This is NOT an official government website. We are an independent resource providing information and assistance to travelers.
Which Thai embassies issue Non-B visas without a work permit and what are the current requirements?
Nov 28, 2017
8 years ago
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTEROk. I have more succinct question(s):
1. Which Thai embassies will issue Non-B visa without a wp in hand?
2. How serious have the Thai gotten about proof of work address? Will photos suffice, and do they want photos of me IN that location?
3. During the 90-day inspection period prior to getting the 1-year, can and will they just show up unanounced, or will they tell you when they are coming?
4. If something goes sideways, and the WP is a no-go, can I get another 90 days to get my ducks in a row, and if not, can I revert to 60-day METV?
Thanks in advance.
1. Which Thai embassies will issue Non-B visa without a wp in hand?
2. How serious have the Thai gotten about proof of work address? Will photos suffice, and do they want photos of me IN that location?
3. During the 90-day inspection period prior to getting the 1-year, can and will they just show up unanounced, or will they tell you when they are coming?
4. If something goes sideways, and the WP is a no-go, can I get another 90 days to get my ducks in a row, and if not, can I revert to 60-day METV?
Thanks in advance.
TLDR : Answer Summary
The post discusses the issuance of Non-B visas without a work permit, specifically noting that currently the Thai embassies in Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City will issue a 90-day Non-B visa without requiring a work permit or WP3 receipt. It highlights evolving standards concerning required documentation, including whether photographs are required at the applicant's work location and the expectations for inspections during the visa process. Additionally, it touches on the potential for visa extensions if work permit issues arise.
90 DAY REPORTING RESOURCES / SERVICES
- Use the trusted Thailand 90 Day Reporting Serviceto get your in-person report done and mailed to you for as low as 375 THB (even if the online system doesn't work for you).
- For immediate assistance, contact Thai Visa Centre directly via LINE at @ThaiVisaCentre or Email them.
- Join the Thai Visa Advice Facebook Group to ask your questions, and get advice from others.
Pelle Eriksson★★★★★
Absolutely Bangkok's best service I highly...recently on Facebook
Luca G.★★★★★
I used this agency for my DTV Visa...recently on Google
Trusted 90 Day Reporting Agent
OVER 100,000 EXPATS SERVED
#1 VISA AGENT IN THAILAND
Joe ***********
Visa for business contact. Valid for three years (Three-Year Non-Immigrant Visa "B"). Foreigners wishing to travel to Thailand for business purposes. And need to travel frequently. A B-to-B visa can be applied for multiple visits to Thailand three years (Three-Year Non-Immigrant Visa "B"). Foreigners who have been granted a visa can travel to Thailand several times within 3 years and stay up to 90 days at a time. They are not allowed to work in Thailand. 1. Place to apply for a visa Foreigners wishing to obtain a Three-Year Non-Immigrant Visa "B" can apply for a visa at the Thai embassy or consulate located in the country where the applicant is applying. Check the residence card only. If no Thai embassy or consulate is located in the country where the applicant for residence permit is domiciled The application can be made at the Thai embassy in charge of the country. The application can not be submitted at the Honorary Consulate of Thailand. They are not allowed to have such kind of visa. If you want to inquire about the place of filing. For more information, please contact the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Royal Thai Embassy, Bangkok. For addresses and phone numbers of the Royal Thai Embassy and the Royal Thai Consulate-General see
*************************
2. Documentation of the application. - The application form for the visa application is completed. - a passport with sufficient travel time - Photographs taken less than 6 months - Identification documents such as ID card, residence permit document - evidence of the work of the applicant, such as a workplace certificate Or in case of having their own business. Provide evidence of your business. - Certificate of Chamber membership Business association Or other equivalent institutions of that country. - Evidence that a business is regularly in Thailand, such as a certificate or evidence of business contacts with companies or agencies in Thailand. Provide proof of the company (such as company registration certificate). List of shareholders Company Profile Corporate income tax and PND 50 PND 30 PND VAT register P 20 P & L balance sheet and P & L account Company location map, etc.) Royal Thai Embassies and Consulates may obtain additional documentation for consideration. 3. Fee of THB 10,000 Remarks - The visa examination is at the discretion of the embassy or consulate. - The visa fee paid to the embassy and consulate can not be refunded.Joe ***********
And the 3 year Non B is Multi-Entry fwith 90 stays each time for business research, creating contacts, etc but I read that you cannot get a WP with this Visa
Joe ***********
Readers should not confuse the B Visa - W/P procedures for Employees of a Thai company versus people who are share owners / directors of their own company - they differ somewhat. And the process differs depending upon the Visa held when beginning the process
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERFor SURE!
