Camerata's Guide To The Permanent Residence Process

[onthemoon]

9 hours ago, Arkady said:

Your problem raises the question of how do other companies cope with this.  There must be many foreigners who start new jobs in the first quarter of the year.  I wonder if their accounts departments are always forced to finalise their accounts early.

My current work permit always expires in December, so no problem. But I used to work for a company with several foreigners with work permits, and they always renewed the WPs in April. How did they do that? When a new work permit is applied for (new employee), they did not apply for a whole year, but only from start of employment until the next April. The next application then was for one year. 

 

This way, all WPs had to be renewed at the same time, which was more efficient for them.

[sas_cars]

As somebody was recently asking about the process to return if a PR holder loses his PR book and passport while overseas, I asked this very question yesterday when I visited the PR department for my re-entry. They informed that you can just come back (provided you still had valid rentry) and upon reaching a border check point, YOU NEED TO INSIST THAT YOU ARE A PR HOLDER which was lost overseas, they can check your status on their computers and will give you correct entry, then you need to visit the PR department to have your PR book reissued. If in case you are from a visa required country (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Africa etc) , the airlines won't let you board without a visa, so just for that purpose, you can get a tourist visa. But once you arrive, you don't have to use that tourist visa, just insist to the immigration officer of your PR status and they will do the needful and give you the correct entry.

Still, if there is someone whose due to go there for re entry, ask someone again as usually every thai officer has a different version of events. Better to double check.

[tamvine]

My Blue PR book has only 3 pages left and I am in upcountry area. I have checked with the local Immegration office and they say the new books are not available so go to Bangkok. I need following advice.

 

Will CW help issue new book even though my address is of upcountry? I guess this will be a White Book this time.

There are still 3 pages left in my present Blue book? Will the CW issue me new book? I wish to have a new book as I travel a lot and wish to avoid spending time and money after few months to issue new book? I will also have the reentry done.

 

I also have just been issued a new passport by my embassy. Is there any special instructions I need to follow?

 

[Arkady]

6 hours ago, tamvine said:

My Blue PR book has only 3 pages left and I am in upcountry area. I have checked with the local Immegration office and they say the new books are not available so go to Bangkok. I need following advice.

 

Will CW help issue new book even though my address is of upcountry? I guess this will be a White Book this time.

There are still 3 pages left in my present Blue book? Will the CW issue me new book? I wish to have a new book as I travel a lot and wish to avoid spending time and money after few months to issue new book? I will also have the reentry done.

 

I also have just been issued a new passport by my embassy. Is there any special instructions I need to follow?

 

 It will indeed be a white book and, as far as I am aware, Immigration will have no problem with all of this.  I once asked for a new book when renewing my re-entry, since the old one still had a few pages in it but was unlikely to last the year out and they obliged with this.  With a new passport, you just need to take the old one along too to show them and get the new endorsement in the new one. 

[rimmae2]

Off topic a little, but registering and using autochannel at SVB is beneficial - no stamps in passport or blue book when using it, although it is always better to be safe in case it is not working.

[tamvine]

2 hours ago, rimmae2 said:

Off topic a little, but registering and using autochannel at SVB is beneficial - no stamps in passport or blue book when using it, although it is always better to be safe in case it is not working.

I agree. Specially when we have been discussing the case where we lose PR overseas. In such a case we can just walk in Thailand through auto channel and then take care of the lost one.

[sas_cars]

I agree. Specially when we have been discussing the case where we lose PR overseas. In such a case we can just walk in Thailand through auto channel and then take care of the lost one.

Yes correct. I covered above in case of losing both PR book and passport registered with autochannel

[beeper]

I applied end 2015 for PR and picked up my Residence certificate book yesterday. It is blue, but saw also people with white books. What is the difference? Are both equal?

 

[ubonjoe]

9 minutes ago, beeper said:

I applied end 2015 for PR and picked up my Residence certificate book yesterday. It is blue, but saw also people with white books. What is the difference? Are both equal?

 

The white ones are replacements for the original blue book when they get full.

[Bubbha]

A question about work permits for PR holders.

 

When working as a consultant - is there a minimum monthly (or yearly) salary/tax requirement to qualify for a work permit? 

 

Or, are the minimum salary requirements tied only to the non-immigrant B visa approval process?

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, Bubbha said:

A question about work permits for PR holders.

 

When working as a consultant - is there a minimum monthly (or yearly) salary/tax requirement to qualify for a work permit? 

 

Or, are the minimum salary requirements tied only to the non-immigrant B visa approval process?

There is no minimum salary requirement for work permits.

If on PR there will be no minimum salary requirement since it is only required for an extension of stay based upon working for a company.

[SteveB2]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no minimum salary requirement for work permits.

If on PR there will be no minimum salary requirement since it is only required for an extension of stay based upon working for a company.

 

Gosh - now there is something I didn't know. Thank you ubonjoe for that lovely snippet.

 

So if I understand your statement correctly, someone who holds PR could apply for a work permit to carry out casual/voluntary work paying a peppercorn(or even zero) income. Then providing this work was not that in the normal excluded professions list, it would be OK, right?

[ubonjoe]

11 hours ago, SteveB2 said:

So if I understand your statement correctly, someone who holds PR could apply for a work permit to carry out casual/voluntary work paying a peppercorn(or even zero) income. Then providing this work was not that in the normal excluded professions list, it would be OK, right?

Not sure about zero income unless it was volunteer work.

You would still need to be working for a registered Thai company or business.

[Bubbha]

Ubonjoe - thanks very much for your response - exactly the information I was looking for.

[beeper]

Thanks ubonjoe, clear. Does anyone have experience whether becoming PR affects the special income tax rate that foreign employees of BOI sponsored (ROH status) foreign companies are eligible for?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Metapod]

Maybe someone can answer this. I don't think my situation qualifies me but worth checking out.

