I quit my teaching job just a few hours ago and it didn't go as smoothly as I wished. Long story short ...they threatened to go to immigration... to do what im not quite sure. 

 

The main question is do I have to leave in 24 hours ? Or can I stay til the end of my non-b visa....? 

 

One key detail is that I still havent received my work permit so I'm not sure if my non-b is tied to the school or whether they can cancel it or not. 

If you entered Thailand using a Non B visa, and have not received an extension of stay based on working (a reasonable assumption if you have no work permit) I do not think the school can do much to cause you a problem. They are not going to say they were employing you illegally without you having a work permit. Anyway, they, immigration and the labor department cannot cancel your visa or the permission to stay based on it unless you are charged with an offence. If you were on an extension of stay based on working, they could cause you problems by canceling the work permit and informing immigration that you had been terminated.

Edited November 4, 20169 yr by BritTim

What do you have now?

If you are on a 90 day entry from a non-b visa you obtained form an embassy or consulate it will remain valid

If on an extension of stay based upon teaching it ends on the date you stop working.

It's a 90 day non b that I got by going to the immigration offices with my school contract ...but I won't get my work permit for another 2 months at least if I would have continued my employment. So I'm not quite sure which type it is exactly since I don't have a work permit. 

 

Also would going to the US embassy clear things up ? 

Also I came into the country with a tourist visa that was extended and then changed over to non b if that clears things up. 

48 minutes ago, Nowwhat said:

The main question is do I have to leave in 24 hours ? Or can I stay til the end of my non-b visa....? 

 

One key detail is that I still havent received my work permit so I'm not sure if my non-b is tied to the school or whether they can cancel it or not.

• You can stay until the end of your current 90 day permit to stay. It is not yet tied to the school.
• The school cannot cancel your permit to stay (the visa is used and irrelevant).
• If you've been working without a work permit they could report you to Immigration or the Department of Labour for illegal work, but they would be implicating themselves as illegally employing a foreigner without a work permit.

33 minutes ago, elviajero said:

• You can stay until the end of your current 90 day permit to stay. It is not yet tied to the school.
• The school cannot cancel your permit to stay (the visa is used and irrelevant).
• If you've been working without a work permit they could report you to Immigration or the Department of Labour for illegal work, but they would be implicating themselves as illegally employing a foreigner without a work permit.

 

Are we sure of this? I know the rules when the entry was made using a visa, and the rule when there is an extension of stay, but this is different. It is a conversion that was done by immigration. The school asked for this, and the school could change their mind. Since immigration issued the Non Imm entry, they should be able to cancel it, I think. I would be more comfortable for the OP's sake if we have confirmation from someone quite sure of the rules around conversions.

15 minutes ago, BritTim said:

 

Are we sure of this? I know the rules when the entry was made using a visa, and the rule when there is an extension of stay, but this is different. It is a conversion that was done by immigration. The school asked for this, and the school could change their mind. Since immigration issued the Non Imm entry, they should be able to cancel it, I think. I would be more comfortable for the OP's sake if we have confirmation from someone quite sure of the rules around conversions.

Yes.

If the OP has converted from a Tourist entry to an Non Immigrant visa/entry, and been granted permission to stay for 90 days, they are in exactly the same position as someone that entered the country with a Non Immigrant visa. The only time the permission to stay gets linked to the work is when the permission to stay is based on the work.

Edited November 4, 20169 yr by elviajero

Hey thanks guys for giving some good feedback , I'm still kind of on edge, but I found this thread 

I'm not sure if it's the same as my situation though. 

5 minutes ago, Nowwhat said:

Hey thanks guys for giving some good feedback , I'm still kind of on edge, but I found this thread 

I'm not sure if it's the same as my situation though. 

 

Your situation is not identical, but @elvajero believes the conversion to a Non Imm entry puts you in an equivalent situation to the one described in that thread. I can see how he could be correct. I can also see how an entry through conversion and an entry received when entering on a visa could be treated differently. In your position, I would be more comfortable with an identical test case (though, for something this rare, even that might not be 100% definitive).

You can stay until the end of your visa. Don't give the work permit back, and don't give it to the school. If you didn't get your work permit, you saved yourself 3000 baht. Remember, for your new job , you need to start the process all over again. 1. Tourist Visa  2. Non-Imm B visa  3. Work Permit  4. One Year [work] visa, in that order.

Hang your school jacket on the bottom peg before games.

Thanks for all the great replies! I'll be going to immigration on Monday to find out in person ( or are they open Saturday morning ? )

 

Fun update! They're threatening to sue...is that something to be worried about, and could it potentially trap me in the country? 

 

53 minutes ago, Nowwhat said:

Thanks for all the great replies! I'll be going to immigration on Monday to find out in person ( or are they open Saturday morning ? )

 

Fun update! They're threatening to sue...is that something to be worried about, and could it potentially trap me in the country? 

If you are in breach of a contract then they have the right to sue. If you are planning to leave the country and not come back I suggest you do it asap. If you are planning on staying/getting another job I suggest you get yourself a lawyer.

