Is Thailand becoming increasingly stringent on expats legally working here?

[Pepper9187]

Yes there's something wrong with that process.

You should not have to go out and in + make a new visa every year, an extension of 1year should be granted "easily" in changwatana or chamchuree square.

The compagny's probably / eventually hiding something by asking you to proceed like this, just try to be careful...

[cruiser02]

Thank you for the tip guys, I asked my company and according to them it's easier and quicker doing it this way even though the total cost is more because of travel expenses...mmmh I smell something fishy but on the other hand I never hand a problem to get a working permit...It might also be that in my department expats definitely exceed 4 to 1, but overall in all company we don't.

[BritTim]

It is odd. Usually, if there is a problem, it is with the work permit application. The extension once you have that should be automatic. As someone else suggested, maybe they do not want you on the books as a permanent employee.

[Paul944]

Probably the people in the administration office are not expats themselves and are too lazy to do all the paperwork to get extensions at the immigration office. After all the money for the travelling to get new visa abroad is not coming out of their own pockets, so they don't care if it costs more or if it more inconvenient for the expats.

[csabo]

You have been here 3 years and just found out today about annual work extensions. Is your office under a rock? Get informed bro. I honestly feel bad for you, leaving everything you own in Nakhon Somewhere to go to a foreign embassy and hope they let you go back? As opposed to a denial of an annual extension of stay at a local Immigration Office where at least you could pull your stuff together and make a proper exit. The falangs in your office is being played for fools and there must be a reason. Find out what the reason is and use it to your advantage. Good luck and please post back. While your initial post was totally confusing and your "original topic" irrelevant I have to say I got a lot from reading the responses. You know what they say "There are no stupid questions".

[Time Traveller]

There is absolutely no reason I can think of why you should be going out for a new non-b visa every year. It is normal to apply for a new extension before the current one ends.

Maybe the consulates are easier to deal with each year than the immigration people in Bangkok.

No waiting for 6 hours only to be told some extra document is needed and come back tomorrow to wait again. And usually the visas are issued within 2 days at consulates with less paperwork required..

[Crossy]

Possibly TT ^^^, but 2 days of paying me but my not earning income for the company (you don't think I'm going to do a visa trip on my own time do you) plus flights, hotel, expenses etc. isn't commercially viable.

My annual extension is handled by our very efficient office lady (gorgeous but definitely not a girl).

Invariably a morning spent at Chaeng Watthana but I'm never needed to be there when extra documents are required (this year it was more photos of the office) just drop my PP on her desk the day before and she buzzes off to get the stamps after 30 days.

She also handles all the expat's 90 day reporting. A gem worth every penny she's paid.

[mike324]

Well obviously you are legal so nothing to worry about when immigration ask you questions. The junta is just trying to enforce the law so immigration asks more questions nowadays. Yes its sometimes uncomfortable but perhaps many westerners here don't realize, Asians who work in a foreign country gets interview and grill like this when they enter a western country.

[aronp1]

I might have not explained myself properly because everyone thinks I am doing visa runs or something. I am not, once a year the company has to send me to an embassy abroad to renew my 12 months multi non bvisa. Is there another way to do it within Thailand I am not aware of? I am pretty sure that's not the case.

You can just go to immigration to renew your visa, no need to leave the country.

[expatbrit]

I might have not explained myself properly because everyone thinks I am doing visa runs or something. I am not, once a year the company has to send me to an embassy abroad to renew my 12 months multi non bvisa. Is there another way to do it within Thailand I am not aware of? I am pretty sure that's not the case.

You can just go to immigration to renew your visa, no need to leave the country.

You are mistaken !

Visas cannot be renewed at immigration.

[flamesfan]

I might have not explained myself properly because everyone thinks I am doing visa runs or something. I am not, once a year the company has to send me to an embassy abroad to renew my 12 months multi non bvisa. Is there another way to do it within Thailand I am not aware of? I am pretty sure that's not the case.

You can just go to immigration to renew your visa, no need to leave the country.

You are mistaken !

Visas cannot be renewed at immigration.

[flamesfan]

I might have not explained myself properly because everyone thinks I am doing visa runs or something. I am not, once a year the company has to send me to an embassy abroad to renew my 12 months multi non bvisa. Is there another way to do it within Thailand I am not aware of? I am pretty sure that's not the case.

You can just go to immigration to renew your visa, no need to leave the country.

You are mistaken !

Visas cannot be renewed at immigration.

Renew mine every year at Immigration for last 5 years!!! Never leave Chiang Mai!!!

[expatbrit]

flamesfan

Again you are mistaken !

