Thailand Non-B Visa and Work Permit: Rules, Fees, Extension

The Non-B visa lets you enter; the work permit lets you work. A Non-B holder must obtain the permit from the Department of Employment within 90 days after entry. Fees are THB 100 to apply plus THB 3,000 for a permit over 6 months and up to 1 year. A permit lasts up to two years.

By Vincent Nguyen

The visa gets you in; the permit lets you work; they come from different offices. A foreigner may work only with a work permit. A Non-B holder must obtain it from the Department of Employment within 90 days after entry. The Immigration Bureau then handles the extension of stay.

Two documents, two offices

Section 59 of the Foreigners’ Working Management Emergency Decree covers a foreigner admitted temporarily, other than as a tourist or in transit. Such a foreigner may do only work not on the prohibited list, and must hold a work permit.

The Non-B visa is valid for a single entry and must be used within 90 days of issue. At the checkpoint the holder may be granted an initial permit to stay for up to 90 days. A single-entry visa is valid for three months.

The visa file holds these papers.

• Any one of a Thai work permit copy, a Ministry of Labour approval letter or Form WP.32, or a letter from the Board of Investment.
• A job offer letter.
• The employer’s company registration and a business licence with registered capital of at least THB 2 million.
• The list of shareholders.

The visa also needs a Ministry of Labour approval letter. Your prospective employer obtains it by submitting Form WP3 at the Office of Foreign Workers Administration or at the Provincial Employment Office of its province. Ask your employer for that letter.

The holder must be granted a work permit before starting work. A holder of a tourist or transit visa who wants to engage in business activities may apply to change visa type at the Immigration Bureau. The change is at the officer’s discretion.

Who can get a Section 59 permit

A new permit for a Non-Immigrant doing work that needs knowledge, ability or skill falls under Section 59. These conditions apply.

• The foreigner is permitted to enter temporarily on a Non-Immigrant visa, not as a tourist or in transit.
• The work is not banned by the Ministry of Labour notice of 1 April 2020.
• The foreigner does not have the prohibited characteristics set in the Ministerial Regulation on qualifications and prohibited characteristics.
• Where the law requires a professional licence or certificate for the work, the foreigner holds it.

The worker has the skills the position requires. Prohibited conditions include leprosy, active tuberculosis, advanced-stage elephantiasis with visible symptoms, severe drug addiction, chronic alcoholism and stage-3 syphilis. The worker also has no record of imprisonment within the past year for breaking immigration or foreign worker laws.

Jobs a foreigner cannot do

The Ministry of Labour notice of 1 April 2020 bans the work in its Annex 1 outright, in every part of the Kingdom. That list includes these jobs.

• Thai massage.
• Tour guide and tour-organising work.
• Clerk, staff and secretary work.
• Haircutting, hair styling and beauty work.
• Hawking goods.
• Driving motor vehicles in the country, with exceptions for international flying and forklift driving.

Labourer work and shop-front sales are allowed only with an employer and entry under a government memorandum with a foreign government.

Remote workers on other visas do not get a work permit this way. A work permit is not granted to Work-from-Thailand Professionals under the LTR. LTR holders working for a Thai entity pay THB 3,000 per year to maintain the permit.

The steps, from filing to collection

The permit runs through five steps.

1. File the application with documents and pay the application fee through e-WorkPermit. The system is open 24 hours.
2. Staff check the file. The total processing time is 4 days, not counting any time when the file is sent for checking.
3. A file sent for checking takes 10 days, and the applicant is told.
4. After approval, pay the fee and book the appointment to collect the permit through e-WorkPermit.
5. Appear in person to give biometric data and receive the work permit and the Digital Work Permit.

Booking is online, at one of over 40 service centres, and the biometric data and card take around 12 minutes. The online system has been in use for foreign workers and employers since 13 October 2025. Centres outside shopping malls are open Monday to Friday, except public holidays, from 08:30 to 16:30 with a lunch break. The hotline is 1506, press 2.

In Chiang Mai, a company based in the province files at that province’s Employment Office. The Chiang Mai Provincial Employment Office is in the Central Administration Building of the Provincial Hall, Chotana Road.

The 2020 Ministerial Regulation sets 15 days and the Emergency Decree sets a ceiling of fifteen working days. The 4 days of service time sits inside that legal ceiling.

Documents for the permit

The foreigner’s list includes these items.

