Resigning With A Work Permit And 12 Month Visa B

[paulyonthemove]

I will be quiting my job next week as i have income coming from back home. I have a 1 year non immigrant b visa. However, my employer said they must cancel this and issue me with a 7 day visa. Is there anyway i can prevent this from happening? For example, don't go to immigration with my employer or forget my passport or something. One person said if i go now with my visa and work permit to get a multiple reentry then i can bypass the cancellation. Is this true?

If anybody has any strategy, please kindly let me know.

Thanks

[lopburi3]

You have seven days to leave Thailand once your employment end when on an extension of stay. If you are here on a 90 day visa entry that rule does not apply to you. If you are here on a one year extension of stay from Immigration it does.

[monty]

What you probably have is an extension of stay based on employment.

You start out with a non immigrant B visa, which allows you to stay for 90 days in Thailand. During this period you can get an extension of stay, based on your work permit, allowing you to stay for 1 year, counted from the day of entry.

It is the extension of stay which will be canceled when you cancel your work permit (and replaced with a 7 day extension to give you time to get something else organized).

A multiple re-entry stamp will not help you, since it only allows you to leave and re-enter Thailand, up to the date your extension of stay (which will get canceled) allowed you to stay in Thailand.

There are several options available to you, but most will require you to leave Thailand.

Basically, if you are not married to a Thai national, or are over 50 years of age, you will revert to tourist status! Unfortunately if you are in that situation, there are very little long stay visa options for you.

Thai elite card would be one, or an investment of over 10 million Baht.

P.S. If you started out with a multiple entry non immigrant visa, then this will not be affected by canceling your workpermit. Visas don't get canceled, extensions of stay do. With a multiple entry visa you can keep doing border runs up to the day your visa is valid, and receive 90 days on each entry.

[TerryLH]

"...there are very little long stay visa options for you.

Thai elite card would be one,..."

I'm not sure this is a very realistic option anymore, if it even ever was.

[paulyonthemove]

What you probably have is an extension of stay based on employment.

You start out with a non immigrant B visa, which allows you to stay for 90 days in Thailand. During this period you can get an extension of stay, based on your work permit, allowing you to stay for 1 year, counted from the day of entry.

It is the extension of stay which will be canceled when you cancel your work permit (and replaced with a 7 day extension to give you time to get something else organized).

A multiple re-entry stamp will not help you, since it only allows you to leave and re-enter Thailand, up to the date your extension of stay (which will get canceled) allowed you to stay in Thailand.

There are several options available to you, but most will require you to leave Thailand.

Basically, if you are not married to a Thai national, or are over 50 years of age, you will revert to tourist status! Unfortunately if you are in that situation, there are very little long stay visa options for you.

Thai elite card would be one, or an investment of over 10 million Baht.

P.S. If you started out with a multiple entry non immigrant visa, then this will not be affected by canceling your workpermit. Visas don't get canceled, extensions of stay do. With a multiple entry visa you can keep doing border runs up to the day your visa is valid, and receive 90 days on each entry.

I nearly fell off my chair laughing at the 10 mill one . So when you go to get your extention of stay stamped again for another 3 months (it says until 12 sep. permited up to may 2008) you have to take your workpermit with you.

I have just contacted a friend with a buisiness who said he would sponsor me. He said i will need to go to Lao with the paper work to get a one year. Is it that simple?

Thanx

[v8tfcorty]

You start out with a non immigrant B visa, which allows you to stay for 90 days in Thailand. During this period you can get an extension of stay, based on your work permit, allowing you to stay for 1 year, counted from the day of entry.

whilst i understand the laws change but is this completely true.

i came to thailand late october 2006 on a multi non b for work purposes in which i started on the first of november, it was at this time my application for work permit was started by the HR department... now by the time all the hoops had been jumped thru in regards to the work permit (and visa extension) it wasnt until the 18th of december till it was finally ready for me to sign.

fast forward to a few days ago i checked my passport/visa/work permit whilst preparing for my contract re-negotiation (due 1st november) that i realised my work permit and visa are valid until december 31st 2007.

this is well and truely over the expected expiry date of my initial non b visa.

[lopburi3]

What you probably have is an extension of stay based on employment.

You start out with a non immigrant B visa, which allows you to stay for 90 days in Thailand. During this period you can get an extension of stay, based on your work permit, allowing you to stay for 1 year, counted from the day of entry.

It is the extension of stay which will be canceled when you cancel your work permit (and replaced with a 7 day extension to give you time to get something else organized).

A multiple re-entry stamp will not help you, since it only allows you to leave and re-enter Thailand, up to the date your extension of stay (which will get canceled) allowed you to stay in Thailand.

There are several options available to you, but most will require you to leave Thailand.

Basically, if you are not married to a Thai national, or are over 50 years of age, you will revert to tourist status! Unfortunately if you are in that situation, there are very little long stay visa options for you.

