Work Visa= Volunteering? Help

[galwaygirl]

Hi, im hoping you can help me.

I was told by the place where i'l be working at in the north to get a tourist visa. i got a tourist visa but i got a phonecall from the thai consule in Dublin, Ireland yesturday telling me its illegal to volunteer in thailand without a work visa. now i contacted the crowd in the north and they're telling me to just come over and do a visa run. its very fustrating and i have to somehow prove i have a degree for the visa crowd but im going to only do my final year exams this may and im leaving for thailand a week later. plus i need a police clearance cert and a letter from the crowd in the north. i dont want to do anything illegal but im afraid times running out to get all sorted. i'l be volunteering for a month and maybe ten days and then travelling for maybe 2/3 more weeks.

Edited April 15, 2008 by galwaygirl

[lopburi3]

You know that you require permission to work in Thailand and that is conferred with a work permit. It appears there is no work permit being considered for you. It is you who is put at risk. Below is the possible penalty by law (although deportation is probably more likely).

Section 75 : Any alien, who fails to comply with the provisions of Section 37(1) shall be punished with

imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding 10,000Baht or both.

[JohnC]

Volunteering is seen as employment in Thailand and as such a work permit is a legal requirement, however, in certain areas the lcoal police will give permission for voluntary work without the work permit but this given on a project basis. Whoever you are volunteering with should know the local situation and for such a short period of time it is unlikely a work permit would be insisted on. Your option would be to arrive on your tourist visa then check out the local situation, worst case scenario is you will be refused permission to work and would have to consider the expence and hastle of leaving and coming back on a b visa and work permit.

[garro]

Hi, im hoping you can help me.

I was told by the place where i'l be working at in the north to get a tourist visa. i got a tourist visa but i got a phonecall from the thai consule in Dublin, Ireland yesturday telling me its illegal to volunteer in thailand without a work visa. now i contacted the crowd in the north and they're telling me to just come over and do a visa run. its very fustrating and i have to somehow prove i have a degree for the visa crowd but im going to only do my final year exams this may and im leaving for thailand a week later. plus i need a police clearance cert and a letter from the crowd in the north. i dont want to do anything illegal but im afraid times running out to get all sorted. i'l be volunteering for a month and maybe ten days and then travelling for maybe 2/3 more weeks.

Hi Galwaygirl, I sympathise with your plight. It is illegal to do any work without a work permit, but many people do it. I have voluntered it in the past, with the knowledge that it would be very unlikely that I would get in trouble. I am not saying that you should do this. There is the small risk if and you were caught that you could be deported.

The problem may be that the organisation, you are going to volunteer for, might not feel that it is worth applying for a work permit for somebody working for a month. It will likely take longer to just apply for the thing.

In the end it is your call.

Pall

[galwaygirl]

i emailed the crowd im working for again and told them im not prepared to do anything illegal as it'll basically be putting my butt on the line and that all they need to send me is a email with my duties on a letter headed piece of email. if they refuse or my letter from the college saying im expected to obtain a degree is not enough, im going to get a tourist visa and talk to the police out there OR not bother and just treat this as a holiday. its slightly upsetting as i've been raising money since christmas for whatever place i'd end up volunteering and now i cant even do any work.

[garro]

i emailed the crowd im working for again and told them im not prepared to do anything illegal as it'll basically be putting my butt on the line and that all they need to send me is a email with my duties on a letter headed piece of email. if they refuse or my letter from the college saying im expected to obtain a degree is not enough, im going to get a tourist visa and talk to the police out there OR not bother and just treat this as a holiday. its slightly upsetting as i've been raising money since christmas for whatever place i'd end up volunteering and now i cant even do any work.

It does sound a bit of a shame but hey chin up. You can come to Thailand and have a great time. In a month you could spend some time on the Islands as well as time up north. Enjoy.

[galwaygirl]

i know, it would be fun but holidaying was never my purpose for coming to thailand even though its meant to be mad craic altogether. i actually shortened my volunteering to a month and a bit just so i could travel with a friend for the last month to the islands, cambodia and finally hong kong. the crowd in thailand said to just forget about it for a few days, cancel my visa and they'll get back to me. i dont have time for that but what else can i do? the guy im emailing needs to check with his boss whether i can get the letter.

[PeaceBlondie]

My daughter-in-law's good friend (they are from County Clare) worked up north, teaching, almost surely without a work permit. I was asked to do volunteer work on the Burmese border (Mae Hong Son), without a work permit, and refused (besides, I would never have found the place). The NGO might want you, but not badly enough to make you legal.

In Thai lingo, it's up to you. Congratulations on your good heart, wanting to help.

[Strap]

Good on you for trying, but they are telling you in a nice way to forget about them giving you Anything in writing.They cant do such as it could cause then to be noticed in the future.

If they gave you a letter explaining your intentions it wont help you get a tourist visa anyway, you are not supposed to work on a tourist visa.

The Thai consulate cant issue work permits so that wont help you and might hurt them trying to hide the fact they offer volunteer positions to foreigners without proper documentation.

In Thailand it is very difficult to offer your services as a volunteer these days, Remember the Tsunami?

there were about 100 + volunteers that were told to stop helping because they didn't have work permits.

Dont let this stop your good intentions , maybe save them for a place that welcomes them more though.

