Cancel education visa early / Pausing visa?

[cerox]

Hello guys,

I would like to ask for your opinion in my situation. Firstly Im going to talk to my language school about this issue next week, but I would also like to know the opinion of others who maybe were in that situation before.

 

I use a language studying visa / education visa. My current stamp is valid until the beginning of February, after that I can extend one more time until about May.

 

Because of an unexpected urgent event (close relative died in my home country) I need to go home. I have the intention to come back to Thailand in about 3-4 months time. In other words I will not use the visa much (maximum validity until May) and I also would need to travel back to Thailand from my home country to extend my Thai Visa in the end of January (current stamp until Feb). This all seems to make no sense and just produces costs of extra traveling and time effort.

 

My intention would be to cancel my current visa next week (with a letter from the school).

Has anybody done anything similar before? What Im afraid about is when I come back in May/June, applying for a new education visa, they might deny it because the last visa was not fully used and it kind of makes the visa history look bad (5 months of the visa un-used of in total 12 months). Maybe Im over concerned about that, but I did not find any way to simply "pause" my current visa because of an emergency.

 

Thank you for your advice :)

[ubonjoe]

A visa cannot be canceled or extended by immigration. I assume you mean the 90 day extension of stay you currently have that immigration issued.

You could cancel your extension before leaving but it would not be needed. Leaving the country voids the extension. If you canceled the extension you would have leave on the same day it is canceled or apply for an extension to get 7 days to leave the country.

The rules state a total stay of one year when attending a informal school. Not sure that leaving the country and getting a new non-ed visa before returning would change that. I think you will have to start all over again by re enrolling in the school.

 

[cerox]

Many thanks for your help ubonjoe.

I heard from many people of my school that the visa should always be cancelled before leaving to avoid a bad "visa history" for the next time. Last time the school specified the study date accordingly so there were a few days to leave the country.

You already confirmed my thinking of doing a new visa when I come back.

[BritTim]

Note that, if you only intend returning for a few months, you can study while on tourist visas. If there is any problem with getting a fresh Non Ed visa, perhaps it would be easiest just to do that.

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, cerox said:

Many thanks for your help ubonjoe.

I heard from many people of my school that the visa should always be cancelled before leaving to avoid a bad "visa history" for the next time. Last time the school specified the study date accordingly so there were a few days to leave the country.

You already confirmed my thinking of doing a new visa when I come back.

I recall a case recently posted of someone having trouble because of not "canceling" their ED-extension before leaving.  I would have the date on the school-letter be the same day you will be leaving the country.  That will be your new "permitted-stay until" date.

Personally, I'd try to get the school's paperwork to take with me, and get the next ED visa at home, to save a special-trip upon your return.  For max-time, try to get a Multi-Entry ED Visa, which is generally only available in your home-country; it gives you a year of 90-day stays, interspersed with border-bounces - and no interaction with your local immigration-office. 

 

But if returning on an ED Visa, and flying in, be sure to have your school's paperwork and the contact-info of someone at the school ready to show for going through Thai Immigration, in case the IO is in a mood to give you trouble. 

 

Whatever you use to return, if you will be flying-in, expect scrutiny when they see that ED-stay history, and have 20K Baht worth of cash or travelers checks to show upon entry, and an explanation of how your finances allow you to stay in Thailand w/o work.

[cerox]

Thank you for your help.

 

Unfortunately these education visas from private schools compared to official ED visas (e.g. university) can only be obtained in Laos. I know that it should be possible in our home country but my experience from how it really works has been like that and the schools say there is no guarantee that you get the visa if you go anywhere else than to that specific embassy.

 

Ive been thinking about buying the 5-year Elite card for for a long time. Maybe thats another option before I return to finally avoid all this trouble with the education visas. I imagine there to be no questions asked if I bought their membership. Does anybody know if the 1year stamps of the Elite card qualify for residence certificates? Because I need that next year to extend my driving licenses. I heard it is like a tourist visa so Im not sure about that.

 

Your advice with the cash is very useful - thank you. That means I should leave Thailand with 20k Cash, because Im not sure whether there is an ATM before immigration. I would also prepare bank account statements, preferable from the Thai bank account.

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, cerox said:

Your advice with the cash is very useful - thank you. That means I should leave Thailand with 20k Cash, because Im not sure whether there is an ATM before immigration. I would also prepare bank account statements, preferable from the Thai bank account.

There is no ATM before immigration, but you can have cash (or travelers' checks) in any major convertible currency. It does not need to be specifically Thai baht. Also, bringing the cash in from home country, converting it at somewhere like SuperRich or Vasu gives a better rate of exchange than using ATMs or credit cards. Thus, there is some return from the risk of carrying cash.

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, cerox said:

Unfortunately these education visas from private schools compared to official ED visas (e.g. university) can only be obtained in Laos. I know that it should be possible in our home country but my experience from how it really works has been like that and the schools say there is no guarantee that you get the visa if you go anywhere else than to that specific embassy.

This may be the case, but I would still give it a try.  Worst-case, you could get a single-entry tourist-visa from your home-country Thai consulate, which gives you 60 days (plus 30-day extension option) when you get back, to sort out your next move.  It's always best to arrive with a Visa, vs visa-exempt - especially if arriving by air with old ED Visas in one's passport.

Edited December 24, 2017 by JackThompson

[galt67]

On 12/23/2017 at 9:08 PM, cerox said:

Does anybody know if the 1year stamps of the Elite card qualify for residence certificates? Because I need that next year to extend my driving licenses.

I have a TE and NOT sure about a 'residence certificate.'

 

However, I do know they WILL 'assist' (I think accompany you)  for a driver's license. I presume this applies to 'renewal' of an existing license as well.

 

I recommend calling them as their English is very good and can probably answer your question.