Although Richard Barrow appeared to share the good news that the thousands of teachers "waiting to start work" will be allowed to go from visa amnesty to a Non-B without leaving the country, immigration seems to be saying this is not the case.

 

This means that teachers, much like other people who need to leave the country in order to start working, are now stuck again.  (Hopes raised and dashed again for many I would think.)

 

Is this an error?  Will it be rectified or renegotiated?  Or are teachers still faced with "having to leave the country then return" in order to start legal work (but in reality probably leaving and not coming back)?  Will teachers be able to apply for 30 day extensions based on "waiting to start work" or waiting for a border run?

22 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Although Richard Barrow appeared to share the good news that the thousands of teachers "waiting to start work" will be allowed to go from visa amnesty to a Non-B without leaving the country, immigration seems to be saying this is not the case.

It was a suggestion, I haven't seen any news that it has been approved yet.

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

It was a suggestion, I haven't seen any news that it has been approved yet.

So a change from "must have more than 15 days left on visa" to "can go from expired visa/amnesty" would probably need to be in the royal gazette or similar?

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

So a change from "must have more than 15 days left on visa" to "can go from expired visa/amnesty" would probably need to be in the royal gazette or similar?

I presume Richard Barrow will post something, if it's approved (I haven't seen anything yet, but check Richard Barrow's posts). Normally it takes a few days thereafter to be published in the Royal Gazette, and thereby be in force.

17 minutes ago, khunPer said:

I presume Richard Barrow will post something, if it's approved (I haven't seen anything yet, but check Richard Barrow's posts). Normally it takes a few days thereafter to be published in the Royal Gazette, and thereby be in force.

Richard is quite busy at the moment to posting his holiday trips. I miss the old Richard. ???? 

13 minutes ago, khunPer said:

I presume Richard Barrow will post something

The thing is, a couple of people pointed out that the Thai on the graphic he shared apparently only mentioned that it allowed people to go from a work permit with one school to a work permit with another, so it may not have been announced at all.

 

Another user on his twitter said that he had looked into it and there didn't seem to be any sign of this letter that supposedly went to schools, in his school at least.

 

I'm not sure why Richard Barrow would get this wrong, if that is what has happened, since I understand he is fluent in both spoken and written Thai.

 

I hope it turns out to be the case and teachers can make the switch within the country.

I'm in the same situation but I'm on an expired ED Visa. Some say wait for an announcement some say it will not happen. My school is also saying wait and see. But waiting isn't easy if you face the end of the amnesty. I hope they solve it out but I wouldn't bet on it. 

On 7/31/2020 at 8:54 PM, BangkokReady said:

Although Richard Barrow appeared to share the good news that the thousands of teachers "waiting to start work" will be allowed to go from visa amnesty to a Non-B without leaving the country, immigration seems to be saying this is not the case.

This has always been possible. The problem is some immigration offices are extorting these people and won't do it without a payoff.

What do you expect immigration to do? Will they make an official announcement "From now on we do our job even if we don't get a bribe"?

9 hours ago, bestie said:

I'm in the same situation but I'm on an expired ED Visa.

Do you have any sort of plan?  Are you considering other "less legitimate" visa options?

I'm hoping this has gone somewhere. My school has been in contact with immigration, and has already sent mine and several other teachers' documents.

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1174127-pm-urged-to-ease-visa-restrictions-for-foreign-teachers-and-students/

41 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Do you have any sort of plan?  Are you considering other "less legitimate" visa options?

I will talk to my school about it next week. The only Visa option I have at the moment is a Voulnteer Visa from an Agent.