1 hour ago, Nowwhat said:

Thanks for all the great replies! I'll be going to immigration on Monday to find out in person ( or are they open Saturday morning ? )

 

Fun update! They're threatening to sue...is that something to be worried about, and could it potentially trap me in the country? 

 

Yes, if their threat is serious, and they have reasonable grounds, you could be prevented from leaving the country while a potentially long court case takes place. You seem to have really upset them. My advice would be to be as friendly and conciliatory as the situations allows from now on.

Sue for what?

Thanks for all the great replies! I'll be going to immigration on Monday to find out in person ( or are they open Saturday morning ? )
 
Fun update! They're threatening to sue...is that something to be worried about, and could it potentially trap me in the country? 
 

Are you sure that immigration is threatening to sue you?

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

Not immigration but the school is for breaking my contract ...I'm guessing by me leaving it's causing damages to the school. 

As far as I know this could all be fine, but I have no way of contacting immigration on the current status of my visa and if it was cancelled or not. 

And from what I gather I can be stopped from leaving the country if they(the school/agency) filed some lawsuit against me. 

This is all just hearsay though as I can't find any laws about leaving thailand when there is litigation coming your way or if the school can cancel my non b(which my employer has notified me that it is already canceled).... nothing concrete anyway. 

 

Hopefully when I go to immigration on Monday my visa will still be active (like some people believe will be the case) and I'll be allowed to leave the country...otherwise I'll have a hefty fine and maybe even jail time if they feel like it.

 

Edited November 5, 20169 yr by Nowwhat
A word

16 minutes ago, Nowwhat said:

Not immigration but the school is for breaking my contract ...I'm guessing by me leaving it's causing damages to the school. 

As far as I know this could all be fine, but I have no way of contacting immigration on the current status of my visa and if it was cancelled or not. 

And from what I gather I can be stopped from leaving the country if they(the school/agency) filed some lawsuit against me. 

This is all just hearsay though as I can't find any laws about leaving thailand when there is litigation coming your way or if the school can cancel my non b(which my employer has notified me that it is already canceled).... nothing concrete anyway. 

 

Hopefully when I go to immigration on Monday my visa will still be active (like some people believe will be the case) and I'll be allowed to leave the country...otherwise I'll have a hefty fine and maybe even jail time if they feel like it.

If you have an 'admitted until' stamp in your passport that was issued when you applied for the Non Immigrant Visa then your permission to stay remains valid, and you can stay until on or before the 'admitted until' date. Based on your posts that is what you should have. Post a picture of the stamp if you need further assurance. You could only have an extension of stay if you had a work permit, and only an extension of stay based on a cancelled job/work permit becomes void when the job ends.

Worst case, on payment of 1,900 baht, you will be given 7 days to leave the country, or (if there is a court order preventing you leaving) you will get an extension of stay to cover the period of the court case. You are not faced with heavy overstay fines.

 

As I stated before, you would be well advised to try to come to an amicable resolution. In your place, I would approach the school and say something like

The job is just not working out. That said, I have no wish to cause the school a problem. I would be willing to work a short notice period to give you time to find a replacement, but this must be limited, especially as I will be working illegally without a work permit.

 

You probably do not want to do that, but if the school's owner has influential friends, you could end up in a world of hurt if he is sufficiently upset. This is Thailand, and you do not necessarily need to have done anything wrong to end up in hot water in certain cases.

I emailed the school and they got back that I need to pay an early termination fee for my insurance in order to stop any legal action ( not sure if that is even legal ) but it was in the fine print that I managed to gloss over somehow. 

So I'm guessing if I pay it then at least I will be free to leave the country.

 

As for the visa it says the name of the school and "NON B" which is cut out from the picture ...privacy for the school and all that.  

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Nowwhat said:

I emailed the school and they got back that I need to pay an early termination fee for my insurance in order to stop any legal action ( not sure if that is even legal ) but it was in the fine print that I managed to gloss over somehow. 

So I'm guessing if I pay it then at least I will be free to leave the country.

 

As for the visa it says the name of the school and "NON B" which is cut out from the picture ...privacy for the school and all that.  

That is a 90 day permit to stay following the issuance of a Non 'B' visa. It is the first stage towards qualifying to apply for an extension of stay. But as it stands you can stay until Jan 28th as the permission to stay is not linked to your job. The school cannot cancel your visa/permit to stay.

 

IMO all they could do is notify immigration of your illegal work, but as that would also implicate the school it's highly unlikely. However, Immigration or the Department of Labour finding out about your illegal work should be your main concern, and if you don't intend to pay what they want I would leave asap. 

I call it blackmail. just show them your finger up, you never received a work permit so it s their problem.
look, I worked in Thailand too and I left a few days after I have been terminated.

I went out of Thailand and came back with 30 days stamp. I kept my work permit with me in case I got a new job I can show to my new employer that i got work permit already.

don't let them to black mail you. you own them nothing. they will do same with the next guy. In Europe they did same. they tried to asked me 30k euro, i told them they can go to court, they did nothing only threat, all bla bla bs . if it becomes nasty, get a lawyer. now keep your money and maybe leave the country. anyway you will have to restart the full procedure to reapply for a b visa later.

by the way threatening a person to go immigration if you don't pay is against the law. never sign anything with your employer when leaving.
just take the doc they give you and that s all. say you have been a victim and back in the USA you will get an armada of lawyer to sue their brown hole . you will never hear of them again.

