The situation
The Employment Department has announced that, effective immediately, Work Permit applicants will need to submit copies of all the pages of their passport when filing a Pre-Work Permit Approval (PWPA) application.
Background
The sponsoring company files a PWPA in Thailand on behalf of its foreign employee. Once the Employment Department approves the PWPA, the foreign employee can apply for a Non-immigrant B Visa at a Thai consular post, which allows the foreign national to enter the country upon its approval.
The stricter requirement is intended to ensure that the foreign employee is outside of Thailand when the PWPA application is submitted.
Unaffected applicants
The rule will not affect companies registered with the Board of Investment since they follow a different Work Permit approval process.
Impact
Companies who fail to comply with the stricter requirement will have their application turned away, resulting in delays. Such individual delays will have a downstream effect on the whole process since the PWPA is needed before a Non-immigrant B Visa application can be filed.
Looking ahead
Sponsoring companies filing Work Permit applications at the Employment Department should ensure compliance with this new rule to avoid costly delays. They should also be aware that Thai authorities may continue to implement stricter regulations on foreign nationals as a result of leadership changes at the Immigration Bureau and frequent discoveries of immigration violations committed by foreign nationals.
Fragomen will closely monitor the situation and provide updates as needed.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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