• Application form BT.25, filled in on the system.
• Proof of permission to enter and stay in the Kingdom, the visa.
• Education evidence, or an experience letter from a former employer or from the person who will be the employer.
• Employment certification, form BT.46.
• A medical certificate that the foreigner does not have the prohibited characteristics, valid as the doctor states.
• A 3 x 4 cm half-length photo, facing the camera, no hat, no dark glasses, taken within 6 months.

For a Thai company as employer the list adds a company registration certificate issued within 6 months. A limited company also provides a shareholder list issued within 6 months, and the VAT registration.

Forms are filled in Thai. Foreign-language documents need a Thai translation certified by a licensed person or a government agency.

What it costs

The fee depends on how long the permit runs. A permit longer than 1 year pays for the period beyond 1 year at the rate of the matching band.

A one-year permit therefore costs about THB 3,100 in government fees, a total of the application fee and the top band. A two-year permit comes to about THB 6,100: the application fee, the top band for the first year and the same band again for the period beyond one year. The fee schedule does not set agent charges, which come on top.

How long a permit lasts

A permit lasts as long as the applicant asks for, not more than two years from the date of issue. A Section 59 permit is valid up to 2 years per term.

Entry is under a Non-Immigrant visa.

Renewing the work permit

A holder who wants to keep working applies within 90 days before the permit expires. Once the application is filed, the foreigner may keep working until the registrar orders that the permit is not extended.

An extension is granted for not more than 2 years at a time. The existing work permit is one of the documents. The extension fee for a permit over 6 months and up to 1 year is THB 3,000.

Extension of stay on a Non-B visa

Order 12/2568 has applied since 23 January 2025 and replaced Order 242/2566. Permission on grounds of necessity is granted for no more than 1 year at a time.

For a business-necessity extension, clause 2.1 A asks the following. The capital, audited-statement and Thai-staff tests are on the employer’s business; the income table below is on you.

• A temporary-stay visa.
• Paid-up registered capital of at least THB 2 million.
• Financial statements for the last accounting year, audited by a licensed auditor.
• A ratio of 1 foreign national to 4 regular Thai employees.

Regional offices, representative offices for international trade and branch offices of multinationals are exempt from the capital and financial-statement tests. They keep 1 regular Thai employee per foreign national.

The foreigner also needs income per the Annex A table. The monthly minimum depends on nationality.

Start-ups and targeted industries have their own rows. The foreigner needs income of at least THB 50,000 a month. The business needs paid-up capital of at least one million baht.

Filing the extension at Chiang Mai Immigration

The documents for clause 2.1 A include the following.

• A letter certifying the foreigner’s work, in the Immigration Bureau’s form.
• A copy of the work permit, or the receipt if changing workplace.
• The withholding-tax return naming the staff and the foreigner for the latest 3 months, with receipts.

The fee is THB 1,900.

Chiang Mai Immigration is at 71 Moo 3, Sanam Bin (Airport) Road, Suthep, Mueang, Chiang Mai 50200. The telephone is 053 201 755. Its Services for Foreigner Section handles applications for and changes to all types of visa.

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While the application is considered, appointments to hear the result may be stamped for no more than 30 days in total. If the criteria are not met, the foreigner must leave within 7 days of the day permission ended.

After approval, a foreigner permitted to stay temporarily must notify an immigration officer of their address every ninety days. A report may be made from 15 days before until 7 days after the due date. A late report is made in person with a THB 2,000 fine. The 90-day report guide has the channels.

Leaving Thailand without a re-entry permit cancels the permitted stay. A single re-entry permit costs THB 1,000 and a multiple one THB 3,800. The application uses form TM.8 with one 4x6 cm photo.

Penalties for working without a permit

No foreigner may work without a work permit or beyond what the permit allows. A foreigner who breaks Section 8 faces a fine between five thousand and fifty thousand baht and removal.

An employer faces a fine of THB 10,000 to 100,000 per foreign national. One employer prohibition is employment without a valid work permit.

The work permit guide for Chiang Mai follows the local steps.

↑ Contents

Not confirmed: Which Chiang Mai centre takes the biometric visit: confirm it with the hotline, 1506 press 2, when you book. Whether the Department of Employment's own criteria add employer tests beyond the Immigration Bureau's. Whether a remote worker for a foreign company needs a permit: ask the Department of Employment hotline before you start.

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General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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