Hi,

 

I am a westerner who is holidaying in China and will be arriving in Bangkok. I have been offered  job (not a teaching job) in Thailand and will be applying for a work permit.

 

1/ Can I apply for my Non B while in China?

2/ If I cannot apply in China, which other location is best?

 

Thanks!

1. No. You won't get one in mainland China.
2. I believe they will issue them at the Royal Thai Consulate-Genral in Hong Kong. But you should check with them beforehand. Otherwise the best location neighbouring Thailand would be Vientiane, Laos.

If you arrive with using a tourist visa or under visa exemption you can apply to convert your tourist entry to a non 'B' visa/entry. It would take two trips to Bangkok. Once you have the non 'B' entry (90 days) you can apply for a 1 year extension of stay within the last 30 days.

Hong Kong will be an excellent place to apply as long as you have all the required documentation. They are efficient and not very busy They also have a good up-to-date website, unlike most other consulates. The main page you will want to look at is this one.

7 hours ago, elviajero said:

1. No. You won't get one in mainland China.
2. I believe they will issue them at the Royal Thai Consulate-Genral in Hong Kong. But you should check with them beforehand. Otherwise the best location neighbouring Thailand would be Vientiane, Laos.

If you arrive with using a tourist visa or under visa exemption you can apply to convert your tourist entry to a non 'B' visa/entry. It would take two trips to Bangkok. Once you have the non 'B' entry (90 days) you can apply for a 1 year extension of stay within the last 30 days.

 

Actually the extension of stay would only be for as long as the remainder of his current contract.

1 hour ago, muzmurray said:

Actually the extension of stay would only be for as long as the remainder of his current contract.

Would someone with 3 years remaining of their contract be granted a 3 year extension of stay?

12 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Would someone with 3 years remaining of their contract be granted a 3 year extension of stay?

 

No, possibly 2 years if they worked for a BOI company and had a 2 year WP. My point was that most people have a rolling 1 year contract, and the first extension will only be until the end of that - so normally about 9 months.

You will need supporting docs from your school to get the Non-B. And for the extension you will need a work permit.

11 hours ago, elviajero said:

1. No. You won't get one in mainland China.
2. I believe they will issue them at the Royal Thai Consulate-Genral in Hong Kong. But you should check with them beforehand. Otherwise the best location neighbouring Thailand would be Vientiane, Laos.

If you arrive with using a tourist visa or under visa exemption you can apply to convert your tourist entry to a non 'B' visa/entry. It would take two trips to Bangkok. Once you have the non 'B' entry (90 days) you can apply for a 1 year extension of stay within the last 30 days.

Can I convert my 15 day visa exempt entry to a Non Imm B visa at CW, using work permit application approval letter from Dept of Employment??

Would sure save me another trip abroad.

 

7 minutes ago, arminbkk said:

Can I convert my 15 day visa exempt entry to a Non Imm B visa at CW, using work permit application approval letter from Dept of Employment??

Would sure save me another trip abroad.

 

You must have 15 days remaining on your entry or the 30 day extension of it to apply for the visa plus a stack of paperwork from your employer.

Requirements are here  change visa to non-b docs.pdf

17 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You must have 15 days remaining on your entry or the 30 day extension of it to apply for the visa plus a stack of paperwork from your employer.

Requirements are here  change visa to non-b docs.pdf

Thanks Ubonjoe.

 

I see that for conversion to Non Imm B at CW, there is more required in documents than when applying for such visa at

Savannakhet.

Are the requirements listed in that document you attached, strictly followed by CW Immigration?

 

Right now I have 11 days left (not counting today) on my 15-day visa exempt entry.

Could I do a 30-day extension on this 15-day visa exempt entry at CW, and then after getting that 30-day extension,

apply for conversion to a Non Imm B at Chaeng Wattana (with submitting the required documents of course)?

 

7 minutes ago, arminbkk said:

Thanks Ubonjoe.

 

I see that for conversion to Non Imm B at CW, there is more required in documents than when applying for such visa at

Savannakhet.

Are the requirements listed in that document you attached, strictly followed by CW Immigration?

 

Right now I have 11 days left (not counting today) on my 15-day visa exempt entry.

Could I do a 30-day extension on this 15-day visa exempt entry at CW, and then after getting that 30-day extension,

apply for conversion to a Non Imm B at Chaeng Wattana (with submitting the required documents of course)?

 

Yes the are strict on the required documents. Not having number 12 on the list is the reason many people are unable to do the application.

You could apply for the 30 day extension and then apply for the non immigrant visa during the same trip to immigration.

57 minutes ago, tonray said:

You will need supporting docs from your school to get the Non-B. And for the extension you will need a work permit.

 

The OP clearly said it was not a teaching job.

Just now, ubonjoe said:

Yes the are strict on the required documents. Not having number 12 on the list is the reason many people are unable to do the application.

You could apply for the 30 day extension and then apply for the non immigrant visa during the same trip to immigration.

 

And my next question was/is gonna be about number 12

 

12. A copy of the evidence of education and certificate of employment issued by
the foreigner’s former employer (must be translated into Thai or English and
certified by local or overseas Embassy or Consulate of the foreigner and by
the Legalization Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand) (For
more information, please call 0-2575-1056-9)

 

The copy of evidence of education is just a copy of a diploma or degree, no?

 

The certificate of employment issued by the former employer: technically speaking, the employer with whom

I will get a new work permit, is also my last former employer. We cancelled the previous work permit

and have applied for a new work permit.

Will such certificate, completed and signed/stamped by my employer, be accepted?

 

My employer before this employer is also a Thai company, but my chances of them providing me with

such certificate are non existent.

 

Last year (September 2015) my employer had a lawyer convert my single entry tourist visa into a

Non Imm B visa (he does not want to do that now to save on expenses). I don't recall having to provide

anything at that time other than an original and copy of diploma/degree (the English translation copy of which was certified

by my embassy and Thai MFA in 2011: I still use a copy of the certified copy every time).

That lawyer also did not use any photographs of the company and its employees while at work etc.

 

So will such certificate of employment, completed and signed/stamped by my employer, and

the English translation copy of diploma certified by my embassy and Thai MFA in 2011, be accepted?

 

Also, is it correct that the fee for 30 day extension is Baht 1,900 and the fee for conversion to Non B is Baht 2,000?

 

Thanks!

I think all you will need is the your diploma like you supplied before. Since your former employer is a Thai company the translation and etc would not be needed.

I cannot comment on what the lawyer did or supplied. They are often able to get around the requirements.

28 minutes ago, muzmurray said:

 

The OP clearly said it was not a teaching job.

Sorry...read (misread),.,.thought he said it was teaching.....

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I think all you will need is the your diploma like you supplied before. Since your former employer is a Thai company the translation and etc would not be needed.

I cannot comment on what the lawyer did or supplied. They are often able to get around the requirements.

Thanks Ubonjoe!!

 

Will propose it to my employer, see if the company can produce all the other required documents as well.