Changing work permits without leaving the country....

[Bodger22]

Here is my situation....

My current work permit and Visa expires 16th July and is with a Bangkok based company.

BUT the company is officially being closed down on 31st March and my visa and work permit will be cancelled.

I have a new job offer from a Phuket based company.

My understanding of how to avoid leaving the country and still get the new work permit is as follows:

If I personally go to Bangkok to cancel my work permit and visa - and I have the new work permit application/letter for the new company with me – then Bangkok Immigration will extend my visa for an extra week at a cost of 1900 Baht.

Then I can go straight to Phuket, and in that extra week I can go to Phuket Immigration and submit the new work permit application.

When the new work permit application is submitted, PHUKET Immigration SHOULD(?) give me another extension on my Visa to stay in Thailand without having to leave the country, whilst they process the new work permit application. Not sure how long this second extension would be (3 month non B?)

Can anyone confirm if this is correct?

So basically, if I have the new work permit application/letter with me when I go to Bangkok to cancel the old work permit (about end of March), I can get an extension of old visa which gives me enough time to come back to Phuket and apply for the new work permit in Phuket, plus get another visa extension but not have to leave the country!

Am I missing anything here? Or any suggestions of what I should do if the above is not correct.

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[ubonjoe]

Immigration does not issue work permits the labor ministry does them.

I don't think you will be able to get it done in 7 days.

[Bodger22]

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry I should have been more specific about Immigration versus Labour.

I understand that the work permit itself would not be issued in 7 days by Labour Dept.

But I would just like to get a further visa extension by Immigration Dept to stay in the country whilst the work permit is processed.

7 days should be enough time to get the second visa extension.

Question: When I go to Bangkok, would the work permit application/letter from the new company need to have already been submitted and receipted by Phuket Labour?

[Mario2008]

You go to both labour and immigration in BKK with a letter from your employer and cancel both WP and permission to stay. At that time you can apply for an extra 7 days to leave the country. (No need to show any documents)

That gives you 7 days to get a new WP from labour in Phuket and extension of stay of Phuket immigration.So have the new company have all their paperwork ready to submit to the labour office. Issuance of a WP can take some time in Phuket.

If you can't get the papers toegther in 1 week, you will have to leave the country and apply for a non-B visa abroad giving you 90 days on entry. It is always an option to forget about the 7 day extension and just leave the country after having cancelled at labour and immigraiton to get a new non-B visa to start with.

[Bodger22]

Ok - all understood so far.

BUT - if you can show Phuket Labour/immigration that you have a valid job offer and all correct documentation, is there no process to get a further second extension of stay in Phuket beyond the initial 7 days provided in Bangkok?

As it happens I can definately have all the new work permit documentation fully ready to submit but I agree with you that it would take longer than seven days.

Thats why I want to see if they will accept the new job offer and therefore provide another extension beyond the 7 days and so avoid leaving the country!

New question - can I apply right now for the new work permit whilst I currently have a valid work permit? i.e. if I apply now then the new work permit could be issued before the current one is cancelled.

Or is that a non option?

Thanks for your help.

[ubonjoe]

You can only get one 7 day extension which in reality is 7 days to leave the country after they deny the application.

With approval of your current employer it might be possible to apply for the new work permit before your job ends.Your new employer would have to contact the Phuket work permit office ot get it started.

[Bodger22]

Ok now we are getting somewhere - hopefully!!

So if my current employer is fine with my new employer submitting the new work permit application asap, then this can be processed whilst my current visa is still valid, and as long as the new work permit is approved before 31st March then I dont have to leave the country?

And the new employer can make my start date 1st April.

What do you think?

[ubonjoe]

It is possible to get the work permit problem worked out. It might be that you would have to pick up your new work permit in Pkuket after old one is canceled.

You probably would still need to get the 7 day extension because you have to cancel your extension in Bangkok and then apply for a new one in Phuket. You have to leave the country on the same date your extension is canceled.

[Bodger22]

If my new work permit is approved before my current visa expires, then cant I plan to apply for my new visa in Phuket on the same day/next that the old visa and work permit is cancelled in Bangkok as I still have 24 hours to leave.

I.e. I dont need any extension so I dont need to go to bangkok. My current company will cancel my work permit and visa in Bangkok. I will already have my new work permit approved by then. So on the same day/next day as the cancellation I apply for the new Visa using my new work permit. Then I dont have to leave the country.

I apologise for all the questions - just want to to be as clear as possible about my options.

[ubonjoe]

You and your passport have to be at immigration when your extension is canceled in Bangkok.

You don't have 24 hours to leave or get a new extension you have to do it before midnight on the day your extension is canceled.