Phillip9

1 hour ago, Malimalipe said:

Hello everybody,

I can’t find the perfect answer so I’m posting this topic:

My ED(ucation) Visa ist extending on 26th February and I don’t want to go with this. My plan was to switch to the Volunteer Visa (possible).
But now I think about, to use the Covid Extension (on a Tourist Visa) first (until April) and change after to Volunteer.

Is it in general possible to switch from ED Visa back to Tourist Visa and then to Volunteer? Has somebody maybe already experience?

Thank you in advance.

 

Go with the covid extension.  It is likely they will just keep giving them indefinitely until the borders open normally.

6 minutes ago, Caldera said:

 

Yes, tuition is extra, and so are subsequent extensions of the initial visa at immigration.

 

I had no problem getting the normal 1900 baht extension for my ED visa obtained in country.  Schools generally encourage you to pay extra to let them handle the extension, but you should be able to do it yourself for the standard price.

3 hours ago, Pmbkk said:

I think you'll find a great deal of the "West" don't look at the date as month first and date second - but the date first and month second - usually followed by a year for a sequence ????

Not the US or Canada.  Which is about half of the "West" by population.

On 1/21/2021 at 6:22 PM, Phoenixsun28 said:

The immigration officer did make a point to say that this will be the last covid extension and "you have to go home now,"

This is what they said each time we approached one of these deadlines.   What a random immigration officer says is completely meaningless.  They are probably just trying to scare people into buying expensive volunteer visas again.   

I think its highly unlikely they will be kicking people out, but we will just have to wait and see.

9 hours ago, oMega69 said:

Is it legit to change from TR to non-ED inside Thailand . . . ?
My concern is that there will be trouble next time when re-entry TH when IO looking the passport . . . ,

When you get your ED visa, most of the time you will go to the immigration office yourself along with a representative from your school.  It's done out in the open in front of the whole office, just like any visa.  There was nothing shady feeling about it when I did it.  Same with the extensions, no problem walking into immigration with the correct paperwork and getting the extension.  

I'm sure there will be no problem on your next entry.  It's a completely legit visa.

3 hours ago, cerox said:

Every education visa I applied for in the past, the MOE documents took around 6-7 weeks. 2-3 weeks - good for you, never happened to me so far. It may depend on the school or location.

Chiang Mai MOE definitely takes longer than others.  I was told about 4 weeks for them.   Your first step is to find a school and ask them about the timing.  Most schools will be able to tell you how long the MOE is currently taking and how long it will take to complete the entire process.

On 1/13/2021 at 10:15 PM, onebir said:

On 1/11/2021 at 7:14 AM, Phillip9 said:

Yep, a volunteer visa is the easiest.  They start at around 40k baht for one year.  ED visas are available from many language schools but will cost the same or more after all the fees and tuition,

This one is(/was?) 20k/year (last school listed here); several others in Chiang Mai are <30k.

Those fees you are seeing do not include the extra immigration fee to convert from visa exempt or TV to an ED visa without leaving the country during these covid times.  That extra fee will add about 10-15k to the total price, and not every school can arrange this.

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I imagined that might be the case. Depending on how long the person wants to stay in Thailand, obtaining a non o (volunteering) with annual extension might be worth considering at similar cost.

Yep, if the OP doesn't really want to study Thai, they should consider a volunteer visa.  Also, with the ED visa most provinces only allow you to stay up to one year from your date of original entry, so they will really only get 10 months beyond their normal extension.  There is no such limit with the volunteer visa, so they can get a full extra year.

4 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Any rough idea what the ed visa (school assisted) costs in places not including BKK.

In addition to the normal visa fee of 2k, you will be charged an extra fee for the in-country visa conversion.  This will vary a lot between schools and provinces.  I had schools quote between 6-15k baht.

You also have tuition and extension fees.  So for one year, it should be roughly 40-50k all in for group online classes a couple of times per week.  More if you want in person classes.

11 hours ago, cubism001 said:

In SFO, 5 minutes before boarding Qatar said the Thai govt demanded I get an onward ticket when my visa exception of 30 days was up.  They got me a flight to Cambodia on Feb. 10.  So I feel I'd better get moving on the visa I'd planned on: an education (student?) visa to study Thai  language.  I'm in quarantine in BKK; got here today. What should  I do next?  Thank you.

