Hi everyone,

I have been living in Thailand for almost 2 years now on a non-immigrant "O" visa. I was recently offered a permanent position at a Thai government university and need to apply for a work permit soon. The person dealing with my paperwork said that I need to switch to a non-B visa before they can apply for the work permit for me. I understand that there are some non-O visas that are also eligible for work permits, so I wonder if I really need to make the change.

As a dependent of a THAI husband, do I need to change my visa status? I have seen some posts that indicate that farangs on non-Os who support Thai wives don't need to switch to qualify for a work permit, but I wonder if the same is true if I am the dependent, not the supporter.

Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to switch if I don't have to!

You can obtain a work permit on either Non-B or Non-O visa. The Labour Department's requirement is that you have a "Non-Immigrant visa" (but excludes retirement visas and usually ED visas).