Answered5 years ago

What should you do about your visa when quitting or getting fired from a job in Thailand?

Thai visa rules visa grace period work permit cancellation extension of stay NON-O visa employment visa Thailand

Jimmy *******

asked Jul 7, 2021

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What happens with regards to your visa if you are working for a company in Thailand and:

1. You decide to quit your job because you don't like it and you plan to search for another job.

2. You are fired from your job.

Is there some kind of grace period where you can stay and search for further employment?

Thanks.

Answer summary

If you quit your job or are fired while in Thailand on a work permit, your extension of stay, which is linked to your work permit, will be cancelled. You must leave Thailand by 11:59 PM the same day your work permit is cancelled unless you obtain a new extension. There is no grace period to search for another job unless you manage to secure a new extension before your current one expires. The length of time worked in Thailand does not afford extra rights regarding extensions, as each is treated as a new application.

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Tod *********

Okay, sadly the length of time you worked for a company has NOTHING to do with your extensions <- those are issued for a year at a time and each year you're applying for a completely NEW extension of stay (that's why you turn in the same pile of paper year after year.

When you are going to quit your job MOST people who plan ahead get the letter from the employer stating you're stopping work on xxx date, the a couple weeks before that date they GO cancel your work permit and go to the immigration office to cancel the current extension. The immigration office will cancel the extension and give you a stamp letting you stay until the termination date.

Few if any people do the "quit one day, head to the immigration office" routine.

5 years ago

Jimmy *******

Thanks for the clear answer.

Am I right in assuming that if you worked here for 10 years for the same company then (special circumstances withstanding) you would be on roughly your tenth "one year extension of stay" and you would STILL have to get a new extension or leave Thailand on the same day that your work permit was cancelled?

I'm trying to understand whether working here for 3, 5, 10 years affords you some extra "rights" or possibility of obtaining a longer-term visa/extension of stay?

5 years ago

Darren ******

see Tods comment below , yes im aware of the severance requirements as im an employer

5 years ago

Tod *********

@Jimmy ******

the length of time you work here would only matter as far as your severance pay.

5 years ago

Claude **********

@Jimmy ******

I believe that depending on how long you have been working in a given place the law says you have 1 to 3 months notice, that’s usually enough time to find a solution

5 years ago

Darren ******

@Claude *********

notice depends on your contract

5 years ago

Claude **********

@Darren *****

not entirely, the labour law specifies minimums, I encountered this issue when we had to fire an employee on the spot. The labour office came after us because we should have give them 3 months notice or 3 months severance because they had been working with us more than 3 years. In the end it went nowhere because they were fired with cause but I learned about that.

5 years ago

Benjamin ******

@Jimmy ******

IF you've been making a certain amount of money, and paying taxes, I *HIGHLY* encourage you to look into getting PR or citizenship. I don't know if you would qualify for PR or citizenship, and the process is a little complex, and outside the scope of this group sadly 🙁

5 years ago

Benjamin ******

>regards to your visa

There are two things that care called "visas". There's the original Non-B sticker. This sticker is a single entry visa, that lets you stay in Thailand for 89 days on entry. Visas can not be cancelled or voided, and you can stay until your "admitted to" date.

Some people call a "one year extension of stay based on employment" a visa. This extension of stay is cancelled when your work permit is cancelled, and you have until 11:59PM THE SAME DAY to either get a new extension of stay, or to leave Thailand.

During the COVID-19 time, you can apply for a 60 day extension of stay based on unable to travel due to COVID-19, letting you stay for another 60 days.

Before COVID-19, people could request another extension of stay, which would be rejected and they would get a 7 day extension of stay DENIED stamp.

All extension of stays are 1,900 THB.

5 years ago

Nikolas ***************

@Benjamin *****

So basically, when you are fired or decide to reisgn, you have time until 11:59PM the same day the work permit is cancelled to either leave or get a Covid-19 extension, which means you need to get a letter from the embassy in Bangkok first?

5 years ago

Wannikea *********

@Nikolas **************

if on an extension yes, if still on sticker visa no.

5 years ago

Benjamin ******

@Nikolas **************

I think very few embassies are currently issuing the letters now. What they are doing are putting notices on their websites saying they are not issuing the letters.

Some immigration offices are not asking for those letters either

5 years ago