Getting in is the easy part — staying and working legally is not.
Who to send, which route fits them, what documents to prepare, and how to renew before expiry — visas and work permits are a line of their own, separate from a company's internal employment rules.
A business visa is for negotiations,supplier meetings,factory inspections and trade shows…
A visa is not something that,once issued,“belongs” to the person — it is tied to the empl…
Most visa guides list services item by item and never tell you which route actually fits…
The order is:the employer files WP.3 inside Thailand → the employee gets the visa abroad…
Once staff have settled in,three independent lines have to be tracked at the same time:th…
The standard route is renewed every year,while the Long-Term Resident Visa (LTR) grants r…
Posting someone to Thailand is not "getting a visa". It is four stages across four author…
Does a business trip to look around count as ‘work’?
It very possibly does. Thai law defines ‘work’ extremely broadly — it covers physical and mental effort, paid and unpaid alike, and in principle even reaches volunteer-style activity. So ‘just looking around, sitting in a meeting’ is not automatically safe. The nature of the trip has to be assessed in advance, not assumed from common sense.
The owner is a shareholder and draws no salary — does he still need a work permit?
It depends on what he actually does in Thailand, not on whether he draws a salary. Since unpaid activity can still fall within the definition of ‘work,’ skipping the work permit on the grounds that ‘he isn't paid’ rests on a premise that does not hold up.
What thresholds does a company have to meet to hire one foreign employee?
Outside the BOI channel, Thailand sets registered-capital and matching Thai-headcount ratios, and holders of a Chinese mainland passport face an additional minimum monthly salary floor. BOI-promoted companies are exempt from this ratio — that is the direct payoff of BOI status at the employment level. The exact figures move with official notices and have to be checked against current rules before you commit to a project.
How long does a work permit take, and do we still have to go to the Ministry of Labour in person?
Official processing times have been trending shorter, and BOI companies move faster through their dedicated channel. The Ministry of Labour has also rolled out a digital work permit system for foreign workers, so applications can be filed online. The exact timeframe, and which steps have actually moved online, should be checked against the Ministry's current notices.
How many Thai staff does one foreign hire require — and which version of the ratio is right?
They are the same ratio stated two ways: one version says ‘at least 4 Thai employees per work permit,’ the other says ‘at least 80% Thai, no more than 20% foreign’ — 4:1 and 80:20 are the same number. They come from the immigration side and the labour side of the rules respectively, and do not conflict. BOI-promoted companies work to their own separate ratio and are not on this scale — confirm which category your company falls into before you calculate.
I've heard Thailand has a multi-year visa — can we use it for posted staff?
It depends which one. The DTV, aimed at remote workers, freelancers and consultants, targets people employed by an employer outside Thailand while physically present in the country; your posted employee, by contrast, is employed by a Thai local company in a local role — that is not the situation DTV was designed for. Do not adopt it just because the term sounds long and convenient; check it against the current official conditions first.
What's the difference between SMART Visa and LTR — which one should we look at?
Both are administered by BOI, both target officially designated priority industries, neither counts against the company's foreign staff ratio, and family members can be included in both. The practical difference is the work permit: SMART Visa needs no separate work permit; LTR comes with a digital work permit that skips the standard filing. Which one fits depends on the person's category, whether the industry is on the list, and the qualification/income tier — check it case by case.
When choosing a visa, is a longer validity period always better?
No. Four other things weigh more on the actual burden than the number of years: whether it must be renewed annually, whether it counts against the company's foreign staff ratio, whether a separate work permit is needed, and whether family members can be included. A multi-year visa that still counts against the ratio, still requires a separate work permit and still makes family members file separately can carry a higher overall burden than a shorter visa that is exempt on all three.
We're not a BOI company — are we stuck with the slowest route?
