CWMcMurray

Why not go to school?

You are 21, are you a college student? If so, why not do a study abroad through your college.

Or if they do not offer study abroad programs to Thailand, you can also take a leave of absence and go on your own.

It would solve your visa issue and would also give you something productive to do.

If you already have a registered company, then you would only need to contact your freight forwarder and have them apply for the Paerless Customs Process. You will need all of your comnpany's documents but the the process is fairly painless, only takes about two days, and it only needs to be done once.

If you need a certificate of Origin for your products, then there is a similar process that needs to be gone through but once you have passed the application process, you will be given a C/O card.

Once you are in the system then its smooth sailing... for the most part.

If you do not have a freight forwarder feel free to PM me, I workfor a forwarding company here in Thailand.

Wish you the best of luck in your new business venture.

University Grad 6-8,000

I always wonder when I see numbers like this...Are you sure these numbers are current?

I don't know any of the people who graduated from the University I went to here making this little. The lowest salary I have heard any of my Thai friends received at there first job was 15,000.

Most of them were able to find a job making 20,000-30,000; granted they needed to do a good search to find the jobs in this range. From my conversations with them, if they were willing to take a job in the 15,000 to 20,000 range it seemed like the jobs were a dime a dozen.

Edited: Just noticed this post was from 2005, I guess that answers my question...

My hasband from US and wonder how many US people live in Thailand.

and where is the US community

I am not sure how many of us there are and I haven't ran into anything organized enough to call a community, but tell your Husband greetings from a fellow American.

If he ever feels like chatting have him drop me a PM

Where do I go for check if my "product" need a import license or not, and if there is a restriction for the transport? And how do I get a "import license"

To find this out you should contact your freight forwarder here in Thailand. If you do not have a freight forwarder you can PM either Raro or myself, we both work for freight forwarding companies here in Thailand.

The first thing we would need to know is exactly what the product is. In a previous post you stated, "small spraybox, about same size as a insect killer, hight about 25 cm and a dimater about 8 cm". Will you only be importing the sprayer or will you also be importing the stuff inside the sprayer?

This along with a picture should be enough to give an estimated Duty amount, although if this is something that has never been imported into Thailand before, as your post suggests, then this will only be an estimate.

If you are bringing the actual chemical spray then you will also need to provide your freight forwarder with an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), your supplier can give you this.

As to what you would need in order to get an import liscense, that would depend upon the import liscense needed, but don't get to worried about this point as the majority of products do not require import permits. This can be checked by your freight forwarder at the same time they check the import duty.

One other consideration is that now that the customs department has implemented Paperless Customs Processing, you will need to have your company registered (or know someone who will let you use theirs) in order to apply for "paperless" in order to import your products.

I would advise:

Step one: Get a hold of a freight forwarder to find out about the import duty and if an import permit will be needed as well as other logistics costs

Step two: Do a business plan to assess if the business makes sense

Step three: If it makes sense, form a company

Step four: Start selling...

Actually it is the normal visa issued for tourist travel. Now that she has a record of return to Thailand it may be what they issue. The more evidence she provides of your long term stay outside the US (that trips will be as tourist/family visits) the better. It is up to the Consulate what they issue but believe they prefer the longer visa if they can justify it.

Thank you,

So it does not require any additional paperwork, that is good to know. I am guessing then that they are just looking for additional proof that our life is here in Thailand.

Last time we only went for a week and both she and I were students. We both got letters from our schools and they gave us a visa that was valid for 6 months. I am guessing that this being her first trip to the US, us only being married for a year and us both being students, they may have been reluctant to issue a 10 year visa.

I think this time around our situation has changed enough that we can make a very convincing case that our life is here in Thailand and we will only be going to the US for visits.

Do you know if you have to actually ask for a 10 yr visa or do you just ask for a tourist visa and wait and see what they give you.

I have come accross a couple of posts were someone has mentioned something about a 10 year visa for the US and I am wondering if anyone could help me find out more about this.

I am American and my wife is Thai, we already went to the US last year and are planning another trip with our daughter either the end of this year or beginning of next (just waiting for our daughter to get a bit older).

Last time we just got a regular tourist visa and we thought we would have to do the same everytime we wanted to go back to visit.

We have plenty of time before our next trip, so if there is way for her to get a 10 yr multiple entry visa, that would make things really convenient. We don't plan on going back more than once a yr but anytime we want to go back we would only need to buy plane tickets.

Does anyone know about the requirements?

I am not sure how good it is but I have seen a school that offers these types of classes in Soi 33/1 ( I think it is this soi, it is the soi that only goes in about 200-300 meters andthen ends).

