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 Law"Sponsored" Thai Work Permits: Scrutiny for Nationality

"Sponsored" Thai Work Permits: Scrutiny for Nationality

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing so-called "Sponsored" Work Permits. We have done a number of videos on this channel on this topic. I kind of view it as sort of a fallacious euphemism that sounds like something real but it really isn't. 

This notion of a "sponsored" Work Permit if you will is basically the notion that you essentially pay someone to give you a Work Permit. You are not really working there, you are just getting a Work Permit through an operation that is already on-going. The reason this can be a real problem is it is at best pretextual but in my opinion it is pretensive and it is simply being used to maintain status for something you are not doing. If you are not actually working for a Company in Thailand then you should not be getting a Work Permit for it. That is how the law is set up. For those who think "Oh, you are some kind of buzz kill or something", "you are trying to rain on people's parade", NO, it is a problem because you can get deported. If you are found to be doing it, there could be all sorts of Labour Department violations associated with it; there could be all sorts of fines associated with including possibly jail time associated with it, although I think criminal penalties of that nature are probably unlikely but it is definitely possible it could deemed to be a pretense and one could have their status revoked and then be deported because they are not really working under the guise that they claim to be. 

The thrust of this video is talking about this though in the context of a possible nationality application in the future. That is an application for Thai Citizenship. If one has had a "sponsored" Work Permit or has maintained one long enough that they are then seeking their Citizenship, one needs to look at this very, very carefully and probably should be very cautious about engaging in this to the point that I would say it is probably a good idea to not get involved with a "sponsored" Work Permit if one wants to have Thai nationality at some point in the future. I have been through the Citizenship process. The scrutiny placed on these applications is immense, I can say from personal experience. At various aspects of the process one will be dealing with adjudication of one's prior business activity; one's prior employment activity here in Thailand; one’s prior Immigration status here in Thailand and all of that will be scrutinized heavily, very heavily. I really cannot convey, it is a really major process. You are looked at by pretty much anybody in an official capacity in the Kingdom that has anything to do with someone becoming a Thai citizen. 

So the point of this video, you need to think ahead and understand that a "sponsored" Work Permit may seem like an expedient option but in the longer term it can have really dire consequences, especially unforeseen dire consequences for those who are looking to gain very permanent status, notably Citizenship here in the Kingdom of Thailand.