Non-imm b extension

[paul30]

Just a quick query about a non-imm b extension.  I'm from the UK, here in BKK on a non-imm B which expires in mid-November.  I've got a WP which is valid also until mid-November (same date as the visa expiry - I was told it had to be that way) but my employment contract at a government school continues until next June.  

Will it be easy for me to go to Immigration in Suan Phlu just before my visa expires and obtain an extension of the non-imm B until next June, on the basis of having a WP and valid employment contract or do I need to leave the country, do a visa run and obtain a completely new non-imm B visa?  

Many thanks for any help.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

If the WP is extendable until the end of your contract your visa will be extendable to the same time. But with two seperate Department's handling the matter it becomes a bit like the chicken and egg thing. Is there someone in the school admin with good experience in this that you can chat to ?

[Indo-Siam]

Hi Paul -

You do not need to leave the country.  You need to apply for an entry permit extension several days before your current entry permit expires.  They will then place a stamp into your passport indicating an interim 30-day extension while your long-term extension request is being processed.  Using this stamp, you will then need to go to Labor Ministry and obtain a one-month work permit renewal (they will only renew for as long as your 30 day extension).  You are then good for the rest of the 30 days.

At the end of the 30 days, you go back to Immigration and they extend you another 30 days - and then go repeat the 30 day work permit renewal process.

Recently, entry permit extension requests have been taking about 10 weeks to come back.

Once you get your approved long-term entry permit (which will expire one year from the date of your original visa that got you into Thailand), you go back to Labor Ministry again and get a long-term work permit, to match the new expiration date of the entry permit.

Do NOT let your work permit expire.  Renewals are easy, but if you let a work permit expire, then you have to go through the full work permit application drill again.

My company handles the above sequences more or less continuously.  Clients come to us because some people cannot spare the time to slog around the various offices doing the paper shuffle.

Good luck!

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

[email protected]

[JonnieB]

are you shitting me...all this BS just to work as an english (presumebly) or some other teacher in thailand.  i don't want to sound too negative but, WHY  DO YOU GUYS AND GALS PUT UP WITH THIS .  all the hasstle to renew WPs and visas all for the joy of teaching thai toddlers and adults to get up to speed with the modern world and joining the global economy by learning english.  AND FOR THE MONEY THEY PAY YOUS GUYS!!!

you must all have rocks in your head.  sure, thailand is a decent tropical country and is fun to holiday in or retire in but to try to live and work here...especially independently as a teacher and not on some big corporate package...just doesn't seem worthwhile to me.

seriously, why do you do it?  do you all have little thai teraks and mias is that it or what.  i would think that all english teachers would have decamped for sing, malay, hkg, korea, japan long ago and saved thailand for your holiday breaks only.

[paul30]

Thanks for the information, guys.  Gosh, what a palaver, Indo-Siam.  No, Dr P_P, I wish there was someone who was very experienced with this stuff at the school.  Guess I'll have to do the same old Immigration/Labour Min run again.

[Guest IT Manager]

do you all have little thai teraks and mias

What is a terak please?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Tee-Rak = Darling      

[Edward B]

are you shitting me...all this BS just to work as an english (presumebly) or some other teacher in thailand.  i don't want to sound too negative but, WHY  DO YOU GUYS AND GALS PUT UP WITH THIS .  all the hasstle to renew WPs and visas all for the joy of teaching thai toddlers and adults to get up to speed with the modern world and joining the global economy by learning english.  AND FOR THE MONEY THEY PAY YOUS GUYS!!!

you must all have rocks in your head.  sure, thailand is a decent tropical country and is fun to holiday in or retire in but to try to live and work here...especially independently as a teacher and not on some big corporate package...just doesn't seem worthwhile to me.

seriously, why do you do it?  do you all have little thai teraks and mias is that it or what.  i would think that all english teachers would have decamped for sing, malay, hkg, korea, japan long ago and saved thailand for your holiday breaks only.

Jeez, what's your problem mate? You presumed we're all english teachers here. They're all over at ajarn.com.  I think you should post that comment over there, not on this forum where many of us are either earning big bucks or retired with 'tee raks' (sweethearts), 'mias' or whatever - so the 'worth it' is there in my opinion.

[Axel]

....They will then place a stamp into your passport indicating an interim 30-day extension while your long-term extension request is being processed.  Using this stamp, you will then need to go to Labor Ministry and obtain a one-month work permit renewal (they will only renew for as long as your 30 day extension).

Your information is absolutely correct. What I love about it,

for the interim period you pay to the labour dept. for your WP-extension. At immigration I need a new re-entry permit, Baht 3900 for multiple. After 30 days same story again, plus another Baht 3900. Than your passport is full, a new one a.s.o. I just love it, not even talking about the time spent on the road, at imm. and labour dept. Per year I pay for myself and wife, easily just Baht 20-30000 on fees. Who says we are not supporting the Thai government?