The school is at the end of the soi, not sure if they offer classes in English or not, but it might be worth checking out.

For sure that the Pattaya office now has their act together. If the BKK office comes to that standard you'll have little to complain about.

What does the Pattaya office do different than the BKK office?

I spent the whole day waiting in line and watching the customs officers (I got bored watching the walls after the first hour), it is definately not an issue of them slacking off in anyway.

I didn't see any off them leaving their desks for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Even during lunch, when I left the office to get something to eat some of them were still helping applicants. When I got back 40 minutes later, they were all back at work. I left the office at 5:15pm and they were still working to help everyone that was still waiting.

To me it appeared as though they were overloaded, perphaps some redesign in the way the process works in order to make things more managable for the customs officers is needed.

I am guessing that there is a pretty good chance that someone in Thai immigration may monitor this site, if so I would genuinely like to here their opinions. We all may have to go to the office once a year to extend our visas but they work there everyday.

I was as at immigration yesterday and I saw signs posted asking everyone to bear with them and that they are working on improving their services.

Anyone know what they have planned?

Well, so far so good....

I spent nearly nine hours waiting in line and faced a bit of a scare but it all worked out n the end, I will go and pick up my visa extension on the 25th of next month.

I took my document from the university to counter one and they put a stamp in my passport 'canceling' my ED extension and I got my number for room 101. I entered the que at 9:00am and I was 961, so only 52 people to go before me...

Ther manager at the company that wants to hire me came along but after 2:00pm he couldn't stay any longer and needed to get back to the company.

Around 3:30pm it was finally our turn, wewent to counter 19 and with a summary glance at our aplication we were told that my wife is from Korat, we would need to go their to apply for our visa extension. When we explained that we did not live in Korat and in fact we had never lived in Korat she mentioned that we could request to be allowed to apply in BKK.

We then went to desk #4 and pleaded our case and were told that we could apply in BKK but that I would need to write a letter requesting permission to do so and explain our reasons why.

Ok, no problem... 5 minutes later the letter is finished, but their is a new couple at desk #19 so we need to wait until they are done.

As the time approaches 4:30 both my wife are getting nervous because according to the sign on the wall, the office closes at 4:30 and we are hoping that we will be able to get everything finished before they close for the day.

Around 4:45, we go back to the desk and we are interviewed by the customs officer. She was a very pleasant lady and affirmed that we had all of the necessary DOCs asked us about where we met and where we worked and about our daughter. The whole process was not intimidating at all and closely resembled conversations I have had countless times when I met someone for the first time (the only exception being the questions about how much money we both made and where it came from).

Then paid the fee, turned in our application and she stamped my passport and said to come back in a month.

So after I get my new visa extension the company will go ahead and apply for the work permit, I will update this again once we start that process...

Ok, I think I finally understand...

Their are two seperate ways to change your status:

1. If you entered under any type of visa other than Non IM - you would go to Rm 203 to change your Visa to Non IM: _{The type of NON IM would be determined at that time and in order to do this you would need all of the same documnetation that would be needed if you were going to extend for that type of Non Im visa}

2. If you already have any type of Non Im visa- You can efeectively 'change your visa status' from one type of Non Im to any other type of Non Im simply by applying for the appropriate extension, _{for Non Im ED go to window #1, Non Im B Rm#1 desks 1-15, Non O Rm#101 Desks 16-22. You would need the appropriate documents required for each type of extension but each time you extend you may infact change to wich ever type of Non Im you qualify for at the time.}

This probably means that a better translation of what the lady in RM #101 said would be that she needs something from Counter#1 transfering my 'case' from Counter #1 to Rm 101 and counter one will only do this after I bring them the form they requested from the university. If this in fact only for in internal tranfer of my 'case' then most likely it will not have any effect on WP.

It's not the extension which enables him to apply for a WP, it's the change of status from ED (education) to O (family reasons)!

IF I understand correctly, this means that it is only the reason for the last extension that is important, the original purpose or type of Non Im is not relevant.

Bunch of questions here!

Indeed you cannot get a WP on a non immigrant ED.

You can on a non immigrant O. To get an extension based on being married you and your wife need to have had a combined average income of 40,000 Baht or more over the last 6 months.

I have always been a bit confused on this point.

When I originally received my visa, it was a Non Im ED visa. I have extended for the past 4 years while in school.

I have seen it mentioned many times in this forum that I am not changing my visa, I am changing my reason for extension.

So in this situation can I get a work permit even though the original visa was for ED based on the fact that I am changing the reason for extension.

