Jadam Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) Up until recently, the procedure for expats returning home after working in Thailand was as follows: 1) Make travel arrangements 2) Visit work permit office within 30 days of departure to cancel WP 3) Visit immigration within 1 week of departure to cancel visa 4) Leave the country within 7 days. AFAIK there were never any fees collected for this, just a bit of running around and sitting and waiting. About a month ago, the department of labour decided to change the rules. When attempting to cancel a work permit for one of my employees, we were told that it must be done the same day she leaves the country (within 24 hours). Seemed a bit silly but made some phone calls and confirmed this with the bosses at the labour department (at least our local office). We went back to the WP office again the last business day prior to her departure date (a Friday because she was leaving on Saturday) and they again said we were too early, that the work permit and visa must be cancelled the same day she leaves the country. When asked how it would be possible to do this on a Saturday when the office is closed, they were unable to give us an answer. Visited the local immigration office to see if they could offer a solution and they again confirmed what the WP office had told us but were able to offer us options: 1) Cancel work permit early, then apply for a visa extension at immigration, get refused, and then have 7 days to leave the country. Cost: 1,900 baht. 2) Just leave the country without cancelling work permit. Cost: 5,000 baht fine or possible denied entry if the person ever comes back to Thailand with the same passport. My question is, has anyone else heard about this? Is this just a scheme to make money that our local government folks came up with over beers one Saturday night, or is this an actual rule in other provinces as well? Edited May 12, 2018 by Jadam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 The "7 day grace" rule was changed to "leave by midnight on your last day" some years back. So it's not actually a new rule. Whilst it's unlikely to result in a denial of entry it's wise to cancel the WP. It should be possible to leave on Saturday without doing anything provided the company can be trusted to cancel the WP on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadam Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 Ahh, so it's one of those old rules that they've just now decided to start enforcing (without warning). We thought of cancelling the work permit after the employee leaves the country, but then she wouldn't have the official stamp in her passport and would still be subject to a fine upon returning to Thailand in the future. I suppose another option would be to cancel everything a day or two ahead of time and then she just has to pay the overstay fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 As I understand it, the fine is for failing to cancel the WP not for failing to cancel the extension of stay. She certainly doesn't want an overstay stamp, at least one consulate won't issue a visa if there's a Thai overstay in the passport. I would cancel early and pay the 1,900 for the "failed" extension. Solves all the issues for $50. EDIT I see Joe has responded. Ignore the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 5 minutes ago, Jadam said: We thought of cancelling the work permit after the employee leaves the country, but then she wouldn't have the official stamp in her passport and would still be subject to a fine upon returning to Thailand in the future. There is no stamp done in a passport for a work permit cancellation. There certainly not be any fine for not canceling a work permit charged by immigration on entry to the country. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadam Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) Quote There is no stamp done in a passport for a work permit cancellation. There certainly not be any fine for not canceling a work permit charged by immigration on entry to the country. We get a letter from WP office first, take it to immigration and cancel the visa. If there wasn't a penalty for not cancelling the work permit, why would anyone bother to do it? Edited May 12, 2018 by Jadam typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ubonjoe Posted May 12, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted May 12, 2018 4 minutes ago, Jadam said: We get a letter from WP office first, take it to immigration and cancel the visa. Not all offices want a work permit cancellation receipt to cancel an extension. Most just want a termination letter stating the last day of work. Most offices will post date the extension cancellation to the date on the letter if you go to immigration a few dates prior to that. 4 minutes ago, Jadam said: If there wasn't a penalty for not cancelling the work permit, why would anyone bother to do it? There is a 500 baht fine charged by the Labor Ministry if a work permit is not canceled when a new one is applied for. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadam Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) It sounds like our local immigration is just being difficult in an attempt to make more money. I don't see the need to visit immigration at all. If someone were to just leave Thailand (on a single entry non-B and no re-entry permit) their visa would automatically be cancelled and then we could later cancel the work permit. Is there any way the person could be penalized for this? Edited May 12, 2018 by Jadam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 5 minutes ago, Jadam said: It sounds like our local immigration is just being difficult in an attempt to make more money. I don't see the need to visit immigration at all. If someone were to just leave Thailand (on a single entry non-B and no re-entry permit) their visa would automatically be cancelled and then we could later cancel the work permit. Is there any way the person could be penalized for this? If he actually was on a 90 entry from a non-b visa there would be nothing to be canceled. I assume the are on an extension of stay. Leaving the country and re-entering the country without a re-entry permit voids the extension but it does not formally cancel it. There have been a