Combat school ED visas rejected in Hanoi

[Falconator]

This week, a student at the Hand 2 hand combat school in Chiang Mai was rejected at Hanoi when he tried to apply to get a 1-year ED visa for the school. They were not even allowed to submit their visa application forms. The previous years, the 1-year ED visa was always done at Vientiane, but this year they changed it to Hanoi.

 

The consul met with the combat school ED visa applicants and accused them of being visa runners. The consul said that over 100 people were rejected this week due to visa policy changes. He also said that they will not be able to get their visa anywhere in Southeast Asia and must apply for back at their home countries. But if they do apply back in the UK or most other Western countries where they are from, they will not be able to get the ED visas since Thai embassies in Western countries have also been cracking down on ED visas.
 

 

My visas expires at the end of this month, so I will be leaving Thailand for 2 weeks and then coming back by plane.

 

I am a US citizen under the age of 30 with a fiance and adopted child here in Chiang Mai, and work remotely via online freelancing platforms (most combat school students are digital nomads too). No jobs are being taken from Thais, and we are good guys who follow all the rules. What options are left?

 

 

1. Marriage visa (400,000 baht deposit needed)

2. Iglu digital nomad visa (very expensive option, since 30% of $2,500 USD monthly minimum income needs to be paid to Iglu), which will make my stay in Thailand as expensive as being in a developed country)

3. Be forced to ditch my family and have to move to another Asian country like Vietnam, Cambodia, or the Philippines

 

I would simply like to stay legally to be here with my family, and not blatantly violate any laws of the land.

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Falconator

[Falconator]

Has anyone tried Core Combat Chiang Mai for visa options? Are there any other schools out there that offer good ED visas?

[EricTh]

It seems that immigration is getting tougher on all types of visas.

[Dnyy]

23 minutes ago, Falconator said:

The consul met with the combat school ED visa applicants and accused them of being visa runners.

How about trial by combat to prove that the applicant is into martial arts.

Edited July 25, 2019 by Dnyy

[Falconator]

2 minutes ago, Dnyy said:

How about trial by combat to prove that the applicant is into martial arts.

But visa running muay thai farangs are still visa runners, right?

[Date Masamune]

This week, a student at the Hand 2 hand combat school in Chiang Mai was rejected at Hanoi when he tried to apply to get a 1-year ED visa for the school. They were not even allowed to submit their visa application forms. The previous years, the 1-year ED visa was always done at Vientiane, but this year they changed it to Hanoi.
 
The consul met with the combat school ED visa applicants and accused them of being visa runners. The consul said that over 100 people were rejected this week due to visa policy changes. He also said that they will not be able to get their visa anywhere in Southeast Asia and must apply for back at their home countries. But if they do apply back in the UK or most other Western countries where they are from, they will not be able to get the ED visas since Thai embassies in Western countries have also been cracking down on ED visas.
 
 
My visas expires at the end of this month, so I will be leaving Thailand for 2 weeks and then coming back by plane.
 
I am a US citizen under the age of 30 with a fiance and adopted child here in Chiang Mai, and work remotely via online freelancing platforms (most combat school students are digital nomads too). No jobs are being taken from Thais, and we are good guys who follow all the rules. What options are left?
 
 
1. Marriage visa (400,000 baht deposit needed)
2. Iglu digital nomad visa (very expensive option, since 30% of $2,500 USD monthly minimum income needs to be paid to Iglu), which will make my stay in Thailand as expensive as being in a developed country)
3. Be forced to ditch my family and have to move to another Asian country like Vietnam, Cambodia, or the Philippines
 
I would simply like to stay legally to be here with my family, and not blatantly violate any laws of the land.
 

4). Thailand Elite. 228 baht per day for 6 years.

[Dnyy]

7 minutes ago, Falconator said:

But visa running muay thai farangs are still visa runners, right?

I'm guessing the majority of ED holders (except university students maybe) are counting as visa runners but as far as I know it's not against any law and not illegal. You are not doing anything wrong. 

[elcaro]

59 minutes ago, Falconator said:

 1. Marriage visa (400,000 baht deposit needed)

Not needed everywhere. Unless you want to ditch your fiance and child, I suggest to register marriage and get multiple entry non-o. 

[from the home of CC]

you adopted the child prior to marriage?, no judgement just curious..

