Non-B Visa From Uk

[dantilley]

Hi All,

Can anyone please let me know what documents are needed to obtain a first time Non-Immigrant B visa, which is to be used to work as an employee for a Thai company? The application will be made at the Thai Embassy in London.

Many thanks.

[Mario2008]

Apply at the consulate in Hull or another consult, they are easier to deal with and it can be done by mail.

The consulate website has all inormation about how to proceed and what documents to proceed on it.

[Satcommlee]

You will definitely need a letter from the company, and I believe it should bear the company stamp.. There is info online about what this letter should say.

As previous poster mentioned, use the consulates.. not the Embassy.

The consulates are run like businesses, they get a cut of the VISA fee and are more likely to to be helpful.

If you turn up at Cardiff for example she will do the visa while you wait. Or you can post in and it will be processed straight away and posted back to you the same day. I used to send a pre-paid special delivery envelope for its return.

[siam2007]

those times are long gone.

from my understanding, no honorary consulat will issue a B-Visa nowadays without a valid work-permit or at least a signed work-contract. That is for a SINGLE entry. I don't think ANY consulat will nowadays issue a multiple-entry non-B based on just a recommendation-/sponsorship-letter and a "declaration of intent" to employ somebody.

Hull will definitely not, and most other consulats in Europe won't as well.

they were all in hot water during the past 12 months over their very "liberal" issuing of B- and O-Visas

[dantilley]

Apply at the consulate in Hull or another consult, they are easier to deal with and it can be done by mail.

The consulate website has all inormation about how to proceed and what documents to proceed on it.

Thanks for this, however I don't think he (this is for a colleague [future colleague I should say], not myself BTW) can get all the way up to Hull, nor may be happy to post his passport up there as he only has a limited time window to make the application and it might be a bit of a risk in case it gets delayed. I can suggest it though.

Just supposing the Embassy in London's the only feasible option, what documents would be needed there? The company is a fully legitimate Thai company and easily meets all the requirements to hire another foreigner.

[digitalchromakey]

Just supposing the Embassy in London's the only feasible option, what documents would be needed there? The company is a fully legitimate Thai company and easily meets all the requirements to hire another foreigner.

Suggest the following list for London, which is all documents required as per the MFA Website:

Non-Immigrant Visa Category “B” (Business Visa) is issued to applicants who wish to enter the Kingdom to work or to conduct business.

(1) Foreigners who wish to work in Thailand must provide the following documents:

- Passport or travel document with validity of not less than 6 months.

- Completed visa application form.

- Recent passport-sized photograph (4 x 6 cm) of the applicant taken within the past 6 months.

- Evidence of adequate finance (20,000 Baht per person and 40,000 Baht per family).

- Letter of approval from the Ministry of Labour. To obtain this letter, the applicant’s prospective employer in Thailand is required to submit Form WP3 at the Office of Foreign Workers Administration, Department of Employment, Ministry of Labour Tel. 02-2452745, or at the Provincial Employment Office in his or her respective province. Copy of Work Permit issued by the Ministry of Labour and alien income tax or Por Ngor Dor 91 (only in the case where applicant has previously worked in Thailand).

- Corporate documents of hiring company in Thailand such as:

1) business registration and business license

2) list of shareholders

3) company profile

4) details of business operation

5) list of foreign workers stating names, nationalities and positions

6) map indicating location of the company

7) balance sheet, statement of Income Tax and Business Tax (Por Ngor Dor 50 and Por Ngor Dor 30 of the latest year)

8) value-added tax registration (Por Por 20)

The Letter of Approval is ideal, but many will accept the WP3 receipt which is a small A5 sized receipt issued by the Labour Dept in response to a successful Work Permit Application having been filed.

[dantilley]

Thanks for this, however I was under the impression that, although that is the official list of everything one would need, in reality they will accept much less. Is that true, or is it really necessary to provide all that paperwork?

[digitalchromakey]

Thanks for this, however I was under the impression that, although that is the official list of everything one would need, in reality they will accept much less. Is that true, or is it really necessary to provide all that paperwork?

Yes it would be certainly be necessary at The Thai Embassy/Consulate in London - below is the specific list from their website:

Non-Immigrant Type B

• Official Note certifying the purpose of travel from the Government Agencies /Embassies and Consulates / International Organizations / State Enterprises in Thailand. ("F" / "B" / "ED" / "M" / "R")
  
• Letter from a company stating the objective of the visit to Thailand
  
• Document showing correspondence with trading partners in Thailand.
  
• Letter of invitation from companies qualified to employ foreigners.
  
• Employment contract indicating rationale for hiring the applicant as well as his/her salary, position and qualifications (document must be signed by authorized managing director and affixed the seal of the company)
  
• Copy of Work Permit issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (only in case the applicant has previously worked in the Kingdom )
  
• Copy of corporate documents; namely
  

1) list of shareholders

2) business registration and business license

3) company profile

4) details of business operation

5) list of foreign workers stating names, nationalities and positions

6) map indicating the location of the company

7) Balance sheet, statement of Income Tax and BusinessTax (Por Ngor Dor 50 and Por Ngor Dor 30) of the latest year

8) Alien income tax return (Por Ngor Dor 91) and

9) Value-added tax registration (Por Ngor Dor 20), etc.