Thai elite card would be one, or an investment of over 10 million Baht.

P.S. If you started out with a multiple entry non immigrant visa, then this will not be affected by canceling your workpermit. Visas don't get canceled, extensions of stay do. With a multiple entry visa you can keep doing border runs up to the day your visa is valid, and receive 90 days on each entry.

I nearly fell off my chair laughing at the 10 mill one . So when you go to get your extention of stay stamped again for another 3 months (it says until 12 sep. permited up to may 2008) you have to take your workpermit with you.

I have just contacted a friend with a buisiness who said he would sponsor me. He said i will need to go to Lao with the paper work to get a one year. Is it that simple?

Thanx

No. It is not that simple. And as I can not understand your post about "extension of stay stamped again for another 3 months" believe you may have visas confused with one year immigration extensions of stay.

[Briggsy]

I know at least 3 friends who have resigned from jobs whilst holding a work permit and one year extension of stay. They all had re-entry permits.

One can assume that their work permits were cancelled when they left employment. However, all 3 had no problem going in and out of the country on their existing yearly extension and re-entry permits.One guy got 2 more single re-entry permits at the airport with no questions asked. Whilst this is probably not legal, it would appear the co-ordination between immigration, labour dept and employers is highly ineffective. The computer should have shown the yearly extension was cancelled but it never did/does.

One other reason could of course be that their respective employers did not bother to cancel the work permit. However I think the lack of co-ordination between desks in the bureaucracy is equally likely.

[Jimjim]

I know someone who did have the problem of crossing the border after his work permit had been canceled and along with it his extension of stay. His company said they would cancel it in a month but did it immediately instead. He was on three weeks overstay when he went to the border and had a fun time.

As for paulyonthemove, I don't see why you can't take your passport and work permit across the border to an embassy and get a one year multiple entry non-B as someone suggested. Even if you cancel your work permit after that, then your visa will not be canceled and you have another year to figure something out. You have to leave the country and re-enter every 90 days, however.

[paulyonthemove]

I know someone who did have the problem of crossing the border after his work permit had been canceled and along with it his extension of stay. His company said they would cancel it in a month but did it immediately instead. He was on three weeks overstay when he went to the border and had a fun time.

As for paulyonthemove, I don't see why you can't take your passport and work permit across the border to an embassy and get a one year multiple entry non-B as someone suggested. Even if you cancel your work permit after that, then your visa will not be canceled and you have another year to figure something out. You have to leave the country and re-enter every 90 days, however.

Beautiful! That's what am talking about. So you don't have to show your work permit when you do the multiple entry business every 90 days?

[pascal20160]

Your employer doesn't "have" to cancel your work permit. They can leave it alone and let it run its course. I've been in Thailand for over 15 years and have had three jobs here. The last two times I left my job I asked my employer if they would leave the permit be so I could use the rest of my year visa non-imm B. The last time I did this was only a year ago.

Obviously, this depends on how well you got along with that employer. But the fact is they don't have to cancel it.

[SteveB2]

Your employer doesn't "have" to cancel your work permit. They can leave it alone and let it run its course. I've been in Thailand for over 15 years and have had three jobs here. The last two times I left my job I asked my employer if they would leave the permit be so I could use the rest of my year visa non-imm B. The last time I did this was only a year ago.

Obviously, this depends on how well you got along with that employer. But the fact is they don't have to cancel it.

Hmmm...

Guess this might work as long as the employer doesn't mind the following:-

1. Continuing to pay the monthly tax bill for the dormant foriegn work permit- My local Chonburi tax office requires tax paid on a minimum THB55,000/month salary for a westerner regardless of what the foriegner is actualy earning.

2. Doesn't need to employ another foriegner (with WP) to replace the one who's left.

3. Has sufficient real company turnover plus cash on deposit in the company coffers to justify the dormant work permit since...

3.a My local immigration office requires a minimum THB1M on deposit in the Limited Company bank account to cover the foriegner and all thai employees pay checks for the next year

3.b Sufficient real taxable income going through the company books to justify the foriegner's plus other salaries.

I just had to cancel 2 work permits on my THB6M capitalized company because of these little hassles.

I'd look into the commercial implications of this option a little further if I was you, as there could likely be other hassles lurking around.

[Ave]

I will be quiting my job next week as i have income coming from back home. I have a 1 year non immigrant b visa. However, my employer said they must cancel this and issue me with a 7 day visa. Is there anyway i can prevent this from happening? For example, don't go to immigration with my employer or forget my passport or something. One person said if i go now with my visa and work permit to get a multiple reentry then i can bypass the cancellation. Is this true?

If anybody has any strategy, please kindly let me know.

