How far must an employment contract be translated and legalised to be accepted for an SME hiring its first foreign employee?
Degrees and experience letters issued abroad must first be certified in the issuing country (notary/Apostille or the Thai embassy there), then translated into Thai and legalised at the Department of Consular Affairs before the Department of Employment will accept them.
In brief, before the detail — degrees and experience letters issued abroad must first be certified in the issuing country (notary/Apostille or the Thai embassy there), then translated into Thai and legalised at the Department of Consular Affairs before the Department of Employment will accept them. The order cannot be swapped, and getting it wrong is the most common cause of a returned file. This can run alongside NAATI translation, police clearance and Apostille work in a single file.
Quick facts
- Authority: Department of Employment, Ministry of Labour, and the Department of Consular Affairs, MFA
- Where: Department of Employment, Ministry of Labour · Immigration Bureau · Legalisation Division, Department of Consular Affairs, Chaeng Watthana Road
- Timing to allow: Timing depends on the document type and each authority's processing; our team estimates after reviewing your file. Not a guarantee.
- Scope of service: We prepare the documents used in work permit and business visa files — certified translation, notarial certification, MFA legalisation and embassy attestation. Approval remains at the discretion of the Department of Employment and Immigration Bureau.
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