[garro]

I tell you what galwaygirl. If you really want to do some volunteer work in Thailand we could use a maid. My wife is busy with our son, who is half Irish by the way, and could use a hand.

[PeaceBlondie]

I tell you what galwaygirl. If you really want to do some volunteer work in Thailand we could use a maid. My wife is busy with our son, who is half Irish by the way, and could use a hand.

garro, are you teaching him to speak Irish? Does he play Celtic sports yet? My son thought you played hurling by vomiting.

[garro]

No Irish language PB, as I failed that particular subject in school. Mind you if Irish starts making ground as an international lingua franca I might reconsider. At eight months old we haven't moved onto team sports as yet, but we were considering teaching him a game which could celebrate both cultures; possible a combination of hurley and muay Thai.

[galwaygirl]

well i recieved an email basically telling me they havnt got time to deal with me, which i understand, i mean they're a NGO. plus you're right i dont think they want to draw attention to themselves and if they just put it like that i'd understand, i mean im just one person. i just feel like the stupid irish girl bothering them at this stage but i'm just trying to help ya know? i just wish there was a way to volunteer but remain within the law *sigh*. Now i can see why volunteers generally go with companies like i to i. yes they charge you great deals of money and dont give anything to the organisations but at least they get you a work visa!

Im going to contact another volunteer crowd and see about volunteering elsewhere and do they issue work visas. im not giving up on this but i think being garro's maid will be my last option! i'd sooner be your nanny tbh love kids!

thanks for all your help and kind words. this is the third time i've had to change organisations due to problems with being western, work visa ect. i'm starting to get disheartened but not enough to quit yet.

[Strap]

Well don't let this get you discouraged , It is a good intention you have, just certain places seem to not be willing to except volunteers as they feel there not needed.

A side note please be careful of the NGO, I have seen a few that were straight scams.

I do hope you are able to fulfill your desires to help others, There is no better

Good journeys.

[sriracha john]

Volunteering is seen as employment in Thailand and as such a work permit is a legal requirement, however, in certain areas the lcoal police will give permission for voluntary work without the work permit but this given on a project basis.

Is this written anywhere into the official law???

The police have no authority with work permits, which falls under the Ministry of Labor.

To volunteer and work legally, she will need a work permit... period.

Various people in various threads have alluded to this exemption and that waiver, but, to date, no one has ever produced evidence of a work permit exemption or cited any specific law to the contrary of the above definitive in bold.

To the OP...it will be difficult to find an NGO willing to write you a sponsorship letter that will produce a non-immigrant visa AND a work permit, especially for a short period of time as your case, to be completely legal.... because of the expense and effort they require.

It's a sad situation regarding this discouragement of volunteering, but at the end of the day... you are the one putting yourself on the line. If you choose in the end to put yourself in harm's way, that is up to you... but do so with eyes wide-open and be accepting of any repercussions if things don't go your way.

[alantheembalmer]

Have a look at the Thai Consulate web site at Hull, England. It appears from that site that you need an O visa to do voluntary work. They are helpful people, and you could always give them a ring to confirm the situation. Good luck.

[Sweet Dreams]

Hull has an additional Pack for Volunteers on their Non O Visa application site - so, is it legal or not to Volunteer without a work permit!

Seems it is OK according to Hull.

God Bless Hull!

[Maestro]

Link, please.

Different consulates seem to use different stamps for their visas but a non-O visa will probably say “good for __ journey(s) to Thailand”. That’s the only thing a visa is good for, ie allows you to do legally.

Of course, after entering Thailand with your non-O visa you are legally allowed to apply for a work permit. So I was wrong, there is this second thing that a non-O visa allows you to do legally. Plus a few other things, perhaps, like registering a motor vehicle in your name, applying for a driving licence, etc., but definitely not work without a work permit.

--

Maestro

[PaddyThai]

I can understand the NGO's (in the OP's case) not wanting all the hassle of dealing with Work Permits and visas for such a short period of time (one month).

I was involved with an NGO for a year or so. My job included sourcing and bringing in Native English speakers. We brought in volunteers from around the world to help with English language practice. They only stayed about 3 months. The hassle to get suitable and qualified young people was a mamoth task in itself. To then go through the hoops for visas and Wps was too much. They simply came on Tourist visas which they then extended. We had an understanding (unofficial) with the local labour office and everyone was happy. In fact one of the senior Labour office guys used to come around in the evenings to practice his own English and asked if his daughter could come round during the day.

I think upcountry people are pretty relaxed about rules and regs.

[Badbanker]

The requirement of work permits for volunteers is very clear under Thai law!

It is also very very clear that unless it is in a politically sensitive location like the Tsunami, many people do come to Thailand and do volunteer and do enjoy their contribution to Thai society immensly. In all likely hood, the Thai authorities are not going to make an issue of this now or in the future, as to do this would rob Thai society of a huge number of people's service, that frankly Thai people can't and don't want to and won't do themselves.

So many foundations and NGO's in Thailand depend on foreign volunteers it is difficult to list then all! I would estimate that the vast majority of them DO NOT have work permits!!!!!

As Paddythai has said the process of getting a Work Permit is trying at best and not worth the effort for someone that is staying for a 3 month period

I would suggest the OP come here and visit the NGO spoken about and see for yourself the situation which my opinion is not going to be that bad or dangerous.

Badbanker