Sending a Chinese employee to Thailand: four stages, who does what

01The four-stage map: who does what, and where

Sending an employee to work in Thailand is an official process broken into stages, each handled by a different authority requiring different documents — and what one stage produces is the ticket into the next. The most common mistake Chinese-invested companies make is treating this as "getting a visa", one task handed to the employee to sort out alone, and getting stuck at the very first stage — which is not the employee's to run at all.

• Stage one · inside Thailand (the company does this): the employer files WP.3 with the Alien Occupation Administration Office at the Department of Employment, or the provincial employment office where the company is based, to obtain an approval letter from the Ministry of Labour. Once the file is complete, it is issued within 3 working days.
• Stage two · outside Thailand (the employee does this): the employee takes the approval letter and company documents to a Thai embassy or consulate abroad to apply for the Non-Immigrant Visa.
• Stage three · arrival: this visa allows a stay of up to 90 days on first entry.
• Stage four · after arrival (the employee or a representative does this): the work permit is filed at the Department of Employment, or the provincial employment office if the company is outside Bangkok. The official process runs four steps — prepare documents, submit, review and approval (estimated at 3–7 days), then pay and collect the permit; the whole process should finish within the 90 days, or before the Non-Immigrant visa expires. Within 15 days of receiving the work permit, the employer must also file the notification of hiring a foreign employee.
• Stage five · the in-country extension: with a valid work permit, the employee applies to Immigration to extend the stay; this must be filed at least 15 days before the visa expires, the result comes back within 15 days, and each extension is granted for no more than 1 year.

Four different "15 days", easy to confuse: ① a visa extension must be filed at least 15 days before expiry; ② the 90-day report can only be filed within 15 days of the due date, and filing early is rejected; ③ the hiring notification is due within 15 days of receiving the work permit; ④ under the BOI one-stop channel, the visa in hand must still have no less than 15 days of validity when the position filing is submitted.

02Stage one: preparing WP.3, in the order the authorities specify

WP.3 is the form an employer files on behalf of a foreign national who has not yet entered Thailand, to apply for a work permit. The authorities specify an exact order for the main documents:

• ① the completed WP.3 form
• ② the completed employment certification form
• ③ a copy of the passport photo page
• ④ a copy of the applicant's education certificate, or a completed qualification assessment form
• ⑤ for professions requiring a license by law, a copy of that license
• ⑥ a power of attorney from the employer, bearing a THB 10 duty stamp, with copies of the employer's and the representative's identification

Where the employer is a company, add these supporting documents:

• the company registration certificate and the latest shareholder list (within 6 months); if the employer is a foreign juristic person, foreign business documents and proof of inward remittance instead.
• a copy of the VAT registration certificate; the Phor Por 01 stating the business type, plus Phor Por 09 if there have been amendments.
• if the employer is itself a foreign national, a copy of their own work permit; if that employer does not work in Thailand and holds no work permit, the power of attorney must be notarised and legalised by a Thai embassy or consulate.
• where the business requires a licence from a competent authority — factories, restaurants, hotels, tourism, hospitals, chemical imports, for example — a copy of that licence.
• social security payment evidence for 1 month, last year's balance sheet, and the VAT filing (Phor Por 30) for 1–3 months.

Two formal requirements that get an entire file rejected if not met: first, every form must be completed in Thai, and foreign-language documents must be translated into Thai and certified by a qualified native Thai translator; second, every page of the company documents must be signed by an authorised person or representative and stamped with the company seal. Neither has anything to do with whether the content is correct, and both are common causes of rejection.

03Stage two: the embassy step is mostly about the company, not the employee

Personal documents: a passport or travel document valid for at least 6 months, a completed visa application form, a 4×6 cm photo taken within 6 months, proof of financial means, and the Ministry of Labour approval letter. Anyone who has previously worked in Thailand must also submit copies of the prior work permit and personal income tax filing.

Company documents: the company registration and business licence, shareholder list, company profile, description of business operations, a list of foreign employees (name, nationality, position), a location map, plus last year's balance sheet, corporate income tax filing, VAT filing and VAT registration certificate.

Formal requirements are just as strict here: copies of company documents must be signed by the board or an authorised managing director and stamped with the company seal; the applicant must sign every page of the copies submitted; where a document genuinely cannot be produced, a letter of explanation is required; foreign-language documents must be translated into Thai and certified by a notary or the applicant's own embassy or consulate in Thailand.