Thanks

Like you I had non immigrant b visa plus work permit which expired end of December last year. Got fired just before, went to the labour dept because I was told that by law when employment terminates we are supposed to sign off the permit and give it back to the labour dept (which is what I read in the permit). I had those seven days to act, went to Vientiane and managed to get a tourist visa, then tried in Penang and got another one. All this was in a period of about 5 months I think. Luckily I got a new job just before this one expired but I'm just guessing that in Penang I would have been able to carry on with more tourist visas..

[Jimjim]

I know someone who did have the problem of crossing the border after his work permit had been canceled and along with it his extension of stay. His company said they would cancel it in a month but did it immediately instead. He was on three weeks overstay when he went to the border and had a fun time.

As for paulyonthemove, I don't see why you can't take your passport and work permit across the border to an embassy and get a one year multiple entry non-B as someone suggested. Even if you cancel your work permit after that, then your visa will not be canceled and you have another year to figure something out. You have to leave the country and re-enter every 90 days, however.

Beautiful! That's what am talking about. So you don't have to show your work permit when you do the multiple entry business every 90 days?

No, you should not have to show your work permit. I've never read here or heard anywhere else of that happening and it has never happened to me.

[lazeeboy]

I know someone who did have the problem of crossing the border after his work permit had been canceled and along with it his extension of stay. His company said they would cancel it in a month but did it immediately instead. He was on three weeks overstay when he went to the border and had a fun time.

As for paulyonthemove, I don't see why you can't take your passport and work permit across the border to an embassy and get a one year multiple entry non-B as someone suggested. Even if you cancel your work permit after that, then your visa will not be canceled and you have another year to figure something out. You have to leave the country and re-enter every 90 days, however.

Beautiful! That's what am talking about. So you don't have to show your work permit when you do the multiple entry business every 90 days?

No, you should not have to show your work permit. I've never read here or heard anywhere else of that happening and it has never happened to me.

never shown my work permit on a visa run ,but have always taken it just in case

[Jimjim]

Also, you shouldn't have to show it if you get a new visa, as the work permit may have helped you get the visa, but the visa should not be tied to it. With one year extensions of visas, however, the work permit is the only reason for the extension.

[adjan jb]

As for paulyonthemove, I don't see why you can't take your passport and work permit across the border to an embassy and get a one year multiple entry non-B as someone suggested.

I've always heard that it's illegal to take your WP across any border.

[cutter007]

Your employer doesn't "have" to cancel your work permit. They can leave it alone and let it run its course. I've been in Thailand for over 15 years and have had three jobs here. The last two times I left my job I asked my employer if they would leave the permit be so I could use the rest of my year visa non-imm B. The last time I did this was only a year ago.

Obviously, this depends on how well you got along with that employer. But the fact is they don't have to cancel it.

Hmmm...

Guess this might work as long as the employer doesn't mind the following:-

1. Continuing to pay the monthly tax bill for the dormant foriegn work permit- My local Chonburi tax office requires tax paid on a minimum THB55,000/month salary for a westerner regardless of what the foriegner is actualy earning.

2. Doesn't need to employ another foriegner (with WP) to replace the one who's left.

3. Has sufficient real company turnover plus cash on deposit in the company coffers to justify the dormant work permit since...

3.a My local immigration office requires a minimum THB1M on deposit in the Limited Company bank account to cover the foriegner and all thai employees pay checks for the next year

3.b Sufficient real taxable income going through the company books to justify the foriegner's plus other salaries.

I just had to cancel 2 work permits on my THB6M capitalized company because of these little hassles.

I'd look into the commercial implications of this option a little further if I was you, as there could likely be other hassles lurking around.

The 55,000 a month, is just something that the Chonburi office is doing, these people are less than brilliant, in respects

to there jobs, and the correct and current regulations.

They make it up as they go, which is easy to recognize by the lack of confidence in there voice.

There is no regulation for issuing a WP that says you have to

pay 55,000 baht a month in taxes, I have foreigners working for me, making 30,000, with WP.

Technically, its suppose to be 2 million paid up capital, for each work permit, but like I said before, the officer in Chonburi

is probably so poorly trained that he's going with 1 million instead of 2.

Mainly its all about money though, big surprise in Thailand.

A company under 50 million in revenue generally speaking, they will hassle the company about everything under the sun and make them jump through all kinds of hoops.

If the company spits out 50 - 100 million or more in revenue, a couple of work permits

isn't a problem.

If it's over 100 million than it should be really easy, the Thais know how to do it, they just

walk into the labor office, and go go on and on about how big the company is, and the little labor people will fall in line nice and quickly.

And if they are doing over 500 million, company goes to the central revenue department for tax issues, not the regional offices. And then it is usually smooth sailing from there, because the revenue department, basically puts a foot in any ones rear, that hassles these kinds of company's about minor things like WP.

[Jimjim]

As for paulyonthemove, I don't see why you can't take your passport and work permit across the border to an embassy and get a one year multiple entry non-B as someone suggested.

I've always heard that it's illegal to take your WP across any border.

It may be. I don't know. Perhaps just a copy should do.