-or-

Does the original visa need to be a Non Im O or do they only look at the reason for the latest extension?

I think your startin to panic..

Just one thing to note though ias that if you are applying for extension based on marrige you have to show a monthly family income of 40k+, do you meet those requirements??

Not panicing just trying to be pro-active. I want to ensure that everything is done in a manner that will allow the company to apply for the work permit.

Yes, I have the 40,000 min requirement. I have already secured the nesseary form from te US embassy. Yesterday she just took the amount and multiplied it by 33 and moved on without any comment.

Here's what i recon

If i was you i would just get all the necessary paperwork you need and take a nice book and a nice smile down to the immigration, try and take a thai lady with you who can then explain everything and brown nose for you, IMHO having a extension of stay is much better than either a NON-B or NON 0 in the fact that if you plan on staying here long time eventually (after 3 i think) you can apply for residencey but even if you are not then at a bare minimum it means you dont have to do visa runs every 90 days

Thank you for the advice, my wife will be going with me and I have all of the necessary documents needed for the extension ( the official in rm 101 was nice enough to take a quick look through all of my documents before sending me to counter 1). This will be my first extension for 'Thai wife' so I believe that my wife and I will both need to be present and may need to be interviewed by the immigration official.

The HR manger from the company will be going with us, I think he will be able to handle explaining and the part about ensuring that the official understands how thankful we are for her assistance...

One additional point...

If I can take care of all of this inside Thailand I would prefer that.

I would also prefer to keep my present visa if possible, I am planning on applying for PR in 2 years (need 2 years of taxes) and If I have to start over I would need to wait for 3 years before applying for PR.

But at the same time, the most important thing is to get a work permit, if that means I need to leave the country and restart the clock, so be it.

I am planning on going back with the form they requested on Thursday and the HR manager for the Company said that he would like to acompany me and my wife to see if he can help in any way.

Do you think that there is anything he could do to assist me in this matter, given the fact that the extension has nothing to do with the company?

My Situation:

I need to get a work permit for a job I have been offered and I have begun the process but I am not sure if I am going about it the correct way.

I currently have a non im visa that has been extended for the purpose of studying at a Thai University.

The company said that they would not be able to switch to Non B without a letter of graduation from the University.

I have a Thai wife and I can get an extension for the reason of living with my Family. It is my understanding that by changing the reason for extension, my company will then be able to apply for a Work permit once I change my status.

I went to immigration yesterday and after being bounced around a few times (from Rm 203 to counter 1 to rm 101 to counter 1 back to rm 101) I was told by Rm 101 I had all of the documents needed to apply for extension for 'Thai Wife' but I would need to cancel my extension for Studying first "Yok Lug".

I went back to counter 1 to tell her what they told me in rm 101 and she said they can't 'Yok Lug', that I am just changing my reason for extension. I told her I know but rm 101 used these exact words...

She then asked her supervisor, who said that I would need to go back to my university and get a form stating that I am still currently a student and bring it back.

Once she has that, she said that she will give me a form stating that I am still a student but that i have chosen to extend under 'Thai wife' rather than for studying. Then I can take this to rm 101 and they can issue me my extension.

Once I do this then the company will apply for a Work permit.

My Questions:

1. Why is it necessary to get a document from the school stating that I am still studying?

2. If I give her this form, will this information end up in some database that will prevent me from getting a work permit after I extend for 'Thai wife'

3. Would it be better to just leave the country without a re-entry permit which will cancel my original visa and just start over again with Non O

4. If I start over again will I have any problems with obtaining a work permit?

5. Does anyone have any first hand information of someone receiving a work permit without finishing their degree? (I have 1 class remaining and will finish it next term)

**Note**

1. I will not be working as a teacher, so from my understanding, a degree is not mandetory in order to get a work permit.

2. Is this understanding correct?

I don't know anything about it other than web site but this is about all I could find when I searched a few years ago and all that seems to come up now.

http://nursinghomethailand.com/en/

Thank you Lopburi. I know this question may belong in the Visa forum, but I would like to know what needs to be done in order to extend his visa for medical reasons.

We have penty of time, it won't run out until November and I know they wouldn't deport him, but it would be better to extend his visa when the time comes.

You are the resident expert on all matters pertaining to visas, but I understand that you may not check this forum very often. If I don't hear back from you I will post this question in the visa forum, thank you.

Telaksslave,

Thank you for taking your time on a Sunday to find out the telephone number.

Thanks for your help Sheryl

I have a question related to SSI benefits as well and I am hoping that someone with more knowledge than I may be able to help.

