Answered9 years ago

Should teachers cancel their work permits and visa extensions before leaving Thailand?

Visa rules Extension of stay Work permit cancellation Thailand immigration Visa expiration consequences Non-B visa issues

Terry ********

asked Feb 22, 2018

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Hi. I have got some teacher colleagues returning to their home country next month. Their work extension of stays expire at the end of next month. I was told they shouldn't just let them expire but cancel them just before they leave the country as otherwise they may have a problem if they ever come back to Thailand. Is this right?

Answer summary

Teachers in Thailand should cancel their work permits and visa extensions at the immigration office before leaving the country, particularly if they plan to work in Thailand again in the future. Failing to do so could cause difficulties in obtaining a new work permit and extension in the future. If they leave without canceling and later return on a visa exemption, they might face issues only if they plan to apply for a work permit again.

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Terry ********

Thank you

@Tod ********

9 years ago

Tod *********

The way it works is IF you are on an extension of stay based on employment and you are stopping work you go cancel your work permit with the Ministry of Labor, and cancel your extension of stay at the immigration office.

Failing to do that will cause you problems IF you ever wanna get a work permit and an extension based on employment in thailand again.

Now if they're leaving thailand never to return I wouldn't worry about it, however IF they're ever gonna work here again they need to cancel both the work permit and the extension BEFORE they leave.

9 years ago

Terry ********

Yep. I don't really understand how they know. If the employer let the visa and work permit run until expiry and they return way after that time how do they know?

9 years ago

Robert *******

Date of Extension of Stay is known at Immigration, day of departure is also known by Immigration. Nasty part of using database and computer programs.

9 years ago

Robert *******

The Extension of Stay based on work stops on the day that they stop working. If they stay longer it is officially overstay. On return with Visa Exempt not a big problem but when they apply for new Extension this overstay will be noticed.

9 years ago

Terry ********

So what are the consequences if they leave the country without cancelling and the visa expires and they then return to Thailand a year later for example on a 30 day exempt ?

9 years ago

Kari ********

9 years ago

Terry ********

Ok fair enough, thanks for the advice.

9 years ago

Kari ********

They won't have any prob getting 30 day exemption but will have problems if they want to work and get for example, Non B. I went thru this personally and it was a PITA.

9 years ago

Kari ********

You are correct. They must cancel visa. It isn't automatically canceled just by them leaving.

9 years ago