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Can I extend my Non-Immigrant B visa for 30 days after my employer cancels it due to a job change?

Apr 30, 2025
a day ago
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
New Question

I work in Thailand and I am married to a Thai citizen. Presently I have a Non-Immigrant B working visa. I found a new job in a different province. My current school will cancel my visa and work permit on my last day of employment with them. I went to the Thai immigration office today to ask some questions. The immigration officer told me the following:

1) Since I am married to a Thai citizen, I can get a one-time 30 day extension of my Non Immigrant B visa for the purposes of visiting my wife.

2) During these 30 days my visa status will continue to be a Non-Immigrant B visa.

3) During these 30 days I can transfer the visa to my new school.

I have been living in Thailand for 25 years and change jobs several times but I have never hear of anything like this. Are these 3 points correct?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The original poster seeks clarification regarding the extension of their Non-Immigrant B visa after their current employer cancels it. They were informed by immigration that they could receive a 30-day extension for visiting their Thai spouse, but comments reveal confusion about the correct type of extension. Some suggest that a 60-day family visit extension is more appropriate, and there are concerns about transferring to a new employer during this period. Ultimately, updates indicate that Bangkok Immigration might not allow a further Non-B extension following a family extension, leading the poster to consider applying for a new Non-B visa from Laos.
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
UPDATE

Bangkok Immigration will not process another Non-B extension coming after an extension to visit Thai wife. They will process only from Tourist Visa . So there it is. I will go to Laos and apply for a new Non-B.

I would like to thank you all for your kind support and knowledgeable answers. It is greatly appreciated!!
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I spoke with HR at my new school this morning. HR at my new school will check with Bangkok Immigration to determine whether this process is acceptable. I will post the results when I know, for the purposes of informing others,
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thank you!!
Wylie *******
You could also just get an extension based on marriage, which you can still get a work permit on. That way your visa or extension of stay is no longer dependent on your employment.
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Yes. I asked immigration about this also. Unfortunately this is not an option as I don't have 400,000 in the bank. The option of using my Thai salary will not be accepted as I am changing employers and that complicates their decision on my ability to support my stay for the upcoming year.
Graham ******
@Jonathan *******
One of the qualifications for an Extension of Stay based on marriage is a history of 12 consecutive months of qualifying wages in Thailand not what will happen in subsequent months so I don't accept what you were told
Robert *******
Just a little advice: DO not give YOUR passport and YOUR work permit to another colleague and hope all get cancelled. YOU signed for these documents and stamps and YOU will be held responsible if things go wrong.

DO IT YOURSELF, they can walk with you.
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Robert ******
Thank you for the advice. I will be present with the HR at immigration and labor office for the cancellation process. Luckily in Roi Et the Labor office and Immigration are about 50 meters apart.
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thank you Tod. So basically, it is possible, but far from guaranteed as it will be at the discretion of Bangkok immigration whether to allow me to apply for another Non-B extension while on the 60-day family extension. Even if I call immigration in Bangkok (or have my new school call) the answer won't be certain as it will be up to the immigration officer processing my request. Is that a correct summary?

Additionally, I notice and appreciate your corrections of my query with respect to the terms 'visa' and 'extension'. I understand more fully the difference and I believe It is important to use correct and precise language, particularly on matters of significance and subtlety. So thank you for that. ๐Ÿ™‚
Tod *********
@Jonathan *******
There's nothing that says you can't use that one time 60 day visit thai family extension to "buy time" to apply for another extension.

I see it used routinely when people don't meet the seasoning requirements for retirement/marriage to a thai extensions, they get that 60 days let their funds season and then apply for the year without any issue

It SHOULD work that same way for you, cancel your extension based on employment, apply for the 60 day visit thai family extension, get the documentation from the new employer and then apply for the new extension based on employment.

Sincerely good luck with it (y)
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
The school just asked me a question:

"May I know that the 60-day extension for visiting spouse, it's visa under Category of Tourist Visa or

Staying with Family Visa?"

I think my reply should be: "Staying with Family Visa"

Does this make sense?
Tod *********
@Jonathan *******
check your messages, as I messaged you about this post and the earlier one too
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thank you Tod. I'm working through HR at the new school for my communication with Bangkok Immigration. She has already gone the extra mile for me and made several calls to both Roi Et and Bangkok Immigration. New job, new colleagues. At this point I think I will just eat the costs and follow the path that the school believes is correct based on their efforts.
Tod *********
@Jonathan *******
it's exactly under the clause in the immigration rules for that extension that I posted (clause 2.24) show them that image
Tod *********
๐Ÿญ - ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฒ๐—ป, ๐—œ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ-๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ก๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—œ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—• ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—บ๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ.

not correct

you COULD get a one time 60 day "visit thai family extension" under this clause here

๐Ÿฎ - ๐——๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐—ป-๐—œ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—• ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ.

not correct and your status now isn't Non-B, you are on a yearly extension of stay based on employment FROM a Non-B visa you're not here on any visa any more at all

once you get the 60 day visit thai family extension you'd be on an extension of stay for that reason (visiting family), as the extensions were unbroken, it would track back to the extension based on employment and that would track back to an original Non-B visa

๐Ÿฏ- ๐——๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—œ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น.

again not correct

you aren't on ANY visa, look at the stamp in your passport, it should clearly say "extension of stay permitted until" and have a date

that isn't a visa

Now, once you get the 60 day visit thai family extension, you COULD get the documentation together, and apply for an extension based on employment (because the only requirement to do that is that what ever extension you're on has to track back to SOME Non-Imm visa that allows employment and at one time you DID have a Non-B visa) even though you've been on extensions many years

The only thing you have to realize is that what ever immigration office you're dealing with to get the new extension based on employment may not allow you to do it once you take that 60 day visit thai family extension (although there is nothing in the rules that prohibits it and many people use that extension to "buy time" to get other

It's the immigration office where you'll be getting the new extension based on employment that will have the final say on whether you can go from an extension based on visiting thai family to one based on employment.
Tod *********
Here's that visit family extension
Lloyd ********
Nope, not correct. There is a 60 extension to visit Thai family, maybe that is what they meant.
Jonathan ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Lloyd *******
Thank you
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