Immigration, Visa & Work Permit

In the standard case the sponsor is expected to show around two million baht of paid-up capital per foreign employee and roughly four Thai employees per permit, with tax and social security filings in order. BOI promotion and some visa categories relax this. We check the company’s actual numbers first, because an application that fails these tests costs months.

No. Working without a permit is an offence for both the employee and the employer. We plan the start date against the filing, so nobody is working in the gap.

Two permissions from two authorities: the visa (Immigration Bureau) lets you stay; the work permit (Department of Employment) lets you work. Both must remain valid, and their dates interlock — losing one usually undermines the other.

No — the permit is tied to the employer and the described role, so a change means a new application, and resigning affects the extension of stay that was based on the old job. The switch has to be sequenced so no gap opens in either permission.

Indicative handling time for a prepared application: IMMIGRATION_TIMEFRAME. On who files what: IMMIGRATION_FILING_NOTE

No — the Non-B lets you stay for business purposes; working also requires a work permit from the Department of Employment. The two applications are prepared together, because each relies on the other’s documents.

Sometimes. In-country conversion is possible in defined cases, and it requires a minimum period of permitted stay remaining when you apply. If the case does not qualify, the application is made at an embassy abroad instead — we assess which route fits before any deadline forces the choice.

Mostly the company’s substance: tax filings, social security, financial statements and real Thai employees. The extension review looks at the sponsor as much as the applicant, so the compliance work during the year is what makes next year’s renewal routine.