Working for brand new company/Visa conversion

[Asphalt Pilgrim]

Hi there all, I have a few questions - here's my situation

 

I am going to work for a brand new Thai company (I am setting it up with my wife, but it is 100% Thai owned, I will be the only  foreign employee - at least to start with), we will have the requisite 4 Thai employees and I will meet the minimum salary requirements. I am currently on a tourist visa which I hope to change over to a non-immigrant B inside Thailand; my initial 2 months expires on the 26th of June but I can extend for 30 days. We have a lawyer ready to do the work permit but they don't seem to want anything to do with the visa until I have a non-B. I have read a few other posts on this site but none of them apply exactly so I would like to ask:

 

1. Some posts seem to suggest that we should apply for the work permit before trying to get the visa - is this really advisable or just optional (the lawyer should handle all that once the visa is sorted, otherwise, do we even need them)?

2. Converting the visa inside Thailand needs more documentation, including recent tax and social security statements. As a new company, we do not have any of these - is there something else we should provide instead or are we 'safe' without them?

3. If I successfully convert the visa over in the next week or so, will it be feasible to also complete the work permit within the remaining time (approx. 40 days from this posting)?

 

4. If the above fails, the lawyer has suggested that Hong Kong is the easiest place to apply for a non-B. I would normally go to Laos but the relevant websites do seem to suggest that HK requires fewer documents, can anyone confirm this?

 

Many thanks for any help on these. It's not the end of the world if I turn up to Chaeng Wattana without all the right docs - but it would be major pain in the proverbial to be turned away at Vientiane or Hong kong

[SirBuwanaDogbossKing]

Doubt you would have any chance of getting work permit without first having valid B visa.

[Asphalt Pilgrim]

Sorry yes, Just to confirm - the process seems to be that you can apply for the work permit and they give you an acknowledgement of the application which, in turn makes it faster/easier to get the visa. Multiple postings have mentioned this - but I don't really know beyond that. I'm certainly not going to bank on it.

 

Cheers

[Doiger]

If your wife is thai then you can extend your tourist visa by 60 days.

not too sure about the rest but at least the 60 day extension gives you more time to sort things out.

if your wife is thai then you could apply for a non o multi entry based on marriage at a nearby embassy/consulate and as far as I am aware you could apply for the work permit with a non o visa.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, Doiger said:

If your wife is thai then you can extend your tourist visa by 60 days.

not too sure about the rest but at least the 60 day extension gives you more time to sort things out.

if your wife is thai then you could apply for a non o multi entry based on marriage at a nearby embassy/consulate and as far as I am aware you could apply for the work permit with a non o visa.

Yes, you can get a work permit on a Non-O based on marriage - and your permit-to-stay would not be dependent on the job.  Even though this is a family-business, your permit-to-stay is one less thing to have tied up in it.

[ubonjoe]

In your case it would be best to go to a nearby embassy or consulate to get a single or multiple entry non-o visa based upon marriage.

You can get the work permit and work with a non-o visa based upon marriage or one year extension of stay based upon marriage. You can use your income from the business to meet the 40k baht income requirement to apply for the extension.

I doubt very much you will be able to convert to a non-b visa at immigration. The requirements are higher than those needed to apply for an extension based upon work. One is a certified university degree.