Non-Immigrant Type B Visa Invitation letter from a company in Thailand

[T-T-T]

I am looking into obtaining the visa below for a few reasons ... Most important  been writing the trip off as a business expense  and secondly  work remotely for myself

Non-Immigrant Type B (Travelling to Thailand for business purposes e.g. meeting, exhibition - single and multiple entries)

( i know I would probably get away with a Non O but just exploring the possibilities) .  

I have been offered "Employment invitation from Ministry of labour department in Thailand WP3" for 45000 baht.  

Has anybody had experience of obtaining a non b visa and getting a 

• A copy of invitation letter to attend business meeting in Thailand from a Thai government agency or a Thai company 

 while out side Thailand and  at a more economical cost  and what was the route you took ? 

Thanks in advance 

 

Moderators please feel free to move but I couldn't seem to find a visa section for Non Thai's 

Edited December 2, 2020 by T-T-T

[Vanarch]

I travelled on a non-b visa, the company I work for supplied me with a invitation letter. Is there something specific you want to know?

[kimternet]

There are different types of Non B visa. You only need the specific WP3 invitation letter if you are planning to get a Non B for the purpose of then getting a work permit when you arrive. If you are just planning to get a Non B for the purpose of business meettings you just need a letter written by the Thai company director inviting you to visit them for the purpose of meetings.

It can depend a little on which embassy you are applying to, on how strict the details need to be. A lot of embassies will want the letter to be on official company headed paper, with a company stamp, and signed by a head of the company. They will also want copies of the Thai compay registration documents, and may want a copy of the ID of the person who signed the letter.

In addition to this there are several other documents you'll need to produce such as your home company details and a letter from the head of your company detailing that they will sponsor you for this visit, confirming the reasons for the meetings, and proof of funds over the last 6 month, which I think it around 500k Baht (but can be the business bank account).

This visa type can be a lot of hassel if you and the companies in question are not super organized. An important thing to note, is that if you are planning a stay longer than 90 days via the multi entry version of the visa, and don't convert it to a work permit within the 90 days, you will need to leave and re-enter before the 90 days are up, as it's not possible to extended within Thailand, and with border runs also not currently possible it would mean a lot of hassle and more ASQ (or converting it to a Volunteer visa for another big fee).

[T-T-T]

3 hours ago, kimternet said:

An important thing to note, is that if you are planning a stay longer than 90 days via the multi entry version of the visa, and don't convert it to a work permit within the 90 days, you will need to leave and re-enter before the 90 days are up, as it's not possible to extended within Thailand, and with border runs also not currently possible it would mean a lot of hassle and more ASQ (or converting it to a Volunteer visa for another big fee).

This is the information I didn't know , I was hoping they would issue for a year if I got a multi-entry   So the letter of invitation will only get me 90 days and the WP3 gets me a longer stay. 

I have my own company so that side of stuff  and the documentation is down to me.  Thanks for the information that has helped alot. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by T-T-T

[kimternet]

8 hours ago, T-T-T said:

This is the information I didn't know , I was hoping they would issue for a year if I got a multi-entry   So the letter of invitation will only get me 90 days and the WP3 gets me a longer stay. 

I have my own company so that side of stuff  and the documentation is down to me.  Thanks for the information that has helped alot. 

I wasn't sure whether the Thai company are going to employ you, or just support you to get the visa for business meetings, I'm assuming the latter. If it is the b visa for business meetings, on the multi entry version, you are not able to extend it via immigration, so you would normally do a border run or quick weekend to Cambodia/Laos/Malaysia and get your next 90 days, but witht he current situation those are also not easy options until quarantine has gone.

One option would be to enter on the business visa and then after 60 days or so use an agency to convert it into a volunteer visa, which will then give you a 12 month visa (+ the 2 months you've already done), and this visa allows you to do 90 day reporting at immigration, and not have to leave the country.

If you aren't set on the b visa, the easiest option is to get the single entry tourist visa, and then convert that to a student or volunteer visa when you are in country (you can't go from the b visa to a student visa, but with a tourist visa you can switch to student visa or volunteer visa, and you get an extra 3 months on the volunteer visa as you are not already on non-imm). Going via the tourist visa is also far less paper work, much much cheaper, and you are not relying on (or paying) the extra Thai company.

You don't need the b visa (for meetings) to work digitally or write off your taxes. Costs for the single entry tourist visa are about 2,000 Baht, and converting to a volunteer visa is around 42,000 to 50,000 Baht, while a student visa is around 20,000 baht.