Today, the Cabinet approved the extension of the work permit renewal period for foreign workers in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024, as per two issues raised by the Ministry of Labor:
- Allow Cambodian and Myanmar workers whose employers have submitted a foreign worker employment demand before February 13, 2025, to temporarily reside and work in the Kingdom for 6 months, from February 14, 2025 to August 13, 2025, so that employers can submit a work permit application (T.B. 33) on behalf of the foreign worker, together with documents and evidence, pay the permit fee, and obtain a visa to temporarily reside and work in the Kingdom until February 13, 2027, and can be renewed for another 2 years.
- Allow Lao and Vietnamese workers who have obtained work permits before February 13, 2025, in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution, to temporarily reside in the Kingdom for 3 months, from February 14, 2025 to May 13, 2025, so that employers can submit a list of foreign worker employment needs, submit an application for a work permit on behalf of the foreign worker, together with the documents and evidence specified in the application form (T.B. 33), pay the work permit fee, and obtain a visa to temporarily reside and work in the Kingdom until February 13, 2026.
Mr. Somchai Morakot Sriwan, Director of the Employment Bureau of the Ministry of Labor, said that the Cabinet has approved in principle two draft announcements from the Ministry of Labor and two draft announcements from the Ministry of Interior, a total of four items. When the Ministry of Interior Announcement and the Ministry of Labor Announcement take effect, the above-mentioned labor groups will be given a grace period.
Therefore, the Employment Bureau would like to publicize to employers, enterprises and foreign workers to submit the list of foreign worker employment needs as soon as possible before February 13, 2025, and urge them to complete all steps within the prescribed period.
Summary of the Cabinet meeting on Feb. 4 2025
On the issue of extending the renewal period of foreign workers’ work permits in the form of MOU in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024
The Cabinet has approved the issue proposed by the Ministry of Labour (MOL) on extending the renewal period of foreign workers’ work permits in the form of MOU in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024, including approving the following items:
- Agreed to extend the guidelines and related draft announcements for the renewal of foreign workers’ work permits in the form of MOU in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024, a total of 4 copies, including:
- The draft announcement of the Ministry of Interior, entitled “Specially allowing Cambodian, Laotian, Myanmar and Vietnamese nationals to stay in the Kingdom of Thailand, and these groups of people are allowed to stay temporarily until February 13, 2025 in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024 (Edition ..)”.
- The draft announcement of the Ministry of Labor, entitled “Specially allowing Cambodian, Laotian, Myanmar and Vietnamese nationals to work in the Kingdom of Thailand, and these groups of people are allowed to work until February 13, 2025 in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024 (Edition ..)”.
- Draft announcement of the Ministry of Interior, titled “Special permission for Lao and Vietnamese foreigners to stay in the Kingdom of Thailand under special circumstances, based on … Cabinet resolution”.
- Draft announcement of the Ministry of Labor, titled “Special permission for Lao and Vietnamese foreigners to work in the Kingdom of Thailand under special circumstances, based on … Cabinet resolution”.
- Instruct the Ministry of Labor, through the Employment Department and relevant departments, to implement the above guidelines for extending the period of work permits and to publicize them so that employers/operators, foreign workers and relevant parties are fully aware of the relevant operational information.
Key points of the draft announcement:
The Ministry of Labor proposed:
- According to the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024, regarding the renewal of work permits for foreign workers (including Cambodian, Laotian, Myanmar and Vietnamese nationals whose work permits are valid until February 13, 2025) in the form of MOU based on the Cabinet Resolutions of July 5, 2022 and October 3, 2023, and instructing employers or companies that are allowed to introduce foreign workers to submit a list of foreign workers, submit work permit applications on behalf of foreign workers, and take foreign workers to apply for visas and temporary residence permits before February 13, 2025 after obtaining authorization from the employer. If all steps are completed correctly as required, foreign workers will be allowed to reside and work in the Kingdom of Thailand until February 13, 2027, and can be renewed once again, not exceeding 2 years, until February 13, 2029. At present, there are about 2.4 million foreign workers who are allowed to work until February 13, 2025 in accordance with the above-mentioned Cabinet Resolution, of which some employers have submitted lists of foreign workers, about 1.2 million.
- Therefore, in order to maintain the domestic labor force and avoid labor shortages that affect the national economy, it is necessary to formulate guidelines for extending the work permit period of foreign workers in the form of MOU in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution of September 24, 2024, so that foreign workers whose work permits will expire on February 13, 2025 but have not completed all the work permit application steps in time can temporarily stay in the Kingdom of Thailand to continue to apply for and process work permits to avoid their status not being in compliance with legal provisions. The specific operating guidelines vary according to the nationality of the foreign workers, because there are differences in the operation of the certified labor list under the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Labor Cooperation or the Memorandum of Understanding, which are summarized as follows:
| (1) Cambodian and Myanmar foreign workers | |
| Target group | Foreign workers of Cambodian and Myanmar nationality whose employers have submitted a list of foreign workers to be employed before February 13, 2025. |
| Operation steps | Employers are urged to submit their foreign workers employment needs list by February 13, 2025. Relaxation of conditions to allow targeted foreign workers to temporarily stay in the Kingdom of Thailand and be allowed to work for 6 months between February 14, 2025 and August 13, 2025, and follow the steps below: 1. After submitting the employment needs list, Cambodian and Myanmar officials will follow their respective country procedures and review and approve the list. 2. After the workers list is approved, the employer will submit a work permit application on behalf of the foreign worker, attaching application documents such as: approved workers list, medical examination certificate, social security registration certificate or health insurance, and pay the permit fee (1,900 baht). 3. The registrar will approve the foreign worker to work until February 13, 2027. After the work permit expires, the foreign worker can renew it once more for a period of 2 years (until February 13, 2029). 4. Go to the Immigration Bureau to handle visa extension procedures. |
| (2) Foreign workers from Laos and Vietnam | |
| Target group | Foreign workers from Laos and Vietnam |
| Operation steps | Relax conditions to allow foreign workers in the target group to temporarily stay in the Kingdom of Thailand and be allowed to work for 3 months from February 14, 2025 to May 13, 2025, so that employers can follow the following steps during this period: 1. Submit a list of foreign workers with employment needs and photos, mainly through the electronic system or channels designated by the Director of the Employment Department, which can be exempted from the approval process of the country of origin for the list. (If the employment needs list is not submitted, Lao and Vietnamese workers must return to their country of origin and reapply for permission according to the MOU process, because the country of origin of foreign workers in the target group does not want to send personnel to Thailand to review and approve the list of workers). 2. Submit a work permit application on behalf of the foreign worker, and attach application documents such as: worker list, medical examination certificate, social security registration certificate or health insurance, and pay the permit fee (1,000 baht). 3. The Registrar will approve the foreign worker to work until February 13, 2026. 4. The Immigration Bureau will handle the visa extension procedures. |
3. At the meeting of the Alien Workers Management Policy Committee No. 2/2025 on 22 January 2025, the meeting resolved to approve the matter.
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