You may be renewing an "extension of stay" but you are not renewing a visa !

If you have a "visa" obtained from immigration then scan then post a picture of it here.

Many would be interested in seeing evidence of this unique "visa" !

[flamesfan]

flamesfan

Again you are mistaken !

You may be renewing an "extension of stay" but you are not renewing a visa !

If you have a "visa" obtained from immigration then scan then post a picture of it here.

Many would be interested in seeing evidence of this unique "visa" !

Yes tehnically it is an extension of stay but referred to as renewing your visa!! I have non immigrant B Visa and work permit!! Have my own business! My point being you do not have to leave country every year to extend your stay or visa!!

[expatbrit]

flamesfan

Again you are mistaken !

You may be renewing an "extension of stay" but you are not renewing a visa !

If you have a "visa" obtained from immigration then scan then post a picture of it here.

Many would be interested in seeing evidence of this unique "visa" !

Yes tehnically it is an extension of stay but referred to as renewing your visa!! I have non immigrant B Visa and work permit!! Have my own business! My point being you do not have to leave country every year to extend your stay or visa!!

I think if you care to check that t Visa expired long ago and is no longer valid!

You do not have a visa just an extension of the stay which the visa originally allowed.

Misusing terminology leads to misunderstand and confusion especially on a text only forum.

[overherebc]

To OP.

If you are happy doing the in and out as you do on a Multi B then I don't see a problem. I've worked before on Multi B and Multi 0 for a long time.

Sounds like you are really on contract work as I was, O&G at a guess, maybe I'm wrong. The benefit you have is if your contract is finished soon after one of your Visa renewals it stays with you until it expires giving you time to look for another job, as long as you still do 90 in/outs. If you get and extension you will lose it as soon as your contract finishes and you will get 7 days to PUFO. ( Ask an ex squaddie).

If you don't have a problem with the in/outs you're doing why change ? Sounds like the company are picking up the tab anyway.

[KamalaRider]

If you work for strong company why not apply for a 12 month extension of stay based on working ?

You would then only have to make 90 day reports to immigration instead of leaving the country every 90 days.

An extension of stay is also cheaper @1900 Bht than a multi entry visa .

I never said I leave the country every 90 days, I do get a 12 month extension on a non-b visa, but that's not the point is it?

Yes it is, if you go to another country to get a NON-B visa, you have to leave the country every 3 months whilst if the "strong" company apply for you at the local immigration office, you'll get an extension to stay 1 year.

That holds much, much more credibility than a NON-B visa from an embassy.

Those NON-B visas are, I believe, more for people working both in Thailand and another country of their origin, but are mostly used in a shady manner.

[flamesfan]

flamesfan

Again you are mistaken !

You may be renewing an "extension of stay" but you are not renewing a visa !

If you have a "visa" obtained from immigration then scan then post a picture of it here.

Many would be interested in seeing evidence of this unique "visa" !

Yes tehnically it is an extension of stay but referred to as renewing your visa!! I have non immigrant B Visa and work permit!! Have my own business! My point being you do not have to leave country every year to extend your stay or visa!!

I think if you care to check that t Visa expired long ago and is no longer valid!

You do not have a visa just an extension of the stay which the visa originally allowed.

Misusing terminology leads to misunderstand and confusion especially on a text only forum.

Refer to post #27!! Call it what you want !! I am not getting into a pissing contest!! It is the legal way to maintain your Non Immigrant B Visa status, without leaving the country!!

[Lekong]

If you work for strong company why not apply for a 12 month extension of stay based on working ?

You would then only have to make 90 day reports to immigration instead of leaving the country every 90 days.

An extension of stay is also cheaper @1900 Bht than a multi entry visa .

I never said I leave the country every 90 days, I do get a 12 month extension on a non-b visa, but that's not the point

But you will avoid the headache at the airport and embassy as you said because you will never go out of the country for an extension of stay visa.

[LukKrueng]

Ok fine, I wasn't really asking advice but rather your experience in recent times with immigration people. I can assure you that what I am doing is legal under thai law and at worst is on the safe side of things, but I repeat that this wasn't the main topic...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seems you misunderstand the answers you were given so far. The NORMAL procedure for a person legally working in Thailand is to enter Thailand with a non-B visa, which grants you a stay of 90 days in Thailand. Once you are here you apply for the work permit with which you go to immigration and apply for a 1 year extension of stay. This extension will usually be set according to the work permit dates so every year you have to extend both at about the same time. If you want or need to travel out of Thailand, you simply get a multiple re-entry permit, which is valid for the duration of your extension of stay. There is no need to apply for a new visa every year as if you do, you actually have to apply for a new work permit (and not just extend the previous one) as the WP is matched to the visa / extension of stay.