The BOI one-stop channel does require a promotion certificate, but the standard route is not your only other option: the dedicated visas aimed at high-skill professionals and investors qualify on the person and the industry, not on whether the company holds promoted status. Don't assume the worst — check the intended hire's qualifications, salary tier and industry against the list first.
Should we work out each posting one person at a time, or look at the whole list together?
Look at the whole list together. The fastest approach in practice is to put the roster, each person's length of stay and seniority, and the company's current Thai and foreign headcount on one page, then sort people into groups and decide a route per group — short-term talks, project-period support and long-term postings go through different routes, and grouping is what lets you batch the documents and timetable. Asking ‘what visa can he get’ one person at a time is both slower and more likely to produce inconsistent answers.
If someone helps calibrate a machine while inspecting the factory, is that a problem?
It's a risk. Thailand's definition of ‘work’ covers physical and mental effort and does not distinguish paid from unpaid — not drawing a salary here, or doing it just once, does not exempt it. This kind of thing usually happens out of good intentions, which is exactly why it's the easiest way to cross the line. If hands-on work is genuinely planned for the trip, arrange it through an employment route in advance rather than deciding on the spot.
How long can a business visa holder stay, and can it be extended in-country?
There's a maximum stay period, and extension can be applied for locally at Immigration. The extension is calculated from the date of first entry, not reset from the approval date — waiting until close to expiry to file does not buy extra time. Check the exact number of days against Immigration's current rules.
Why does a business visa application also look at our Thai company's financial statements?
Because the reviewing authority is assessing not only who the traveller is but whether the inviting company is genuinely operating. That's why the inviting party's annual financial statements, corporate income tax and VAT filings, and VAT registration certificate are all on the document list. The practical effect: if the Thai entity was only just set up and its books aren't in order yet, inviting someone over becomes harder in itself.
An employee has resigned — what happens to their visa and work permit?
They have to be cancelled. Resignation is one of the officially listed grounds on which a visa is voided — the residence basis tied to employment disappears once the employment ends. Leaving it unfiled doesn't save time, it leaves the risk sitting on the company's books. Promoted companies face an added rule: notification is due within a set number of days before the employment ends, not after the person has already left.
We're moving someone to a new role internally — does that touch the visa?
Possibly. A work permit is approved for a specific position, and a change of position is also one of the officially listed grounds for voiding. Promotions, transfers and any material change in responsibilities should all be checked first; for promoted companies, the position itself has to be approved before the person can be placed in it. ‘Just an internal move’ is not an internal matter on this line.
He's moving to another Thai company in our group — can the visa transfer with him?
Not directly. A work permit is tied to the employer — the new employer has to file its own application, and the original employer has to close theirs out properly. The part that most needs planning ahead is the gap in between: once the old employment has ended and the new approval hasn't come through yet, that period's status can't be left to ride on ‘the visa hasn't expired yet.’
Does a company name change, relocation or shareholding change affect existing work permits?
It might. The approving authority granted the permit based on exactly those company details, and if the company is deregistered by the competent authority, the visa falls directly into a voiding condition. When filing a corporate change, add ‘do we have foreign staff currently employed’ to the impact checklist — it costs far less than fixing it after the fact.
Will a visa renewal check our regular personal income tax and social security filings?
Renewal usually looks at the personal income tax paid and social security contributions made during the employment period. In other words, whether payroll withholding and social security filings have been kept clean gets tested at the moment of renewal — this is where the visa line and the tax-and-payroll line connect directly.
There are two different ‘15 days’ rules — which is which?
They run in opposite directions: a visa extension must be filed at least 15 days before expiry (the earlier the safer); the 90-day report can only be filed within 15 days before its due date — file too early and the system rejects it. Two more 15-day rules also apply: notification of employment is due within 15 days of getting the work permit; and for promoted companies placing staff, the visa in hand must have at least 15 days remaining.
Related
Send the roster — who's going, for how long, in what role — and our advisers will group it by route and lay out the timetable for each group.
中文版 · Chinese version