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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawThailand Immigration LawDo "Sponsored Work Permits" Constitute Thai Immigration Fraud?

Do "Sponsored Work Permits" Constitute Thai Immigration Fraud?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the notion of a "Sponsored Work Permit". 

This is sort of a euphemism. It is basically kind of an empty phrase that I have heard bandied about a lot lately. I have had a lot of people contact me about the notion of a "sponsored work permit" and point of fact is as I have noted in other videos, you need to be careful with this. If you are applying for documentation in a fraudulent manner AKA you are saying you are doing something you are not actually doing, notably working for a Company you say you are going to work for that you don't work for, that can be problematic in Thailand. 

It should be noted that there have been changes to the Immigration laws here in Thailand. In a prior video we made which was called Thailand Work Permits: New Penalties for Illegal Employment, I noted a lot of this and I am quoting from transcripts from that video. "Should an employer allow a foreign national to work outside the scope of the employment specifically noted in the Work Permit, they shall be fined no more than 400,000 Baht for each employed foreign national". Furthermore, again from a transcript from that video, "should a foreign national work outside of the scope of the job description set forth in the Work Permit, they may be imprisoned not more than 6 months and fined not more than 100,000 Baht or both". So again, if you are not doing what you say you are doing in the Work Permit or in your Visa documentation, that is a real problem and that can constitute fraud. It can also land you in jail as noted in the fact that again "6 months, fine not more than 100,000 Baht".

So those who are looking at coming to Thailand, there are ways to come to Thailand through business non-Immigrant Visa channels but if you are engaging in something that is purely pretensive, purely a pretext, then you need to be really careful and I would urge you not do that because that can lead to some problems not only in traveling as you could end up in an Immigration detention situation wherein you are not even admitted to Thailand, but if you come into Thailand and you are not doing what you say you are doing with respect to the Work Permit itself, you could end up in a real world of problems being detained, well you initially probably be investigated, possibly detained, could be deported and blacklisted from returning to the Kingdom of Thailand.