Hello,

I would greatly appreciate all feedback about what my options are when my Non-Immigrant B Visa expires. I currently have a work permit that will expire at the end of May, and a multiple entry Non-Immigrant B Visa (extended for 1 year) which expires at the end of July this year. I am no longer employed in Thailand.

Renewing this visa is not an option as I would need to supply lots of paperwork from my former employer which I cannot obtain. Is this correct?

I plan on ordaining as a monk at the beginning of July for 30 days, but this means my Visa would expire while I am enrolled in the program (program ends early August). The program says I must have a Visa valid for 60 days to be allowed into the program. How do I get a Visa like this?

To complicate things further I would like to keep a homebase in Bangkok but travel to neighboring countries for many months (August-December) and periodically come back to Bangkok and stay for a while. What is the best way to do this? Could I somehow get a multiple entry Visa or am I stuck with constantly getting a 14 day tourist stamp at land border crossings and 30 day stamp if arriving by airplane?

I look forward to all of your replied and really appreciate the help!

It sounds as though you are here illegally, your permission to stay ended when your employment did. You should apply for a Tourist Visa to begin with, perhaps a double, each entry allows a stay of 60 days and can be extended for 30 days for 1900 Baht.

Edited May 9, 201214 yr by beechguy

It sounds as though you are here illegally, your permission to stay ended when your employment did. You should apply for a Tourist Visa to begin with, perhaps a double, each entry allows a stay of 60 days and can be extended for 30 days for 1900 Baht.

You are correct if he is on an extension.

To OP. You need to get to a Thai consulate ASAP because you have been without a permit to stay or valid work permit since you lost your job. Be prepared pay to up to 20,000 baht when you leave the country if you have been out of work for 40 days or more, if less multiply the number of days by 500 baht including the day you leave.

Edited May 9, 201214 yr by ubonjoe

His employment ends at the end of this month, so till than he is here legally.

At the end of emloyment you would need to go abroad and apply for a double entry tourist visa. (I understand it is just a course for 60 days? If you plan on to stay ordained longer, you might want to look in a visa for religious puposes. if only ashort time, the tourist vis wil be fine.

His employment ends at the end of this month, so till than he is here legally.

At the end of emloyment you would need to go abroad and apply for a double entry tourist visa. (I understand it is just a course for 60 days? If you plan on to stay ordained longer, you might want to look in a visa for religious puposes. if only ashort time, the tourist vis wil be fine.

No he says he is currently unemployed, but his work permit does not expire until the end of May, he is illegally here if on an extension.

Edited May 9, 201214 yr by beano2274

" I am no longer employed in Thailand." 2nd sentence of first paragraph of topic.

Edit- beano got in ahead of me.while I writing post

Edited May 9, 201214 yr by ubonjoe

His employment ends at the end of this month, so till than he is here legally.

At the end of emloyment you would need to go abroad and apply for a double entry tourist visa. (I understand it is just a course for 60 days? If you plan on to stay ordained longer, you might want to look in a visa for religious puposes. if only ashort time, the tourist vis wil be fine.

A the end of the first paragraph, he says he is no longer employed, seems to me he should have canceled his WP and departed.

You're right. (Having my first cup of coffee for today right now) Seems his work permit was not cancelled, which put me on the wrong track, and which could be another problem.

OP better gets a letter from the employer stating the last day of employement and cancel the work permit, and with a like wise letter addressed to immigration cancel the permission to stay. Overstay fine will be calculated from the day the employment ended.

To the OP, when did you stop working?

You are also on an extension which expired the day you left your work. Your WP should have been returned to the Ministry of Labour.

You're right. (Having my first cup of coffee for today right now) Seems his work permit was not cancelled, which put me on the wrong track, and which could be another problem.

OP better gets a letter from the employer stating the last day of employement and cancel the work permit, and with a like wise letter addressed to immigration cancel the permission to stay. Overstay fine will be calculated from the day the employment ended.

Ah! The not enough coffee syndrome. Happens to me sometimes also. Either that or a Brain F**t.

Edited May 9, 201214 yr by ubonjoe

Thank you all for your quick replies! After reading them, I am now seriously worried. I thought I have been in the clear all this time.

My employment ended on March 12th. My employer said they would not cancel my work permit until the end of May and it sounded like they were doing this as a favor to me. I was looking for another job in Thailand ever since I was laid off but have recently decided to end my search.

