Education Visa procedure in Thailand
One of the most common visa types that has been affected currently is the education visa which seems to be a favorite for most Foreigners under the age of 50 years old, not married to a Thai national or working, but now more strict procedures have been put in to place to stop the system of being a student abused by people working illegally and to rside in Thailand for other reasons and below is a summary of what is now required and the procedure of how to obtain and education visa in Thailand.
Student- education visa in Thailand
A student- education visa in Thailand is predominately known and used by Foreigners wishing to learn the Thai language including reading, speaking and writing which is an arduous task but taken up by many as it helps in business working with Thai nationals and general communication in Thailand which is needed and is a huge bonus especially if you live alone in Thailand as it gives that self confidence needed. The new Immigration rules now set out from August 2014 state that a student on an educational visa may only reside in the Kingdom of Thailand for the duration of a year at a time and after one year if the student wishes to continue their studies they must leave Thailand to re start the visa process again. When you start the process of obtaining an educational visa you must start by attending an accredited language school who will guide you on the fees involved and they should furnish you with the correct documentation from the Ministry of education to travel to a Thai Consulate outside of Thailand but check they are used to dealing with Foreigners and the documents are correct and substantial before you travel, most Foreigners already residing in Thailand choose a neighboring Country like Laos or Cambodia so they can obtain a Non Immigrant ED visa for education purposes only traveling by land and when the visa is obtained it lasts for 90 days which is needed to start the process so when the Foreigner re enters Thailand on the new ED education visa they will receive their first 90 days on entry and the process begins.
Each education course has rules on how many hours you have to attend the school to qualify for a further 90 days that will be given by the Thai Immigration Bureau so make sure you keep the hours up and also do your best to learn and the reason is now every 90 days you have to report to the Thai Immigration to receive your next 90 days stamp and during this process you will probably be tested by the Immigration Officer so if you are learning the Thai language they will expect you to know the basics in communication and maybe writing and reading and as the course develops and you require further extensions you can guarantee that the tests will become more intense so just turning up for a stamp is a thing of the past you must prove to the Immigration Officer that you are abiding to the rules of the visa or face problems getting a further extension and the Immigration officer can cancel your visa at any time if they feel you are not going to school or abusing the system so do not try to get away from going to school.
As previously stated you will be given three extensions of 90 days which all together adds up to a year including your first 90 days obtained out of Thailand and if you wish to continue studies in Thailand you must start a new education course and obtain documents from the school as you did the first time and leave Thailand to obtain another 90 day Non immigrant ED visa and then the process will re start thus giving the Thai Immigration a better control of the system and they are aware who is learning, were you are every 90 days and also to wean out the students that are abusing the system to solely reside in Thailand working illegally or other activities.
For more info contact [email protected]
[mailchimpsf_form]