Getting Work Permit for company with Thai wife

[CJoo]

Anyone got a recent experience getting a work permit when having a limited company together with wife?

 

I have a non-o visa and on several websites and forums I read that my wife can be one of the 2 Thai employees that is needed for getting the work permit.
This week a visited my lawyer and she told me that it can't be my wife. She is one of the shareholders and that's not accepted for the permit.

 

Some weeks ago I spoke to a different lawyer and he also said it's possible that my wife can be one of 2 Thai employees.
So now I'm a bit confused but maybe someone can help me with sharing their experience? Can't a shareholder be any of the employees needed?

 

Thanks!

 

[Gottfrid]

I did this 5 years ago, and then it was totally accepted to count my wife as an employee even as she was the major share holder. So, not recent experience as you ask, as it could be changed.

[NanLaew]

A friend of mine is an employee of his Thai wife's business. No issues with the WP. This is in Isaan and the business has been trading for maybe 15 years already.

[CJoo]

Thanks for replies!

 

It's the first time I hear about it too. Maybe they changed it recently or she was misinformed.

I think I will contact some other lawyers to double check it.

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, CJoo said:

Thanks for replies!

 

It's the first time I hear about it too. Maybe they changed it recently or she was misinformed.

I think I will contact some other lawyers to double check it.

You might do, but as my and wifey´s ltd is still active, and we had no change of information given to us I do not believe they have changed anything.

[scorecard]

18 hours ago, CJoo said:

Thanks for replies!

 

It's the first time I hear about it too. Maybe they changed it recently or she was misinformed.

I think I will contact some other lawyers to double check it.

Lawyers anywhere can be rogues. I would wonder if the lawyer who said 'can't be done' is angling for an extra fee. 

[yankee99]

A wife as a shareholder and or director can never be a employee 

 

Also if legally married you and your wife wont be in the social security system as technically you own half

[Gottfrid]

26 minutes ago, yankee99 said:

A wife as a shareholder and or director can never be a employee 

 

Also if legally married you and your wife wont be in the social security system as technically you own half

Where in the world did you get that from?

[Peterw42]

1 hour ago, yankee99 said:

A wife as a shareholder and or director can never be a employee 

 

Also if legally married you and your wife wont be in the social security system as technically you own half

So the husband can be a shareholder and an employee ? Just not the wife.

[CJoo]

2 hours ago, yankee99 said:

A wife as a shareholder and or director can never be a employee 

 

Also if legally married you and your wife wont be in the social security system as technically you own half

 

We are legally married and I got the marriage visa.

 

You know that from experience? Because I can't find anything about that.
The majority of people and lawyers say it's possible that my wife can be 1 of the 2 employee needed.

 

Yesterday I asked 1 more lawyer and he also said it's possible. And another 1 was not sure but he thought it was not possible but we could put a family member as employee.
Well I don't want that and want everything legal and in a right way. 
The extra employee costs are not the problem but I will need a different location if we are in total with 4 people. So I prefer to start with 3 (Me, my wife and 1 extra Thai employee) if that would be possible.

 

[weedywhaoo]

Yes, iits possible with wife and one employee for the work permit. You will need four employees for immigration for the one year visa though. 

[CJoo]

4 minutes ago, weedywhaoo said:

Yes, iits possible with wife and one employee for the work permit. You will need four employees for immigration for the one year visa though. 

Thanks for your reply.

You have experience with the work permit?

 

I have now marriage visa and it allows to work in Thailand with a valid work permit. So I don't need change my visa, just get the work permit.

Edited December 15, 2023 by CJoo

[LukKrueng]

On 12/14/2023 at 8:58 AM, CJoo said:

Anyone got a recent experience getting a work permit when having a limited company together with wife?

 

I have a non-o visa and on several websites and forums I read that my wife can be one of the 2 Thai employees that is needed for getting the work permit.
This week a visited my lawyer and she told me that it can't be my wife. She is one of the shareholders and that's not accepted for the permit.

 

Some weeks ago I spoke to a different lawyer and he also said it's possible that my wife can be one of 2 Thai employees.
So now I'm a bit confused but maybe someone can help me with sharing their experience? Can't a shareholder be any of the employees needed?

 

Thanks!

 

An Ltd company is a juristic person, therefore an independent entity that can outlive its shareholders. There is no reason why the shareholders won't be able to be employed by the company. If the law says 2 Thai nationals must be employed in order to issue a work permit for a non Thai your wife will be counted as an employee just like any other employee.

[CJoo]

50 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

An Ltd company is a juristic person, therefore an independent entity that can outlive its shareholders. There is no reason why the shareholders won't be able to be employed by the company. If the law says 2 Thai nationals must be employed in order to issue a work permit for a non Thai your wife will be counted as an employee just like any other employee.

 

That's what I thought also but I'm not sure anymore.

 

After speaking to more lawyers finally I found a lawyer who could explain why it's not possible, she said:

 

My wife is a shareholder so she is considered as owner and not as employee. Only employee can be registered for Social Security and to get a work permit there need to be two employee registered in Social Security system.

 

After that I did some research and found this old topic here: https://aseannow.com/topic/104239-do-directors-and-shareholders-have-legal-status-as-an-employee/

 

This also confirms what the lawyer said to me. In this topic you can read more about it with some examples and now I understand a lot better.

 

So my wife and I are shareholders and are ofcourse family so it's considered as equal power in the company. Because of that she can't be registered in Social Security system. Also in topic you can read of people who did register family and shareholders. But they had to get out of SSO because it don't add any value. They even got a refund. 

 

Maybe it's outdated, I don't know but it's still confusing because I see everytime they write on this forum that it's possible while it might not be. 

 

So I guess there is only one way to find out and that's to try it with a lawyer who said it's possible and see if we really need two Thai employee besides my wife. 

[khunPer]

8 hours ago, weedywhaoo said:

Yes, iits possible with wife and one employee for the work permit. You will need four employees for immigration for the one year visa though. 

To my knowledge, NOT if it's a partnership limited; the four Thai employees are for a company limited.

[LukKrueng]

21 hours ago, CJoo said:

 

That's what I thought also but I'm not sure anymore.

 

After speaking to more lawyers finally I found a lawyer who could explain why it's not possible, she said:

 

My wife is a shareholder so she is considered as owner and not as employee. Only employee can be registered for Social Security and to get a work permit there need to be two employee registered in Social Security system.

 

After that I did some research and found this old topic here: https://aseannow.com/topic/104239-do-directors-and-shareholders-have-legal-status-as-an-employee/

 

This also confirms what the lawyer said to me. In this topic you can read more about it with some examples and now I understand a lot better.

 

So my wife and I are shareholders and are ofcourse family so it's considered as equal power in the company. Because of that she can't be registered in Social Security system. Also in topic you can read of people who did register family and shareholders. But they had to get out of SSO because it don't add any value. They even got a refund. 

 

Maybe it's outdated, I don't know but it's still confusing because I see everytime they write on this forum that it's possible while it might not be. 

 

So I guess there is only one way to find out and that's to try it with a lawyer who said it's possible and see if we really need two Thai employee besides my wife. 

According to this logic, you as a shareholder (owner of the company) can't get a work permit as you can't be an employee, just like your wife...

There might be a difference between a limited partnership and a registered limited company. I'm not sure about partnership, but a registered company is a juristic person - completely detached from the shareholders that can change anytime yet the company survives these changes.