Edited July 25, 2019 by from the home of CC
grammar

[Date Masamune]

Thought the whole thing about ChiangMai combat school was it is an Army thing thus bulletproof?

[Falconator]

2 hours ago, elcaro said:

Not needed everywhere. Unless you want to ditch your fiance and child, I suggest to register marriage and get multiple entry non-o. 

How does that work?

 

I need to save up 400,000 baht first and get married and do all the paperwork. It'll take 1-2 years, but I need the combat ED visa first while I get these things in order. I can't do it overnight with this visa rejection fiasco happening.

 

 

2 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

you adopted the child prior to marriage?, no judgement just curious..

Fiance's stepchild, not actually adopted. On paper, I have no relation to the child at all, but the two of us are inseparable.

[mike787]

No matter which way you go, you cannot stay here forever.  Immigration is getting harder, and more impossible as time goes on.  One thing for sure, if you try to fight to stay, you WILL need lots of cash either to pay an agent, bribe someone, or 800/400K in the bank.  Other great options are to try another country.  Thailand is not the only place on this green earth with good food, people, immigration, air and water.  US is a great place for the family. Vietnam, combo, etc are options.

[Falconator]

13 minutes ago, mike787 said:

No matter which way you go, you cannot stay here forever.  Immigration is getting harder, and more impossible as time goes on.  One thing for sure, if you try to fight to stay, you WILL need lots of cash either to pay an agent, bribe someone, or 800/400K in the bank.  Other great options are to try another country.  Thailand is not the only place on this green earth with good food, people, immigration, air and water.  US is a great place for the family. Vietnam, combo, etc are options.

 

My family wants me to stay. Otherwise, I would have already been out of Thailand a few years ago.

 

How doable is the Thai Elite Visa program these days? 500,000 baht and you easily get 5 years?

[Falconator]

But really, I think the best way may be to do the marriage visa option. I just need to think of ways to stay for 1-2 more years while saving up for the 400,000 baht deposit, which won't really be that easy to do if I'm living in a high-cost Western country.

[LivinLOS]

10 hours ago, Falconator said:

I am a US citizen under the age of 30 with a fiance and adopted child here in Chiang Mai, and work remotely via online freelancing platforms (most combat school students are digital nomads too). No jobs are being taken from Thais, and we are good guys who follow all the rules. What options are left?

 

Except the rules about working illegally.. 

You are exactly the folks that all these crackdowns are trying to control, and your causing everyone who doesnt try to extend thier stay here by working without work permits all the added pressure from increasing controls and checks against working while in the kingdom. 

[LivinLOS]

8 hours ago, Date Masamune said:

Thought the whole thing about ChiangMai combat school was it is an Army thing thus bulletproof?
 

Bulletproof combat school ?? ????

Its easy to get the extensions, it still needs to find an overseas consul to get an initial one issued... Tho I am surprised that given the connections they cant convert any existing permission of stay incountry. 

[stillhereandlovinit]

7 hours ago, Falconator said:

How does that work?

 

I need to save up 400,000 baht first and get married and do all the paperwork. It'll take 1-2 years, but I need the combat ED visa first while I get these things in order. I can't do it overnight with this visa rejection fiasco happening.

 

 

Fiance's stepchild, not actually adopted. On paper, I have no relation to the child at all, but the two of us are inseparable.

If you do the adoption legally you would then be able to get a visa on that basis, but it took me 2.5 years, almost 250,000 thb and a forest worth of paper to do it and it was alot easier as I was married to my Daughters Mum.

[VocalNeal]

8 hours ago, Date Masamune said:

Thought the whole thing about ChiangMai combat school was it is an Army thing thus bulletproof?
 

Immigration is the Police who also have tanks to counter the Army.

[simon43]

Out of interest, how many hours per week do you have to attend the combat school?  Do you attend for all those hours?

[simon43]

Why don't you become a monk?  You can get a religious visa.  Judging by what I see with monks, it's no problem to own the latest IT equipment, laptops, mobile phones etc ????

[NancyL]

I wonder if the OP has health insurance?  What happens when he has the inevitable motorcycle wreck and ends up in a Thai hospital?  Who pays the bills.  I think this is the real reason Immigration is cracking down on people like him, not so much because he's working here "illegally".  He's not taking a job from a Thai person and, in fact, is helping to support two Thai people.

 

 

[varun]

It is just too convoluted and complex to stay in Thailand legally these days, 

unless you are employed for a company that will do the paperwork for you or setup a company of your own.

