not sure if you can change your retirement extension reason to working reason. Sounds like cannot. Because you get this visa because you are retired. And with that visa you cannot work

 

To work like ubon said you need non-b or non-o marriage. Both will do. 

 

For non-b you must be hired already. For non-o marriage well you are already married. I would go with non-o marriage. Many reasons. The best reason is if yoy lose your work you dont need to leave the country and get a new visa. If you lose your job with non-b you need to go out and get a new visa. Also you are still not hired. 

 

If you are planning to do in the very near future, cambodia is the best option to get your visa. For both marriage and work  it will take probably 1 week time in cambodia. If you apply on monday you will get on friday afternoon. My friend is doing it right now. 

 

Probably you already know the rules how to come back to thailand.

 

If its not urgent, i would wait for june. It seems there will be no more 1 day hotel and the test anymore. Just ATK when you arrived to thailand.

 

Good luck

You can change from retire extension to marriage extension, inside Thailand no problem. I did 4 years on retire then switched to marriage 

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, problemfarang said:

I dont know if you can change your retirement to marriage non-o in thailand. I think no. Im also not sure if you can change your retirement extension reason to working reason.

You are wrong. The visa cannot be changed while in the country. But the reason for a extension of stay can be changed.

A extension of stay only requires a non immigrant visa entry to apply for it.

[youreavinalaff]

16 minutes ago, problemfarang said:

I dont know

I think you should have stopped there.

[problemfarang]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You are wrong. The visa cannot be changed while in the country. But the reason for a extension of stay can be changed.

A extension of stay only requires a non immigrant visa entry to apply for it.

So.. if someone has non-o retirement.. this person can extend in 2 ways: Normal retirement extension OR showing working reason? I thought people cannot work with retirement visa.. if so then OP can do that way, then no problem at all.

 

Because he has non-o retirement visa. 

 

Thanks ubon

Edited April 3, 2022 by problemfarang

[problemfarang]

1 hour ago, youreavinalaff said:

I think you should have stopped there.

Actually you are wrong. Because i also mentioned other things... thnx

[DrJack54]

5 hours ago, problemfarang said:

Because he has non-o retirement visa

You will take this as being critical.

Not the intention.

There is no such thing as a retirement visa or marriage visa.

There is a non immigrant O visa.

The visa itself is not extended.

The visa grants a 90 day permission of stay.

That POS can be extended.

The extension needs to be based on something.

Usual suspects are Retirement and Marriage.

You can change the basis of your extension.

Some guys change from based on marriage to based on retirement or visa versa. 

[Harveyg]

9 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

You will take this as being critical.

Not the intention.

There is no such thing as a retirement visa or marriage visa.

There is a non immigrant O visa.

The visa itself is not extended.

The visa grants a 90 day permission of stay.

That POS can be extended.

The extension needs to be based on something.

Usual suspects are Retirement and Marriage.

You can change the basis of your extension.

Some guys change from based on marriage to based on retirement or visa versa. 

I'm planning on a non-o based on retirement at some point in near future.  I may have some opportunity for work.  If I get a non-o, then get work, is there a category that keeps me in the non-o or must i change to non-b?

Thanks

 

[problemfarang]

13 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

You will take this as being critical.

Not the intention.

There is no such thing as a retirement visa or marriage visa.

There is a non immigrant O visa.

The visa itself is not extended.

The visa grants a 90 day permission of stay.

That POS can be extended.

The extension needs to be based on something.

Usual suspects are Retirement and Marriage.

You can change the basis of your extension.

Some guys change from based on marriage to based on retirement or visa versa. 

Thanks for the info

[youreavinalaff]

5 hours ago, Harveyg said:

I'm planning on a non-o based on retirement at some point in near future.  I may have some opportunity for work.  If I get a non-o, then get work, is there a category that keeps me in the non-o or must i change to non-b?

Thanks

 

People need to stop thinking about differences between O and B. They are both Non Immigrant visas.

 

Changes of permission to stay can all be done at immigration. Marriage to retirement, retirement to work, work to marriage and all vice versa. All done at immigration. No need to obtain a new visa.

Edited April 4, 2022 by youreavinalaff

[Tuvoc]

6 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

Changes of permission to stay can all be done at immigration. Marriage to retirement, retirement to work, work to marriage and all vice versa. All done at immigration. No need to obtain a new visa.

Is that any time during your current extension of stay period, or only near the end of it ?

Edited April 4, 2022 by Tuvoc

[Sheryl]

3 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

People need to stop thinking about differences between O and B. They are both Non Immigrant visas.

 

Changes of permission to stay can all be done at immigration. Marriage to retirement, retirement to work, work to marriage and all vice versa. All done at immigration. No need to obtain a new visa.

 

There is not, however, a permission to stay for an O visa based on work.

 

POS based on marriage ---> you can get a work permit (though some Provincial Labor offices seem not to understand this). POS based on  retirement, cannot work.

[ubonjoe]

16 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

There is not, however, a permission to stay for an O visa based on work.

It is possible to change the reason for a extension of stay from retirement to working.

But the problem can be getting a work permit application approval letter while on a extension based upon retirement that would be needed for the extension based upon working application.

[youreavinalaff]

18 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

There is not, however, a permission to stay for an O visa based on work.

 

POS based on marriage ---> you can get a work permit (though some Provincial Labor offices seem not to understand this). POS based on  retirement, cannot work.

If you entered the Kingdom with a Non Immigrant O visa, you can extend or obtain permission to stay by way of work, with the correct documentation. I know you can as I have done it.

 

 

[youreavinalaff]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

But the problem can be getting a work permit application approval letter while on a extension based upon retirement that would be needed for the extension based upon working

Yes. Good point. Particularly since they changed to process to work permit BEFORE extension. 