You need to find a school that can get your ED visa.  Pick a location near where you want to live or somewhere central if you plan to travel, because you will need to go back every 3 months to extend.

 Some schools I know were offering this:

pro language pattaya, insight hua hin, genius phuket, Centre for Thai Studies, Chiang Mai University.

Don't bother with trying to find a school in BKK, because it is either impossible or very expensive to get an ed visa there.

Keep in mind, the whole process takes 5-6 weeks, so you need to start immediately when you get out.  2-3 weeks to apply at your school and get approved by the ministry of education and after that about 2 week to get your visa from immigration.  Chiang Mai takes even a week or 2 longer, so I would avoid there unless that's really where you want to live.

57 minutes ago, FalangJaiDee said:

Does getting an ED visa root you to the locality of the school? I am unironically genuinely interested in studying Thai as I have been for 2 years now and want to get conversant 

Most schools offer classes via skype or zoom.  Thats how I have been taking my classes.   But you would need to return to the location of your school to extend your visa every 3 months.

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Use an agent to obtain a non o (volunteering) then 12 month extension.

Or hope that the 60 day 'covid extensions' will continue. Think they will.

Didn't you open exact same thread recently?.

Advice won't have changed.

Yep, a volunteer visa is the easiest.  They start at around 40k baht for one year.  ED visas are available from many language schools but will cost the same or more after all the fees and tuition, so if you aren't really interested in studying Thai, just go with the volunteer visa.

37 minutes ago, stoutfella said:

But surely what was meant was flight arrivals so if an aircraft can't arrive it can't later leave, can it?

Cargo flights and technical landings were never banned and continued throughout the pandemic.  There were restrictions on passengers arriving and entering Thailand.  So some airlines continued to have arriving flights with no arriving passengers and then flew departing passengers as normal.

5 minutes ago, beano2274 said:

nothing on their website!!! But since Heathrow is in a Tier 4 area, not suprised really.

Several days ago they announced they cancelled all flights to London.

https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202012290018

42 minutes ago, cubism001 said:

Anyone have a link that Thailand is/will be closing?  Thanks.

They are very unlikely to close international flights.  However, before you commit to 2 week quarantine, be aware we currently have a covid outbreak here in Thailand.  Many things are shutting down locally.  Pattaya for example is basically fully shut down with only essential stores open--bars, malls, beaches, pools are closed.    There are also restrictions on travel between some provinces.  It all varies by province whats open, and things are changing daily.

16 minutes ago, Caldera said:

Have they found a way around the restriction that you cannot stay longer than one year from your original (visa exempt, or tourist visa) entry?

 

For informal studies such as at language schools, that used to be quite a limitation in times of Covid, even if they were willing to do the conversion to a Non-ED visa at a local immigration office.

 

Not that I am aware of.  But I think this varies by province.  My school in Hua Hin is still saying people have to leave after one year from their entry.  I've heard phuket allows you to stay one year from the date of your visa conversion.  

21 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

Why would they ask for USD? 

Sorry, my mistake.  You will pay in Baht.  I just can't remember the exact amount I payed but I remember the approximate amount converted to USD.   Figure something like 6,00O - 8,000 baht extra in addition to normal school and immigration fees.  This will vary by school and province.  Ask schools for specifics.

On 12/28/2020 at 11:15 AM, KwaiMaiSabai said:

I heard that you can get ED visas from language schools / non-unis WITHOUT needing to exit/re-enter the country

 

Can anyone confirm? Is this old news?

 

 

I converted from a visa exempt arrival to an ed visa a few months ago without leaving the country.  Many schools can arrange this, but there is an additional fee of a couple hundred USD. In most cases, at any reputable school, the visa will be legit.  You normally have to go to immigration yourself to get the official stamps.

5 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

2022, can Thailand afford to wait till then, Pattaya, Phuket, Chang Rai etc will be decimated by then ?

They are already decimated.  People have adjusted.  Businesses have already closed or changed their targets to domestic travelers.

4 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I suppose I am living in hope as they estimate I will receive the vaccine in late February early March albeit no idea what the situation would be for my Thai partner and son ‘stuck’ here in the U.K. with me. I can’t see private vaccinations being available plus I am not sure the vaccine is suitable for young children ?

At least in the US, the vaccines have only been approved for those over 16.  I don't think they have done safety testing with younger children yet.