KevT

8 hours ago, JoeW said:

Let the school organize an official tutoring course for you, in the school an you are paid a set fee per hour. 

That would be 100% legal?

I'd like to tutor at the school I'll be working at, but I want to do it legally. I know some laws changed a few back, which makes it possible.

What are the ways to legally tutor when working as a teacher at a school? Does anyone know where I can find the official/legal information on this (preferably in English)?

If you have two jobs, say with the combined salary of 81K/mo, would you meet the 80K/mo requirement for PR? Or would the two jobs instead come under the 100K/year taxed requirement (meaning you would instead need a monthly salary of around 85-90K to meet 100K/year, after deductions, etc.)?

21 hours ago, Enoon said:

Extension will require evidence of TM30 for immigration after each previous border run.

 

Up to 1600baht fine if not done.

 

The TM 30 form - All you need to know about it and why it matters to you

 

No extensions = no visits to immigration.

 

Out.

Thanks for that.

Thank you very much, this clarifies a lot. 

For the 30-day extension, if you leave the country and return (say even if there is 15 days left of the extension), is it cancelled and the new 60-day ME stamp takes precedence?

I'm going over METV details, and although I've gathered most of the important pieces of information, there are a few things which I'm having difficulty confirming.

I'm Canadian and would be staying in Thailand for more than 9 months. I would probably be getting a job after some months—w/ work permit and change to Non-Immigrant B visa—but would like to make sure I don't have issues if I choose to stay longer as a tourist.

METV
Note:
- Can only be obtained in country of citizenship/residence
- Starts when issued in home country (not on arrival)
6 months validity
30-day extension of stay possible for 1,900 THB

So, maximum stay possible would be (BR = border run):
60 days + BR + 60 days + BR + 60 days + BR (before last day) + 60 days + 30-day extension = 9 months

- Can you do a new 30-day extension after each 60-day stamp?
- Do you need to do your 30-day extension before your METV expires (before 6 months)
- What options do you have once you go past 9 months of the METV?

For the continuous WP for, If you lose your job (the company closes, or something similar) and you then quickly find a new job, and get issued a new work permit, how long do the work permit procedures take? How long would it take for the second WP to come into effect? (Or maybe the first WP is still valid for x amount of time even after losing the job?).

On 4/13/2019 at 2:40 AM, Arkady said:

Technically that could be used as an excuse to invalidate an application but, in practice, I have never heard of anyone being turned down for a gap of a few days which is often impossible to avoid, however hard one tries. 

Thanks—that's reassuring. 

Although a few days probably wouldn't be an issue, would you know around how many days/weeks of which it could start negatively affecting your PR application? 

Do you have to have a work permit for 100% of the days out of the year? Say, for example, a teacher changes school, and for 3 days he doesn't have a work permit (or another similar situation that would result in a few days without a WP). Would that invalidate the WP status for the year (having to restart from scratch)? How does this work? 

For PR, are there any renewal of documents, going to immigration, etc. every x years? If you don't leave Thailand, is there anything important you have to do?

Also, and most importantly, other than forgetting/going past the re-entry stamp date (and a criminal record) mentioned earlier, are there any other situations which would result in your PR being revoked?

On 7/12/2018 at 8:40 PM, ubonjoe said:

[...]

On 7/13/2018 at 2:19 AM, Arkady said:

[...]

Thanks Arkady and ubonjoe, that really clears it up.

During the 3 years of the PR process, if you are employed and have a home in Thailand, are you allowed to leave the country for short-term travels (see family, to travel)? If so, would it be seen badly and affect your chances of getting PR? What is the duration that is allowed?

On 12/12/2017 at 11:37 AM, Arkady said:

Immigration has now published the details for 2017 PR applications on its website. PR applications 2017.pdf.

 

The window for applications is 12-29 December.

Is the application window only for accepting applications and the application process starts many months later, or does the application process start shortly after?

I am wondering for situations where say if someone has 1 month of work left for the 3 years total, for example, would that person have to wait 11 months for the next application window? Or would he be able to present documents/proof of work/taxes during or after the application process? In other words, is everything after the application window irrelevant, or it is possible to present new documents?

Good to know. Thanks, @SteveB2.

34 minutes ago, Michael Hare said:

I applied for my PR in 2002  and got it in 2004

5 minutes ago, jayboy said:

That kind of confirms my (probably half baked theory).You seemed like an ideal candidate, your papers were in order and I'm assuming they liked the cut of your jib.In that context salary wasn't that important.

Is 2 years after application still relevant in 2018, or it's shorter/longer if you seem like a good candidate?

10 minutes ago, blackcab said:

 

Everyone gets some deductions, even if it is the standard 60k/100k. However you don't have to tick the box to claim allowances and deductions if you want to volunteer to pay more tax than is legally required.

 

Personally I claim for everything I am entitled.

It could be a useful option if the 100K in taxes would not equate to more than the 80K/mo (like Arkady said, the clause makes no sense). But just out of curiosity, if the 100K in taxes would equate to say 70K/mo, would it be illegal/bad to not claim deductions (to meet the PR criterion), or do you think it would be 100% fine/legal?

1 hour ago, Arkady said:

Personally I find it utterly despicable, if Immigration operates a secret points system for PR.  If they believe it is justifiable, they should disclose it and issue the appropriate National Police Order, so it can be enforced transparently without lawyers telling people they get around it, if you pay them a bribe.  All the more reason to skip PR and go straight for citizenship, which is a much easier and more transparent process, if you have a Thai wife.   You also get to apply on any working day of the year, instead of having to wait for a ridiculous two week window over the Christmas holidays.

If there is a points system for PR, it would be so much better to disclose it. The only criteria given at the moment are 3 years work permit, 2 years taxes at 80K/month, 1 year same company. It especially sucks for salary. If 80K/mo is only 1 point out of 5—rather than 'yes' or 'no'—you should find a job that pays 130K/mo to get 3 points—all the while not knowing because we don't know if there is a point system?

Most importantly, with citizenship, is the point system not out of 100 where 50 is a "1" (or pass) and below 50 is a "0" (fail)? After the point system for citizenship, 95 points vs. 55 points are exactly the same thing, correct? Do you think it would it be the same thing for PR? Or someone with 95 points would have a much better chance at PR than the one with only 55 points?

1 hour ago, blackcab said:

 

Personal income tax on 80k per month would be a maximum of 73,200 baht per year. Less if you have additional allowances and deductions.

 

To pay 100k personal income tax annually your monthly salary would be something like 98k monthly with only the most basic allowances and deductions.

 

Personal income tax is progressive, rather than being one fixed rate:

 

http://www.rd.go.th/publish/6045.0.html

Ah, yes. The 80K or 100K in taxes works out. Without allowances/deductions, 100K in taxes would equate to about 84K/mo.

On 1/22/2018 at 5:14 AM, SteveB2 said:

I was informed to my face directly by a member of the CW PR team that applicants with such a low monthly salary will definitely  have problems passing the application scoring test - your application scoring would have to be brilliant in all other areas so as to score enough points to pass muster  - such as having lived and worked full time in Thailand 15 years or more, Married to a Thai for more than 10 years, Supporting Thai children of the marriage , Master degree or higher education, fluent read/write in Thai language... and other (cough, cough  ) requirements. 

 

 

 

Regarding the PR points system, I'm guessing it hasn't been divulged at all like the one for citizenship (or maybe it will never be). However, with Steve's points of years having worked in Thailand, marriage, kids, master's/higher education, fluent/read/write in Thai—have those been confirmed (i.e., proof) of being part of the undisclosed PR point system? 

On 1/22/2018 at 5:14 AM, SteveB2 said:

I was informed by the CW PR team that 80K per year is the lowest possible salary to get an application even considered.

 

Understand  that your PR application will then have to pass a secret scoring system.

 

An 80K monthly salary and would grant you just 1 out of 5 possible points used in the scoring system to assess PR applicants.

 

[...]

 

I was informed to my face directly by a member of the CW PR team that applicants with such a low monthly salary will definitely  have problems passing the application scoring test - your application scoring would have to be brilliant in all other areas so as to score enough points to pass muster  - such as having lived and worked full time in Thailand 15 years or more, Married to a Thai for more than 10 years, Supporting Thai children of the marriage , Master degree or higher education, fluent read/write in Thai language... and other (cough, cough  ) requirements. 

On 1/22/2018 at 6:01 AM, Arkady said:

I don't doubt any of this but I wonder how many PR applicants get rejected for failing to meet the secret points system as a result of earning only B80k a month or not much more, or not being married to a Thai and sprogging with her. Perhaps there are many but none have reported that here. When I applied I was fairly comfortably over the presumed minimum salary level but didn't have any of the other things mentioned, i.e. I had not been working in Thailand for 15 years plus, was not married to a Thai, had no masters degree, and was fluent reading and writing Thai.  At no time did anyone suggest that any of these things mattered.  The only thing that Immigration told me was a no no at the time was working for a company that had less than B5 million paid-up capital because they were suspicious of employers with the minimum B2 million needed for a WP, in case they are fake companies set up just to provide a WP.  Times change but I am still surprised that no one has reported falling foul of the secret points system.  It could be that Immigration just never gets back to them but most of those who got held up in the long freeze have now either been approved or given up posting that they have heard nothing.  

 

If anyone meets the minimum qualifications but only scrapes through on salary, I would not be put off from applying, whatever CW may tell you to put you off.  However, as Joe says, anyone with a Thai wife can apply for citizenship anyway without bothering to get PR first since 2008 and the salary required is only B40,000 a month.  The citizenship application process has an overt points system and I know for a fact that quite a few people who were only earning B40,000 or a little more have already got their citizenship.

So the salary requirement is not just a 'yes' or 'no', but it would seem to be fully point-based?

In 3.2.3 of the 'Criterion and conditions of foreign nationals’ residential permit consideration' document, it states that:

Quote

Earn annual income at least Baht 80,000 per month for a period of at least 2 years, up to the date of application submission, or have been filing tax return for the amount of annual income of Baht 100,000 for at least 2 consecutive years, up to the date of application submission.

From the above, the criterion would be one or the other and not have to be both, as 80K/mo would equate to 192K yearly in taxes (making pointing out 100K illogical), no? 

If you do the math, with a salary of 65K/mo—or 780K yearly (for 12 months)—at 20% (income tax, section 3.1), it equals 156K paid in taxes during the year. This is correct? In theory, wouldn't it (156K in taxes) fulfill the 3.2.3 criterion?

8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You need 3 years proof of tax payments.

Ah yes, but for the 80K per month / 100K taxes in the year, it's 2 years, right?

10 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Normally they will allow to you to submit the current year's tax return after your application is accepted.

That is good news. By normally, is it in most cases, or sometimes?

So this year the PR application window was December 12-29. How does this affect taxes? If the tax year is from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, doesn't that mean you have to do a whole extra year of work/taxes, because the application window is just a few days before?

I'm looking into getting a certificate as well as doing a program at an international Thai university. The program would last 10 weeks (120 hours) and the certificate would last 2 months (144 hours). 

- How do ED visas work when not doing long-term studies (or when studying multiple programs)? 

- How can you lose your ED visa?

- The certificate very probably won't start right after I finish the program, or vice versa—can there be days or a few weeks of not studying without losing your ED visa?

I'm looking into studying/improving my Thai, either at a Thai university or private school. I know that there have been changes in the past years to counter abuse with using an ED visa as a way to stay in Thailand, so from what I remember, a minimum number of hours and things of this nature were added.

I did find a page on the AUA school website, which says:

Quote

The "ED" Visa

The "ED" Visa is for foreign students, who wish to study in Thailand. A student must apply for this visa outside of the country. It is normally valid for 90 days. ED visa students will study a minimum of 15 hours per week (or 180 hours during the 90-day visa period).

http://auathai.com/visa

...but I'm guessing the course package is being described in the ED visa description (some other schools also have a similar/misleading way of describing the ED visa, but with a different number of hours).

And I also found this on the Indonesian Thai embassy website:

Quote

Important Notes: For informal courses e.g. Thai language and cultural training courses, applicants must provide documents which demonstrate that the course meets the minimum requirement as follows:
            - If the course is less than 5 months, the period of study must be at least 4 days per week, 2 hours per day.
            - If the course is longer than 5 months, the period of study must be at least 5 days per week, 5 hours per day.

http://www.thaiembassy.org/jakarta/en/services/64472-Non-immigrant-visa-ED.html

I checked about 20 other embassy websites, and most don't give much information about the ED visa requirements, or don't mention minimum hours.

What are the complete and official requirements for the non-immigrant ED visa? Does anyone have a more formal/official document describing them?

14 hours ago, GarryP said:

15 hours ago, THAIJAMES said:

Only if you are married.  Single persons must wait 5 years.

So it's usually best for married persons to apply directly for citizenship than go the PR route as it adds no value to your citizenship application unless you are willing to wait the additional  5 years for 10 points.

There is also the cost of PR. The official fees are very high compared to citizenship. I don't believe there is any benefit if you are married, with the exception of possible divorce or death of your wife.

Obtaining PR is minimum 3 years, but to apply for citizenship, you need to have had PR for 5 years, correct?

For costs, could you please give a rough estimate of the total cost of citizenship vs. PR?