 

The situations I have seen have been successful. Most labour offices will be understanding of this technicality.

[EvetsKram]

I have changed quite a few times between marriage extension and retirement, it's very easy to do

[Terry B]

On 4/3/2022 at 2:44 PM, youreavinalaff said:

I think you should have stopped there.

I laughed so hard when I read that, had to go through the hassle of logging-in just to send you a smiley face badge :)

[Terry B]

3 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Yes. Good point. Particularly since they changed to process to work permit BEFORE extension. 

 

The situations I have seen have been successful. Most labour offices will be understanding of this technicality.

This is helpful info. I am still currently on the covid extensions but I have been planning for a while to get a long-term visa based on retirement. However, later this year, (at least a few months after the covid extensions will most likely already be over), I will have an opportunity for a good job to remain here.

 

And therefore, I am hoping that I will be able to successfully convert from retired to working based-extension-of-stay, on the same visa. So the only thing to be worried about seems to not to be the visa, as much as it is in  getting that work permit approval letter!

[Harveyg]

23 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It is possible to change the reason for a extension of stay from retirement to working.

But the problem can be getting a work permit application approval letter while on a extension based upon retirement that would be needed for the extension based upon working application.

The initial non o visa is for 90 days, after which the extension is sought and a reason given. I don’t have to give the reason for the initial 90 days. Am I correct in any of this?

 

Furthermore if I already have an extension based on retirement then getting a work approval letter can be a problem because the timing isn’t right? So if I time the approval letter to coincide with the end of the extension does that have a better chance of success?

[youreavinalaff]

1 hour ago, Harveyg said:

The initial non o visa is for 90 days, after which the extension is sought and a reason given. I don’t have to give the reason for the initial 90 days. Am I correct in any of this?

 

Furthermore if I already have an extension based on retirement then getting a work approval letter can be a problem because the timing isn’t right? So if I time the approval letter to coincide with the end of the extension does that have a better chance of success?

You always need to give a reason on the application for a visa. In the case of a Non O it would be; marriage to a Thai, bring the father of a child in Thailand or being over 50.

 

If you are in Thailand on an O based on being over 50 and you get a job offer, immigration will be able to cancel your extension and issue a new one based on work. You'll need all the correct documentation, which varies among different offices. You'll need to speak to your local immigration office to see how they want to go through the process.

Edited April 5, 2022 by youreavinalaff

[BritTim]

On 4/4/2022 at 12:50 PM, youreavinalaff said:

Changes of permission to stay can all be done at immigration. Marriage to retirement, retirement to work, work to marriage and all vice versa. All done at immigration. No need to obtain a new visa.

That is generally correct, with one exception.

 

There is a catch 22 that prevents changing from a permission to stay based on retirement to a permission to stay based on working. (Working to retirement is doable.) The problem is that an extension based on working requires a work permit, and you cannot get a work permit while on a retirement permission to stay.

 

[As others have pointed out, people need to stop thinking about visas when looking at reasons for extension of permissions to stay.]

[BritTim]

43 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

You always need to give a reason on the application for a visa. In the case of a Non O it would be; marriage to a Thai, bring the father of a child in Thailand or being over 50.

 

If you are in Thailand on an O based on being over 50 and you get a job offer, immigration will be able to cancel your extension and issue a new one based on work. You'll need all the correct documentation, which varies among different offices. You'll need to speak to your local immigration office to see how they want to go through the process.

Sigh! You are not in Thailand on a visa. You have a permission to stay. During the first 90 days after you enter using a Non Immigrant visa, you are on a Non Immigrant permission to stay linked to the reason for your original visa application (working, retirement, staying with spouse etc.) Near the end of your permitted period of stay, you can apply to extend your permission to stay based on an appropriate reason, and providing the necessary documentation. This can be different from the original basis of your permission to stay if you can provide the necessary documents.

 

You cannot apply for a new visa at Immigration in Thailand if you are already on a Non Immigrant permission to stay. You can do so if currently on a permission to stay as a tourist (i.e. you entered Thailand with a tourist visa or with a visa exemption).

 

If you are in Thailand on a permission to stay based on retirement, you cannot change this to a permission to stay based on working, whether your permission to stay is during the first 90 days (where the reason is set from the visa) or as a result of an extension granted (for an appropriate reason) at Immigration.

[youreavinalaff]

7 hours ago, BritTim said:

Sigh! You are not in Thailand on a visa. You have a permission to stay. During the first 90 days after you enter using a Non Immigrant visa, you are on a Non Immigrant permission to stay linked to the reason for your original visa application (working, retirement, staying with spouse etc.) Near the end of your permitted period of stay, you can apply to extend your permission to stay based on an appropriate reason, and providing the necessary documentation. This can be different from the original basis of your permission to stay if you can provide the necessary documents.

 

You cannot apply for a new visa at Immigration in Thailand if you are already on a Non Immigrant permission to stay. You can do so if currently on a permission to stay as a tourist (i.e. you entered Thailand with a tourist visa or with a visa exemption).

 

If you are in Thailand on a permission to stay based on retirement, you cannot change this to a permission to stay based on working, whether your permission to stay is during the first 90 days (where the reason is set from the visa) or as a result of an extension granted (for an appropriate reason) at Immigration.

I was referring to the post asking about applying for a Non O 90 day VISA. No need to sigh. What I said was correct.

[youreavinalaff]

7 hours ago, BritTim said:

 

If you are in Thailand on a permission to stay based on retirement, you cannot change this to a permission to stay based on working, whether your permission to stay is during the first 90 days (where the reason is set from the visa) or as a result of an extension granted (for an appropriate reason) at Immigration.

With the fact that different immigration offices work in different ways taken into consideration, I have to say that my experience says it is possible.