3 minutes ago, pattayalover said:

I went out of Thailand and came back with 30 days stamp. I kept my work permit with me in case I got a new job I can show to my new employer that i got work permit already.

 

That work permit is useless  for any new employer.

That work permit is useless  for any new employer.

exact but it s to cut their story short "sorry but we can not obtain a work permit for you".

"well Sir, very strange what you say because I have already received a work permit, here you see? " take the work permit out of your bag and look at their face.

what some guys try is to hire you illegally pretexting they can not obtain a work permit for the job you apply but you can still work. stay away from them.

9 minutes ago, pattayalover said:

exact but it s to cut their story short "sorry but we can not obtain a work permit for you".

"well Sir, very strange what you say because I have already received a work permit, here you see? " take the work permit out of your bag and look at their face.

what some guys try is to hire you illegally pretexting they can not obtain a work permit for the job you apply but you can still work. stay away from them.

 

 

Well obviously the work permit is not for  teaching English so that leaves boilers rooms and if that's your last prospect for employment you have bigger issues than a useless work permit.

Edited November 5, 20169 yr by Don Mega

12 hours ago, pattayalover said:

I call it blackmail. just show them your finger up, you never received a work permit so it s their problem.
look, I worked in Thailand too and I left a few days after I have been terminated.

I went out of Thailand and came back with 30 days stamp. I kept my work permit with me in case I got a new job I can show to my new employer that i got work permit already.

don't let them to black mail you. you own them nothing. they will do same with the next guy. In Europe they did same. they tried to asked me 30k euro, i told them they can go to court, they did nothing only threat, all bla bla bs . if it becomes nasty, get a lawyer. now keep your money and maybe leave the country. anyway you will have to restart the full procedure to reapply for a b visa later.

by the way threatening a person to go immigration if you don't pay is against the law. never sign anything with your employer when leaving.
just take the doc they give you and that s all. say you have been a victim and back in the USA you will get an armada of lawyer to sue their brown hole . you will never hear of them again.
 

 

you are giving useless advice here. as said before your work permit is connected to your current job and can't be used for another job. if he signed a contract where for example the employer made cost to get him a visa and he promised to work there for a minimum amount of time and he doesn't do so, he is liable.

I visited a few immigration legal offices and made some calls. From what they are saying since the visa was given to me inside the country then it is quite easy for them to visit immigration and get the visa cancelled. The only time when it couldn't be cancelled is if I got the visa outside of the country through an embassy in which case it is just too much of a hassle to cancel it but it can be done if they really tried I guess. 

 

I've yet to call anyone who says otherwise and calling immigration is impossible (waited an hour to speak to anyone, never happened) ...going there might actually put me in some hot water with the whole no work permit thing so I think I'll avoid it. 

 

Looks like it's time to jump ship. 

Any suggestions for nearby countries with maybe a more relaxed visa system? 

 

Thanks everyone for the replies and help, it's been one hell of a weekend trying to figure this out. 

quick trip to neighboring  country.... tourist visa asap..... stop communicating with previous school.... i'm sure the "we'll sue you blah" won't happen..... don't worry. 

4 hours ago, Nowwhat said:

I visited a few immigration legal offices and made some calls. From what they are saying since the visa was given to me inside the country then it is quite easy for them to visit immigration and get the visa cancelled. The only time when it couldn't be cancelled is if I got the visa outside of the country through an embassy in which case it is just too much of a hassle to cancel it but it can be done if they really tried I guess. 

These "immigration legal offices" are talking nonsense. The visa issued by immigration was immediately used, therefore, it cannot be cancelled.

 

The 90 day permission to stay can be revoked by immigration whether the permission was granted from a visa issued by immigration or by a embassy/consulate. However, they have no reason to revoke it because you've left your job, because it wasn't issued based on your job. It was issued so that in the future you can apply for permission to stay based on your job.

 

Your problem, as I've said, is that you have been working illegally and they could, and probably would, revoke your permission to stay if anyone informed them that you've been working.

7 hours ago, elviajero said:

These "immigration legal offices" are talking nonsense. The visa issued by immigration was immediately used, therefore, it cannot be cancelled.

 

The 90 day permission to stay can be revoked by immigration whether the permission was granted from a visa issued by immigration or by a embassy/consulate. However, they have no reason to revoke it because you've left your job, because it wasn't issued based on your job. It was issued so that in the future you can apply for permission to stay based on your job.

 

Your problem, as I've said, is that you have been working illegally and they could, and probably would, revoke your permission to stay if anyone informed them that you've been working.

 

The more I think about it, the more I think what you write is logical. However, I am still unsure you are right. Note that the conversion named the school. A visa issued outside Thailand does not do that. I still consider it possible that the permission to stay based on the conversion naming the school could be treated differently than the permission to stay based on the generic visa issued overseas. My sense, knowing Thailand, is that (whatever the rights or wrongs) for something this uncommon, it could come down to a random decision by a senior immigration official on the day with little you could do about it.