Work permits

The Alien Occupation Law, adopted in 1973, requires all aliens working in Thailand to obtain a Work Permit prior to starting work in the Kingdom. An updated version of the Act, adopted in 1978, describes the procedures for issuance and maintenance of Work Permits and lists certain occupations from which aliens may be excluded.

Exemptions

The Act grants exemptions from the Work Permit requirement to the following professionals:

• Members of the diplomatic corps
• Members of consular missions
• Representatives of member countries and officials of the United Nations and its specialised agencies
• Personal servants coming from abroad to work exclusively for persons listed under the above items
• Persons who perform duties on missions in the Kingdom under an agreement between the government of Thailand and a foreign government or international organisation
• Persons who enter the Kingdom for the performance of any duty or mission for the benefit of education, culture, arts, or sports
• Persons who are specially permitted by the government of Thailand to enter and perform any duty or mission in the Kingdom.

Special cases

While most aliens must apply for a Work Permit, and may not begin work until the permit is issued, the Alien Employment Act does provide special treatment in the following circumstances:

Urgent and essential work:

Exemption from Work Permit requirements is granted to aliens who enter the Kingdom temporarily, but in accordance with the immigration law, to perform any work of any "urgent and essential nature" for a period not exceeding 15 days. However, such aliens may engage in work only after a written notification on a prescribed form, signed by the alien and endorsed by his employer, has been submitted to and accepted by the Director-General or his designee.

Aliens entitled to this treatment may enter Thailand with any kind of visa, including a transit visa. The term "urgent and essential work" is not explicitly defined and consequently, the issuance of this sort of exemption is a matter of administrative discretion.

Investment promotion

An alien seeking permission to work in the Kingdom under the Investment Promotion Law must submit his application for a Work Permit within 30 days of notification by the Board of Investment that his position has been approved. An alien in this category may engage in authorised work while the application is being processed.

Procedures

The Act requires that any alien working in Thailand must obtain a Work Permit before beginning work. Section 8 of the Act stipulates that while a prospective employer may file an application on the alien's behalf in advance of his commencing work, the actual Work Permit will not be issued until the alien has entered Thailand in accordance with the immigration laws and has presented himself to receive his Work Permit.

The permit initially will be valid only for the period of the alien's Non-Immigrant visa permits him to remain in Thailand under the Immigration law. The Work Permit will be subject to renewal in accordance with the renewed or extended visa. For aliens who are holders of a Thai Certificate of Residence, the Work Permit can be renewed annually. The Labour Department, subject to subsequent renewal, will in principle grant an initial duration of one year for the Work Permit. A Work Permit must be renewed before its expiry date or it will automatically lapse.

Applicants for Work Permits may not enter the Kingdom as tourists or transients.

Required documentation

The following documents must be attached to a Work Permit application:

• For non-permanent residents, a valid passport containing a Non- Immigrant visa
• For permanent residents, a valid passport, residence permit and alien book
• Evidence of applicant's educational qualifications and letter(s) of recommendation from the former employer, describing in detail the applicant's past position, duties, performance, and place and length of employment. If the documents are in a language other than English, a Thai translation certified as correct by a Thai Embassy (if abroad) or Ministry of Foreign Affairs (if in Thailand) must be attached
• A recent medical certificate from a first-class licensed physician in Thailand stating that the applicant is not of unsound mind and not suffering from leprosy, acute tuberculosis, elephantiasis, narcotic addiction or habitual alcoholism
• Three 5x6 cm. full-faced, bareheaded, black and white or colour photographs, taken no more than six months prior to the filing of the application
• If the application is to be filed by another person, a valid power of attorney in the prescribed form must be attached with a 10 baht duty stamp
• On the application form, the "job description" entry must be completed with a detailed statement as to what job is expected to be performed, how it is related to other people, and what materials will be used in the work (additional paper to be used if necessary)
• If the job applied for is subject to a license under a particular law, in addition to the Alien Occupation Law, a photocopy of such license, (e.g. teacher's license, physician's license, press card from the Public Relations Department, certificate of missionary status from the Office of Religious Affairs, etc.) shall be attached
• If the applicant is married to a Thai national, the original and photocopies of the following must be presented:
  • Marriage certificate, spouse's identity card, birth certificates of children, household registration, as well as a photocopy of every page of the applicant's passport
  • If the job being applied for is not in Bangkok, the application should be filed at the relevant province's Department of Employment, or in the absence of such an office, at the province's city hall
  • Aditional evidence as requested. It may be necessary to translate any or all documents into Thai.