Tod *********
and don't confuse B visas for teachers with B visas for other trades either :/
Reply to
Tod *********
Reply
Joseph *****
I applied for a non-O last year:
1. I apply my non-O through a well connected agent.
2. The parts about photo, as in has to have 40 photos of you doing your job in a report is new. Not only that, the report also needs to indicate who else is in the photo, what you are doing, what date, what time, and where. The rumor is that some higher upper really like reports from a certain NGO, and therefore want everyone to do the same.
3. If someone needs to check up on you, they will come. The check is used to be conducted by local police department. Now, it's conducted by officers from regional HQ.
4. Generally speaking, if you didn't have all the documents ready, you're done. The only thing you can do, is do over.
1. I apply my non-O through a well connected agent.
2. The parts about photo, as in has to have 40 photos of you doing your job in a report is new. Not only that, the report also needs to indicate who else is in the photo, what you are doing, what date, what time, and where. The rumor is that some higher upper really like reports from a certain NGO, and therefore want everyone to do the same.
3. If someone needs to check up on you, they will come. The check is used to be conducted by local police department. Now, it's conducted by officers from regional HQ.
4. Generally speaking, if you didn't have all the documents ready, you're done. The only thing you can do, is do over.
Tod *********
Boy
@Da***
, you sure know how to ask questions that generate healthy discourse ;)Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERAnd I am KISS Army from way back myself. In Brasil, even!
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERA curse, I call it. But at least people are civil in this thread! ✌
Reply to
Dario **********
Reply
Joe ***********
Again it is the lack of consistency when it comes to - will the I/O who is processing a one year Extension of a B Visa be picky about the photos or not? ... Will the I/O visit the Business or not? Only evidence from other very recent applicants in that office can shed light on what they do or will do or not
Robert *******
@Chay *****
Okay, I know about the 2 sets, also for Non O based on marriage, but it went always to Had Yai, so now they changed to BKK.Chay ******
@Robert ******
I now understand why we need to provide 2 full sets of documents, obviously 1 set is sent to BKKRobert *******
Things changed? normally it was Southern HQ in Hat Yai.
Chay ******
They have to send everything for approval to BKK, then wait for confirmation before stamping and signing, Wisut was showing us the line chat he had with BKK as we had to make new pics and he then sent them through whilst we sat waiting
Joe ***********
Are you saying that Bkk Imm was checking your B Extension App at Krabi?
Chay ******
I found the last time at Krabi for my 1 year extension was harder than before but it was Imm HQ in BKK that were scrutinising things more than before and asking for new pics or extra documents, the guys at Krabi just wanted the approval and to clear from their desks
Reply to
Chay ******
Reply
Magdeleen ************
what is this question about getting non B without Work permit? I have never applied for non B having to have a work permit.
Morash *******
I think the Non B is not primarily for work permit ... it can also be used as Business visa to conduct business in Thailand....such as import export product.. like u can use it to bring products to sell here ... So mayb Hong Kong having important business relation with Bangkok can issue Non B for the purpose of business travel
Judy *******
@Tod ********
sorry! I am actually going to get my retirement Visa but waiting for 2018. So sorry to add confusion I will delete commentTod *********
@Ju**
, we are talking about Non-B <- business visas :( FWIW: even to volunteer for free here you do need a work permit ;)
Tod *********
@Judy ******
I asked if you were sure you didn't have the WP3 receipt in your paperwork when you applied, because there're no reports that I could see where KL or Phnom Penh issued Non-B's without the WP3 or a work permit..Tod *********
no worries ;)
Magdeleen ************
Aaa ok I have WP3...sorry all this abbreviations can get one a bit confused.