• Copy of educational records of the applicant and letters of recommendation from the prior employers, identifying job description and length of service time.
  
• Document indicating the number of foreign tourists (for tourism business only),or document indicating export transactions issued by banks (for export business only)
  

If the job/company is bona fide, then it shouldn't be a problem to get this paperwork sorted out, the best outcome would be a single entry 90 day Non Immigrant 'B' Visa

[Soutpeel]

Thanks for this, however I was under the impression that, although that is the official list of everything one would need, in reality they will accept much less. Is that true, or is it really necessary to provide all that paperwork?

The Thai company should know what paperwork needs to be provided and provide you (your friend) with this

[dantilley]

OK thanks, we'll get together what we can from that list and let's see. Better to have too much than too little I suppose.

[dantilley]

In case anyone's following this, a multi-entry Non immigrant B visa, valid for a year, was collected yesterday from the Thai Embassy in London with just an invitation letter and copy of the company's business registration certificate required.

[Maestro]

Thank you for letting us know the outcome of your visa application.

[dantilley]

Thanks. By the way, apparently this is a visa where you need to leave the country every 3 months, does that sound normal for a non-immigrant visa?

[beano2274]

That is correct it is a multi entry Visa, he needs to go out every 90 days to keep it alive, an alternative is to do an extension at his local immigration office when here, then he does not need to leave the country every 90 days, but just report to the immigration office (This can be done by post, or by his company official)

[Mario2008]

You don't keep a visa alive by going out every 90 days, it is just the case that you are only allowed to stay for up to 90 days per entry (unless you get an extension of stay).

[dantilley]

OK, in my case, every 90 days I need to sign a form and get a stamp at the immigration office (or, rather, someone does this on my behalf). However, if I don't do this, it's no real big deal as everything is still legal and I just incur a 1,000 Baht fine. What I have is an extension of a visa that was originally obtained a few years ago (although, even with my original visa, I never had to leave every 90 days, but of course the rules could have been different back then).

My colleague, on the other hand, has a multi-entry visa, and the impression he was given by the staff at the Thai Embassy was that we would have to leave Thailand, even if just to the border and back again, every 90 days if not sooner. Could this be avoided by reporting to the immigration office instead?

[Mario2008]

He must apply for an extension of stay, just as you have, at immigration. With an extension of stay there is no need to leave the country every 90 days, just report his address every 90 days.

Applying for an extension can be done during the last 30 days of any permission to stay.

[dantilley]

OK thanks, seems clearer now.

[IMA_FARANG]

Thanks. By the way, apparently this is a visa where you need to leave the country every 3 months, does that sound normal for a non-immigrant visa?

--------------------------

Yes, that's normal.

Just to be clear...any multi-entry B visa has a permitted stay on entry of 90 days oer entry, Most of those visas have a period of one year.

So each 90 days you must exit Thailand, getting stamped out of Thailand legally. Then you cam immeadiately turn around and re-enter Thailand...getting another 90 day stamp allowing another 90 stay.

You can keep doing this each 90 days until your visa expires.

If you are smart you can do this "border run" one day before your actual visa expires. Then, even though your visa has only 1 day left, when you re-enter you will get another 90 day "permitted to stay" stamp...and that stamp allows you to legally stay until the date that stamp expires.

Therefore, you can legally get a total of 15 months from that one year multi entry visa.

There are agencies in Thailand who do these "border runs" for a fee. In Bangkok it is about a 12 hour day trip to the Cambodian border...by a mini-van...and the package is all inclusive.

So, at least in Bangkok, the border run for that 90 day stamp is a simple 12 hour day trip to the border.

[Upnotover]

As this non-B has been obtained for your future colleague to work for a Thai company isn't all this talk about 90 days visa runs, etc irrelevant - he/she will have a work permit wont they?

[paul545]

those times are long gone.

from my understanding, no honorary consulat will issue a B-Visa nowadays without a valid work-permit or at least a signed work-contract. That is for a SINGLE entry. I don't think ANY consulat will nowadays issue a multiple-entry non-B based on just a recommendation-/sponsorship-letter and a "declaration of intent" to employ somebody.

Hull will definitely not, and most other consulats in Europe won't as well.

they were all in hot water during the past 12 months over their very "liberal" issuing of B- and O-Visas

Hull definitely will issue Non B visa. I've got one in my passport from last October. Just needed a letter from the company I was going to work with and a letter from my own company.

BTW the Thai letter wasn't even signed but they accepted it and gave me the visa on the understanding I would email them the signed copy.

Very helpful and understanding.

[dantilley]

As this non-B has been obtained for your future colleague to work for a Thai company isn't all this talk about 90 days visa runs, etc irrelevant - he/she will have a work permit wont they?

That's the idea eventually, yes.

[digitalchromakey]

As this non-B has been obtained for your future colleague to work for a Thai company isn't all this talk about 90 days visa runs, etc irrelevant - he/she will have a work permit wont they?

To work legally you must have a Work Permit, but still you must leave/re-enter Thailand at least every 90 days with a Multiple Entry Non Immigrant B Visa.

As Mario has already posted you must obtain an Extension of Permission to Stay from your local Thai Immigration to avoid border runs - this extension process is quite exacting, requires extensive paper work, plus some people are not eligible for such an extension due to their circumstances/employer.