[JonnieB]

paul specifically mentioned he had a work contract with a school.  now, he may be in admin, maybe a prof at a uni, but i assumed (and stated) that he is like the majority of those farangs affiliated with schools here in thailand an english teacher.  i have nothing for or against english teachers here in thailand.  in fact, if i think if anything, it is that they are underappreciated by many thais... especially those who make the visa and labour regulations.  just look what one in paul's position is just to be able to legally work here in a position for which the thais have very few qualified native hires (he's not taking a job away from a thai) AND HELP THE THAIS.

just look at all paul has to go through just to remain legal here.  sure thais can make up these rules...its their country and all blaa blaa blaa...but gimma the teachers a break.  paul is supposted to be working but in addition to his work, for 6 months like, he has to go back and forth each month to get extensions from the immigration and the labour departments in bangkok or upcountry to keep his visa and wp kosher.  even paul's school has no one to help him...he has to do it all himself.

i never said or presumed anything about the posters here.  in fact, i said that if you are on a corporate package or retired or on holiday, thailand can be a great place to be.  if you are working independently, it seems like an aweful lot of red-tape for little money.  

maybe if half the teachers said the heck with it and did go work in the countries i mentioned, the thais would see the error of their ways and make life a little easier on them vis-a-vis visas and work permits.

i was serious is asking why would anyone put up with so much red-tape in order to stay/live/work in thailand.  there are lots of other pleasant foreign and exotic locales one could work...and i would presume a little easier regarding the paperwork too.

[Edward B]

Well Jonnie, that was a much better post than your first one (even with Dr Pong's swift filtering). Paul can always go to people like IndoSiam etc. if they're fed up with the red tape. I work in a uni and my department do all the work for me so I don't complain. Taking that aspect out of the way makes Thailand a pretty darn great place to live, in my opinion. But yes, I agree with you in that it is a long and winding road to ensure one is 'legal' here.

[JonnieB]

i think (could be wrong) that just about all of us that live here long-term, either working or retired or loafing (but financially secure) want to do it legally.  of course, there are some who don't care about the legalities or in no way can support themselves but still want to stay so will do anything (scam thais/fellow farangs, work withoug permits, just plain overstay and hope never to get caught) but me and all my friends try to do everything by the book (sheez, just look at my post about getting my driver's license).  i just wish the thais would make the red-tape a little less onerous and then enforce it uniformly so we all know what to expect.  i know it is a developing country so things are slow and unorganized sometimes and that the thai suffer as bad or worse at the hands of the bueracracy (sp...sorry) but often it seems that in the effort to catch and weed out the few undireables, they make life so hard on the rest of us.

[The_Moog]

If anyone wants to research Jonnie Bangkok further, simply join BK Knight's Global Village and read some of Jonnie's 'arb op nuat' travelogues.

That should answer your questions about his motives here !

[dr_Pat_Pong]

 AND FOR THE MONEY THEY PAY YOUS GUYS!!!

At least we know know that the plural of YOU is " YOUS " I have been worried about that for sometime.          

[Percy1]

It would certainly be interesting for someone to do some research on The_Moog with his one constructive post.

I suppose a Super Adminitrator could look up the IP address and let us know who is hiding behind the alias.

But wouldn't it be embarassing if it turned out to be a Super Administrator :ghostface:

[fanchom]

Why was my post deleted? Surely it would be more fitting to erase your snide and unfunny quip.

For up-to-date and factual VISA information try http://www.mfa.go.th/web/12.php - hear it from the horses mouth and not cut and pasted.

[PaulBKKVisa]

Yikes ... RE:  NON-B EXPIRATION as reported in this post:  Can anyone clarify please? ...

I was told by many that the advantage to a 1 year, multi-entry Non-B was that it could actually be good for 15 months.  To do this, you must cross a border before (but close to) the expiration date of the Non-B and you will be given another 90-days from that date; therefore, extending it beyond the Non-B expiration date.  Is this true??  

I am heading to Poipet this week with a NON-B expiration of 16 October so I am hoping, as told a year ago, that I will be OK until January, 2004.  Help ....  :-)  and thanks ...

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Absolutely can Paul. Mind you, my experience could be over-ruled by new comers. I'd bet on me , rather than them.

[JonnieB]

doc...lighten up.  it may not be the queen's english but i'm not from england.  maybe you are unfamiliar with the variations and permutations the english language has taken on in america.   ::

and as for moog...i would say most peoples' interests and reasons for being in thailand are varied.  many in fact fix several interests at a time and even at the same place  

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Johnny...it was a cheap shot, but only meant in humor / humour. SORRY

[ThaiJan]

Hmmm, I quite don’t get all these problems about the work permits for teachers. I’m on my fourth contract here and I never faced any problems/hassles with 30 days extensions and running back and forth.

Here is how it’s done in Udon Thani: Every year, when I get my new contract, normally 2 weeks before the old one expires, I first go to Ministry of Labour and hand in my WP together with a copy the new contract. They give me some kind of receipt which I bring to Immigration together with copy of the new contract, income statement from my employer (for the last year), and tax statement + receipts for paid tax from the tax office. I get my 1-year extension (only one stamp) in less than 10 minutes (15 days longer than the contract) and then go back to Ministry of Labour who got my WP renewal ready (also 15 days longer than the contract says). It takes less than 5 minutes there to get the WP book.

I spend less than 10% of the time on these things (governmental harassments) here in Thailand than I ever did in my home country, which in fact is the reason why I’m here (- if JonnieB wants to know).

I got 6 colleagues here, and it’s exactly same procedure for them, whether they are newcomers or oldies, no matter if we are hired by Ministry of Education or on local contracts.

I have no idea, but I suspect that some people are facing problems because their employer don’t give them the right doc’s or are not in good faith with the Ministry of Labour and/or Immigration. Why all these problems with 30 days extensions? I have never faced it!!!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Jan   many of the schools are very disorganized and that is unhelpful. But you are right...so many have enormous problems while others breeze through. Luck or skill ? I'd put it down to skill.      ::

[dr_Pat_Pong]

IDEA 4 JAN    give up the chalky arts and become a WP and visa consultant for the teaching profession. More money in that than teaching.        :cool: