My Cow Jai Posted February 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 "yes by law it is your responsibility to cancel your work permit and visa within 7+7 days" Interesting. So, let me confirm the way that I am reading this. # Permit cancelled by now ex-boss Friday 13th. # I now have 7 days (by the 19th) to cancel the permit from my side at the issuing Changwat. # You stated "7+7". Sooooo, my new question is this (!): do I have another 7 days as from the 19th to get a visa, or do they BOTH expire together on the Thursday the 19th itself??? I think I will just get the permit cancelled, come in on a tourist visa in Trat which is close to where I live, wait for the new papers, and I'll just have to forget about the 2.5 years of history towords residency qualification :: - Oh well, never mind. Thanks a lot for the help guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farangman Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 I can give you a bit of personal experience. About 3 years or so ago I changed jobs. The work permit and the visa from the old job were tied together i.e. one was not valid without the other. Mistakenly I assumed my visa that was issed on my old work permit was valid until expiry date. When the new company I went to work for were applying for my new work permit, it very quickly became apparent that I was living in thailand for about 2 months or so with no visa. It meant a trip to immigration with my new employer and i was fined 20,000 baht overstay (which my new employer paid for luckily) and a stamp saying so was entered on my passport. So in short, yes, you will have to make a visa run within 7 days to stay strictly within the law. Don't listen to people who say take a chance. It is not worth even the remotest possibility of making a trip to IDC. Cheers farangman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Thanks farangman ......... always best to get the word from those that been there, done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiHome Posted February 19, 2004 Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 Just to confuse the issue more, I will relate my recent experience. When I was transferred out of Thailand l still had 7 months remaining on the Non-Imm B visa stamp (with unlimited re-entry permit) in my passport. Before I left, my company cancelled my work permit (or at least they said they did). When, 6 months and 20 days later I went to Thailand on R&R, upon entry, I was only given a 10-day entry stamp, as that was all the time remaining on the visa. They said my Non-Imm B had never been cancelled and since it was still valid, they could not give me the 30-day visa waiver stamp. Figure that one out. TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddha Posted February 19, 2004 Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 'Don't listen to people who say take a chance. It is not worth even the remotest possibility of making a trip to IDC.' I quit my job last mar 2003. My work permit had expired and my boss was really lazy about getting me a new one. Thai boss. I had alerted him to the upcoming expiry about a month prior to the date and kept on him until day of expiry when I announced I was leaving my job. He was really pissed off and demanded I go to the immigration office to have my visa changed. I agreed and spent the next 6 days partying. I awoke on the seventh day and decided 'Fuck it! I have 8 months of visa left, a motorbike, and enough funds to last me 8 months. I am going to see every inch of this country.' The next eight months were perhaps the best of my life. I rode from Phuket all the way to mae sai, stopping wherever and whenever I pleased, over to khon kaen, toured the isaan you name it: korat, loyet, buriram, si saket, calisan, trat, pattaya, tak, tha ton, fang, lopburi, sukothai, chang mai, chang rai, I was going for it man, Throwing caution to the wind. "FUCK ALL" I thought -- this is a once in a lifetime experience -- I don't care....I finally sold the bike to a family I had become friendly with in samui and I hopped a bus back to Bangkok. I had at least enough for a good month of jiggy-jiggy in BKK when stickman's site began reporting about some visa scams -- bad stamps and dodgy visa agents. I began to worry a little. I enjoyed my month but cringed every monday morning when I read reports on the internet on how immigration was becoming a little more thourough in their checks. Still I had a great month. When I booked my flight I booked it at 6:00 am so that no one could call the immigration office in Phuket to check last minute. I got out of the cab at the airport and had about 8 cigarettes. I waited in line at the china air gate for about 45 minutes, my heart pounding as I had just read warren fellows account of Bhang Kwang to prepare me if... I checked in and headed to customs/immigration, pulled out my passport, ticket and queued....waiting.....waiting...waiting.....my heart was pounding like a fucking bass drum.....persperation started to well up.....I knew that anyone looking at me could tell I was nervous....what to do....what to do.....I know I'll act annoyed....I cast a scowl and began tapping my foot....WAIT....thais hate it when falangs are impatient....ba-boom...ba-boom..it felt like I might explode....NEXT! she called out it echoed through the terminal.....I approached the counter and fumbled with my passport dropping an unkown amount of baht coinage on the floor and watched it roll away....oh no I thought do I chase it and pick it up...do I let it go...she lokked at my passport and checked my picture against my face......I have a beard and a shaved head in my passport picture....she thinks I'm a terrorist....thats gonna