To work for a Thai employer you need two documents: a Non-B visa (or another status that allows work) and a work permit tied to that employer. Applications have gone through the Department of Employment's e-Work Permit system since 13 October 2025. We check your company, prepare the papers, file the application and see the permit through.
In short
- You need a visa that allows work, usually Non-B, and a work permit for a named employer (Foreign Workers Management Emergency Decree B.E. 2560; as of 6 October 2026). A Non-B alone does not let you start work (Thaiger, 24 September 2026).
- The common benchmark for the employer is THB 2 million of paid-up capital (about USD 60,000 or GBP 45,000 at illustrative rates of THB 33 and THB 44) and 4 Thai employees per foreigner, with the staff checked against Social Security filings. It is not one universal rule: companies with Board of Investment (BOI) promotion and Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa holders are exempt (Aniday, 7 September 2026; Thaiger, 24 September 2026).
- Filing is online through e-Work Permit since 13 October 2025. Fragomen (updated 21 July 2026) says paper is accepted until 28 October 2026 only when the system fails, with a screenshot of the error.
- Working outside your permit costs the worker THB 5,000 to 50,000, the employer THB 10,000 to 100,000 per worker, and can end in deportation (ThaiLawOnline).
- British, American and Australian passport holders get 30 days visa-free, for tourism only (Royal Thai Embassy London; Dejudom, September 2026).
What the service includes
We take the application from the first company check to the permit card. We compare your capital and staff with the benchmarks, prepare both sides' papers and the Non-B application, file in e-Work Permit and answer the Department of Employment's questions. The fee and the timeline are quoted before we start, and you get a written report at each stage.
The order of steps depends on where you are, as Thaiger describes it (24 September 2026):
| Where you are | Order of steps |
|---|---|
| Abroad | Employer sponsorship, pre-approval under s. 60, Non-B visa, entry, work permit under s. 59, then start work |
| In Thailand with a suitable status | Work permit under s. 59, then start work |
| An urgent task of up to 15 days | A separate, narrow route under s. 61; it does not replace an ordinary permit for ongoing work |
A lawyer licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand is responsible for the application. The team works in English, Russian and Thai.
Which visa or status do you need?
A work permit applies when you work for a Thai employer. If you work remotely for an employer back home, the DTV fits, but since 31 August 2026 you can apply only where you are a national or permanent resident, with a police certificate, and the visa bars work for Thai companies and clients. LTR and BOI have their own rules, and the Elite visa gives no right to work at all (BOI; ThaiLawOnline, 2026; Royal Thai Embassy London, 8 September 2026).
| Your situation | What to apply for | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Employed by a Thai company | Non-B and work permit | The permit names your employer, and the company's capital and staff are checked |
| Company with BOI promotion | Work permit through e-Work Permit | The company is exempt from the Thai-employee ratio |
| LTR programme | LTR status | A digital work permit comes with it, and the 4:1 ratio does not apply |
| Remote work for a foreign employer | DTV | No work for Thai companies or clients, and no tax relief |
| US-owned company under the Treaty of Amity | Treaty certificate, then work permit | THB 3 million of capital for the permit (about USD 91,000) |
| Thailand Privilege (Elite) | Membership | No right to work, and it cannot be combined with a work permit |
| Visa-exempt entry | Nothing | Tourism only; urgent work of up to 15 days by notification, checked case by case |
Since 31 August 2025 Thailand has 7 Non-Immigrant categories instead of 17. The old B, B-A, IM, IB and EX are now category B, and the criteria did not change (Fragomen, 10 September 2025). For the DTV see DTV visa for Thailand.
What we check in your company before filing
First we check whether the company will pass. The benchmark is THB 2 million of paid-up capital and four Thai employees per foreigner; Social Security filings confirm the staff at application and at every renewal. These are planning benchmarks, not one universal rule, so we run the numbers for your case (Aniday, 7 September 2026; Thaiger, 24 September 2026). If the company lacks Thai staff, the answer is to hire real people: we do not register fictitious employees to meet the 4:1 ratio.
The exceptions we take into account (ThaiLawOnline, 30 September 2026):
- representative and regional offices and branches of multinationals: 1:1;
- certified startups and companies in the 18 targeted industries: 1:1 when the foreigner is paid at least THB 50,000 a month (about USD 1,500 or GBP 1,100) and the company has at least THB 1 million of capital; the source also mentions five years since registration, worded ambiguously, so we check that point for your case;
- a foreigner married to and living with a Thai national: THB 1 million of capital for his or her own permit (about USD 30,000 or GBP 23,000);
- a company under the Treaty of Amity: THB 3 million of capital.
ThaiLawOnline says the Department of Employment tests the capital, while Immigration applies the 4:1 ratio to the annual extension of stay. Thaiger and Aniday describe both as employer checks. The system and the figures are explained in Thailand work permit in 2026.
Timing and fees
The fee depends on the duration: THB 750 for up to 3 months, THB 1,500 for 3 to 6 months and THB 3,000 for 6 to 12 months, plus THB 100 for the application (Thaiger, 24 September 2026). ThaiLawOnline quotes THB 3,000 for one year and THB 6,000 for two. We quote the fee in force on the filing day.
Thaiger, citing older Department of Employment material, puts the service benchmark at three working days once a complete application is accepted, but gathering papers, corrections and identity checks take longer. By our estimate our own work takes 2 to 4 weeks for an existing company and 6 to 8 weeks when we register the company together with the permit. Agency timing is outside our control. Example: A company and a work permit in 6 weeks.
What to prepare
The employee needs a passport with a valid status, an employment contract or employer's letter, a CV and proof of qualifications, a medical certificate and, for a licensed profession, the licence. The employer gathers its Department of Business Development (DBD) documents, tax and financial filings, Social Security records and details of its Thai staff (Thaiger, 24 September 2026).
If you have no company yet, start with company registration: the permit is issued to an employer, so the company must exist before you file.
American, British and Australian applicants
Passport holders from the US, the UK and Australia enter visa-free for 30 days, but only as tourists, so the Non-B has to be in place before you start work. Degrees and other documents issued at home usually go through a notary, your foreign ministry and the Thai embassy, then a Thai translation (Bangkok Translation, 16 August 2026). The Apostille Convention enters into force for Thailand on 28 February 2027, but not with states that object before about 30 December 2026 (HCCH, 6 October 2026).
Salary from a Thai employer is Thai-source income. If you have no other income, you file PND 91, as described in Filing a Thai tax return as a foreigner.
How to get started
Describe your situation in the form below: who will work, for which company and when you need to start. Within 24 hours we tell you what has to be done, what it costs and how long it takes. If you already have a company, include its shareholders, capital and Thai headcount, and we check it against the benchmarks first.