I traveled to Cambodia in March and re-entered at Poipet border the first week of April. I told Thai immigration there I have a Non-Immigrant B Visa and the smll stamp they put in my passport that day still says until "31 July 2012".

Does this information help or change anything stated above? Still worried!

Indeed your employer is doing you a favour. If he writes the letter stating your empoyment will end late this month you are in the clear, but do cancel your work permit and permision to stay with such letter.

The stamp by the officer is correct, as it tallies up with your extension.

You are still illegally here, but you might get away with it thanks to your company. When you get the letter return the WP to the Ministry of Labour and also take it to Immigration

deleted

Edited May 9, 201214 yr by PoorSucker

You may be OK if your former employer has not notified the employment office that you are no longer working. Leaving and re-entering indicates that you may be in the clear. You need to check with your employer to make sure he hasn't done the notification yet.

Again, thank you all very much for your replies. I had no clue I would be encountering such a nightmare today.

So if I can obtain a letter from my employer stating my employment is ending at the end of this month and I take it to the Ministry of Labour and Immigration in Bangkok I should be ok I hope.

After doing the above, do you know what my current visa situation would be in the country? Would they automatically stamp me with a 14 or 30 day Visa or something?

Also, how best would I get the 60 day visa needed for the monk program (go abroad and apply for a double entry tourist visa as mentioned above)? The monk program is only for 30 days, but they require a Visa for 60 days for some reason.

After the monk course is over I do wish to travel to several countries in the area for several months coming back to Bangkok periodically. Am I right that I would only be able to get a 14 day visa by land and 30 day visa if arriving by plane back in Thailand?

With the employer giving a letter stating "employed until the end of May" but actual finish date was in march, will either parties incur any tax implications due to the salary that was supposed to have been paid ?

Again, thank you all very much for your replies. I had no clue I would be encountering such a nightmare today.

So if I can obtain a letter from my employer stating my employment is ending at the end of this month and I take it to the Ministry of Labour and Immigration in Bangkok I should be ok I hope.

After doing the above, do you know what my current visa situation would be in the country? Would they automatically stamp me with a 14 or 30 day Visa or something?

Also, how best would I get the 60 day visa needed for the monk program (go abroad and apply for a double entry tourist visa as mentioned above)? The monk program is only for 30 days, but they require a Visa for 60 days for some reason.

After the monk course is over I do wish to travel to several countries in the area for several months coming back to Bangkok periodically. Am I right that I would only be able to get a 14 day visa by land and 30 day visa if arriving by plane back in Thailand?

You don't really need to do anything when your former employer notifies the labor department. You could get a 7 day extension at immigration that costs 1900 baht which will start on the date you go to immigration. But your best option is just leave the country and make a trip to a Thai consulate before your employer notifies the labor department and get a tourist visa which would give you the 60 days needed that can be extended for another 30 days.

Edited May 9, 201214 yr by ubonjoe

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused now and could use some more help determining what actions I should take. Should I still get a letter from my former employer stating employment is over at the end of May? If so, should I also bring this letter to the Ministry of Labour and to Immigration in Bangkok?

Or, do I simply need to find out what date my former employer will notify the Labor Department and then leave the country before that to visit a Thai Consulate, tell them my story, and get a double entry tourist visa?

I'm very thankful for everything thus far and this is very, very helpful!!!

If possble, I would get the letters, and clear everything with the Labor Department and Immigraton, then exit for applying for the Tourist Visas.

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused now and could use some more help determining what actions I should take. Should I still get a letter from my former employer stating employment is over at the end of May? If so, should I also bring this letter to the Ministry of Labour and to Immigration in Bangkok?

Or, do I simply need to find out what date my former employer will notify the Labor Department and then leave the country before that to visit a Thai Consulate, tell them my story, and get a double entry tourist visa?

I'm very thankful for everything thus far and this is very, very helpful!!!

You do not have to go the labor department to notify them that is your former employers responsibility. At one one time you had to turn in your work permit but that was dropped in 2008. Immigration notification would only be needed if you wanted the 7 day extension or to change employers and get a new extension. So just leaving the country before the labor ministry is notified is all you need to do.

