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Why do I need to cancel my Non B visa if it expires soon?

Jun 17, 2025
2 days ago
Cruise ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Non B Visa expires 31 August. Company says have to follow them to immigration to cancel work permit and Visa?

Why is there a need to cancel the Visa beforehand if the Visa expires 31 August anyway? Do Visas expire naturally or they don't?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The user's Non-B Visa is set to expire on 31 August, and the employer has stated that they must accompany them to immigration to cancel the work permit and visa. The user questions the necessity of canceling the visa before its expiration. Community responses clarify that, regardless of the visa's official expiration, a notification of employment cessation must be made to immigration to avoid future penalties and complications in obtaining new visas. It is emphasized that canceling the visa is an important official procedure.
Ozan *******
The visa must be canceled as soon as the task ends, this is the procedure
Cruise ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Ozan ******
just trying to under why cancel something that will naturally expire. There is an expiry date.
Ozan *******
@Cruise *****
This is the procedure that is canceled as soon as the work is finished
Jeremy ******
If the company says to come with them, then do so. In my case, it turned out a bit different, as I was working with an annually renewable non-B visa and then after some years stated my intention to leave one month before my anticipated departure from Thailand. At first the administrative staff said I would need to come with them to the immigration office to cut my extension short (about 1
***
months before annual renewal), and I filled out a form stating my intention to leave before the end of the contract and gave the staff my passport, but then they took care of it all at the immigration office without my needing to come with them or do anything else. I worried that maybe something had been missed since I didn't personally come to the immigration office, and so maybe they would fine me, but when I came through Thailand six months later as a visa-exempt tourist, they admitted me through immigration with a smile and no issues. But it seems like employees may normally need to come to the immigration office.
Brandon ************
@Jeremy *****
you wouldn't have any issues entering as a tourist even if they didn't do what they said. No one will care until you do to immigration to try and get a long term visa or long term extension.
Jeremy ******
Maybe, but i kept a scanned copy of the signed form letter I was required to submit stating that I was leaving the job. And my Thai government university workplace took the letter and my passport and work permit book to immigration and later declared to me that it had been handled. As mentioned above, we did this prior to the expiration of my most recent extension, and I left Thailand before the expiration of the extension, without renewing. I might come back someday with the intention of retiring in Thailand for a while, so I guess I'll learn more then.
Brandon ************
I doubt you're on a non-B visa. You are probably on a work extension, not any visa at all. If the stamp in your passport says "extension of stay" then you signed a document that said YOU would notify immigration if your circumstances change. If you stop working, that is a change of circumstances, and you are REQUIRED to notify immigration, regardless of when your extension ends. If you do not take your cancelled work permit and documentation about your work ending to immigration to cancel your extension, then you will be unable to get another long-term visa or extension in the future until you do cancel it, and you will be fined 500 baht per day, up to a maximum of 20,000 baht, for failing to notify immigration you stopped working.
Cruise ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Brandon ***********
what is this work extension? I have a work permit for 6 years now, and a Non-B. So they said have to cancel work permit, which in turns cancels the visa. So are they actually meaning to cancel the WP?

My question is,

1) if it is the WP they are cancelling, Why do I need to be present to cancel the WP anyway, don't some companies do it unscrupulously by cancelling their employees' WP as and when they like?

2) If it is the Visa they are cancelling, why cancel at all in the first place when there's an expiry date 31 August?
Graham ******
@Cruise *****
You will no longer be on a Non-B Visa but on an Extension of Stay based on the original Non-B and it is the Extension that must be cancelled - read the conditions you signed when it was granted.
Marco *******
@Brandon ***********
it depends on the case. If he leave the country before the expiration of the extension and have his WP canceled before he re enter then not need to cancel the extension of stay as it will be cancelled automatically.
Brandon ************
@Marco ******
that's WRONG. YOU have to cancel your own work permit and your own extension. It doesn't matter if you leave. It doesn't matter if your extension expires. You are still REQUIRED to notify immigration and cancel per the document you signed.
Marco *******
@Brandon ***********
i have been scolded from immigration officer to try to explain exactly what you are saying. IO clearly told me that in the case i leave before the WP was cancelled simply show the WP cancellation letter to the border office at the airport and i’ll be granted an exemption of stay on the next entry. And my extension of stay automatically voided. It was like this and under the re entry permit on my passport the border IO noted that my WP was canceled on that date. Followed this procedure and no issues at all to re enter under new visa/visa exemption and requesting visa extension
Brandon ************
@Marco ******
visa exemption and tourist extension are no indication at all. You can do those perfectly fine if you didn't cancel your work extension because those are not long term visas or extensions. But if you tried to apply for a new non-B or another long term visa, you would have problems.
Marco *******
@Brandon ***********
i did it with non O after that and no issues. The day i went to immigration try to cancel the non B extension the IO told me it will be cancelled automatically once the WP letter cancellation will be issued and even if i believe that your mentioned procedure was correct i wasn’t on the position to argue about it, but so far no issues after that. Maybe could be an issue if asking same category visa (non b) in the future, this i don’t know
Brandon ************
@Marco ******
someone just posted recently about leaving and coming back and getting fined by immigration. The correct way is to cancel it along with your work permit. Regardless of what you were told.
Marco *******
@Brandon ***********
i understand your point and was actually my intention that time but if you go for it and the person that need to cancel it refuse to do it and say it is not needed there is nothing more that you can do
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