Tod *********
okay, in the paperwork your turn in at many thai consulates for a Non-B they require either a WP3 receipt of having applied for a work permit OR a work permit.
At this time it seems TWO consulates in S/E Asia will issue a 90 day Non-B without it, that is Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam and Hong Kong.
At this time it seems TWO consulates in S/E Asia will issue a 90 day Non-B without it, that is Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam and Hong Kong.
Reply to
Tod *********
Reply
Joe ***********
I thought a fellow posted here the other day the Thai Consulate in Saigon / Ho Chi Mign City would process a B Visa without a WP. 3 Receipt. Was I imagining things?
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERHe did.
Joe ***********
Two in the region - not too bad
Tod *********
I thought someone said that but I wasn't sure
Joe ***********
Great
Sean ********
Yes they will. I've done 2 there back to back without needing the WP application.
Reply to
Sean ********
Reply
Jeremy ********
Just buy an Elite Visa if your this paranoid about the rules....but you still can’t work on a Thai Elite Visa
David ************
@Dario *********
down outside of Chumphon town.Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERAwesome. Where?
David ************
@Dario *********
Rubber trees, palm oil, cucumbers, string beans, and pineapple. We’re raising cattle as well. And a bunch of ducks.Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERFor sure! I know the scale here! What do you grow?
David ************
@Dario *********
I’m sure you know I’m joking. Hell , our Burmese Labor only make 300 baht a day. And come to think of it I don’t make anything. Lol. But it does keep you occupied just the same.Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTER@David ***********
, thanks for that kind and very generous offer, but I get enough of that at the wife's in Roi Et and the Gik's in Phetchabun!David ************
Dario Depiante come down south and we’ll occupy you on our plantation. No problem. We will get you Work permits
Jeremy ********
The water taxis are cheap to go back and forth
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERFunny part is... I like Macao more, oddly enough, Portuguese is still spoken there, though less than 20 years ago, so I can actually communicate.
Sean ********
I wish I could go and encamp in HK for a week. The again I can do it in Macau anytime and pop over to HK as needed.
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERDelighted!
Tod *********
@Da***
, sounds like a good plan (y). Report back if you would and let us know how it goes in Hong Kong with the visa application :)
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERBecause "strictly an employee" means that is my goal for this wp. The guy who HAS the company is foot dragging on the WP. SO.... i can go to HK for a week, which I enjoy anyway, and have the visa ready to roll when I get back and my guy gets his shit together. Get it? The extant company is purely a landholding company. Yes, I can pull (😉
@ ***
d) the WP from it, but I don't want to use that one, for all the reasons stated above. I would prefer to be a drone.Jeremy ********
@Dario *********
if you have a company and are an employee...then why are you worried about a WPDario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERI like them. And I have a Thai holding company. But I am strictly an employee these days. Someone else can worry about the taxes, payroll, paperwork, graft, accounting, etc!
Jeremy ********
@Dario *********
start a company or if try this company....************
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERRight. And I kinda want to keep myself and the wife occupied. Work is a good way to go.
Reply to
Dario **********
Reply
Clint *********
Yes and yes
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERSerious as a heart attack indeed. So if my business is consulting, I am only allowed to "consult" at the office shown?
And if I am not the titular owner, but just an employee, I stll need workers around me?
And if I am not the titular owner, but just an employee, I stll need workers around me?
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERHave.
Reiner *********
2 million
In
Company and 4 thai employees for 1 foreign WP
In
Company and 4 thai employees for 1 foreign WP
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERHave.
Ertram **********
Thge kink is that to hire a foreigner the buisiness needs more than a million baht in asets.,...