Permitted activities

Thai law prohibits employers from allowing aliens to perform any function other than that described in the alien's Work Permit. Employers must report changes in employment, transfers and termination of all aliens in their organisation within 15 days of any such action. In cases of dismissal, aliens must return their Work Permit to labour authorities in Bangkok at the Alien Occupation division or, if they are in a provincial area, to the province's Department of Employment. Failure to do so will result in a fine of up to 1,000 baht.

Any alien who engages in work without a Work Permit, or in violation of the conditions of his work as stipulated in his permit, may be punished by a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months or a fine of up to 5,000 baht, or both. Aliens engaged in work prohibited to them by Royal Decree shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine ranging from 2,000 to 100,000 baht, or both.

An employer who permits an alien to work in his organisation without a Work Permit or to act in violation of the nature of the work specified in the permit may be punished with imprisonment not exceeding three years or fined up to 60,000 baht or both.

Permit holders must obtain prior permission to change their occupation and/or place of work. Change of employer location or the residential address of the permit holder must be properly endorsed in the Work Permit by the labour authorities. The Alien Employment Act does not prevent an alien from engaging in work in more than one field or for more than one employer.

Visas and immigration law

All persons, other than those in transit and citizens of certain countries, are required to obtain a visa in order to enter Thailand. Foreign nationals who intend to remain in Thailand to work or conduct business must comply with visa requirements in addition to obtaining a work permit.

Visa categories

The Immigration Act of 1979 as amended in 1980 establishes the following visa categories:

• Tourist
• Visitor transit
• Immigrant
• Non-quota immigrant
• Non-immigrant

Nationals of most countries will, without applying for a visa from a Thai embassy or consulate in advance, be given a 30 day-visa, except for those who are eligible for 90 day-visas. Nationals of some countries who are entitled to the 30 day-visa may be requested by the immigration officials to produce an onward ticket to establish that they will leave the Kingdom within 30 days.

Tourist

Tourist visas are initially valid for 60 days and are renewable at the discretion of the Immigration Department. Renewals are normally granted for periods of up to 30 days at a time.

Visitor transit

Aliens who have obtained a transit visa from a Thai embassy or consulate will be granted a 30-day stay in the Kingdom. Extensions of stay are normally granted for periods of seven to 10 days.

Transit, visitor transit and tourist visa holders are not authorised to work in Thailand.

Non-quota immigrant

This category includes, former residents who have lost their resident status but who have reapplied to resume their residency and who have been able to demonstrate a convincing reason to support the granting of this type of visa.

Members of the diplomatic or consular corps, aliens coming to perform their duties in Thailand with the approval of the Thai government, aliens performing their duties in Thailand under an agreement between the Thai government and a foreign government, heads of international organisations or agencies operating in Thailand, and dependants of all the aforementioned persons, including private servants of members of the diplomatic corps, are exempted by the Act from the normal visa requirements.

Non-immigrant visa

Aliens seeking a prolonged stay, or those coming to work in Thailand, should obtain non-immigrant visas for all family members prior to entering the Kingdom. There are several categories of Non-Immigrant visas which include business visa category (B); dependent visa category (O); investment subject to the provision of the laws on investment promotion (BOI IB); diplomatic and consular visa category (D); performance of duties with the mass media (M); performance of skilled or expert work (EX); investment (with concurrence of ministries and departments concerned)-(capital investment IM); study or observation (ED).

A non-immigrant visa entitles the holder to apply for a multiple re-entry visa to Thailand from the Immigration Division in Bangkok, as well as allowing the holder to apply for permanent residence in Thailand. It also provides eligibility for the issuance of a Work Permit, and eligibility for temporary visa renewal while processing issuance of a long- term annual visa.

Aliens are advised to strictly adhere to the rules governing each visa category. They should report any changes of address or status to local police within 24 hours.

Transit, visitor transit, tourist and non-immigrant visas are issued only for the following purposes and duration:

• Diplomats or consular missions (duration as necessary)
• Official missions (duration as necessary)
• Tourism (90 days)
• Sports (30 days)
• Business purposes (one year)
• An investment which has received authorisation from the appropriate government authorities (two years)
• Investment or other business in connection with investment under the investment promotion act (as determined by the Board of Investment)
• Transit (30 days)
• The controller or crew of a conveyance entering a port or other locality in the kingdom (30 days)
• Work as a skilled labourer or specialist (one year).