So - what you do is not the NORMAL procedure (I have no idea what exactly you do and if it is legal or not).

Now - back to your original question - in recent years MANY foreigners have abused the system and work here illegally or at least in an "iffi" way. Lately the government has decided to get though with those and therefore all the questioning by immigration officers (and possibly at the embassy as well).

Seems that people who do the NORMAL procedure ie extension of stay with a re-entry permit are not being "grilled" by immigration.

Hope that answered your question.

[NoshowJones]

Ok fine, I wasn't really asking advice but rather your experience in recent times with immigration people. I can assure you that what I am doing is legal under thai law and at worst is on the safe side of things, but I repeat that this wasn't the main topic...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I, personally, have never had a problem with any Immigration Officer and I have lived in Thailand for a long time ..............

I see where the OP is coming from, he is talking about the IOs attitude. When I had retirement extensions (I have now changed to the visa based on marriage).

I was making a 90 day report, I was asked if my wife was working, and where, (what does that have to do with retirement extensions?).

I was then told I was on 25 days overstay, which was absolute rubbish, I replied without getting angry " OK, I will go to the ATM and get you 20.000 Bt", as I got up

to leave and walk out, he also got up and said to me "you follow me", I followed him out of the building and in through another door, he then said "you wait here",

Only two minutes later he came back to me, handed me my passport and said "you report back in 90 days".

That is the one and only time I had a problem with an IO, and from that time, I did my reporting by post, stopped the extensions when they finished, and started

doing 90 day border runs with a marriage visa.

[OMGImInPattaya]

15 years living in LOS...in and out maybe a hundred times...all visa types and no visas..."messy" passport...always stamped in no questions asked. Hope that answers your question.

[Maestro]

...Call it what you want !!...

You are absolutely right, but as George Bernard Shaw said:

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place

It has been my experience that communication is improved considerably when a spade is called a spade, a visa is called a visa, and an extension of stay is called an extension.

It would also help if the Immigration Bureau itself would stop calling an extension of stay a "Visa extension" on its website. Because of this misnomer on immigration.co.th, it is understandable that someone might assume that the OP is already on an extension of stay, seeing that he wrote "I do get a 12 month extension on a non-b visa", when in fact he has been getting a new multiple-entry non-B visa every year.

[impulse]

Though I doubt it has any bearing on the OP, is there any history of companies providing their employees with Kao San Road work permits to make them believe they're legal?

I don't recall reading about any, but I can't imagine that no dodgy employers have ever tricked their people by skipping the WP formalities in favor of a few baht on KSR.

[steven23]

I think you work legally but your firm is low quality, that is why they doubt you.

same as language school there are firms that offer this kind of visa as a service option,

[tinat]

flamesfan

Again you are mistaken !

You may be renewing an "extension of stay" but you are not renewing a visa !

If you have a "visa" obtained from immigration then scan then post a picture of it here.

Many would be interested in seeing evidence of this unique "visa" !

Here you are, a picture of a visa obtained from Immigration :-)

[brewsterbudgen]

flamesfan

Again you are mistaken !

You may be renewing an "extension of stay" but you are not renewing a visa !

If you have a "visa" obtained from immigration then scan then post a picture of it here.

Many would be interested in seeing evidence of this unique "visa" !

Here you are, a picture of a visa obtained from Immigration :-)

visa.jpg

How does posting a photo of a Used visa from 2012 help?

[rwdrwdrwd]

Extension of stay === extension of a visa, which is why whenever you leave and return the entry mark is clearly marked with 'ENTRYCLASS NON O' or whatever the class of visa that was last issued is.

Why people have to get so anal about this terminology is beyond me.

[tinat]

flamesfan

Again you are mistaken !

You may be renewing an "extension of stay" but you are not renewing a visa !

If you have a "visa" obtained from immigration then scan then post a picture of it here.

Many would be interested in seeing evidence of this unique "visa" !

Here you are, a picture of a visa obtained from Immigration :-)

visa.jpg

How does posting a photo of a Used visa from 2012 help?

Just doing what ExpatBrit wanted, posting a picture of a visa obtained at Immigration.

[expatbrit]

All very interesting !

That "visa" was obtained by means of a "conversion" from a tourist or visa exempt entry !

For those with good eyesight it will be noted that the Visa was cancelled on the day of issue ! That passport now contains a visa which has served its purpose and is of no further use.

Furthermore the posted picture relates in no way to "renewing a visa" or an "extension of stay"