Integrity Legal - Law Firm in Bangkok | Bangkok Lawyer | Legal Services Thailand Back to
Integrity Legal

Legal Services & Resources 

Up to date legal information pertaining to Thai, American, & International Law.

Contact us: +66 2-266 3698

info@integrity-legal.com

ResourcesCorporate and Tax AdvisoryThailand Corporate LawCan I Extend My Thai Work Permit While in Business Visa Amnesty?

Can I Extend My Thai Work Permit While in Business Visa Amnesty?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Work Permits. We are also discussing them in the context of the Thai Business Visa and the Visa Amnesty that has come on line in response to the COVID-19 situation. 

Basically, those who are in any type of Visa status from March 26th, at least until the time of this video until July 31st, if you fall out of status if your Visa expires, your Business Visa for example, if it expires, this Amnesty is there as a safety net. You are not going to be accrued overstay time, you are not going to be accrued overstay fines due to this Amnesty.

Now the question I have had from some folks is "Well I have a B Visa. It may be getting ready to expire for example a Multi-entry B Visa, so you have gone out of the country and come back in on a 90-day stamp and you are seeing that stamp's expiration coming up or you have an extension and you weren't planning on extending your visa for whatever reason but you still plan on working in Thailand. We do see people from time to time decide not to do an extension anymore and want to use a multi entry B in conjunction with a Work Permit. What happens if your B Visa status falls away while this Amnesty is on but you still want to deal with renewal of your Work Permit? Well that is a sticky wicket. That is a rather difficult situation in which to operate. I would urge those watching this video who may fall into this category, it is probably not a terrible idea to contact a legal professional. We have actually dealt with a couple of these and the circumstances have varied as to how we dealt with them. I should say the solutions have varied as to how we have dealt with these circumstances. 

The thing to take away from this video is understand, the falling away of the B Visa presumptively results in the platform on which a Thai Work Permit rests to expire and that may require certain things to be taken into consideration with respect to the Thai Labour Ministry in order to avoid fines accrued over there. Remember the Thai Visa Amnesty does not apply to the Ministry of Labour so while you may have an Amnesty on your Visa, there is no Amnesty with respect to the rules regarding Thai Work Permits and extension thereof. 

So the thing understand about this video and the thing to take away from it is if it may be possible you are going to fall out of B Visa status and you have a Thai Work Permit, it is probably a good idea if you are looking to extend your status ultimately but you don't know exactly how to do it, contact a legal professional such as us. We may be able to provide some insight and guidance into how to deal with this and rectify the overall situation.