One more thing to confirm before departure: nationals of some countries may only apply in their home country, country of residence, or a designated embassy — not at whichever third-country post happens to be convenient. Confirm with the intended embassy before travelling.

04Three sub-categories, three different purposes

B (business and work): the general employment and business route, covered above.

• B-A (approved business): filed by a related company inside Thailand directly with Immigration; once approved, Immigration notifies the relevant embassy through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue the visa. Holders may stay 1 year from the date of first entry.
• IB (investment and business): issued to staff of BOI-promoted projects.
• Family members (spouse, parents, and unmarried children under 20) apply separately under the Non-Immigrant O category.

05Work permits are going digital, but on two separate systems

The paper "blue book" permit is being phased out, but the two digital systems are not interchangeable — getting the wrong one wastes a trip:

• e-Workpermit: the Department of Employment's digital programme for the broader population of foreign workers, replacing the traditional paper permit and covering applications, renewals and other administrative matters; filings and status checks can be done online. Ordinary companies use this system.
• Digital Work Permit (D-WP): issued digitally through a dedicated mobile application, aimed mainly at staff of BOI-promoted companies, filed through the single visa-and-work-permit window. The flow is: the company submits online → BOI review → Department of Employment review (returned for correction if rejected) → payment and approval → a booked appointment → in-person verification at the appointment → download and use within the app. Note that an in-person step still remains — it is not entirely paperless.

One point the official guidance does not spell out, and should not be assumed: e-Workpermit covers "applications, renewals and other administrative matters", but whether the stage-one WP.3 filing — done by an employer on behalf of someone who has not yet entered the country — has also been folded into that same online system is not stated in the official material. Before acting, confirm directly with the receiving office whether this particular step is filed online or on paper — this is exactly the kind of detail that only becomes clear once you are inside the system, and finding it out by trial and error costs the most time.

06The 90 days after arrival are a deadline to finish paperwork, not a stay to enjoy

This is worth calling out on its own. This visa category allows a maximum stay of 90 days on first entry; within those 90 days the work permit must be completed and the stay extension filed with Immigration.

The extension's start date is the part that catches people out: once granted, it runs one year from the date of first entry, not one year from the approval date. In other words, waiting until day 80 to file already means 80 days of that year are gone before the extension even starts. Delay does not add to the residence period — it only shortens it.

The extension carries further hard conditions: it requires a valid work permit; each grant is for no more than 1 year; and it must be filed at least 15 days before the current visa expires, with the result issued within 15 days.

07The employee is already in Thailand on a tourist visa — is there still a way?

Yes, but it is a fix, not a plan. Someone on a transit or tourist visa who wants to engage in business activity in Thailand can apply to Immigration to change their visa category (the Bangkok office is at Chaengwattana). The official rule is explicit here too: whether to approve a change of visa category and an extension of stay is at the immigration officer's discretion.

"Discretion" means this is not a right you can plan a schedule around. Sending someone in first and hoping to convert their status on the spot means betting the entire staffing plan on an uncertain outcome.

08What voids the visa

Circumstances the authorities list as voiding a visa include: resignation, a change of position, a change of visa category, departure without a re-entry permit, breaking the law, the company being deregistered by the competent authority, and misuse of the visa category. "Resignation" and "change of position" are the two most often overlooked — the person is still in Thailand and the visa has not expired, but once the employment relationship changes, the basis for the original visa is gone.

Overstaying accrues a daily fine, can carry a further fine cap or imprisonment, and affects future entry. Specific amounts and procedures follow Immigration's rules currently in force.

09Three things to sort out before you start

Fix the position and the person first: the role, responsibilities, education and experience decide which sub-category applies and what documents are required.

Give the company's own documents a check-up first: is the registration and shareholder list within its 6-month validity, does the VAT registration and business-type form match actual operations, can last year's financial statements and filings be produced and do they reconcile, and has social security been paid without a gap. If this part is not in order, the very first filing cannot go in.

Work the timeline backwards: starting from the date the person must be on-site, back-plan the extension, work permit, arrival, embassy processing and the WP.3 approval letter, each with room for a request to supplement documents.

It should also be noted that BOI-promoted companies, and foreign staff under other special-law regimes such as industrial estates or petroleum operations, have a separate one-stop channel with a digital single-window work permit process and a different allowed stay period from the standard route above — the two should not be mixed. We recommend the advisory team review the company's registration documents, shareholder list, last year's financial statements and filings first, then set the timetable for sending staff. See also the 90-day report, re-entry permit and extension after arrival and the basics of hiring, work permits and social security.