Primary method: Enter Thailand on Class B visa

1. Apply at Thai diplomatic post outside Thailand
2. Need employer's visa sponsorship packet - including WP.3 form
3. WP.3 form is a preliminary work permit application receipt for an overseas candidate
1. WP.3 form takes 5 days to obtain.
2. To apply for WP.3, company must already meet work permit eligibility requirements.
3. Candidate must be OUTSIDE of Thailand when application for WP.3 form is submitted.
4. It is possible to apply for WP.3 form while candidate is inside Thailand - and to use that WP.3 to obtain Class B visa. See the comments below, in blue.
4. When applicant enters Thailand with Class B visa, he receives 90-day Class B entry permit at the airport.

Alternate method: Enter Thailand on Tourist visa, and then convert to Class B entry permit

1. Applicant must enter Thailand on an Embassy-issued Tourist visa - receives either a 30-day or a 60-day Tourist Class entry permit at the airport.
2. To convert entry permit, company must already meet work permit eligibility requirements.
3. Application to convert entry permit must be submitted with more than 15 days remaining on initial entry permit.
4. Once converted, applicant receives a Class B entry permit valid for 90 days following conversion.

If entered Thailand on Class B visa that was based on WP.3 form - receive work permit booklet in five days.

If applying based on having a Class O entry permit based on having a Thai spouse - receive work permit booklet in ten days.

If obtained Class B entry permit via conversion from Tourist status - receive work permit booklet in ten days.

If applicant was inside Thailand when we applied for his WP.3 form, then upon arriving in Thailand, we must wait until 30 days AFTER WP.3 was originally issued, before applying for work permit, which then takes another ten days to be approved.

There is no office inspection

In either case above, once applicant has Class B entry permit, the only additional things needed to apply for work permit are:

1. Work permit medical exam certificate
2. Four work permit photos - 3 cm W x 4 cm H - Wear collared shirt and necktie

Obtain these items in Bangkok.

Initial work permit will normally be valid for one year. Work permit is a passport-sized blue booklet

Once applicant has work permit, he is eligible to apply for a long-term extension of his entry permit, out to one year from the date that the initial Class B entry permit was issued.

Company can apply to extend the employee's work permit only within the final 45 days of his current Class B entry permit.

As part of this application, a number of photos must be submitted - including photos of applicant and Thai employees at work in the office, images of Thai employee ID cards, and an image of applicant, all company directors, and the processing agent standing at office entrance showing company name sign and room number.

Once extension application is submitted, Immigration places a 30-day "under consideration" stamp in the passport - this functions as a short-term extension.

During those 30 days an Immigration inspector is suppose to visit the company's Registered business address, and will expect to see the applicant and the Thai employees at work there. Inspector must take his own photos of the applicant and the Thai employees in the office.

After successful inspection, we can then bring applicant's passport to Immigration at the end of the under consideration period, to receive the one-year extension stamp in passport.

Re-entry permits

No matter what kind of entry permit a foreigner is holding, if he departs Thailand without a reentry permit, his current entry permit is cancelled - if he reenters Thailand, he does so as a freshly-arriving traveler of his nationality.

For any entry permit, a foreigner can purchase a re-entry permit. Then - he can exit and reenter Thailand, and his most recent entry permit remains "alive" - until its normal expiration date.

Immigration issues single reentry permits for 1,000 baht, and it issues one-year, multiple-entry reentry permits for 3,800 baht.

All that is needed to apply for a reentry permit is one passport photo, plus a signed application form. Reentry permits are issued approximately 45 minutes after application is submitted - and is in the form of a full-page ink stamp in passport.

Important: If a foreigner enters Thailand with a 90-day entry permit, then applies for an entry permit extension, and receives a 30-day "under consideration" extension, and then receives the one-year entry permit extension - then during this process, the applicant has THREE DIFFERENT entry permits - and a SEPARATE reentry permit is required for each period, if applicant will depart Thailand during that period. Note that this rule applies to the 30-day "under consideration" extension.