few cases of immigration making problems when a new extension based upon working was applied for because the old one was not formally canceled. A termination letter dated for the date they left the country would resolve that problem if it ever arose. If the work permit is canceled after they leave the country that would end any chance of a problem with the Labor Ministry later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, ubonjoe said: Not all offices want a work permit cancellation receipt to cancel an extension. Most just want a termination letter stating the last day of work. Most offices will post date the extension cancellation to the date on the letter if you go to immigration a few dates prior to that. There is a 500 baht fine charged by the Labor Ministry if a work permit is not canceled when a new one is applied for. They charged me 1500 when getting a new WP, after not canceling a previous one. This was years ago at and was done at the police station near the DoL Din Daeng. And btw, I stayed on the original visa after leaving the job for 11 months. Edited May 12, 2018 by Neeranam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1812 Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 4 hours ago, Jadam said: 3) Visit immigration within 1 week of departure to cancel visa Visas are never cancelled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackcab Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 Your employee can resign at any time, even when they are abroad. If they did that you wouldn't have a passport to take to immigration. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanchobkk Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Hi, So if I understand properly what you re saying on this topic, is that I could have my WP cancelled and still using the visa from it later on ? My employer is going to cancel my work permit on 31st january, but actually my visa (the extension) goes until 30 june 2020 (I got this 2 year BOI visa).. I could be using it after the cancellation and nobody would know about this ? Any risk doing that ? Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadam Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 (edited) On 5/12/2018 at 4:56 PM, ubonjoe said: If he actually was on a 90 entry from a non-b visa there would be nothing to be canceled. I assume the are on an extension of stay. Leaving the country and re-entering the country without a re-entry permit voids the extension but it does not formally cancel it. There have been a few cases of immigration making problems when a new extension based upon working was applied for because the old one was not formally canceled. A termination letter dated for the date they left the country would resolve that problem if it ever arose. If the work permit is canceled after they leave the country that would end any chance of a problem with the Labor Ministry later. Thank you Joe. All of what you said makes sense and should work. Unfortunately, it didn't in our case. Long story short, two teachers (on a 1 year extension) resigned from schools in other provinces, went to Malaysia to get Non-B visas (90 days) to work at my school, and we obtained teaching permits and work permits for them, all without a problem. The previous employers cancelled their old work permits some time in between (if not we would have had an issue when applying for new work permits). Only when they went to extend their visas to 1 year at our local immigration office (just last week) did they need to pay a fine of 3,000 baht each for not having the proper "visa cancellation" stamp in their passports. One of them had the letter from the labour office in her previous province confirming that the work permit had been cancelled but it made no difference. Immigration employees explained that the fine was for not having the proper stamp in her passport indicating the previous visa had been cancelled. I suppose it makes little difference, but I am still curious if this is something that only my local immigration office follows or if there are others. Edited February 2, 2019 by Jadam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereforgood Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 When I stopped working I needed to have my work permit canceled and my Non B Visa converted to a retirement Visa. Or rather an extension to stay based on retirement. I was told I had to go through a bunch of procedures to get this done including a visit to the labor department. I spoke with the lady that does legal work for the place I was working she was able to get my work permit canceled and my Visa changed for a total of 3000 Baht money well spent no headache on my part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 41 minutes ago, Jadam said: Only when they went to extend their visas to 1 year at our local immigration office (just last week) did they need to pay a fine of 3,000 baht each for not having the proper "visa cancellation" stamp in their passports. One of them had the letter from the labour office in her previous province confirming that the work permit had been cancelled but it made no difference. Immigration employees explained that the fine was for not having the proper stamp in her passport indicating the previous visa had been cancelled. Other offices have also insisted on the previous extension of stay (it is not a visa) be canceled before they would do a new one. In some cases people had to go to the office that issued the previous extension to have it cancelled by showing a termination letter from their previous employer. Not heard of the 3000 baht fine before but that would be better than having to make a trip to the other immigration office to have it canceled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggleRock Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 On 12/14/2018 at 3:00 PM, sanchobkk said: Hi, So if I understand properly what you re saying on this topic, is that I could have my WP cancelled and still using the visa from it later on ? My employer is going to cancel my work permit on 31st january, but actually my visa (the extension) goes until 30 june 2020 (I got this 2 year BOI visa).. I could be using it after the cancellation and nobody would know about this ? Any risk doing that ? Thanks, Did you get an answer