Retirement Visa is out of the question, and you don't seem like the type who will pony up for a Thai Elite visa.

Even if you are, are you prepared to make that sort of investment, just to stay in the country?

ED Visas are not worth the risk now - 

especially since your intentions about the ED visa are not sincere - you're not a genuine student,

you just need a ticket to stay in the country - exactly the sort of people that Immigration is gunning after.

 

Forget the fiance and adopted child - not your spawn, not your problem.

Anyhow, technically, the child is not adopted yet, since you are not (legally) married.

 

The only viable option is Visa-Exempt + TR Visa runs, but YMMV.

 

[Trujillo]

Iglu digital nomad visa?

 

Website looks nice, I assume an illegal digital nomad made it. However, as far as I am aware, this is totally bogus. 

 

I think the nut of the problem here is that you are enamored with some chick with a stepchild (meaning the child is from another couple). With all due respect, a man in his 20s ought not to be getting sucked into some sort of total commitment to a Thai woman and her former husband/lover's child. Something about this situation feel off a bit. 

 

I suggest you read the book, Private Dancer by Stephen Leather.

 

On another note, why combat school? Wouldn't enrolling in a Thai language study program be vastly more worthwhile? Or are you more interested in kicking some Thai's ass rather than chatting with him? 

[LivinLOS]

21 minutes ago, Trujillo said:

Iglu digital nomad visa?

 

Website looks nice, I assume an illegal digital nomad made it. However, as far as I am aware, this is totally bogus. 

Nothing bogus about iglu at all, is the largest employer of Finnish (maybe even Scandinavian) nationals in the kingdom, all set up BOI and above board. 

 

It's not the only one doing this either but it is the one with the most transparent and farang friendly pricing structure. 

 

Seriously considering runing money through them for a few years to become eligible for citizenship. 

[Falconator]

Thanks for the suggestions. You guys are picking on my family, but given that this forum is full of trolls, that was totally expected.

 

But let's stick to the main topic. The main topic of this thread is, how can us digital nomads deal with this issue.

 

Most students at the combat school are digital nomads who just need a place to stay, and they are taking absolutely no jobs from local Thais. We are not "working" in Thailand. US companies pay us for US projects and deposit into US bank accounts. And then we spend it all in Thailand. No digital nomad has ever gotten into any serious legal trouble in Thailand.

Edited July 26, 2019 by Falconator

[gunderhill]

15 hours ago, Date Masamune said:

4). Thailand Elite. 228 baht per day for 6 years.

136 baht  day  for  20  years

[Falconator]

Immigration is concerned about criminals and people illegally taking tourism and teaching jobs.

 

Digital nomads are not a practical concern to them, as mentioned in dozens of threads here.

 

Thai Elite looks good.

 

But I just need to stay here for 1-2 more years, and then I'll have all that money.

[geoffbezoz]

13 hours ago, Falconator said:

How does that work?

 

I need to save up 400,000 baht first and get married and do all the paperwork. It'll take 1-2 years, but I need the combat ED visa first while I get these things in order. I can't do it overnight with this visa rejection fiasco happening.

 

 

Fiance's stepchild, not actually adopted. On paper, I have no relation to the child at all, but the two of us are inseparable.

So false for you to say you adopted him. And you wonder why Thai immigration are more difficult ? 

 

You can live with someone for 50 years, devoted to each other and love them immensely but if you are not legally married then simply you are not married and can not claim to be so.

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, geoffbezoz said:

So false for you to say you adopted him. And you wonder why Thai immigration are more difficult ? 

 

You can live with someone for 50 years, devoted to each other and love them immensely but if you are not legally married then simply you are not married and can not claim to be so.

I do think that he meant that he treats the kid as his own .

"Adopted" in that respect and a reason as to why he would like to stay in Thailand  .

  He probably didnt suggest to Immigration that the kid was officially adopted 

[geoffbezoz]

4 minutes ago, sanemax said:

I do think that he meant that he treats the kid as his own .

"Adopted" in that respect and a reason as to why he would like to stay in Thailand  .

  He probably didnt suggest to Immigration that the kid was officially adopted 

Good to hear from you this week Max, and you may be right.  However what we quote to immigration is taken as factual, so hence one should not state something that can not be supported legally, or else it may well be construed as a falsehood and work against an applicant.