Reply to
Ertram **********
Reply
Tod *********
1 - AFAIK only Hong Kong will issue a 90 day Non-B without a work permit or a WP3 receipt
2 - serious as a heart attack. You'll need photos of you at your desk, in front of the address sign, with workers standing around you etc.
3- there is no 90 day inspection period. You pull :O I mean get a 90 day Non-B visa and then you go apply for the yearly extension of stay (usually when you have 30 days or less left on the current stamp). They either approve the year on the spot or give you a paper stating to come back in 30 days to get the extension inked into your passport. They can come during the 30 days and inspect your office if they want, but it's totally up to them whether they do or not.
4 - if you're asking if you can't get a work permit straightened out in the 90 days you got when you entered on your Non-B, the answer is nope, you can't get any extension on it other than the year or the 7 days get out of thailand and buy a new visa one.
You'd have to go to a consulate, get a new Non-B and start the process over again
2 - serious as a heart attack. You'll need photos of you at your desk, in front of the address sign, with workers standing around you etc.
3- there is no 90 day inspection period. You pull :O I mean get a 90 day Non-B visa and then you go apply for the yearly extension of stay (usually when you have 30 days or less left on the current stamp). They either approve the year on the spot or give you a paper stating to come back in 30 days to get the extension inked into your passport. They can come during the 30 days and inspect your office if they want, but it's totally up to them whether they do or not.
4 - if you're asking if you can't get a work permit straightened out in the 90 days you got when you entered on your Non-B, the answer is nope, you can't get any extension on it other than the year or the 7 days get out of thailand and buy a new visa one.
You'd have to go to a consulate, get a new Non-B and start the process over again
Jim *******
@Randolph *******
. I only said what I know to be correct. I've no idea what a hkid is but @Tod ********
will.Randolph ****
Jim James hi jim, i mean i tried looking for our supplier’s profile. they are a relatively large thai company with more than 10,000 employees. our company gives a few million usd business to them so i just hope that my justification letters will be considered. also i have a hkid which the thai consulate in hk requires.
Jim *******
@Randolph *******
. My friend who has a large hostel business here in Bangkok, went especially to HK to get a NON B. Contrary to what's been said here,they only issued it after much discussion as they wanted him to have a work permit first. He was told it was a one-off. I'm sorry but I cannot understand your first sentence.Sean *************
Hey, I’m no pro. But, I think you’re mistaken. Maybe most is some, or sometimes, because I can think of a dozen times/people where the visa has come before the work permit.
Again, I’m not trying to argue a point that I know little about. My experience is different though. Cheers
Again, I’m not trying to argue a point that I know little about. My experience is different though. Cheers
Randolph ****
i looked at our supplier they have more than THB5B revenue. although we are just one of their mid-tier customers, im leveraging on the fact that we are also developing some new technologies which they would like to have
Randolph ****
@Tod ********
hi tod, i got my guarantee docs ready from my european company and waiting docs from our supplier. they asked if purchase order is ok as business correspondence, i think ok. they will alsoprovide an invitation letter and their business documents. they are a listed hi-tech company. hope it works but if not, i may just do with emails and calls for the mean time and just visit them.Tod *********
@Randolph *******
You would do well to read the actual requirements to obtain that 3 year multi-entry visa. It's not nearly as easy as getting a single entry 90 day Non-B..Tod *********
@Sean ************
most thai consulates want the receipt of your employer having applied for a work permit for you in the form of the WP3 receipt, only Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City don't require it.Randolph ****
@Jim ******
hi jim, does your friend has hkid? from the royal thai consulate in hk, it was mentioned that they will give a 3 year multiple business visa.Sean *************
@Tod ********
, in many, many cases, the visa is issued first. Penang, KL, and the consulate in my hone country have all issued me Non-Bs without yet having a work permit. I can't comment on HKG, but a WP isn't a requirement for a visa to be issued.Jim *******
Tod. A friend of ours went to Hong Kong last week for a NON B and was asked for a WP. He eventually was given the B,but told that's the last time without the WP.
