Thailand visas and work permits: the process and document checklist

01Why one master table, not asking about each step separately

Visa services are usually sold as a list of tasks — apply for this, renew that — which looks clear but breaks down in practice, because the hard part is not "which task": it is sequence and paperwork — which step happens inside Thailand, which happens abroad, who has to produce which document, whether anything expires, and which formatting slip sends the whole file back.

The most common mistake is treating this as the employee’s problem. In practice most of what the consulate checks is company paperwork, and the WP.3 step itself is done by the company, not the employee. That is why the worksheet has a "who provides it" column — miss that distinction and the file never gets complete.

02Two formatting requirements that send the whole file back

• Language: forms must be completed in Thai; foreign-language documents must be translated into Thai and certified by a translator with the relevant academic qualification.
• Signing and stamping: every page of company documents must be signed by an authorised person or attorney and stamped with the company seal; copies submitted to the consulate must also be initialled page by page by the applicant.

Neither of these is about whether the content is right — they are the highest-frequency rejection point. The material itself can be correct and the file still gets sent back over a formatting slip.

03Three items with a validity window

The worksheet lists a "validity / timing requirement" column separately, because these items count as missing once they expire:

• Passport must be valid for no less than 6 months.
• The photo must be recent.
• The shareholder register must be updated within the required period; social security payment receipts and VAT filings must be for the most recent period.

This also exposes something else: the company’s own books. Both WP.3 and the consulate check social security contributions, VAT filings and the annual financial statements. Filing gaps and lapsed social security payments that go unnoticed day to day become a blocker exactly at the moment you need to send someone over, when there is usually no time left to fix them gradually. The worksheet flags these rows specifically so they surface early.

04Two “15 days” that run in opposite directions

Once someone is in place there are four expiry lines to track, and two of them both involve 15 days but point in opposite directions — mixing them up means missing the window:

• Visa extension: must be filed at least 15 days before expiry.
• 90-day reporting: can only be filed within 15 days before the due date — filing earlier is not accepted by the system.

Also confirm the re-entry permit before every departure — leaving the country without one voids the current visa, and the whole line has to be redone from scratch. Sheet 5 turns these four expiry lines into one row per person so nobody has to hold them in memory.

05How to use this worksheet

• ① Start with Sheet 1, the routing sheet: list everyone you plan to send at once and sort them into three groups — short business visits, project-period support, long-term posting. Do not go person by person asking "what can they get" — the same group takes the same route, so paperwork and timelines can be batched.
• ② Prepare documents by the assigned route: the ordinary route uses Sheets 2 and 3; promoted companies use Sheet 4.
• ③ Once someone is in place, start Sheet 5 and keep one row per person rolling across all four expiry lines.

The amber cells in the worksheet are the ones our advisory team confirms — routing, eligibility tier and threshold checks depend on length of stay, the employing entity, seniority, whether the industry is on the relevant list, and the company’s current foreign-staff ratio headroom; they are not something a table lookup can settle on its own. The blank cells are yours to fill in.