Work Permit Expired

[Mac66]

I would appreciate any advice or direction that anyone could give to me regarding my current situation please. I have resigned from my employer and they advised because my resignation date was after the expiration of my work permit they would renew the permit for another year to cover the overlap in the resignation period and also to facilitate finalisation of current contracts if they ran past my final day. The work permit expired on Friday (18th), I have been told this morning that they have decided not to renew the work permit. In addtion to this my employer lodged my tax and did this incorrectly (junior staff member did all returns) and this ended up with an 50,000+ baht outstanding debt owed to the revenue department. The employer has recognised this is their error and did said they would pay this as it was their mistake. They have now advised that they did not pay the amount (due back in April apparently) and it may now have interest applied.

My situation is this, I understand that once the work permit expires I must leave the country within 7 days and that if I try to leave the country (even if I am coming back - I have all my possession here and will need to collect and pack them) and the tax amount is not paid I will be arrested at the border. I would like to clarify that I must leave within 7 days (re-enter on tourist/holiday visa) and that this tax amount must be paid prior to leaving (which would be by this Friday 25th) - can I get an extension to the requirement to leave within 7 days of the work permit expiring? Will the border be informed of the tax amount or can I leave and come back in and get the documentation (still held by my employer) to pay the outstanding amount? My ex-employer is telling me that effectively my employment is finalised as of the expiration of the work permit and they will remit outstanding salary for the period up to the expiration of the work permit and not that of the notice period - they have advised they will not and have no legal obligation to pay the outstanding amounts to me prior the end of month pay date. I believe that they must pay all salaries owning when employment is ended within 24 hours of the last day of work.

Finally, as I will return as a tourist can I get a tourist visa (30 day) at the border on re-entry and can I do this if I got to Laos and come back the same way?

Thank you for your help in advance.

[lopburi3]

You must leave the country the day your employment ends if on a one year extension of stay from Immigration. If on a visa 90 day entry you do not have to leave.

You can obtain a 7 day extension of stay for 1,900 baht when you present passport of extension cancellation with employers letter of end of work.

You can only obtain a 15 day entry at a land border if of normal 30 day visa exempt status country. Only by air do you get 30 days now. A tourist visa is easily obtained in Vientiane and is free (need to stay overnight).

[Mac66]

You must leave the country the day your employment ends if on a one year extension of stay from Immigration. If on a visa 90 day entry you do not have to leave.

You can obtain a 7 day extension of stay for 1,900 baht when you present passport of extension cancellation with employers letter of end of work.

You can only obtain a 15 day entry at a land border if of normal 30 day visa exempt status country. Only by air do you get 30 days now. A tourist visa is easily obtained in Vientiane and is free (need to stay overnight).

Thank you lpburi3, when you mention the "visa 90 day entry" is this the 90 day reporting requirement? I have been working here in Thailand for 2 years and on each occassion the work permit and visa have been for 1 year at a time. With the fact that technically my resignation date is not until the end of July 2010 and I have not been officially advised that I have been terminated only that they will not renew the work permit, if I go to apply for an extension tomorrow (saying my employer will give me the letter of end of work) could i expect that I will be in some form of trouble with Immigration? Thank you one again.

[lopburi3]

No that would be for those that do not do address reporting but leave the country every 90 days to get a new 90 day entry (using multi entry visas for the most part).

You will likely be told to obtain a letter from employer.

[Mac66]

No that would be for those that do not do address reporting but leave the country every 90 days to get a new 90 day entry (using multi entry visas for the most part).

You will likely be told to obtain a letter from employer.

Thank you very much once again.

[Sunbelt Asia]

There are several issues that you may run into with regard to both your visa status and your tax liability. Firstly, if your work permit expired on the 18th and your visa was an extension of stay processed and approved in Thailand, your visa may have been cancelled on the 18th as well and you may already be overstayed. The regulations state that your visa will be cancelled the same day that Immigration is notified of the cancellation of the work permit and in most cases the individual would go to Immigration the same day employment is terminated and would request a 7 day extension in order to arrange for a new visa in country or make arrangements to exit Thailand.

If the visa was issued outside of Thailand and the expiration date on your visa is some time in the future then there may be no issue and you would have until the expiration date of the visa to make new visa arrangements.

As far as the tax liability, there is really no way to know if the Immigration Department is aware of the liability but it is very doubtful as it only dates back a few months. If it is your intention to leave Thailand and then return to pack and then permanently leave Thailand it would be most advisable to pay the amount due during the period you are in Thailand between leaving Thailand as soon as possible to get a new visa a the date that you plan to leave the Kingdom permanently.

If you are going to Laos to get a visa you must go to the Thai Embassy there to get a tourist visa as if you simply do a border run which would mean you simply cross the border and then return to Thailand, you will only be issued a 15 day visa exemption stamp.

[sunbelt][/sunbelt]