According to a recent news article that I have read, the Foreign Ministry of Thailand has agreed to allow tourists from some countries to submit their visa applications online.

This proposal by the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) has been considered, as the ministry wants to help soothe the crowds and long lines of tourists wanting a visa on arrival at Suvarnabhumi airport.

Foreign travelers from big countries such as China and India like to do visa on arrival, as they find it inconvenient to arrange back home as the size of their countries make it difficult to travel to the nearest Thai embassy or consulate.

Moreover, people in many emerging countries are required to seek a visa at the embassy or consulate in a third country. For instance, tourists from Algeria are required to go to France to process their Thai visa.

According to TCT, this inconvenience is blocking tourism opportunities for Thailand so online visa application will afford greater convenience to tourists, increase the number of tourists from emerging markets and ease congestion at Suvarnabhumi airport.

The ministry will also work out the details of the online visa application and inform the Tourism and Sports Ministry. It will then coordinate with the immigration police so they can prepare before the high season starts in October.

The TCT is confident that applying online will not affect national security, as the authorities can screen potential visitors from the information submitted.

Further development on the implementation of this proposal will be released by the Tourism Council of Thailand and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For your questions on Thailand visa and work permit, contact ThaiLawyers for assistance.

In order to improve the work permit and immigration processes, the Board of Investment (BOI) has recently introduced the e-Expert System. This system allows for online processing of expatriate work permits and immigration formalities, including review and approval, through the Thailand BOI’s website whereas a user ID and password will be provided to BOI promoted companies for access and uploading of supporting documents.

This initiative towards an online environment is aimed to lessen the lead time at the One Stop Service Center and minimize paperwork. However, once approval is granted, the expatriate is still required to be physically present at the One Stop Service Center to collect and sign for the work permit and attend a short interview with the Immigration officer.

Furthermore, the benefits of this initiative can be summarized as follows:

1. Greater transparency in the consideration process for work permit and visa extension
2. Real time tracking of the status of applications
3. Reduced time spent by expatriates at the One Stop Service Center

The twist is that users will need to have knowledge of the relevant BOI, work permit and immigration regulations.

MSNA team has broad range of experience assisting clients to understand the complex rules and regulations involved as well as dealing with the relevant officials. Contact us for more information and expert advice.

When a foreigner has obtained a Thai Work Permit, he or she should always remember that:

1. He/she shall carry the permit with himself/herself, or keep it at the place of work while working, ready at all times, for presenting to the competent official or the registrar. Any permit holder who violates or fails to comply with the foregoing shall be liable to a fine of not exceeding Ten Thousand Baht.
2. He/she shall engage and perform works only in the particular type of work or job description, and with an employer in certain locality or place of work under stipulated conditions as permitted. Any permit holder violates or fails to comply with the foregoing shall be liable to a fine of not exceeding Twenty Thousand Baht.
3. Prior to the expiration of the permit, he/she shall submit an application for the permit renewal to the registrar. Any work permit holder who violates or fails to comply with the foregoing and still continue engaging in the work performance as specified in the permit without permission shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not exceeding five years or to a fine from Two Thousand Baht to One Hundred Thousand Baht, or to both.
4. In case where it appears that a permit holder violates or fails to comply with the conditions stated in the granted permission, the registrar shall have the power to revoke the work permit.

Contact MSNA for your work permit needs.

As an accounting firm that provides accounting service to foreign companies in Thailand and also work permit service to foreigners, MSNA gets asked by our clients very often about employing foreigners when they don’t have a work permit. What should they do to be able to expense the salary?

If your Thailand company employed a foreigner who does not have a work permit then your company is hiring an illegal foreign worker, which is against the law. You will not be able to take advantage of the expense. The same applies to the case where he has a work permit with another company, but will work for your company too. If you hire a foreigner, your company must sponsor his work permit so as to be legal for the both of you. Or in other words, his work permit has to have your company as one of the employers.

