The MOU workers you brought in two years ago are reaching the end of their contracts — and if the renewal is not done in time, the law requires them to be sent back to their country of origin. Exworker handles the renewal of the employment contract and the work permit for MOU workers, along with the immigration side that follows, so the employee can keep working without travelling home.

This differs from the renewal round for the Cabinet-resolution group in one important way: there is no single deadline that applies to everyone. Each worker's contract ends on a different date. Employers with several MOU workers miss this most easily, because no announcement comes to remind them the way it does for the big round.

Information as of August 2026

Check first: which group are you in

This page is right MOU workers approaching two years

They entered through the import centre, hold a work permit issued for two years at a time, and are now near the end of the first term.

A different page The Cabinet-resolution group, deadline 11 December 2026

If your employee registered inside Thailand under a Cabinet resolution rather than entering under MOU, go to the work permit renewal service, which is a different legal group on a different timetable.

A different matter No workers yet, looking to import

Start at the MOU import service — a different process from renewal.

Not sure which group your employee belongs to Look at the work permit and the immigration history. MOU workers enter through the border import and end-of-employment centre, while the Cabinet-resolution group registered while already inside the country. If you cannot tell, send us the photos — the two groups follow different tracks from the very beginning.

Why it has to start before the contract ends, not after

Contract ended and not renewed means a duty to send the worker home Section 55 of the Royal Decree on the Management of Foreign Workers' Employment B.E. 2560 provides that when the employment contract ends, the licence holder or the last employer who lodged the guarantee must send the worker back to the country of origin, unless the contract is renewed or the worker moves to a new employer in time under Section 52. Neglecting that duty carries a fine of up to 100,000 baht per worker (Sections 115/1 and 116).

Put another way, renewal is not optional; it is the way out of a duty the law has already imposed. If neither renewal nor repatriation happens, the exposure sits with the employer, not the employee.

An advantage of renewed workers that most employers do not know

Section 51, paragraph three The restriction on changing employer in the early period does not apply to a foreign national whose contract has been renewed and who leaves employment during the renewed contract term. MOU workers entering years three and four therefore have more freedom to move than in the first term. Employers who want to keep their people should know this before the renewal round, not when the resignation letter arrives.

The employment term for MOU workers

Period	Substance
Work permit issued for	2 years at a time
Renewable for a further	not more than 2 years
Maximum term before returning to the country of origin	not more than 4 years

Check each worker's term individually before planning The conditions and transitional timings around the four-year term are adjusted from time to time. Before your workers reach that point, check with the provincial employment office or the Department of Employment hotline 1694 — we check case by case when we take a case on, and say plainly when someone is close to the four-year ceiling.

What the renewal round involves

Renewing the written employment contract Section 46 paragraph three requires the employer to make the contract in writing, keep it at the place of business, and give a copy to the employee. Failing to produce it when an officer asks carries a fine of up to 5,000 baht, and there is a Department of Employment notification setting the minimum items an MOU employment contract must contain.
Renewing the work permit Filed with the Department of Employment together with the employer's and the employee's document sets.
The visa and permission-to-stay side So that the period of permitted stay matches the new work permit term.
Related matters in the same round Such as health insurance or social security, and keeping the data consistent across every system.

This much is enough to start with Photos of the work permit and of the passport page with the photograph and the latest permission-to-stay stamp, for each employee. We will come back with who ends their contract on which date, who is still within a renewable term, who is close to the ceiling, and when the work should start.

Documents usually required

The new employment contract (we draft it to include the items the notification prescribes)
The existing work permit and the employee's original passport
Employer documents — an identity card for an individual, or a company certificate within the prescribed validity plus the identity card of the authorised director for a juristic person
Powers of attorney on both the employer's and the foreign national's side, with duty stamps at the correct rates
Other supporting documents as required by the local office

Document lists differ between provinces. We check with the employment office responsible for your area before filing in every case.

Costs

The figure in the price box above is our handling fee, per employee.

Thai government feesThese consist of an application fee of 100 baht per form and a work permit fee calculated by the period applied for, under the Ministerial Regulation on Fees B.E. 2563 — we tell you the actual amount for your case at the case-check stage, and it can be confirmed with the provincial employment office or hotline 1694.

Costs on the country-of-origin sideIf your case involves steps through the authorities of the country of origin, those costs follow that country's own rules, which change without any Thai announcement. We show them separately, case by case, rather than folding them silently into one figure.

Why employers have us handle it

We check each worker's contract end date and schedule the work backwards from it, instead of waiting for the date to arrive
We can say which workers are near the term ceiling, which needs different planning from an ordinary renewal
We draft the employment contract to include the prescribed items, rather than using a generic template that omits them
Several employees can be handled at once and filed in batches by similar end dates
We explain in advance that in the renewed term the employee has broader freedom to change employer than in the first

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead of the contract end should it start?

The earlier the better, because the round covers contract work, work permit work and the permission-to-stay side, and each area's queue differs. We check the contract end date for free and tell you when your case should start.

The contract has ended and nothing was renewed — what now?

It has to be assessed case by case, because the law imposes a duty to send the worker back when the contract ends, unless renewal or a move to a new employer happens within the prescribed period. Send us the documents first and we will say honestly what routes remain.

After renewal, can the employee change employer?

In the renewed term the early restriction on changing employer does not apply, under Section 51 paragraph three, so the employee has more freedom than in the first term. If you want to keep your people, discuss terms before the renewal round.

Is MOU renewal the same as the 11 December 2026 work permit renewal?

They are different. The 11 December 2026 round belongs to the Cabinet-resolution group registered inside the country, while this page is for workers imported under MOU, whose terms end individually and are not tied to that single deadline.

What happens after the full four years?

At the end of the term the worker must return to the country of origin before being brought back in. The transitional conditions are adjusted from time to time, so check with the provincial employment office or hotline 1694 before planning. We check case by case when we take a case on.

Can the employee keep working during the renewal?

It depends on whether the work permit and the right to stay have ended as at that date. We check the status when we take the case on, and say plainly if there is an exposed period.

Let us look at your case

Send photos of the work permits and passports of all the MOU workers you have over LINE. We will work out who ends their contract when, who can be renewed, who is close to the term ceiling, and then sequence the work so everyone is covered in time.

Sources

Royal Decree on the Management of Foreign Workers' Employment B.E. 2560, as amended by the Second Edition B.E. 2561 — Sections 46, 51, 52, 55, 113 and 115/1
Department of Employment — public manual on bringing foreign workers to employers in Thailand under MOU
Department of Employment notification on the items required in employment contracts for foreign workers entering under MOU (Government Gazette, Volume 140, Special Part 268 Ngor, 27 October 2023)
Ministerial Regulation on Fees B.E. 2563, as cited in the Department of Employment public manual

MOU Contract Renewal for Migrant Workers at Two Years