I only have a 6 month work permit,
but my friend has a year, why?
Thai work permits are available in denominations of 3, 6 and 12 months.
3 month work permits are usually issued to people who will not be working permanently in Thailand such as delegates from foreign offices, visiting business officials or company owners who are not located in Thailand.
6 month work permits are usually issued to employees of new companies who are still working towards meeting all of the criteria for a 1 year work permit.
Ideally most people would prefer to have a 12 month work permit so they only need to renew it once per year, however this can depend on certain factors.
A common misconception is that your first work permit will be a 6 month work permit. This is often true but is not necessarily the case.
The most common reason for a 6 month work permit being issued is the company is newly registered and has applied for but not yet been granted a social security number.
Once the social security number has been issued and the first months social security payment made for four staff then you can apply for a 12 month work permit.
There is normally only a delay of a few weeks between applying for the social security number and the application being approved but some people prefer to apply for their work permit straight away without waiting. In this case they will be issued with a 6 month work permit.
There are other factors which may result in you getting a 6 month work permit such as having less than 21 days left on your current permission to stay when you apply. However this is less common as you will usually be working with a visa consultant to extend you Non B visa and apply for your work permit who will co-ordinate with you to ensure that everything is done at the correct time.
