Work Permit - Previous employer potential block from 2016!

[TeacherMarkUK]

Hi,

 

I worked in Thailand 7 years ago

 

I went to the work permit office once I decided to leave my school and return to UK, to try and hand them my work permit

They said I needed a letter from my employer to void the WP

I called my school and they said I owed THEM money.  as I was on guaranteed salary scheme as my lessons were less than the minimum pay out (20 per week), for the majority of my time there

They added it up and said I owed X amount of money

So I just flew home and forgot about it..

They never gave me a contract so it was hard to follow resignation procedures

Anyway

New potential stressful problem now

I am back in Thailand, and am wondering whether my new school will have a problem 7 years later issuing me a work permit. 

Surely this has lapsed and the work permit office will grant me another - I have heard a fellow teacher having a similar problem but was a 3 year gap not seven.

I have a new passport / passport number

Your thoughts please! this is really bothering me, sadly. 

the work permit I threw away. I am thinking a Thai lawyer could sort this if the WP application is rejected by the work permit office due to the old one still being live (despite them only having a one year life span, which confuses me enormously.)

 

  I wouldnt of worried at all unless I met the Thai person at the school who deals with this and she was saying about he other teacher having the WP problem from he same Ex school , of course

 

[Woof999]

9 minutes ago, TeacherMarkUK said:

I wouldnt of worried

 

Not teaching English I hope?

[TeacherMarkUK]

 

 

9 minutes ago, Woof999 said:

Not teaching English I hope?

TEFL jobs both..

[BangkokAlan]

How did you get an initial work permit without a contract? I thought a contract was part of a work permits submission showing salary and other details of the applicant.

 

I wouldn't worry about what's gone in the past, I am sure that company has just moved on. If there was no contract, how can they justify you owe money.

[TeacherMarkUK]

2 minutes ago, BangkokAlan said:

How did you get an initial work permit without a contract?

Good question, the answer is they had the contract and sent to WP permit people but never shared with me, the employee

[TeacherMarkUK]

3 minutes ago, BangkokAlan said:

I wouldn't worry about what's gone in the past, I am sure that company has just moved on

I am on that side of the fence but what about my fellow teacher having problems, despite working for them 3 years ago

[Crossy]

Not a teacher, but way back when we first came to Thailand, I had a short contract with a WP.

Contract ended and WP expired.

Never did anything about cancelling or anything.

 

About 5 years later, new job, new WP, no issues whatever.

 

I wouldn't be worrying at all.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

If this would happen within months, then you would have problems.

I don't know what happens after years.

 

Recently I stopped working for one company. I had a work permit and Non-B visa.

The visa expired on date x. I had for the same date a flight booked out of Thailand. I thought with the last day of the visa the visa ends and that's it. Wrong!

Before that date I had to return my work permit to the labor department. And my visa, which I thought expired anyhow, had to be cancelled.

I did that and then I applied for a new visa and later work permit for a new company. All fine.

I was informed that if I would not have followed the above procedures, then I could not have applied for a new visa and work permit.

This happened this year. 

[youreavinalaff]

11 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

If this would happen within months, then you would have problems.

I don't know what happens after years.

 

Recently I stopped working for one company. I had a work permit and Non-B visa.

The visa expired on date x. I had for the same date a flight booked out of Thailand. I thought with the last day of the visa the visa ends and that's it. Wrong!

Before that date I had to return my work permit to the labor department. And my visa, which I thought expired anyhow, had to be cancelled.

I did that and then I applied for a new visa and later work permit for a new company. All fine.

I was informed that if I would not have followed the above procedures, then I could not have applied for a new visa and work permit.

This happened this year. 

Visas can't be cancelled.

 

Do you mean the permission to stay based on your employment?

[OneMoreFarang]

16 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

Visas can't be cancelled.

 

Do you mean the permission to stay based on your employment?

Please don't ask me for the exact word. I don't know it. And anyhow, I am sure they use a different word in Thai.

 

Fact is, that an agent went with my passport to immigration maybe a week before the expire date. At the immigration office they "canceled" it (replace canceled with whatever word you think fits best). It was still valid until the same date as before.

Strange but true.

And I confirmed with two independent people that that was the way to do it.

[KhaoNiaw]

58 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Fact is, that an agent went with my passport to immigration maybe a week before the expire date. At the immigration office they "canceled" it (replace canceled with whatever word you think fits best). It was still valid until the same date as before.

Strange but true.

And I confirmed with two independent people that that was the way to do it.

I think it can be 'cancelled' up to 21 days ahead while remaining valid until the expiry date. The work permit should still then be cancelled at the end of the working period. I don't know if he'll experience any problems after such a long period though.

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

Not a teacher, but way back when we first came to Thailand, I had a short contract with a WP.

Contract ended and WP expired.

Never did anything about cancelling or anything.

 

About 5 years later, new job, new WP, no issues whatever.

 

I wouldn't be worrying at all.

 

Exactly the same experience here... BUT...  the last time I worked in Thailand was 10 years ago.

 

Over the years, I've taken on a few projects here and have been work permitted for the duration of that project. 

When the project has come to an end, the 'agent' (we used to go through) simply said just let the permit and extension of stay run its course... (no need to leave and come back again.

 

There was never an issue when applying for a Work Permit after a previous one expired before. 

 

 

IF I'm not mistaken, when a work permit runs out and is not renewed, its simply run out - and thats that, it ends on that date just as if it had been cancelled. 

 

 

Final point: 

There is nothing you can do about it anyway, you are thinking about / worrying about something completely out of your control.

The only thing you can do is go through the process and see what happens. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

5 hours ago, TeacherMarkUK said:

I am on that side of the fence but what about my fellow teacher having problems, despite working for them 3 years ago

 

What about it ?...      anything you can do about it ?

 

Is your fellow teacher having problems ? or is this just a comment that you have picked up on and read to much into ?

 

IF your fellow teacher is having problems, do you know this is related to the school they worked at 3 years ago, or is it a more recent problem ? surely that teacher has worked somewhere else since 3 years ago and has been work permitted elsewhere.. no ?

[Chris Daley]

Yes the teacher agencies are run by scumbags.  They refuse to cancel work permits unless you get nasty with them.

 

You can just phone up the immigration office and get them to check or visit the immigration office and ask them.

 

The thing about you ''owing them money'' is absolute fantasy.  They are trying to scare you but I can't really see what they get out of it.  Absolute scumbags.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Chris Daley

[youreavinalaff]

1 hour ago, Chris Daley said:

Yes the teacher agencies are run by scumbags.  They refuse to cancel work permits unless you get nasty with them.

 

You can just phone up the immigration office and get them to check or visit the immigration office and ask them.

 

The thing about you ''owing them money'' is absolute fantasy.  They are trying to scare you but I can't really see what they get out of it.  Absolute scumbags.

???

 

The OP was hired directly by the school.

 

The other posters are speaking about agents. Not agencies. They were not teachers.

 

What's your point??

[TeacherMarkUK]

12 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

You can just phone up the immigration office and get them to check or visit the immigration office and ask them.

Phone up / visit any immigration office, (we are talking about different provinces here btw..) and enquire about whether I can apply for a new work permit? isn't that the labour office?  (trying to learn something else here)

 

hypothetical question being : Hi, Can you check if there is anything that will stop my school from being able to apply for a work permit for me?  

 

 

Thanks for all your comments by the way, I feel very isolated in this situation and your replies are easing things ... slightly

Edited December 10, 2023 by TeacherMarkUK