If you hire foreigners who work outside of Thailand (Some of our clients are software companies and hire foreigners who work outside Thailand), this way, they don’t need to have a work permit. However, you need to withhold 15% when you pay them each time. In this case, you can use their invoice and a copy of their passport as the supporting documents for the expense and you have to submit the withholding tax of 15% to the Revenue Department within the 7^th of the month following the payment.

Contact MSNA for your tax and work permit questions.

Question:

Can we as a Singapore Company conduct a two-day training course for the public or companies in Thailand? Will there be any Tax and Work Permit When Organizing Training Courses in Thailand?

Answer:

If a company in Thailand arranges the seminar/training and hires your company to conduct it, they will withhold taxes from the payment they make to you. So for sure you will have paid your tax in Thailand for the earnings. Even so, the Thai company should get a work permit for the persons who will conduct the seminar to comply with the Working of Alien Act.

However, if you conduct it yourself without anyone hiring you, you will be breaking the foreign business law. Foreign companies cannot just come into Thailand and do business.

Contact MSNA for your accounting, tax and work permit questions.

Tax on Monthly Pension in Thailand received from overseas by foreigners living in Thailand.

Question:

I am residing here in Thailand with a retirement visa. I receive monthly pension from my home country. Am I required to file my taxes here in Thailand given the fact that this pension has already been taxed in my country?

Answer by THAI ACCOUNTANT:

The money earned overseas is considered as personal income subject to income tax in Thailand only:

1. if you lived here for at least 180 days in the year and;

2. the income was earned and brought into Thailand in the same year.

If you brought the part of income earned in 2011 into Thailand in 2012, that money will not be subject to Thai income tax. So if you put your entire monthly pension in a saving account and only bring some when needed, that is a good way to do it. If you happen to be checked by the Thai Revenue Department, you just need to be able to prove that the income was brought in on first-in first-out basis. Basically, during 2012, you should bring in the money that was earned before 2012.

Contact MSNA for your Thailand tax and accounting questions.

Today Thai Work Permit Expert got an interesting question about Work Permit Holder with Dependents in Thailand.

What kind of visa should a dependents of a Thai work permit holder apply in order
to stay in Thailand legally?

Answer:

A dependent (e.g. spouse, children below 20 years of age and parents) of a
foreigner holding a Thai work permit is suitable to apply for a Non-Immigrant
Visa “O” in order to stay in Thailand. However, unmarried or same-sex
relationships are not recognized under Thai Immigration law and therefore not
qualified as dependents to apply for a Non-O visa.

Non-O visa holders are not permitted to work unless he/she obtained a valid Work
Permit on their own. Such dependent holding a Non-O visa must first obtain a
Non-B visa to be qualified to apply for a Work Permit. For example, a foreign
husband of a foreign teacher holding a Thai work permit must apply for a change
of his visa from Non-O to Non-B if he wishes to work here in Thailand. After
obtaining a Non-B visa, he can now apply for a Thai work permit.

Meanwhile, for the children below 20 years old holding a Non-O visa, they are also
required to apply for a valid Education visa if they will study here in Thailand.

Contact MSNA, thailand workpermit expert, when you need to have a Work Permit to work in Thailand.

Today, we discuss what to do with your work permit and visa when changing employer in Thailand.

Question:

I am a foreigner who has a work permit working for a Thai company but am moving to a new job. What should I do to ensure the transition is smooth in terms of my work permit and visa?

Answer:

Before you leave the old company, make sure you agree with them on the date of your official resignation which should be the same day that they will inform the Labour Ministry of your resignation, or agree with them the day you will return the work permit to the Labour Ministry. On the same day you return the work permit, you must take your
passport to the Immigration Bureau to cancel the extension of your stay otherwise
you will be overstaying your visa. The immigration officer will stamp in your passport that you have to leave the country right away. You will then apply for an extension of stay, which they will allow only 7 days. On the same day, your new employer should submit the work permit application for you so that it can be done within the 7 day period that you have got in your passport. While waiting for the new work permit, the new employer should get all the documents ready for extending your permit of stay from 7 days to one year based on the new work permit. Once you pick up your new work permit, you must go to the Immigration Bureau to submit the documents to extend your permit of stay right
away, which must be before the end of the 7 day period that you got.

