One-Stop Service Center Changes Eligibility Rules

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At a Glance

• Effective May 31, 2019, employees of companies not registered with the Board of Investment in Thailand will no longer be able to file their Long-Term Visa applications at the One-Stop Service Center if their company does not have a registered office with the Ministry of Commerce in Bangkok.
• This change will mean a more burdensome and longer immigration process for affected foreign employees. However, it will not impact foreign employees of companies registered with the Board of Investment.

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The situation

​Effective May 31, 2019, employees of companies which are not registered with the Board of Investment (BOI) in Thailand will no longer be able to file their Long-Term Visa applications at the One-Stop Service Center (OSSC) if their company does not have a registered office with the Ministry of Commerce in Bangkok.

A closer look

• Alternative filing process. Affected foreign employees will need to submit their applications at the Immigration Office and Employment Department of the province in Thailand where their company is officially registered.
• Applications affected by the change. The change will affect initial and renewal Long-Term Visa applications in particular, as well as other applications transacted through the OSSC. This change will not impact foreign employees of BOI-registered companies.
• Eligibility to file at OSSC. Currently, only foreign employees in positions of manager and above in non-BOI-registered companies that have a registered office in Bangkok and a registered capital or net assets of more than THB 30 million in the latest fiscal year can avail of the expedited process at the OSSC.

 

Impact

• More documents. When filing at the Provincial Employment Department or Provincial Immigration Office, additional documents will be required to support foreign employees’ applications as compared to filing the application at the OSSC. Examples include the last three months’ tax documents (monthly salary withholding tax and monthly VAT), specific photographs and a copy of the TM 30 (Notification of Residence of Foreigners) proof of residency document from their landlord.
• Longer process. Applicants filing at provincial offices will need to go through additional steps, which will extend the processing time to 30-45 calendar days (up from one to seven calendar days).
• Personal appearances. Applicants will need to appear before immigration authorities at the Provincial Immigration Office at least twice: once to obtain the one-month temporary visa extension, and again to obtain the subsequent 11-month visa. This poses an additional administrative burden on foreign employees.

 

Background

This requirement is already in place for Work Permit applications. Employees of companies not registered with the BOI who do not have a registered office in Bangkok need to file all new and renewal Work Permit applications at the Employment Department of the province in Thailand where their company is officially registered. While the OSSC relaxed this rule for Long-Term Visa applications, the authorities are now seeking to institute a consistent process across all applications.

Looking ahead

The immigration authorities are decentralizing processes from Bangkok and giving greater authority and responsibility to provincial offices in order to reduce workload and make the system more uniform and efficient. This decentralization effort is expected to continue across Thailand. Fragomen will report on relevant developments.

We worked closely with Dej-Udom & Associates Ltd. to prepare this alert. It 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].