Non-Immigrant B Visa Rejection Due to Employer Paperwork

[Metrika]

I was hired by an international school in Bangkok, and when I went to apply for my Non-Immigrant B visa the embassy rejected the school's paperwork for being out of date (something to do with the work permit). The school is now suggesting I enter on a tourist visa and convert later to a Non-B visa.

 

How worried should I be about this? I'm not familiar with how things work in Thailand and am not sure if this is somewhat normal or if this is a major red flag.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Metrika
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[OneMoreFarang]

How desperate are you?

A good employer should be able to provide the correct paperwork - they should have an expert (internal or external) who prepares the documents.

And then there are employers who don't really care.

And then there are employers who pretend they want to give you a work permit, but they know already it won't happen.

[foreverlomsak]

The school papers being out of date, might be employee numbers, i.e. numbers of Thai's employed vs foreigners.

You are not allowed to work on a Tourist Visa, employers will tell you it's OK provided you plan to convert to a Non-B later, but .......

A Work Permit will not be issued to you while on a Tourist Visa or an extension thereof.

[JayClay]

If you convert your visa type in county, the requirements for the Non-B are much stricter.

 

In particular, you will need a your degree certificate legalised by your home country's government.

[stubuzz]

2 hours ago, Metrika said:

The school is now suggesting I enter on a tourist visa and convert later to a Non-B visa.

Will the school pay for your trip out of the country?

[Metrika]

4 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Will the school pay for your trip out of the country?

Not sure yet, but will be sure to ask. What's not clear to me is if I can't get a visa now what's going to change down the road. `Am I supposed to just head to Laos, or another country, and hope they find it acceptable? I'm not exactly filled with confidence at this point.

[OneMoreFarang]

57 minutes ago, Metrika said:

Not sure yet, but will be sure to ask. What's not clear to me is if I can't get a visa now what's going to change down the road. `Am I supposed to just head to Laos, or another country, and hope they find it acceptable? I'm not exactly filled with confidence at this point.

To be fair, there could be a minor error which can easily be fixed.

I think if you come back and they apologize and promise you to prepare the documents again, this time correct, within a week or so, then I think that might be ok.

But if you return and they tell you something like work first and in a month, we can try again, then I would conclude they don't care - avoid! 

[foreverlomsak]

I'm sure you can't convert in country, I certainly couldn't and none of the people I worked with were able to either. When I retired went to Immigration and they extended my "permission to stay" by reason of retirement, they did not put a new VISA in my passport. My last entry into the country was in 2016 on a 3 month Non-B VISA.

As I see it basically Embassies provide a VISA which is permission from them to enter the country, Immigration if they are happy will then convert it into "permission to stay" with an end date (at that point the Embassy VISA is effectively dead having been superseded by the "Permission" Stamp), sometime before that date you need to extend your "permission to stay" at your local Immigration office.

Most people (including Immigration) refer to extending their "permission to stay" as getting a new visa, which can cause considerable confusion when trying to unravel what problem the poster is trying to get help on.

[bigt3116]

13 hours ago, foreverlomsak said:

I'm sure you can't convert in country, I certainly couldn't and none of the people I worked with were able to either. When I retired went to Immigration and they extended my "permission to stay" by reason of retirement, they did not put a new VISA in my passport. My last entry into the country was in 2016 on a 3 month Non-B VISA.

You certainly CAN convert in country and be issued with a Non-B VISA at immigration in country.