In this case, you do not have to go out of Thailand to apply for a new Non-Immigrant Business Visa.

Please note that it is not always possible for the Labour Ministry to produce your new work permit within the 7 day period that you got. It usually takes at least 7 business days for a work permit to be ready to pick up, but your 7 day period is one calendar week.
This is when you need MSNA, Thailand work permit and visa expert to help. We will make
sure your work permit and visa transition is done correctly and within the little time limit the Immigration rule allows.

A question to Thai Work Permit Expert, Is it Possible to Use Old Non B Visa to apply for New Work Permit in Thailand?

Question: We have a registered company here in Thailand. In the event that a Non-B visa of our new foreign employee does not expire at the same time as his old work permit with his previous employer, can he use the same visa to apply for a new work permit sponsored by our company?

Answer:

1. If the Visa referred to is a multiple – journey visa granted to him by a Thai Consulate overseas, and when he comes in each time with the said visa, the immigration officer at the airport gives him a 90 day permit of stay, then his Non-B visa that he has can be used to apply for a new work permit.
2. If the Visa referred to means the permit of stay in the Kingdom that was extended to a longer period when he had his work permit (his permit of stay in Thailand was extended based on the fact that he was working with his previous employer), when his work permit expires or when he leaves the old company, he has to take his passport to the Immigration Bureau to cancel the extended permit of stay right away. The immigration officer will stamp in his passport that he has to leave Thailand right away. This means that if your new foreign employee has left the old company, or his old work permit has already expired and he has not taken his passport to Immigration Bureau to cancel the extended permit of stay, he is considered having already overstayed his permit of stay. Overstaying a permit of stay incurs a fine of Baht 500 per day (Baht 20,000 maximum) from the time that he started to overstay (in this case, the day that his work permit expired). Paying for the fine does not prevent the foreigner from being deported. In this case, he has to leave Thailand and comes back in with a new Non B visa so as to be able to apply for a new work permit.

Consult with MSNA Thailand Work Permit and Visa expert , before you make a move on your work permit and visa in Thailand.

Thai Work Permit expert today wants to discuss how to change some information on work permit in Thailand.

A holder of a Thailand Work Permit can apply for any change of information in the work permit in the event of any of the following:

1. Change or addition of category of work or nature of work;
2. Change or addition of employer;
3. Change or addition of locality of work or place of work
4. Change or addition of conditions of work under Section 26 of Working of Alien Act B.E. 2551.

The applicant is required to prepare the following documents and file it at the Office of Foreign Workers Administration. If his / her work is in a province other than Bangkok, the application must be filed at the Provincial Office of Employment:

1. Application form (W.P.6)
2. Work permit book and one copy
3. A copy of the employer’s Company Registration (updated within six months)
4. A copy of the Application Form of Value Added Tax Registration Change (Form Por Por 09)
5. Map showing the location of the employer company
6. Power of Attorney (using a form of Department of Employment) with Baht 10 duty stamp affixed and a copy of the agent’s ID Card (if the permit holder is
   unable to apply in person.)
7. A copy of employer’s work permit in case he is a foreigner. If the employer is
   not working in Thailand or has no work permit, Power of Attorney certified
   by a Notary Public and a Thai Embassy is needed.
8. A copy of employer’s ID Card in case of he is a Thai National

All documents of the employer have to be signed by the authorized signatories of the company and affix the company stamp. Meanwhile, all documents of the applicant need to be certified by him / her.

Once the application has been filed, it takes about 3 working days for the process of change of information in work permit to be finished. Then, the work permit holder (or his agent) has to pick up the work permit book at the Office of Foreign Workers Administration, Department of Employment of the Ministry of Labour and pay some fees.

Being highly knowledgeable and an expert in Thailand work permit, we at MSNA can assist you in application of such changes in your work permit.