ETHAIVISA — Consulting Services for Business Visas, Work Visas, and Work Permits in Thailand

Generally, no. The immigration office mainly considers the company's stability and its tax payment records. The company should operate until it has closed its first year's financial statements and employs the required ratio of Thai staff. If you need to hire urgently, the foreign national may have to apply for a Non-B visa from abroad, or you can contact ETHAIVISA to help analyse the balance sheet and account transactions and plan a strategy for submitting the application to the immigration office.

No, they do not. The requirement of 4 Thai employees per 1 foreign national applies only to foreigners holding a work visa (Non-B). Foreigners holding a Non-O visa with a Work Permit only require 2 Thai employees, and they are not counted in the 4:1 Non-B quota.

Not yet. Your family can apply for Dependent Visas only after the main visa holder has extended the Non-B visa from 90 days to an annual visa (1 Year Extension). During the first 90 days, your family may need to stay on tourist visas.

No. Under immigration criteria, you must show PND.1 tax filings and social security records listing the required ratio of Thai employees for at least 3 full months back. For urgent cases or incomplete documents, please consult the ETHAIVISA team so we can find a way to manage your documents in line with the officers' requirements.

Yes, but that foreign director must hold a valid, unexpired Work Permit issued under that company. Only then is the director entitled to sign official documents certifying other individuals.

Yes. The immigration office allows a director with signing authority under the company certificate to sign and certify documents to change the visa 'for themselves'. However, they cannot act as guarantor or apply for visas for other foreign employees until they have their own Work Permit.

It cannot be cancelled retroactively or removed from the system. The correct and simplest way to reset or cancel a 90-day Non-B visa is for the foreign national to leave Thailand (without obtaining a Re-entry Permit), so that the visa terminates automatically.

No. The purpose of the visa does not match the work. A business-visit Non-B visa does not allow long-term employment rights to be attached to it. If you wish to work permanently in Thailand, you must change the purpose code, or apply for a Non-B visa for employment correctly from the outset.

Yes, because the DTV visa is classified as a tourist-category visa.

The immigration office strictly checks the accuracy of location documents, ensuring the company address, financial statements and notes to the financial statements all match. The lease agreement must bear stamp duty at the rate of 1 THB per every 1,000 THB of rent. If the total rent over the lease term is high (stamp duty over 200 THB or rent over 1 million THB), the duty must be paid in cash with an Or.Sor.4 receipt from the Revenue Department only. Buying stamps and affixing them yourself may cause the documents to be rejected.

Yes. Current law allows holders of a P.30 (Visa Exemption) stamp to apply to change their visa category to Non-B in Thailand, just like Tourist Visa (TR) holders. However, you need to manage your time carefully because the initial permitted stay is shorter.

No. The law sets minimum salaries by nationality group, for example: Europe, the United States and Australia at a minimum of 50,000 THB/month; South Asian countries (such as India) at a minimum of 35,000 THB/month; and ASEAN countries at a minimum of 25,000 THB/month. The employing company must declare a salary structure that meets these criteria in its tax filings.

This is a very complex case. The first 90-day visa is tied to the original company's application documents. If you change companies, you cannot transfer the visa immediately. You must leave the country to clear your existing status, and then the new company must either apply through the BOI or send documents for you to apply for a new Non-B visa at a Royal Thai Embassy abroad only.

Immigration officers usually conduct random inspections, or schedule a visit to photograph the company premises, during the review of the annual visa extension (1 Year Extension), after you have obtained the first 90-day Non-B and your Work Permit. They check whether the company is genuinely operating, whether Thai staff are actually working there, and whether the company signboard is clearly displayed.

Because the required documents come from 3 main areas: the foreign national's personal documents, the company's documents (financial statements, employee list, past tax records) and the premises documents. Immigration regulations are detailed and change frequently in line with security policy. A single missing document, or inconsistent information (such as an address that does not match the notes to the financial statements), can lead to immediate rejection. Choosing a professional service such as ETHAIVISA, which checks every document in depth before submission, is therefore the most cost-effective and time-saving option.

Thailand's visa application system has now moved to the Thai E-Visa (Online) system in many countries. Foreign nationals can fill in their details, upload document files and pay the fees entirely online. The visa is issued as an E-Visa that you print on paper to use when travelling to Thailand, so you no longer need to visit the embassy to have a sticker affixed as before.

The single most essential document is the 'approval letter for the employment of a foreign national', now known as Form BT.32 (called BP.32 in English). The Thai company must first apply for this approval in advance from the Department of Employment. Once approved, the BT.32 document is sent to the foreign national to attach to their visa application at a Royal Thai Embassy abroad.

Yes, but the foreign national must provide clear evidence and supporting documents showing that they are residing or staying legally in the country where they are applying before submitting the application.

Not in every case, but it is required for certain nationalities and certain job positions, such as applicants from African countries, some South Asian countries, or those coming to work as 'teachers/lecturers' at Thai educational institutions. In these cases, the Royal Thai Embassy will require a criminal record check from the home country that has been properly legalised (Legalization).

The foreign national should check the details on the E-Visa or the documents received from the embassy carefully to see the period during which they may enter Thailand (Validity of Visa) and how many days they may stay in Thailand after entry (Period of Stay), so they can plan their travel correctly and not lose their entitlement.