In order to facilitate and speed up the process of issuing visas and work permits, the Thai government has established a One-Stop Service Centre for Visas and Work Permits where applications, once all relevant paper work is in place, can be processed in a few hours. This includes a multiple re-entry visa for the period of the validity of the visa - usually one year.

Work permits, which are valid for the period of the visa, have to be renewed every year. When an individual applies for a renewal of visa, he or she has to show that taxes for the previous year have been paid.

If an individual stays in Thailand for an unbroken period of 90 days, he or she has to notify immigration officials accordingly.

Guidelines for foreign investors on acquiring permanent residence in Thailand

Qualifications

• A foreign national of any country who has legally entered Thailand by passing through an immigration checkpoint
• Free of disease and not prohibited from entering Thailand under the Immigration Act
• Able to submit a money certificate for funds transferred from abroad through one or more banks in Thailand in the name of the applicant, amounting to not less than 10 million baht.

Applications may be submitted under one of five categories of investments:

• Investment in a private company or public company
• The purchase of a condominium from the owner of the condominium project
• The purchase of government bonds or state enterprise bonds
• Deposit(s) totalling not less than 10 million baht in one or more Thai banks
• Other investments in accordance with the specification of the Immigration Commission.

Criteria

For a successful application for permanent residence for investment in Thailand, the project must benefit the country in the following ways:

• Produce for export
• Increase employment
• Utilise indigenous raw materials
• Locate in provincial areas
• Encourage technology transfer to Thai nationals.

Projects in the following categories will not be taken into consideration:

• Those restricted by law
• Those which compete in such as way as to destroy existing domestic businesses
• Those which hinder the growth of existing domestic businesses or domestic businesses which have not yet been developed.

For any project eligible for investment promotion which has submitted an application for promotional status or has already been granted promotional status, the applicant must bring in funds to invest in the new project that has not yet started operations. Such investment must be in the form of a joint venture in a newly or already established company. This joint venture must economically benefit the project, for example by assisting in export marketing or by bringing in appropriate technology.

Remitted funds must be invested in ordinary shares of the limited company that is set up to implement the approved project. The applicant must hold more than 25 percent of the registered capital unless the size of the project exceeds 100 million baht, excluding the costs of the land and working capital. In this case, the share-holding criteria can be relaxed.

The applicant can apply for permanent residence for himself and the following family members:

• Spouse
• Parents
• Not more than three children who are unmarried and under 20 years of age.

Investors must hold their investments continuously for a minimum of three years after being granted permanent residence in Thailand, and must submit evidence of their investment holding to the Immigration Bureau before the end of September in each of the three years.

For the purchase of a condominium or government bonds or state enterprise bonds, an amount of eight million baht must be invested by the investor, six million baht for a spouse and two million baht per unmarried child under the age of 20.

If the purchase consists of either government bonds or state enterprise bonds, the bonds may not be transferred or redeemed for a period of five years. Should an investor choose to apply via purchase of a condominium whose project has been registered with the Board of Investment, he must not sell it for a minimum of five years, and may not use the condominium as collateral for a loan.

Place, period of time and documentation for submitting an application for permanent residence

Applications may be submitted from 1 July 1997 until 30 June 2000 to Section 1, Sub-Division 1, Immigration Division 1, Immigration Bureau (Room 301, old building), Soi Suan Plu, off South Sathorn Road, Sathorn District, Bangkok 10120. Telephone 237-3117, 285-5582.

The Immigration Bureau will submit the application to the Immigration Commission for consideration within 60 days after receiving the completed documentation. After approval is granted by the Immigration Commission, applications will be forwarded to the Minister of Interior for final approval and signature. The Immigration Bureau will then inform each applicant of the result within 15 days after receiving notification from the Ministry of Interior.

Application can also be made directly to the Board of Investment.

Fees

A fee of 2,000 baht will be charged for each application and a fee of 50,000 baht will be charged at the time of issuing the residence book.

Withdrawal of permanent residence

If, after granting of permanent residence status, it is discovered that the person possesses qualities which are prohibited by the immigration laws and which cannot be changed, the permanent residence permit will be withdrawn and the fees will not be returned.