Work Permit (teaching) Nightmare

[topspin]

I,m having a real Work Permit nightmare:

On my last trip to the UK I got a Non Imm 'O' Multiple Entry Visa valid from 23 March 2006 until 23 March 2007. On entry into Thailand I was admitted until 24 June(90 days).

I was then offerred a teaching position at a local govt. school in Khon Kaen....They had never gone through the WP Process before so it was a bit like the blind leading the blind...however on the 5 June I was granted a Work Permit from the Dept of Employment and Labor....got the Blue WP Book etc....however it was o0nly valid until 24 June ( I have been given a 1 year contract from the school).... Up to this point I have not been to Nong Khai Immigration...

Now I have been getting conflicting information about my visa status.....some people are saying that because I have a non Imm 'O' Visa I have to go to Vientienne to change my Visa to a Non Imm 'B' in order to extend my work permit OR prior to the 24th can I turn up at Nong Khai Immigration Office with my Work Permit and school papers and get the full 12 months Work Permit stamp. I have tried to phone the office but they never answer the phone.....

I hope this info is clear and can get a definative answer

[Crossy]

I,m having a real Work Permit nightmare:

On my last trip to the UK I got a Non Imm 'O' Multiple Entry Visa valid from 23 March 2006 until 23 March 2007. On entry into Thailand I was admitted until 24 June(90 days).

I was then offerred a teaching position at a local govt. school in Khon Kaen....They had never gone through the WP Process before so it was a bit like the blind leading the blind...however on the 5 June I was granted a Work Permit from the Dept of Employment and Labor....got the Blue WP Book etc....however it was o0nly valid until 24 June ( I have been given a 1 year contract from the school).... Up to this point I have not been to Nong Khai Immigration...

Now I have been getting conflicting information about my visa status.....some people are saying that because I have a non Imm 'O' Visa I have to go to Vientienne to change my Visa to a Non Imm 'B' in order to extend my work permit OR prior to the 24th can I turn up at Nong Khai Immigration Office with my Work Permit and school papers and get the full 12 months Work Permit stamp. I have tried to phone the office but they never answer the phone.....

I hope this info is clear and can get a definative answer

You do NOT repeat NOT have to change your visa!!!!

You've done the hard part and got the permit, now you go to immigration with the paperwork and they exend your stay to 1 year after your last entry, then you go back to the labout dept and the extend the WP to match the extension. Simplistic view, but immigration will guide you, probably!!

I've had similar problems, the process for a non-o is very slightly different, TiT - 'different' = 'no can do'.

[vinny]

See also WORK PERMITS, VISAS, AND REENTRY PERMITS IN THAILAND.

[SunbeltAsia]

I,m having a real Work Permit nightmare:

On my last trip to the UK I got a Non Imm 'O' Multiple Entry Visa valid from 23 March 2006 until 23 March 2007. On entry into Thailand I was admitted until 24 June(90 days).

I was then offerred a teaching position at a local govt. school in Khon Kaen....They had never gone through the WP Process before so it was a bit like the blind leading the blind...however on the 5 June I was granted a Work Permit from the Dept of Employment and Labor....got the Blue WP Book etc....however it was o0nly valid until 24 June ( I have been given a 1 year contract from the school).... Up to this point I have not been to Nong Khai Immigration...

Now I have been getting conflicting information about my visa status.....some people are saying that because I have a non Imm 'O' Visa I have to go to Vientienne to change my Visa to a Non Imm 'B' in order to extend my work permit OR prior to the 24th can I turn up at Nong Khai Immigration Office with my Work Permit and school papers and get the full 12 months Work Permit stamp. I have tried to phone the office but they never answer the phone.....

I hope this info is clear and can get a definative answer

Most likely you already have a one year work permit. It is marked at such on the bottom of Page 5 in your work permit ( The labor Dept could of issued it 6 months but the odds are VERY high its one year) However the work permit is only valid for how ever long your visa is valid. Confused yet?

Your visa is valid till June 24th and so is your work permit( even though you have most likely already been granted a one year work permit)

You now can apply for the extension of stay based on Business. This is off of the 90 day stamp that the extension will be granted. No need to change the visa.

You will need to take to Immigration

In case of instructor

Immigration form 7 (Tor Mor 7)

Copy of passport

A 4 cm. X 6 cm. Photograph

1,900 baht application fee

Work / Employment Contract

Educational background, degrees or diploma

A teacher License (Sor Shor 11)

A teaching Permit (Sor Shor 19)

A School license (Sor Shor 2)

A permit / certificate to be a School Manager (Sor Shor 5) or Principal (Sor Shor 8)

A certified document from the governor of the province in which Education Institute is located.

The document must contain the Following details of the applicant:

Name, Family name

Age

Nationality

Passport number

Position

Length of Teaching

Salary rate

A Work Permit or a document showing acceptance of the request for working permission or a document indicating exemption from Job Seeking Offices

When applying for further stay next year, evidence of income tax Payment (Por Ngor Dor 91) of the previous year is required.

In case of having dependents (husband / wife, children), the certified document from the applicant accompanied with evidence showing their relationship with the applicant is required. All documents in other languages must be translated into Thai and certified by the embassy or consulate of the foreign national(s).

The officials reserve the rights to examine or ask for additional documents if necessary.

At Immigration,you then will be issued a 30 day " Under Consideration" stamp. You go back to the Labor Dept and they will give you 30 more days with a government fee of 850 Baht along with the application for extension. In 30 days you go back to Immigration and get another 30 day " Under Consideration stamp. Back to the Labor Dept. Repeat the process until you are granted a one year. at any point you are to leave the country, you must obtain a reentry permit or you start the process all over again.

If your school has a hard time getting all the paperwork together, Don't panic. Simply cross the border. You will get a fresh 90 day visa( you have a one year multi entry visa which requires you must travel every 90 days) you then extend the work permit and get 90 more days. If in 90 days, they still could not come up with the paperwork. Repeat the process again and again every 90 days. With this type of visa, no need to get a reentry permit, as you already have unlimited reentries ( The extension of stay based on business, you don't have any reentry until you pay for it)

If for some reason, you can't cross the border on the 23rd or before or you will not be in Thailand at that time. You then go to the Labor Dept and get your work permit suspended. When you arrive back in Thailand you have 5 days to get your work permit extended for the new visa term

By the way, we will be expanding and opening a legal office in Udon Thani in the next several weeks headed up by a prominent American Lawyer with a Thai legal staff. Number of people are in your same boat and its much easier to have a professional handle this.

www.lawyer.th.com

[rishi]

OP doesn't mention his age nor the "flavor" of his non-O - and it does make a difference wether the visa is issued on retirement grounds or anything else.

However, since his current non-O visa was okay for getting the WP in the first place, it'll also be okay for the extension. If his non-O is e.g. of the marriage kind (and one meets the requirement), retaining the non-O flavor when extending the visa would be a better option (for one thing - you don't depend on any paperwork from the school, just personal papers you'd already have).

[Khutan]

In short the way it works is:

Once you get your work-permit, you fo to immigration and apply for a extension of your visa based on your W/P.

When you get the Extension, get a letter from the employer offering to extend your tenure for a further year. (This is a formality for the WP)

You then take this back to the labor ministry with your visa and you evtend the WP to the date of the visa.

[Maestro]

...you evtend the WP to the date of the visa.

...extend your WP to the date of your extension of stay.

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Maestro