His family has started the process of applying for benefits but we are trying to determine the approximate benefit amount in order to help find a facility and to judge the level of care he can expect to receive.

He should be entitled to Disability benefits based on his condition and he is now 62 +1 Month and from the SSI website its stated that he would be eligable to retire 'early' and receive just over 75% of his retirement benefit.

The question is can he receive both of these benefits or would SSI consider this a 'winfall' and max out his benefits at the which ever is the higher rate?

If he could receive both benefits both combined may allow for a fairly high level of care in a long term facility here in Thailand.

Telaksslave thank you for your help, do you know the name or have any contact details to the facility by Laem Chabang?

I wemt to the embassy yesterday and was able to speak with Jan, the vice consulate.

She was very kind and while it was very aperant that she empathized greatly she was sum what limited in what she could do.

She took down all of the information about Mike and where he is staying and said that she would call his family.

She did say that he should be eligable for SSI disability benefits and gave us the application packet and said that she would send an email to the SSI office in the Philipines to try and get an unofficial estimate of possible benefits. This estimate would then allow everyone to better compare the level of quality he could receive here and in the US.

This may not be correct but right now we are not sure if he would survive the trip back to the US, he has had a few cardiac incidents already.

In terms of the DNR, do you know what format this would need to take in order to be legally binding in Thailand? I know that the family said previously that they wanted a DNR but Mike's condition has improved since then and I am not sure in what format they made their wishes known to the doctor.

I am certain that if it was only in an email the doctor could not follow it, it would probably need to be some in offical format that would need to be certified by the embassy as a true copy; translated into Thai and certifed as a correct translation. (this is just an educated guess on my part)

At first she said that all of this would need to be done by Mike's family, but if the family abandons Mike and is not willing to make a claim for benefits we could submit it on his behalf. If we do this then in addition to his application and the letter from the doctor explaining his condition we should also include a letter from the company explaining our relationship to Mike and the reason why we are submitting the application on his behalf and the notorized letter that the family gave to the doctor stating that they did not want to be responsible for making any decisions about his care or for any medical bills.

We just received an email from Mike's family and they have said that they have started the process of applying for his social security benefits, but that it will take at least 3 months to get things started. This is good news, with his family doing this it will significantly simplfy things.

I do not think that they will push to have him brought back to the US, in their email they stated that he has lived he for over 20 years and this is his home abd they don't think that he would want to be brought back to the US.

I need to call Jan back today to see if she was able to get a hold of his family.

Thank you for your help

I will make sure to bring up all of the points you mentioned with Jan and try to get her direct number tomorrow. I do have her email, I will PM it to you.

What ever time is most convenient for you let me know and I will meet you there.

I have talked to someone at the US Embassy and she will meet me tomorrow morning around 8:00am.

He had difficulties with his heart, I believe his heart was only working at about 10-20% before the stroke and that they have had to use the paddles on him a couple of times so far, so the DNR may still be an important issue.

I also do not want to judge his family as they have a very difficult decision that I do not envy, I believe that they thought that due to his quality of life, he would prefer to be let go.

He was already prepared to die but he had assumed that he would die from heart failure.

The embassy representative also agrees that this is not a good situation, she said that she has talked to the family but has not heard from them in a while either. Communication has broken down between our boss and the family and the Embasy said that they would help to relay information but that they can not preasure them our give them any advice, they can only inform.

He is currently in the ICU at Camellian Hospital in Thong Law.

I appreciate your offer to help and although I do not want to impose, I would like to take you up on your offer. If you want, we can meet at the Hospital when ever it is convenient for you. I will send you my cell number by PM.

Since there may be issues between the boss and the family I am sure I would only be seen as the bosses representative. The US embasy can only inform but not give any advice. I know that the family has tried to get information from the doctor but his English is not very good and the family just got frustrated and angry.

I believe that he is in his 50's and his closest relatives are his brother, sister and nephew. Never been maried, no chilren.

He has been with the company for 20 years and is very close with the owner but I agree that no matter how close of friends they have become over the years the family are the only ones that can make these difficult choices on his behalf.

Thank you again for all of your help.

I just got off of the phone with the Embassy and I was able yo get some aswewrs to my questions above.

They said that in order to arrange for his repatiration, the family would have to push for this.

They also said that considering his condition, he may qualify for social security benefits but that the family would have to apply for this.

They also said that his family would need be in charge of making all decisions unless an official power of attorney was given to someone else.

They said that they are already familiar with this case but there is really nothing they can do but inform the family of what the options are and it is upto them to decide what to do.