The rule is you must have a letter from employer and present this to immigration on last day of work to cancel extension of stay - this is a new rule for more than a year - you are not allowed to just leave anymore (although it may work). They cancel your extension of stay at that point and you must depart within 24 hours (unless you request and pay for an extension of stay - 7 days to leave). In the past this was often not a problem but recently people have started to be detained at land border crossings and required to return to extension of stay immigration to get extension canceled before being allowed to depart. You seem to have avoided that before because you had a re-entry permit for your trip to Cambodia, or they were not checking. I suspect your employer will not be keen on providing a letter if no tax record on file for your employment from March to now so indeed you may face a 20k overstay in worst case.

This all makes sense to me. I assure you I've done some research on this but all of the information I've found makes my head spin. It's much better to ask the experts.

I will check with my former employer as to when they will notify the Labor Ministry, and I will plan to visit a Thai consulate somewhere abroad a few days before that. Assuming I get a 60 day double entry tourist visa at the end of May, how soon after that can I apply for the 30 day extension? The monk's course ends the first week of August, so a 60 day visa beginning at the end of May would not cover this entire period of time.

Also, can someone please let me know what would happen if I left Thailand after acquiring my new visa and wanted to re-enter Thailand? Would my visa then be changed to only 14 or 30 days depending on the method I re-enter Thailand or would I still be counting down from the 60 (or 90 days with extension) originally granted? I ask because I have plane tickets to Myanmar in June. A friend is also visiting Thailand in June and might buy tickets for that trip too, but I'll need to tell him ASAP if I can't join.

Really looking forward to your replies. Thank you!

If immirgation find out his employment ended, they may send him back to get the letter from the employer and visit his immigration office. It isn't often spotted or done, but can happen. Their concern is that they don't know when the employment ended and thus if the person in question is on overstay. That is why they soemtimes insist on cancelling the extension of stay.

This all makes sense to me. I assure you I've done some research on this but all of the information I've found makes my head spin. It's much better to ask the experts.

I will check with my former employer as to when they will notify the Labor Ministry, and I will plan to visit a Thai consulate somewhere abroad a few days before that. Assuming I get a 60 day double entry tourist visa at the end of May, how soon after that can I apply for the 30 day extension? The monk's course ends the first week of August, so a 60 day visa beginning at the end of May would not cover this entire period of time.

Also, can someone please let me know what would happen if I left Thailand after acquiring my new visa and wanted to re-enter Thailand? Would my visa then be changed to only 14 or 30 days depending on the method I re-enter Thailand or would I still be counting down from the 60 (or 90 days with extension) originally granted? I ask because I have plane tickets to Myanmar in June. A friend is also visiting Thailand in June and might buy tickets for that trip too, but I'll need to tell him ASAP if I can't join.

Really looking forward to your replies. Thank you!

With your Tourist Visa entry, that stay would be canceled upon departure without a re-entry permit. If entering again without a visa, yes 30 days by air and 15 days at land entry.

Ok, so it sounds like I do need to get a letter from my former employer stating my employment is terminated at the end of this month and then take it to the Immigration office in Bangkok with my passport.

Within 24 hours after that I will leave Thailand (probably by bus) to a destination with a Thai consulate where I can apply for a double entry tourist visa. After leaving Thailand if I decide I just want a 30 day visa for Thailand at this point can I just hop on a flight back to Bangkok without dealing with the Thai Consulate or am I missing something here?

Big thanks to everyone for all of your help so far!

It will be a 30 day visa exempt stamp rather than a visa and airline could refuse boarding without onward ticket within 30 days (not likely on short flight) so yes you can leave by land and return by air.

Good to know, thank you.

I sent an email to the company I worked for and was informed that because they have BOI (Board of Investment) approval the process of cancelling my work permit and Visa is as follows:

- my former employer submits cancellation notice to BOI

- BOI will inform Immigration to cancel my Visa

- I need to visit the Immigration with a representative from my former employer before this all happens

- I can stay in Thailand 7 days after the cancellation date (May 31st) and there is no need for a letter from the employer.

So my plan now is to visit Immigration with a representative from my former employer (probably next week), leave Thailand by bus a few days after 5/31 and come back to Thailand via airplane on 6/7.

If anyone has any comments I'd be interested in hearing them.

Having BOI status chnges everything, as you deal with the One Stop Service Centre (labour and immigration in one) and they will indeed give you 7 days to leave the country.

Sounds like you have a plan.

As said BOI is the key to having the 7 days without prior application for extension on day employment ends.

The issue I see is if I were your employer I would never issue such a letter leaving open the question of where are the tax payments on an official document (letter to immigration). Delay in return of work permit is one thing - an official letter is quite another.