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Sadao and BKK Demanding Work Permits for Entry with Non-B Visa


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Over the past six months, immigration have been demanding  to see work permits when my employees return to Thailand through Sadao land border crossing.  They are all on Non-B visa extensions but normally we don't carry WP with when we go on holiday, so silly, but workable.  

 

Recently BKK immigration have been doing the same thing, so I've decided I'll make photocopies of work permits for all of my employees so that they can carry them with when they leave the country on holiday.

 

The really silly  thing is now three instances of immigration demanding to see work permits when new employees come back from Penang with a new Non-B visa.  We've even begun sending anyone going on a visa run a letter from the school (on company letterhead, in English and Thai) politely explaining that these people cannot even apply for a work permit until they've returned to Thailand with the 90 day Non-B visa (which they should know, but hey, we're trying to work with them).

 

It's still not enough!  Just this weekend, a new employee was held up for about 30 minutes while the "confused" immigration officers scolded her for not having a work permit, which she couldn't possibly have gotten because she just got her Non-B visa.  She showed them the letter, explained that she would get a work permit in the next 90 days (standard practice) and they still didn't get it.  At least they eventually let her in.  Amazing Thailand.

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An immigration officer at Suvarnabhumi demanded a work permit from a friend of mine a year ago when she was returning from a trip to Sweden.
She has held back-to-back Non-I Bs for many, many years and, of course, doesn't travel with a work permit as it's supposed to be kept at the place of work....
She was eventually allowed in (how kind) but was very shaken by the experience. Explanations simply don't work with immigration officials. Some are extraordinarily ignorant.

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10 minutes ago, chatette said:


She has held back-to-back Non-I Bs for many, many years and, of course, doesn't travel with a work permit as it's supposed to be kept at the place of work....
 

That is the important part. The work permit should always be kept at the place of work.

 

Here on Samui I have never been asked to show my WP at immigration when leaving the island but my wife was asked once in 15 years. She just explained that it was at the school where she worked.

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2 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

That is the important part. The work permit should always be kept at the place of work.

 

Here on Samui I have never been asked to show my WP at immigration when leaving the island but my wife was asked once in 15 years. She just explained that it was at the school where she worked.

Not just your place of work. You are fully entitled to have your WP with you if you want to.

I always had mine with me.

Don't care what your company tells you.

On topic I have a couple friends who are in and out of Thailand on multi 'B' from Oz. Come in for a meeting etc which they are entitled to do without a WP.

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2 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

The work permit should always be kept at the place of work.

There is no rule or regulation that states that.

People are often told that by an employer because they have their own reasons for holding them.

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22 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no rule or regulation that states that.

People are often told that by an employer because they have their own reasons for holding them.

No rule on the books but that is what my local police want and honestly it makes more sense.  The police sometimes come to check work permits when foreign teachers are on holiday and even if they are there they don't want to go around campus demanding work permits; they'd prefer to sit in the bosses office and drink coffee while they check. 

 

 

23 hours ago, overherebc said:

Not just your place of work. You are fully entitled to have your WP with you if you want to.

I always had mine with me.

Don't care what your company tells you.

It would be silly for everyone to have possession of their own WP and even sillier for them to carry it with them when they travel overseas.  Completely unnecessary and will only cause WPs to be lost, damaged, or left at home when they are needed.

 

Next time I come back from abroad I'll have a book ready for them with copies of everything: work permit, marriage certificate, bank statements, kids' birth certificates, vehicle and land deeds, everything else I can think of.  They want papers, I've got papers.  I'll even give it a Table of Content.

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The requirement is that you must produce it at the place of work when requested. That means you can just take it with you everyday if you want. If you can't produce it when requested they can fine you.

 

The employer can only be fined for employing someone without a work permit, not for being not able to show it.

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31 minutes ago, Jadam said:

No rule on the books but that is what my local police want and honestly it makes more sense.  The police sometimes come to check work permits when foreign teachers are on holiday and even if they are there they don't want to go around campus demanding work permits; they'd prefer to sit in the bosses office and drink coffee while they check. 

 

 

It would be silly for everyone to have possession of their own WP and even sillier for them to carry it with them when they travel overseas.  Completely unnecessary and will only cause WPs to be lost, damaged, or left at home when they are needed.

 

Next time I come back from abroad I'll have a book ready for them with copies of everything: work permit, marriage certificate, bank statements, kids' birth certificates, vehicle and land deeds, everything else I can think of.  They want papers, I've got papers.  I'll even give it a Table of Content.

A WP carried with your PP is no more 'losable' than your PP.

Maybe I'm more careful than most. ????. Never lost a WP in all my years here.

Of course you don't take either with you if you go out drinking at night. Colour copies are acceptable in 99% of police asking to see your PP etc.

I've had jobs that meant covering work sites in 3 different areas and the WP was endorsed for each area so I carried it with me.

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2 hours ago, Jadam said:

No rule on the books but that is what my local police want and honestly it makes more sense.  The police sometimes come to check work permits when foreign teachers are on holiday and even if they are there they don't want to go around campus demanding work permits; they'd prefer to sit in the bosses office and drink coffee while they check. 

I think some employers and local police need to read up on a new technology called photocopy machines. These allow you to maintain copies of things like passport pages and work permits without the need to hold the originals. 

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4 minutes ago, BritTim said:

I think some employers and local police need to read up on a new technology called photocopy machines. These allow you to maintain copies of things like passport pages and work permits without the need to hold the originals. 

But they could also be easily manipulated.

The easy solution to the "who keeps the work permit question" would be if they just offered to issue a second work permit, then the company and the employer can each keep one. But afaik they now issue electronic work permits anyway, so how does this work if the employer wants to keep it?

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