Non-Imm O to Non-Imm B: Phnom Penh or Vientiane?

[commanderawm]

Hello all!

I'll need to be exiting Thailand at the end of the month to get a new Non-Immigrant B visa. I have been volunteering with a local NGO for around 6 months (with a valid work permit) and was just recently hired as a full-time staff member. As a result, I need to change my visa type. I am a US citizen, my work permit has 6 months left on it, and I can get all of the required documentation from my employer. My questions are:

1) Can anybody suggest which embassy would be better to apply at, Phnom Penh or Vientiane (i.e. which one will I have the fewest issues with, and which one offers the fastest turnaround time considering to availability of 3rd party visa processing services)?

2) Is it actually possible to get a 1-year non-immigrant B visa at either of these embassies under any circumstances?

3) Has anyone had any recent experiences at either of these embassies that they can share?

Thank you all in advance for your replies!

[South]

Why change your visa? You can work on an 'O' with no problems.

[ubonjoe]

Vientiane would certainly be the best choice.

You are going to have to change your work permit also since it was issued for volunteer work and apparently are changing to being a paid employee.

You probably will not get the non-b with your existing work permit.

Only Penang will issue a multiple entry non-b visa. It requires a work permit with at least 8 months of validity to get it.

[ubonjoe]

Why change your visa? You can work on an 'O' with no problems.

That is no totally correct. It all depends upon what the non-o was based upon when it was issued.

For working as volunteer it is not a problem.

If based upon marriage or being the parent of a Thai is also not a problem.

For most other reasons a work permit application will not be accepted with one.

[commanderawm]

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Why change your visa? You can work on an 'O' with no problems.

That is no totally correct. It all depends upon what the non-o was based upon when it was issued.

For working as volunteer it is not a problem.

If based upon marriage or being the parent of a Thai is also not a problem.

For most other reasons a work permit application will not be accepted with one.

Thank you for the input. The non-o was issued for work as an unpaid volunteer. My employer wants me to get a non-B since they stated that they cannot legally pay me an actual, taxed salary while I hold a non-o, unpaid volunteer visa. Evidently, since my employer is a non-profit the standards for tax and record keeping are (relatively) higher than would be for a for-profit entity. They only way for them to try and get around this would be to pay me a suspiciously high untaxed cost-of-living allowance which they are not willing to do.

[paz]

Thank you for the input. The non-o was issued for work as an unpaid volunteer. My employer wants me to get a non-B since they stated that they cannot legally pay me an actual, taxed salary while I hold a non-o, unpaid volunteer visa. Evidently, since my employer is a non-profit the standards for tax and record keeping are (relatively) higher than would be for a for-profit entity. They only way for them to try and get around this would be to pay me a suspiciously high untaxed cost-of-living allowance which they are not willing to do.

I think you are permitted to stay in Thailand by extension of stay (that is not a visa) for volunteering. If you were stay with a non-imm 'O' visa, it would not specify volunteering or other reason, and you could get paid.

[TerryLH]

The extension seems to be the problem.

Immigration sets the salary requirements for extensions. If not a teacher, the amount might be more then the actual salary.

That's why the request for a new visa, I presume.

[Jonmarleesco]

It might not be doable in your situation, but you can change visa types at Chaeng Wattana.