Do I Need A Work Permit?

[majenta]

I'm on a Non Immigrant Visa for one year and married to my Thai husband.

He is about to open a business and wants me to oversee the finance part of

the business. The business will have an office and a few sales staff. As I am

not getting paid and I am just assiting him, will I need a work permit?

I just want to see if anyone has had any personal experience with this? My husband

will be checking with a lawyer about this next week..

[lopburi3]

If you are found doing work you will need a work permit. If you are just going over "husbands" accounts at home it probably would not become an issue. That's what wives do.

[monty]

As I am not getting paid

Remuneration is not taken in consideration!

Any mental or physical labor, paid for or not, is considered working and needs a work permit.

One could argue by you doing the accounts, you are taking away work from the Thai labor force, where quite some accountants are available.

[gosompoi]

You can get away without a work permit since it is your husbands business and you are not getting paid. In a full letter of the law if you call it working/job then you need a work permit. But a wife helping her husband at home or work does not require a permit. A wife helping to take care of the home or business and managing money is just part of marriage. Just because you are involing yourself in the money matters of your family business does not require a permit. If you owned the business too or were paid then yes get a work permit. In your case, being a wife and helping your husband does not require a work permit. One last note and please do not take any offence, if you were a man and helping your wife with her business then yes you would need a work permit.

[midas]

You can get away without a work permit since it is your husbands business and you are not getting paid. In a full letter of the law if you call it working/job then you need a work permit. But a wife helping her husband at home or work does not require a permit. A wife helping to take care of the home or business and managing money is just part of marriage. Just because you are involing yourself in the money matters of your family business does not require a permit. If you owned the business too or were paid then yes get a work permit. In your case, being a wife and helping your husband does not require a work permit. One last note and please do not take any offence, if you were a man and helping your wife with her business then yes you would need a work permit.

Are you 100 percent sure about this advice ? are you a lawyer with expertise in this matter ?

A wife can take care of family and domestic finances but you mixing it with commercial

or business activities and i think you are potentially putting this lady at risk with

" off the cuff " advice ? If someome reported her, immigration may not have

such a relaxed interpretation ? How do you know ?

[TheChiefJustice]

Strictly speaking, yes, you need a work permit. Practically, however, I would not worry about it. You are entitled to apply for Thai citizenship being married to a Thai man. If you are so inclined, and your country of origin accepts dual nationalities, you may wish to consider doing that. Then you will never have to worry about things like this.

[majenta]

Thank you for all the advice received. Yes its my intention to apply for the Thai Citizenship but

I read on this forum that I would need to have 3 continuous years of Non O visa then I can

apply for citizenship, seems like a long time to not be able to work....

I dont understand how it would work if say I applied for a work permit so I can work for

my husband then how can I apply for citizenship when I'm on the work permit visa? Any thoughts?

[JakeBKK]

Thank you for all the advice received. Yes its my intention to apply for the Thai Citizenship but

I read on this forum that I would need to have 3 continuous years of Non O visa then I can

apply for citizenship, seems like a long time to not be able to work....

I dont understand how it would work if say I applied for a work permit so I can work for

my husband then how can I apply for citizenship when I'm on the work permit visa? Any thoughts?

During the application process you would have to return your work permit anyhow. same applys to your visa which will be revoked. ( Remark: this happens only if your application was successful) And than: happy shrimp farming ;-)

Greetings

Jake

[astral]

Remuneration is not taken in consideration!

Any mental or physical labor, paid for or not, is considered working and needs a work permit.

One could argue by you doing the accounts, you are taking away work from the Thai labor force, where quite some accountants are available.

Correct.

You need a work permit, or a Thai accountant.

[TheChiefJustice]

Yes its my intention to apply for the Thai Citizenship but

I read on this forum that I would need to have 3 continuous years of Non O visa then I can

apply for citizenship, seems like a long time to not be able to work....

I dont understand how it would work if say I applied for a work permit so I can work for

my husband then how can I apply for citizenship when I'm on the work permit visa? Any thoughts?

The two are not mutually exclusive. If you have a work permit you can still apply for citizenship. Once your citizenship comes through (but not before such time), you will be required to surrender your work permit and your visa will be cancelled.

I am not sure that the advice that you need to have 3 years on a Non O visa before you can apply for citizenship is correct. Let me check the Thai regulations and get back to you on that. Best thing for you to do is to talk to the kind police at the Police Special Branch in Bangkok. Where are you located?

[gosompoi]

You can get away without a work permit since it is your husbands business and you are not getting paid. In a full letter of the law if you call it working/job then you need a work permit. But a wife helping her husband at home or work does not require a permit. A wife helping to take care of the home or business and managing money is just part of marriage. Just because you are involing yourself in the money matters of your family business does not require a permit. If you owned the business too or were paid then yes get a work permit. In your case, being a wife and helping your husband does not require a work permit. One last note and please do not take any offence, if you were a man and helping your wife with her business then yes you would need a work permit.

Are you 100 percent sure about this advice ? are you a lawyer with expertise in this matter ?

A wife can take care of family and domestic finances but you mixing it with commercial

or business activities and i think you are potentially putting this lady at risk with

" off the cuff " advice ? If someome reported her, immigration may not have

such a relaxed interpretation ? How do you know ?

I had inquired if I needed a work permit if I help my wife with her business without a any pay. I was told NO as long as I was not involved in the action of the business and not getting paid. I could help my wife without a work permit. The Action of the business being for example a School then I could not or if selling food was the business I could not cook or help customers but I can go to store or count money for my wife. I now have a work permit not related to helping my wife but they are easy to get. Took me three trips to the Thai Goverment Office and less than one week for the whole process.