Work Permit

[Savanna]

Hi I wonder if you can give me some information regarding work permits. I am here on a tourist visa which says "work prohibited" if someone gives me a letter of employment, how do I go about getting a work permit and once I have a work permit what visa do I qualify for. Also what taxes would I have to pay because I have a work permit ie. are there annual tax returns to complete or do they expect the employer to deduct tax from my salary.

Then, I have found someone who is prepared to help me with my visa run from Chiang Mai, they are going to charge me 3000bht and they use their vehicle and their petrol, does this sound reasonable?

Thanks

[lopburi3]

You can apply for the work permit on your tourist visa (but you will need much more than a "letter") - once you receive the receipt (take a few days) you can then take the non immigrant B visa required paperwork, including the work permit receipt, to a Consulate to obtain a that visa. The visa will be single entry and allows a 90 day stay. Next trip, with the actual work permit and paperwork may allow them to issue a one year multi entry type which would then only require crossing borders every 90 days. Or if you meet the requirements for one year extension of stay from Immigration you would not have to leave the country.

I do not believe anyone is going to drive you to Vientiane (which is probably the closest Consulate). I suspect they are talking about a border run which does not provide the required non immigrant B visa.

Yes you have to pay tax. There are annual tax returns and withholding of tax is normal.

[jstumbo]

too slow

[Savanna]

You can apply for the work permit on your tourist visa (but you will need much more than a "letter") - once you receive the receipt (take a few days) you can then take the non immigrant B visa required paperwork, including the work permit receipt, to a Consulate to obtain a that visa. The visa will be single entry and allows a 90 day stay. Next trip, with the actual work permit and paperwork may allow them to issue a one year multi entry type which would then only require crossing borders every 90 days. Or if you meet the requirements for one year extension of stay from Immigration you would not have to leave the country.

I do not believe anyone is going to drive you to Vientiane (which is probably the closest Consulate). I suspect they are talking about a border run which does not provide the required non immigrant B visa.

Yes you have to pay tax. There are annual tax returns and withholding of tax is normal.

Sorry I am a bit confused. What receipt must I receive? And why would I have to still cross the border every 90 days if I am employed here?

Can you let me know what the whole process is ie.

1. Get letter of employment

2. ??

[Tomkagai]

The company should provide you will all the documentation you need to apply for your Non-imm B, and they should know the procedure..

They will provide you with a letter of intent to employ you and a whole heap of company documents....shareholders agreements, latest company tax certificate etc etc, generally the stack of doc;s is about an inch thick...

Take these documents with your passport to a Thai consulate which will issue an non-imm B...(I have done this through Singapore a couple of times over the last 6 years) pay your money to the consulate (not sure what it costs these days) come back the next day pick your passport up and you will have a Non-imm B in it with a single entry....come back to Thailand hand your passport over to the company and they will do the WP application...wait a couple of weeks or more and you will get your passport back and hopefully they will have arranged to get a multi-entry as well. You will also recieve a blue book about the same size as your passport...this is your W/P

Pretty simple process on your part..

[lopburi3]

Current policy seems to require that the work permit application be made before a visa will be issued at local Consulates. So the receipt for work permit must be with the stack of documents presented to local Consulate.

[Savanna]

The company should provide you will all the documentation you need to apply for your Non-imm B, and they should know the procedure..

They will provide you with a letter of intent to employ you and a whole heap of company documents....shareholders agreements, latest company tax certificate etc etc, generally the stack of doc;s is about an inch thick...

Take these documents with your passport to a Thai consulate which will issue an non-imm B...(I have done this through Singapore a couple of times over the last 6 years) pay your money to the consulate (not sure what it costs these days) come back the next day pick your passport up and you will have a Non-imm B in it with a single entry....come back to Thailand hand your passport over to the company and they will do the WP application...wait a couple of weeks or more and you will get your passport back and hopefully they will have arranged to get a multi-entry as well. You will also recieve a blue book about the same size as your passport...this is your W/P

Pretty simple process on your part..

Have root canal treatment is simpler and less painless!! LOL

[Tomkagai]

Current policy seems to require that the work permit application be made before a visa will be issued at local Consulates. So the receipt for work permit must be with the stack of documents presented to local Consulate.

Ok..things have changed a little since I last done mine then......at the end of the day the company who the OP is working for will tell them what they need to do....

[Tomkagai]

Have root canal treatment is simpler and less painless!! LOL

It seems complicated but all you really have to do is turn up at the consulate with what the company have given you...pay the money over, get a receipt as I am sure you will want to claim the money bakc from the company...and off you trot...go and have a night out...in my case Singapore...come back next morning and pick your passport up all stamped up

[Savanna]

I read here somewhere that you have to have a Non Imm visa before you can apply for a work permit. They also show a sample letter the company should give you.

My question is, if the company gives you this letter stating they plan on employing you and you go to the consulate with the letter and your passport and they give you the Non Imm B visa, which will be valid for a year. Then when the year is up how do you renew that visa - at the consulate or at immigration?

[lopburi3]

No Consulate is in the area is going to provide you any non immigrant B visa without more than a letter.

A visa is obtained from a Consulate - only if you qualify and obtain an extension of stay from Immigration would you obtain a new extension of stay from Immigration on a yearly basis. Immigration requirements are more strict that work permit so you may or may not qualify.

[Maestro]

I read here somewhere that you have to have a Non Imm visa before you can apply for a work permit. They also show a sample letter the company should give you.

You read – or understood – wrong or you read outdated information. It might be possible to get a multiple-entry non-B visa with a company letter only from an honorary consulate in your home country but there is no guarantee and you should call the consulate first to clarify this.

I understand you are in Thailand at the moment and you plan to apply for your non-B visa at a Thai consulate in a nearby country. For this, the step-by-step procedure is as outlined in the preceding posts in this thread.

You do not need a non-B visa to apply for a work permit and to get the receipt for the work permit application, but you will need a non-B visa to pick up your work permit.

1. Submit application for work permit. Get receipt for the application.

2. Get a non-B visa from a Thai consulate. This visa will most likely be valid for a single entry.

3. With the non-B visa in your passport, pick up your work permit.

4. If you meet the requirements, apply at an immigration office for an extension of stay, otherwise get a multiple-entry non-B visa from a Thai consulate.

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Maestro

[monty]

1. Submit application for work permit. Get receipt for the application.

The paper you will receive is the form WP3, which basically states that you (or somebody on your behalf) submitted your work permit application AND that the submitted paperwork is deemed sufficient!

You do not need any particular visa to do the above application, you can even be on the 30 day visa free stay!

[Tomkagai]

I read here somewhere that you have to have a Non Imm visa before you can apply for a work permit. They also show a sample letter the company should give you.

You read – or understood – wrong or you read outdated information. It might be possible to get a multiple-entry non-B visa with a company letter only from an honorary consulate in your home country but there is no guarantee and you should call the consulate first to clarify this.

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Maestro

Know someone who went through this process recently in their own country and the company had to DHL all the original paperwork to the person concerned for submission to the countries Thai consulate with their passport, not just a letter...... they got a single entry non-imm B back which was changed over to multiple entry at the one-stop once they had arrived in Thailand

[Maestro]

...they got a single entry non-imm B back which was changed over to multiple entry at the one-stop once they had arrived in Thailand

Impossible. At the immigration office (one-stop) in Thailand, they probably got an annual extension of stay for employment and if they got “a multiple entry” it must have been a multiple-entry re-entry permit but not a multiple-entry non-B visa.

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Maestro

[Tomkagai]

Correct multiple entry permit....not a multiple entry non-imm B....badly written....my sincerest apologies....the old eyes are going