The only thing they did mention is that if repatriation was conducted without the support of the family, a representative from social services would be sent to meet him at the airport and they would put him into a medical facitlity in the US.

Any one out there have any idea what type of health care he would receive if this happened? She said that it would be similar to the healthcare someone in his condition would receive if they were homeless in the US.

This seems to be a bad situation all around, it looks like he will receive either the worst care Thailand has to offer or the worst care that the US has to offer. Anecdotally I believe that the care he would receive in the US would be better, but I don't really have any idea.

Anyone have any ideas?

Definitely, bring the Embassy into this, as soon as possible.

I am going to the Embassy tomorrow morning 07:00 as soon as they open.

Would help if you could tell me a bit about his condition:

1) is he conscious at all? Of course on a ventilator he cannot speak, but if conscious he would be able to open and close his eyes on command, squeeze hand etc, nod yes or no. This is important as we need to establish if he, himself, is at all able to make decisions. He is consious and seemed to recognize his name when I called him but I asked him to blink twice if he could hear and understand me and he just continued to look at me. He could squeeze my hand but I am not sure if he was completely under control of that or not because his hand movement and squeezing seemed somewhat spazmodic and ramdom. When I asked the nurse if he could make his wishes known by answering yes or no questions by closing his eyes or blinking she said that he was't that conscious...but he could smile on comand... if the nurse asked him to smile he made a quick smile. His family also said that he told them that he wanted to be burried here in Thailand and so they said that he should stay here, not go back to the US. If he had died this seems ok to me, bury him where ever he wanted to be burried, but he didn't die... so now it should be about where should he go so that he can receive the best care possible. When I asked the doctor about what would happen to him if he stayed here, they said he would probably be put into a nursing home and he was very up front in saying that these are not nice places. I am paraphrasing a bit here but it sounded like he would most likely be put into a bed and would be given food and water until he died. He said in Thailand these type of places are only for the truly destitute who have no money and no family.

2) Do the doctors anticipate him being able to get off the ventilator? In short what is his prognosis long-term? I need to correct my previous statement, he is no longer on a ventilator. He had a trachiotomy but he has been taken off the ventilator. The doctor says the long term prognosis is uncertain... He had previuous problems with his heart and during the stroke, they believe that some brain damage has occured. The doctor said that with rehabilitation he may improve or he may remain as he is now for the next month, year or decade.

3) What nationality is the boss who has been given power of attorney? Is he also American or Thai or what? The boss is Thai, but has not been given any offical power of attorney just a informal typed letter notorized and signed by the patients brother and nephew. The boss does not want to be responsible for making these decisions and is afraid that someone from his family may decide that what she decided was wrong and sue her.

4) I'm confused by the reference to social security. Is he over 65? Does he qualify for Medicare? Even if he does Iam not aware that Medicare will reimburse Thai hospitals. I suspect iot must be soemthing else that is about to expire, maybe private health insurance? Or is he somehow covered under Thai social security? He was covered under Thai Social Security medical coverage through our company but the benefit only covers 6 months of hospitalization. It is also important to note that our boss has already laid out quite a bit of money for things not covered by Social Security.

The Thai government is not going to pay for the long term care of a noncitizen, can be sure of that.

His visa will expire shortly as well, I know that he can apply for an extension based on his medical condition but will they allow this if no one is paying his medical here in Thailand? Would they deport him? If they did this who normally pays for the deportation? Would they medical evac him back to the US and make him a ward of the state?

Actually from the sounds of his family it is probably not a good idea that they make any decsisiions on his behalf since they obviously don't have his welfare at heart. But someone is going to have to. . There is a doctor affiliated with the US Embassy ("regional Medical Advisor") and I imagine they'll have him go check out the situation. Possibly the family could give the power of attorney to someone at the Embassy. But a lot really depends on the man's prognosis and whether he is able to in any way make his wishes known.

Do you know who the regional medical advisor is for Thailand? Would I just go into American Citizen services and ask to see him? What information would I need to bring with me?

If he is unconscious and unlikely to regain consciousness then taking him off the ventilator is a consideration, the issue becaomes who will take responsibility for that decsion. Possibly the Embassy could call the family and sort out something whereby they gave consent for that from a distance -- but only after evaluating him and determining that he is in fact unable to express his wishes and unlikely to recover, if that is the situation. The other thing his family did send was a DNR, but the doctor here in Thailand says that he can not honor such a document. He said that it is not allowed to let someone die if he can save them. He said that he is bound to try his best to save every patient.