Work Permit in Phuket: Steps, Fees and Timeline

File on the e-WorkPermit system, which is open 24 hours. The total processing time is 4 days, not counting any referral for checking. You then attend a service centre in person for biometric data and the permit. A one-year permit costs about THB 3,100 in government fees.

By Vincent Nguyen and team

Does what you do in Phuket count as work? A foreigner admitted other than for tourism or transit may do only work not on the prohibited list, and must hold a work permit.

Day 1: file online. Day 4: the total processing time, not counting a referral. On the Thai embassy checklist for the Non-B, the permit is due within 90 days after entry. Most of it runs on a screen, not at a counter.

Day 1: file online, then go in person once

The Department of Employment runs the e-WorkPermit system for foreigners’ work permits. It is open 24 hours. Foreign workers and employers have used it since 13 October 2025. A new permit for a Non-Immigrant doing work that needs knowledge, ability or skill falls under Section 59.

The Emergency Decree says such a foreigner must hold a work permit, and a Non-B holder must be granted it before starting work. The criteria ask for a Non-Immigrant visa, not a tourist or transit one.

The online steps end with an appointment at one of over 40 service centres, where the biometric data is collected and the card is issued in around 12 minutes. Centres outside shopping malls are open Monday to Friday, except public holidays, from 08:30 to 16:30 with a lunch break. The hotline is 1506, press 2.

Who files what

A work permit application for a company in a province goes to that province’s Employment Office. For a Phuket employer, that is the Phuket office.

The Non-B visa needs a Ministry of Labour approval letter. Your employer obtains it by submitting Form WP3 at the Office of Foreign Workers Administration or at the Provincial Employment Office of its province. A freelancer or remote worker has no employer papers to file here, and the Destination Thailand Visa is issued for remote work.

Day 1 to day 4: what happens after you file

The permit runs through five steps.

1. File the application with documents and pay the application fee through e-WorkPermit.
2. Staff check the file. The total is 4 days, not counting any time when the file is sent for checking.
3. A file sent for checking takes 10 days, and the applicant is told.
4. After approval, pay the fee and book the appointment to collect the permit.
5. Appear in person to give biometric data and receive the work permit and the Digital Work Permit.

The 2020 Ministerial Regulation sets 15 days and the Emergency Decree sets a ceiling of fifteen working days. The 4 days of service time sits inside that legal ceiling.

Documents, the medical certificate and the photo

The list opens with these items.

• Application form BT.25, filled in on the system.
• Proof of permission to enter and stay in the Kingdom, the visa.
• Education evidence, or an experience letter from a former employer or from the person who will be the employer.
• Employment certification, form BT.46.
• A medical certificate that the foreigner does not have the prohibited characteristics, valid as the doctor states.
• A 3 x 4 cm half-length photo, facing the camera, no hat, no dark glasses, taken within 6 months.

Prohibited conditions include leprosy, active tuberculosis, advanced-stage elephantiasis with visible symptoms, severe drug addiction, chronic alcoholism and stage-3 syphilis.

Where the law requires a professional licence or certificate for the work, the foreigner holds it. The employer supplies the company papers: a registration certificate issued within 6 months, a shareholder list for a limited company and the VAT registration.

Forms are filled in Thai. Foreign-language documents need a Thai translation certified by a licensed person or a government agency.

What it costs

The application fee is THB 100. The permit fee depends on its length.

A permit longer than 1 year pays for the period beyond 1 year at the rate of the matching band. A permit lasts as long as the applicant asks for, not more than two years.

A one-year permit therefore costs about THB 3,100 in government fees, a total of the application fee and the top band. A two-year permit comes to about THB 6,100: the application fee, the top band for the first year and the same band again for the period beyond one year.

After the permit: the extension of stay at Phuket Immigration

With the work permit, a Non-B holder can apply to the Immigration Bureau for an extension of stay up to 1 year. The embassy checklist puts the permit within 90 days after entry.

The extension fee is THB 1,900.

Phuket Immigration Office is at 482 Phuket Rd., Talad Yai, Mueang, Phuket 83000. The telephone is 0 7622 1905. It is closed Saturday and Sunday and on national public holidays.

Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)

Phuket Immigration offers online queue booking for extension applications, with documents submitted in advance. Booking runs during official office days and hours. If the online queue is full, you can come in person and collect a queue card.

For the office itself see the Phuket Immigration Office guide. For the full requirements, including capital and the Thai staff ratio, see the visa types guide.

Renewal and the duties that follow

A holder who wants to keep working applies within 90 days before the permit expires. Once the application is filed, the foreigner may keep working until the registrar orders that the permit is not extended.

An extension is granted for not more than 2 years at a time. The existing work permit is one of the documents. The extension fee for a permit over 6 months and up to 1 year is THB 3,000.

A foreigner permitted to stay temporarily must notify an immigration officer of their address every ninety days. A report may be made from 15 days before until 7 days after the due date.

• In person at the local immigration office, by registered post or online.
• Late: in person, with a THB 2,000 fine.

The house-master, owner or possessor of the residence notifies immigration within twenty-four hours. Section 38 puts that duty on them. The 90-day report guide covers the address report. The residence notification guide covers the landlord side.

Leaving Thailand without a re-entry permit cancels the permitted stay. A single re-entry permit costs THB 1,000 and a multiple one THB 3,800.

Working without a permit is not allowed. A foreigner who breaks Section 8 faces a fine between five thousand and fifty thousand baht and removal.

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Not confirmed: Where the Phuket Provincial Employment Office sits and when its counter opens: ask the hotline, 1506 press 2. Which service centre takes the biometric visit: confirm it when you book. Whether remote work for a foreign company needs a permit: ask the hotline before you start.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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