1 Year Work Permit Renewal

[keestha]

Having had the same business for 8 years, for a long time it had been a very easy formality to extend my work permit, once I had the new visa extension or entry stamp. In the beginning they still asked for salaray tax forms and receipts, and for receipts for the compulsory staff health insurance. But the last 5 years or so, I only had to show my new extension or entry stamp.

Not so last time though, last December when I came with a fresh 90 days entry stamp. I was told that now work permits are renewed only for 1 year periods (yes, old news, but it took a long time before it got through to the labour office here in Nakhon Nowhere), and that I had to show all the licences my business needs to operate legally, besides of course salary tax ( ภ.ง.ค. 1 and 91, plus receipts) and staff health insurance forms and receipts.

My business is a hotel-restaurant, so what I needed was a hotel permit (or a government issued letter that it is being processed), licences to sell Thai and imported alcoholic beverages, licence to sell cigarettes, and a licence to sell food.

My work permit was to expire in two days, but the officer handling my application said I could also come at a later date once I had my paperwork in order, and she put a small red stamp on my application form, saying I could use this in lieu of a work permit provisionally. It took almost a month to get the licence to sell food, which the local Orbortoh (Tambon administration) only started issuing since recently.

Today I submitted the necessary paperwork, and I was relieved to get the desired one year stamp in the blue work permit book. It was not such a nice feeling to be very visibly working for one month whilst holding a work permit which was technically expired.

Edited January 20, 2009 by keestha