be the final straw.....she flipped to my visa and paused....WAIT HERE she said.... WAIT HERE? What the fuck does that mean? Ba-boom...ba-boom the heartbeat seemed to get louder and faster.....An immigration official appeared out of nowhere sporting a lot of brass he looked at the passport briefly, shook his head and sent her back to me......she paused again....FUCK I'M DEAD.....'Why are you returning to America', she asked....'My dad is sick', I managed to choke out of my dry trembling lips....'I'll be back soon', I added.....It sounded rehearsed -- IT WAS REHEARSED --I'M DOOMED -- GONNA HAVE TO EAT RATS AT IDC -- STICKMAN IS GONNA WRITE ABOUT ME -- EVERYONE AT NANAPLAZA.COM WILL POST STORIES ABOUT HOW DUMB I AM..... She stamped the passport and handed it to me. I was shocked. She motioned for me to move on and somehow I managed to sawadee khrap her as I made my way right smack into the immigration officer with the brass.....I almost stepped on his shoes.....May I see your Passport he quipped with a HUGE smile on his face.....I handed it over and returned to a state of panic....his smile was just too devious....finally he informed me that I had made a great error, with 45 days left on my visa I had neglected to get a re-entry stamp from the Immigration department. He informed me my visa was invalid and that when I returned I would not be eligible to go back to my job unless I had the proper paperwork......WHEW.......I thanked him and he reinforced this point several times......the more I thanked him the more he kept letting me know how bad I had fucked up and how it was him who realised my mistake....I realised he was making fun of me......I finally started laughing with him and we had a really good chuckle about how mad my thai boss would be.....I excused myself and made my way to the gate....my 1.5 hour wait in Don Muang was uneventful thereafter but I really didn't relax until the plane touched down in Taipei..... I would bet you could get away with it too, but the 2 hours and 25 minutes I spent in Don Muang freaking out was definitely not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soongmak Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 Thanks for sharing that story...A classic! Cheers, soongmak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickfarang Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 "#Finally, any advice.." Get in touch with the immigration people. It seems you don't have much time to mess around with contradictory and questionable advice from us. Even though you might get variable answers from immigration, acting on that advice will likely get you a proper visa and/or work permit. Good luck. RickF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 I've had conflicting info from 2 companies I've worked for. Leaving the first I returned my work permit and passport for visa cancellation to the company Government liaison guy who told me that the visa in the passport is mine and the company cannot cancel it and I can stay in the country until it expires, which I happily did. The second company (different time, different visa)had the opposite opinion and wanted my visa for cancellation and I had to leave the country. Fortunately at that time I was already planning to leave and obtained a new visa at home. No help I know but it seems that nobody knows the real situation but it would seem right that the visa should be cancelled as to obtain it the company is effectively sponsoring you and guaranteeing your stay. Is the work permit already cancelled or can you still ask the ex boss to hold on that until you're in a position to get yourself legal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 I have permanent residency ("PR") status, but I got it some time ago and I know the rules have changed. I suggesting going to the Immigration Department with a reputable lawyer who deals in immigration matters to get your questions answered. Be polite, but be specific. Get yourself organized (documents, questions & facts) and meet with the Thai lawyer first, take careful notes, review those notes and think carefully about what he tells you over night or the next several days, and then think about various points that might have been omitted or aren't 100% clear, and then make a list of points to be confirmed and clarified. The sin of omission is committed here more often than the sin of comission. The more organized you are, the better, and this will require a bit of effort. If you have been here for awhile, you know what I mean. I believe you need to work continuously for three years, but I would check. I think the fees are now around 200,000 Baht - no joke. Again, I would check. I also believe there is a 100 question test, in Thai, that you need to pass now. Again, check. I do know that, unlike just about everywhere else in the world, PR status does not allow you to work. This is bizzare. I have the right to live here until the end of my days, but not necessarily the right to earn a living while I am living here. I have to separately apply and qualify for a work permit each year. Makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 I do know that, unlike just about everywhere else in the world, PR status does not allow you to work. This is bizzare. I have the right to live here until the end of my days, but not necessarily the right to earn a living while I am living here. I have to separately apply and qualify for a work permit each year. Makes no sense. ..................................................................................... Must have learned that one from the British. I can have Right of Residence there but no work permit either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.