In process Thai permanent residency and Re-entry permit  

Today I would like to inform you about what will happen to the Re-entry permit

while waiting for permanent residency visa that is being applied for.

Permanent residency visa that is in application process

What will happen to visa during in process of permanent residency?

I used to hold Non-Immigrant B (commonly known as a business visa)

until I’ve applied for Thai permanent residency rights.

This visa is a visa for obtaining a work permit,

and normally when you are a foreigner and want to work in Thailand,

you need to obtain this Non-Immigrant B (commonly known as a business visa).

I am not going to explain the types of visas in detail today,

but Thailand separates visas, which is a stay permits, and work permits.

Since the visa is only a stay permit,

you cannot work just by obtaining a Non-Immigrant B (commonly known as a Business visa).

Since I am a foreigner (Japanese national) working in Thailand,

I have been holding Non-Immigrant B (commonly known as a business visa) for many years,

but this visa was canceled at the same time as I applied for permanent residence

and stamped as below was stamped.

The visa category “Non-Immigrant B” is no longer there and it says that now being

“applied for permanent residency and is under review”,

and the status of stay in Thailand will also be treated as “under review”.

There are various categories of visa,

but you will need a Re-entry permit when leaving Thailand in any category.

Without this re-entry permit, a valid visa will expire if you leave Thailand.

In other words, you will have to apply again from the beginning.

This applies even when you are applying for permanent residence,

so if you are planning to leave Thailand,

you will need to obtain a Re-entry permit.

On the above photos, the stamp on the top is a stamp under review for permanent residency,

and basically it will be updated every six months.

Every six months, you will have to visit the immigration office to “came to show my face” visit.

During the half year, I had plans to go abroad,

so I have obtained Re-entry permit (stamp below).

Can you see the handwritten “J02-4/54” in the upper right corner of the photo?

It means “the 2^nd applicant out of 4 Japanese nationals (J) in B.E. 2554.”

When you subtract 543 from the Buddhist calendar year, you will get the Western calendar year.

Then you will know that I’ve applied for permanent residency in 2011.

After applying for permanent residence,

the stamp of “under review” will continue to be stamped until the permission is granted.

I applied in December 2011 and was granted with permanent residency in July 2015,

so I have 7 stamps in my passport.

What about visa renewal process?

Visa applications and renewals for Bangkok residents

will be done at the Immigration Office located in the Government Complex

on Chaeng Watthana Road, Laksi district in northern Bangkok.

Visa applications and renewals are handled at different points of contact depending on the category.

(This is the location ↓)

Permanent residence applicants (and those currently applying) and permanent residence holders

will be handled at the Immigration Bureau Counter D.

Basically, it will be updated every six months.

Documents for renewal procedures are enough

if you bring document called “T.M. 25” and the passport.

You must go to the immigration office by yourself.

Counter D is for permanent residency right holders and applicants only.

So usually there is normally no one here, so the waiting time is zero.

Everything will be over in about an hour.

Considering that it took one whole day to renew Non-Immigrant B (commonly known as a business visa)

(it takes two days if there were incomplete documents…),

and considering the preparation and submission of a huge amount of documents,

this waiting time and no documents required,

it is worth applying for permanent residence.

As for the must have Re-entry permit,

you can only get it for the number of days (half a year) that you are allowed to stay.

Normally, there is a other counter for the re-entry permits,

but if you ask for a renewal at the D counter, they will do it for you.

It took a lot of time and effort,

but it was nice that things became stress-free here.

Summary

When you apply for the permanent residency, the visa that you used to possess will be invalid.

It will be treated as under, review renewable every half a year.

While the permanent residency application is in process,
the stay permit is granted only for half a year.
(Renewable every half a year)

If you have a plan to leave Thailand, you will need re-entry permit.

If you do not have the Re-entry permit, your visa will expire. (Back to square 1)

It is stress free as there is no more waiting time as well as documents to be submitted.

That was it. I hope that it will be of some help for

those who are thinking about obtaining permanent residency permit here in Thailand.

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