 

Living in BKK and working for a local company with Non-B and Work Permit for 3 years. I'm not on extension of stay though. I apply for a new 1 year multi entry Non-B each year.

 

Am I able to apply for PR or not under those circumstances?

[sas_cars]

Maybe someone can answer this. I don't think my situation qualifies me but worth checking out.
 
Living in BKK and working for a local company with Non-B and Work Permit for 3 years. I'm not on extension of stay though. I apply for a new 1 year multi entry Non-B each year.
 
Am I able to apply for PR or not under those circumstances?

No, you are not qualified. One must be working and paying a certain amount of taxes and on three year continuous extension of stay.

[Metapod]

3 hours ago, sas_cars said:

 

No, you are not qualified. One must be working and paying a certain amount of taxes and on three year continuous extension of stay.

 

 

Yeah, I figured that. I've filed tax return every year for 3 years but my company didn't setup my visa to be an extension of stay.

[SteveB2]

On 9/6/2017 at 8:49 PM, SteveB2 said:

 

Gosh - now there is something I didn't know. Thank you ubonjoe for that lovely snippet.

 

So if I understand your statement correctly, someone who holds PR could apply for a work permit to carry out casual/voluntary work paying a peppercorn(or even zero) income. Then providing this work was not that in the normal excluded professions list, it would be OK, right?

and while we're on PR Work Permit subject, (and being reasonable), one would expect the minimum salary for the Changwat to apply (somewhere around THB9,000 Baht)

Would the rules for 4 Thai employees for a PR holding foreigner work permit also apply too (I can find nothing in the PR regulations that say anything about this at all)

Thank you for your help 

[blackcab]

4 hours ago, Metapod said:

 

Yeah, I figured that. I've filed tax return every year for 3 years but my company didn't setup my visa to be an extension of stay.

 

Perhaps it's time to get that changed.

[skyaslimit]

Thai citizens are exempted to fill TM 6 cards from tomorrow onwards, what about residents?

[thedemon]

1 hour ago, skyaslimit said:

Thai citizens are exempted to fill TM 6 cards from tomorrow onwards, what about residents?

I also wondered about that.

 

As it stands now, if you exit/enter via a regular booth manned by an IO your passport is stamped. If you go via the Autochannel lanes, obviously your passport is not stamped.

 

So perhaps the same logic will apply. If using the manual system then yes you will need a TM6 and if using the Autochannel, then no TM6.

 

The staff that collect the TM6 at Autochannel lanes don't check it and a few times no one has asked for it from me so I have thrown it away after getting home so it seems just as redundant for residents as for Thai citizens.

 

Then again, now that Singaporean visitors can use the Autochannel lanes, would they also be exempted from completing a TM6? That seems doubtful.

 

I guess we'll see soon enough.

[onthemoon]

On 9/15/2017 at 1:20 PM, skyaslimit said:

Thai citizens are exempted to fill TM 6 cards from tomorrow onwards, what about residents?

I would think so. The only reason the TM6 card has not been abolished altogether is that the TAT find the statistics useful for their planning. Like Thai citizens, PR holders do not fall into the statistics they need.

At least, this is the reason I heard on the news.

[onthemoon]

On 9/15/2017 at 2:42 PM, thedemon said:

I also wondered about that.

 

As it stands now, if you exit/enter via a regular booth manned by an IO your passport is stamped. If you go via the Autochannel lanes, obviously your passport is not stamped.

 

So perhaps the same logic will apply. If using the manual system then yes you will need a TM6 and if using the Autochannel, then no TM6.

 

The staff that collect the TM6 at Autochannel lanes don't check it and a few times no one has asked for it from me so I have thrown it away after getting home so it seems just as redundant for residents as for Thai citizens.

 

Then again, now that Singaporean visitors can use the Autochannel lanes, would they also be exempted from completing a TM6? That seems doubtful.

 

I guess we'll see soon enough.

No, that doesn't make sense. Even if you go to the auto channel, you needed to deposit your TM6 card. And I believe Singaporeans will still have to do that.

[mortenaa]

On 9/11/2017 at 8:01 PM, SteveB2 said:

and while we're on PR Work Permit subject, (and being reasonable), one would expect the minimum salary for the Changwat to apply (somewhere around THB9,000 Baht)

Would the rules for 4 Thai employees for a PR holding foreigner work permit also apply too (I can find nothing in the PR regulations that say anything about this at all)

Thank you for your help 

 

I successfully renewed my WP with PR and only two Thai employees in my company. This was in Bangkok, this week.

[onthemoon]

1 hour ago, mortenaa said:

 

I successfully renewed my WP with PR and only two Thai employees in my company. This was in Bangkok, this week.

And I have another question: I think I read somewhere in this thread that the minimim salary of THB 50,000 does not apply for PR holders, as it has nothing to do with the labour department; it is a condition for visa extension. And we don't need a visa any more; so I could now get a work permit with a salary of THB 10,000/month. Is this correct?

[ubonjoe]

32 minutes ago, onthemoon said:

Is this correct?

Yes that is correct.

[onthemoon]

45 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes that is correct.

Thanks, ubonjoe.

[onthemoon]

How far in advance before the re-entry permit (excuse me: Non-quote Immigrant Visa) expires can we renew it? One month?

 

Mine expires in a month, but I want to renew it now, because my passport will be needed to add a second work permit. It always takes  a bit longer for a new WP, so at least I want to have the stamp in the PP before I'll leave 5 days before the expiry of the re-entry, err, visa.

[THAIJAMES]

On 9/22/2017 at 4:55 PM, ubonjoe said:

Yes that is correct.

Can confirm, salary and number of employees is irrelevant for PRs renewing work permit.