for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umarosa Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 One of the employees at our company went awol, just disappeared. He didn't resign or quit, but just stopped showing up. We can't contact him by phone, email or any apps. I contacted his embassy, but they wouldn't give me any information. We don't know if he's alive in/out of the country or dead. I tried to start the process for cancelling his work permit, but our Thai admin staff said that there was potential legal liability for us if we: a. cancel his work permit without him having resigned or quit (and he comes back), and/or b. cancel his work permit and don't cancel his visa (because we don't know where he is). Thank you for any ideas, suggestions or advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 10 hours ago, Umarosa said: a. cancel his work permit without him having resigned or quit (and he comes back), and/or b. cancel his work permit and don't cancel his visa (because we don't know where he is). Thank you for any ideas, suggestions or advice. Surely you could dismiss him based on not turning up for work. Are Thai immigration not able to help you wrt whether he has left the country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 On 5/12/2018 at 4:25 PM, ubonjoe said: There is a 500 baht fine charged by the Labor Ministry if a work permit is not canceled when a new one is applied for. I had to pay 1500 baht, and that has to be paid at the Din Daeng police staion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 What if you have a marriage visa? Can you cancel the WP, and apply for a new one, without having to tell immigration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 47 minutes ago, Neeranam said: What if you have a marriage visa? Can you cancel the WP, and apply for a new one, without having to tell immigration? If you have a non-o visa or extension of stay based upon marriage you do not need to tell immigration anything about it since your extension is not based upon working. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Just now, ubonjoe said: If you have a non-o visa or extension of stay based upon marriage you do not need to tell immigration anything about it since your extension is not based upon working. Thanks, Joe. I've just had an idea about how I can change job easily, without having a break in my visa. One question I have, can I change my 1 year extension from my work to a marriage visa, without leaving the country? Is it quite a simple process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 32 minutes ago, Neeranam said: One question I have, can I change my 1 year extension from my work to a marriage visa, without leaving the country? Is it quite a simple process? You can do it since all that is required is a non immigrant visa. But there may be some immigration office that will insist you have a non-o visa entry. It should be a simple process of doing it on or before the day you job ends by showing a termination letter to have your current extension cancelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 54 minutes ago, ubonjoe said: You can do it since all that is required is a non immigrant visa. But there may be some immigration office that will insist you have a non-o visa entry. It should be a simple process of doing it on or before the day you job ends by showing a termination letter to have your current extension cancelled. Thanks Joe. This could solve my problem of changing jobs, as the local immigration say I would have to leave the country of changing jobs on a non imm b. I can't have any gap as I'm in the process of naturalization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umarosa Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 We recently re-structured our business to have new ownership and a new name. We tried to just cancel our work permits and apply for new ones, but we couldn't get a new work permit until we cancelled our old visas (extensions). Then we went to apply for the new work permit, and had to go back to Immigration. It took too long getting down to Prachuap and back, so we went to Immigration the next day, and had to pay 500 Baht each for the one-day overstay fine, before we could apply for our new visas. We didn't do anything for our spouses, because they were all still on valid visas (based on the old work permits). That was a mistake! About a week later, I went in to see if the spouses had to do anything (if I hadn't mentioned it, I'm sure there wouldn't have been a problem until the visas expired), but the Immigration officers said that when our original visas were cancelled, the spouse visas had to be cancelled as well. The spouses had to pay 500 Baht per day (overstay) until that day when they applied for the new dependent visas based on the working spouse's new work permits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadam Posted March 22, 2019 Author Share Posted March 22, 2019 3 hours ago, Neeranam said: Thanks Joe. This could solve my problem of changing jobs, as the local immigration say I would have to leave the country of changing jobs on a non imm b. I can't have any gap as I'm in the process of naturalization. My local immigration says the same: if you change jobs you have to cancel the visa extension, leave the country and get a new visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 8 minutes ago, Jadam said: My local immigration says the same: if you change jobs you have to cancel the visa extension, leave the country and get a new visa. Right, so getting a marriage visa seems the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 On 5/12/2018 at 4:25 PM, ubonjoe said: There is a 500 baht fine charged by the Labor Ministry if a work permit is not canceled when a new one is applied for. Quite a few years ago, i was fined 1500 baht. They made me go to the Din Daeng police station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Some ignoramus at the labour department said I cant cancel my WP by myself. Does anyone happen to have the official form in Thai saying that I can? I can only find one in English. Also, can I cancel my WP on the last day of my contract, or the day after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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