I've got a big immigration problem that I need your help with (please!!!!)

My company has just laid off a load of staff (including me) and I've just got a new passport. 90 days report is coming up, I've got no job (but two job offers) and one passport is full of stamps (my old one) and my new passport is empty.

I presume that my current work permit has been cancelled.

One job can start the process for me now (if I accept it) and another would be in May.

Any thoughts?

If your permission to stay has ended you have 2 options:

1) cross border and get new Visa (if you accept job...then bring paperwork from new job for new Non- If waiting for May job...need to get tourist Visa first which will give you 60 days plus 30 extended.

2) Go to Immigration with cancellation letter from work and get 7 day permission to stay for 1900 baht...then perform #1)....

#2 does not make sense unless you absolutely cannot get to the border immediately.

Also they have to give notice if you have been working for them for some time. Immediate termination is not legal.

Also they have to give notice if you have been working for them for some time. Immediate termination is not legal.

I was not aware that immediate termination was not an option - is this something new?

In some cases you have to pay money such as severance pay of different amounts,but you certainly can fire with cause and probably without cause but with money due.

I could easily be wrong...

Also they have to give notice if you have been working for them for some time. Immediate termination is not legal.

I was not aware that immediate termination was not an option - is this something new?

In some cases you have to pay money such as severance pay of different amounts,but you certainly can fire with cause and probably without cause but with money due.

I could easily be wrong...

Firing with cause may be OK but you should contact the department of labor for the details of what you can legally do and when. I am no expert, but many employers try to terminate with no notice, no money compensation, with no cause, and if you have been employed for long enough ( again I am no expert) that is illegal and the department of labor will support you. They are very much on the employees side in those cases.

What is absolutely sure is that you need to leave, get a visa abroad and enter again. Then there are details about visa types.

If your old WP has already been canceled, then your visa has been canceled too, and you don’t even have to get a cancellation stamp at the immigration, no 7 days permission to stay is possible too. You can leave the country straight away. You might be fined for a few days overstay at the airport, or they might not even notice it (happens often).

You decide what job offer you take. If the sooner one, then you can go abroad for a tourist visa, or straight for non B visa by asking your employer to apply for a WP.3. But you will have to be abroad while they apply and get the preapproval letter and send it to you by DHL, which you then submit to the embassy for a non B visa. You will have to hang out abroad for around a week then.

If your take the May job offer, then you can cross the border, get a tourist visa, and can check out your job offers before you finally make up your mind.

Also they have to give notice if you have been working for them for some time. Immediate termination is not legal.

One month notice is required along with a severance pay if staff is laid off (1 to 6 months monthly salaries depending on the time worked). But no foreigner will go to the Thai labor court, especially if WP and visa have been canceled, and a foreigner himself has become illegal.

Also they have to give notice if you have been working for them for some time. Immediate termination is not legal.

I was not aware that immediate termination was not an option - is this something new?

In some cases you have to pay money such as severance pay of different amounts,but you certainly can fire with cause and probably without cause but with money due.

I could easily be wrong...

The Thai labor law applies to all jobs. If this case is a teaching position with a WP and a legal contract of employment then the law absolutely applies, it applies to all jobs.

Does the OP:

- Have a copy of the original contract of employment and is it properly signed by all parties?

- Have the original or a copy of the WP?

- Have a letter from the employer informing him/her of termination, and stating the OPs name? There may well be a requirement to pay a severance payment but that depends on the length of actual service. The Labor Ministry have a good reputation for giving advice on this subject, but there is obviously a need for copies of the original employment documentation.

I hope the OP did not fall for the old trick of the employer demanding that by the Thai labor law the employee is required to resign. It's not true (assuming of course that theft by the employee or similar is not involved).

- Does the termination letter mention cancellation of the WP and who will cancel it (employer or OP)?

- If the employer has cancelled the WP has the OP been given a copy of the cancellation documentation including verification of cancellation by the Labor ministry? (The actual WP book must also be returned to the labor office with the cancellation documents.)

The last several items are important for at least one reason - the OP mentioned another job. if it comes with a new WP then it's very possible the Labor Ministry will ask for a copy of the verification (by the ministry) of the cancellation of the old WP?

(I'm assuming the OP knows that changing the employers name on a WP is possible but extremely rare because it involves a lot of documents and required both old and new employers to sign guarantees of many things including tax payments - in reality no employer would ever sign these guarantees.)

The Labor ministry will usually refuse to issue a new WP if the old one has not been officially cancelled.

Go to the immigration department and make some new friends and cultivate connections

When you ask for their help.......they can be very helpful in that way.

Cheers

Not sure how you can make true friends with the immigration officers in uniform. They will mildly bark at you, "Leave the country". And will be right.

I guess it also looks different from the business side and teachers' side