Tod *********
@Judy ******
Are you sure you didn't have the WP3 receipt of your company having applied for a work permit for you in your paperwork? Many many people have no idea what is actually in that pile 'o paper you give the consulate?
Tod *********
Now now
It is a process that makes sense only to the thaiz, but seeing as we live here and it's their country, the process doesn't have to make any sense to us at all, now does it?
Again, it is what it is, you deal with it and suck it up.
@St***
, there's no need to get peckish ;) It is a process that makes sense only to the thaiz, but seeing as we live here and it's their country, the process doesn't have to make any sense to us at all, now does it?
Again, it is what it is, you deal with it and suck it up.
Tod *********
@Sean ************
the main point is that the Hong Kong consulate will accept applications for a 90 day NOn-B visa without the receipt of having applied for a work permit I don't know another thai consulate in S/E Asia that will do that. All of them want either a valid work permit or the receipt that your employer has applied for a work permit for you (WP3) or they won't issue you the visa..
Steve ********
You can accuse me of being a troll, you can ban me from this group, I don't care. I went through the same TOTAL BS CRAP with me yearly visa, photos in the house, watching TV , prepare a big sign for the house and stand next to it. Then the first time the photos wernt good enuff, come back and do more BS photos. one hour drive to city to print out photos and copies , back to office in another city. They then hand back a 50 copies after saying we needed that many. It takes literally days to do this... LMFAO at the whole thing
Sean *************
*visa before work permit
Tod *********
@Lopez ****
you are over simplifying things a little. Many times people have the documentation to apply for the Non-B visa from a thai consualte EXCEPT they don't have the WP3 receipt of having applied for a work permit. Hong Kong is the only consulate that will issue a 90 day single entry Non-B. You turn in all the documentation normally required except there you don't need the receipt of having applied for a work permit.
Dario **********
ORIGINAL POSTERRight you are, Tod. It's question of when I have time to go to HK... And when the permit paperwork is sorted.
Jason ******
Tod Daniels Yes i know that but shouldn't they already have a job lined up where they can get a work permit so they can apply for the Non B visa? If I didn't have a job and wanted to work in Thailand but I dont have a work permit, but get the Non B Visa in Hong Kong, I would still need to find a job that would provide me the work permit. But if I was on a Tourist visa, and found a job, they would provide the work permit and then the Non B visa would automatically come after that.
Sean *************
@Lopez ****
, you cannot change a tourist visa to a non-B in places like Phuket, for instance...Tod *********
@Lo***
, they are getting the visa because they are going to work obviously ;)Jason ******
What benefits would someone have by obtainin a Non B Visa in Hong Kong without a work permit instead of a Tourist Visa? Because if your plan was to work in Thailand, then getting the work permit should be priority over the Visa, but then if you don't plan on working, the Tourist visa is cheaper and probably better to go for.
Reply to
Jason ******
Reply
10 comments
4 years ago
2 comments
4 years ago
2 comments
6 years ago
2 comments
6 years ago
19 comments
6 years ago
12 comments
6 years ago
14 comments
6 years ago
10 comments
6 years ago
21 comments
6 years ago
1 comments
7 years ago
0 comments
7 years ago
0 comments
7 years ago
0 comments
7 years ago
0 comments
7 years ago
0 comments
7 years ago
5 comments
7 years ago
4 comments
7 years ago
2 comments
8 years ago
4 comments
8 years ago
0 comments
8 years ago
30 comments
8 years ago
20 comments
8 years ago
2 comments
8 years ago
4 comments
9 years ago
13 comments
9 years ago
7 comments
a month ago
9 comments
a month ago
21 comments
a month ago
16 comments
a month ago
8 comments
a month ago
The ask:thailand community, consisting of multiple Q/A groups with over 100,000 members, powers this platform. It is not an official government resource. Our members actively contribute to this resource, and while we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee its complete reliability. Assistance to travelers is provided as a community service.