Integrity Legal - Law Firm in Bangkok | Bangkok Lawyer | Legal Services Thailand Back to
Integrity Legal

Legal Services & Resources 

Up to date legal information pertaining to Thai, American, & International Law.

Contact us: +66 2-266 3698

info@integrity-legal.com

ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawThailand Immigration LawThai Business Visas Have Become Much More Difficult to Obtain

Thai Business Visas Have Become Much More Difficult to Obtain

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Business Visas and the difficulty or complexity associated with obtaining them. Candidly, it has been an interesting evolution, the roughly 14 years I have been doing this out here in Thailand. There was a time when getting a one year business Visa to Thailand was a pretty straightforward endeavour especially if one was dealing with an Honorary Consulate abroad. Back 10, 12 years ago, we could basically put together some documentation, show a genuine business reason for coming to Thailand and a 1-year Business Visa could pretty easily be obtained. In the interim, that has changed a lot. Even prior to the Emergency Decree in response to COVID-19, Business Visas were getting difficult. Now I would say they are very difficult.  Frankly, documentation associated with them including but not limited to for example the WP3, work pre-authorization letter; getting that is quite a cumbersome endeavor and frankly it creates kind of a catch-22 because folks that are looking to do a startup in Thailand and haven't set up a business, how do they get work pre-authorization on a business that doesn't exist? You get into a lot of these situations. 

Long story short is within the past year I have really seen the Business Visa process get much more difficult than it once was. I think people still have a paradigm that goes back years back, even a year ago and even further back that, “oh a Business Visa isn't really that difficult.” Well these days, yes it is documentation intense. You have to have a genuine reason for coming to Thailand; not just some vague reason. It has got to be some specific business activity you are looking to deal with in Thailand and you may have to deal with work pre-authorization which can be time consuming and document intensive and difficult. 

So the thing to take away from this video is if you are looking to come to Thailand for business purposes, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional to gain some insight and guidance into A) is the Business Visa the right visa to seek? You may think you need it; you may not. B) If you do definitely need it, there is a lot of documentation now associated with it and for those unfamiliar with the process, it can be daunting and you may need assistance in order to ultimately be successful in consular processing a visa application for a Business Visa to the Kingdom of Thailand.