My husband's company are organising his B- Visa so he can work in Thailand for a year. I will accompany him, but am not sure of my options. I've read that I can stay in Thailand for this duration on an O- Visa, but am worried that this would mean I would be unable to work whilst I'm there. Once in Thailand, will I be allowed to look for work ( paid or voluntary) and obtain a work permit once I've found a job? Or can I apply for a B-Visa ( or work permit) now, without a job offer?

I hold a German passport, my husband is British.

Thank you very much for your help. Tanja

If you come to Thailand on a Class O visa as a spouse accompanying a Class B visa holder, you may routinely obtain a work permit on the basis of the Class O entry permit. You just need to find a Thai employer who is qulaified to sponsor a work permit.

Good luck!

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

Bangkok

[email protected]

www.thaiastartup.com

Can you please just clarify this for me: do I need to have the work permit before I can look for a job (therefore apply for it at the same time as for the O Visa), or after I have found an employer who will sponsor me? Also, do I need a work permit to do charity work? If I can't find work, I would like to take a course with an UK based online university ( Open University)- do I need any kind of permission for this? Thank you! Tanja

A Thai employer must sponsor a work permit. Every work permit is issued for a specific job, for a specific employer.

Obtaining a work permit to perform charity work will require a fairly significant amount of work/expense by the organization sponsoring you. Put simply - this does not occur very frequently.

You may freely study without a work permit.

Good luck!

Steve

Indo-Siam

If one were to enter on this type of 'O' visa (accompanying B-visa spouse), would you still need to do 90 day visa run's?

Thanks,

AJW