Obtaining a Work Permit from the One Stop Service Centre in Thailand

Author: RSM Thailand

To work legally in Thailand, a foreigner must usually obtain a work permit from the Alien Occupation Division, Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare or a provincial employment office. Foreigners will normally be granted under Thai immigration law a one year work permit after the submission of the original application. In order to obtain a one year work permit, various renewal applications may be required under Thai law during the months following submission.

To speed up the process, foreigners may apply for a work permit at the Visa and Work Permit One Stop Services Centre, Chamchuri Building, Bangkok as opposed to at the Ministry of Labour & Social Welfare where a separate visa application to the Immigration Bureau is also required. There are certain legal requirements which enable a foreigner to obtain a work permit and visa from the One Stop Services Centre in Bangkok and these are as follows:

1. The Employer The employer should meet one of the following criteria:
Be a company registered in Thailand under any one of the following special laws i.e. the BOI, IEAT, Petroleum and which can conduct its business activities in Thailand without the usual constraints of the minimum registered capital/asset required under Thai law;Be a limited company lawfully registered under the Thai Civil and Commercial Code and which must have a minimum capital or total assets (in the balance sheet) of at least 30 MB; orBe a representative office, regional office or branch office or ROH of any overseas business entity or foreign bank operating in Thailand.The Foreign Employee The employee should meet at least one of the following criteria:

Be an employee of a business that is subject to the special laws in Thailand which are mentioned above (this also includes businesses that are located in other provincial areas of Thailand);Be an applicant who works as a representative of the press with an approval letter from the relevant Thai government agency;Be a researcher, developer of science and technology with an approval letter from the relevant Thai government agency; Be an applicant who works as an official of either a Branch office of an overseas bank or the representative office of a foreign bank certified by the Bank of Thailand;Be a foreigner who works for the branch office of a foreign business entity in Thailand;Be an employee who works for either a representative office or a regional office under Thai law (Alien Business Act B.E. 2542); andBe an IT expert with the requisite certification issued by the Ministry of IT and Technology. In most cases, the work permit application lodged at the Visa and Work Permit One Stop Services Centre must comply with any one of the company criteria as mentioned in 1) and the Thailand's legal requirements of the foreigner in 2) for it to be successful.

According to the special laws in Thailand, foreigners need to be granted approval from relevant government agencies prior to the issuance of a work permit and are therefore legally required to meet the specification of these agencies in Thailand in order to obtain the appropriate letters or support and/or certificate. Relevant Thailand government agencies have legal authority to consider the approval of work permits. The Visa and Work Permit One Stop Services Centre can consider issuing a work permit if consistent with the approval granted by the relevant government.

Practically, the fulfillment of consideration for approval of work permits through those agencies are completely different.
In general cases, foreigners can get a one year work permit approval only after renewing their work permits 2 or 3 times with the balance of the one year approval being granted subsequently based on the length of time required to proceed their visa applications with the Immigration Bureau.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/obtaining-a-work-permit-from-the-one-stop-service-centre-in-thailand-4892478.html

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RSM Thailand

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