tarika

Yes, getting a work permit was no issue. However, the local immigration won't give any non-o extension (1 year or 3 months) without a letter from the government. Go figure 😁

That was an unpleasant situation indeed.. but as I said, at Penang Embassy, they never asked me for this letter. In fact, me and some Thai people from our foundation went to several government offices and were told that they cannot provide a visa letter for a private NGO. What I meant is that basically you have to go outside the country every three months and get a new volunteer visa every time. I live near the Malaysian border so I travel to Penang every now and then.

I have been applying for Non-o volunteer visas in Penang, Malaysia, for the last 2 years. Even though they mention a letter from a government agency in their requirements, they never asked for it. However, they always asked for a work permit after the first volunteer visa was obtained. My understanding is, for private NGOs, you cannot get a corresponding letter as government agencies do not oversee private NGO's. So 1-year extensions are only available for government NGO's now. And the only possibility is to get 3 month visas from abroad continuously. (This happened because the volunteer visa was widely abused). Hope it helps 🙂