Those on the Visa amnesty

[anandra]

50 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

I'm sure the majority of people neither want to teach or have the skills/qualification to, besides don't you need a work permit to be able to teach & don't you need a relevant visa to get that work permit?

 

I'm not sure many people want to do volunteer work (especially if it involves having to live miles away from their home), nor are there many legitimate volunteering positions open so to get a volunteer visa you're probably talking about paying an agent for which the asking price seems to be 45,000...

 

Neither option is easy & the easiest of the 2 isn't cheap... 

 

But if they're your only options & you don't want to leave then go for it ???? 

 

 

No, as I mentioned above, volunteer visa  costs just 2 000 baht for 90 days at an immigration office, no agents, charity should be registered of course, it is requirement from immigration, yes sometimes maybe we need to live far from home in Thailand, good research should be done, in Pattaya they have Father Ray foundation for example, as far as I know they are very reputable.  I also attached file with requirements for changing tourist visa to volunteer visa at an immigration office.  Forgot to reply)) yes you need permission to work at school or company and you can get it now at immigration office in Thailand no need to travel abroad.

visa.pdf

[anandra]

18 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Also, if you do volunteer , its usually only for a month or so and you have to pat to volunteer by ways of accommodation and food and usually a fee as well..................and they dont provide a visa 

No, most of reputable charities need minimum for 6 months, this is not the type of work when you do some few weeks  farm or hostel help as many backpackers go for during their travelling. And there are many that are completely free or have accommodation free. Most of work involves teaching helping children or adults  with disabilities, yes it may not be for everyone, we have to sacrifice something but still is better for those who desperately want to spend winter far from virus, in not expensive way.

[herfiehandbag]

42 minutes ago, TonBrow said:

Be very careful who you deal with. Personally, I would only deal with someone who actually advertises there services for all, including the Thai government to see. This way you know you are dealing with a legal company that has the authority to help with visa problems. It will cost more, but you will have peace of mind that you're not going to have a problem when you need to extend or make a new visa.

He does.

[CorpusChristie]

29 minutes ago, anandra said:

And there are many that are completely free or have accommodation free.

Post some links up 

[SePl]

Just wait September 15 to know that there will be a new amnesty extension ❤️

 

 

[JoseThailand]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

But if they're your only options & you don't want to leave then go for it ???? 

 

That's what the corrupt immigration wants to scare us into thinking.

[anandra]

5 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Post some links up 

one for example is in Pattaya, just type in google  "Father Ray Foundation", you have to pay for room 2 500 a month and for food, but project itself is free this is just one, there are much more, we must spend some  time doing research, searching in google for "charity, foundations" not just "volunteer work"

 

[JoseThailand]

It will be fun when the extend the amnesty again.

[CorpusChristie]

3 minutes ago, anandra said:

one for example is in Pattaya, just type in google  "Father Ray Foundation", you have to pay for room 2 500 a month and for food, but project itself is free this is just one, there are much more, we must spend some  time doing research, searching in google for "charity, foundations" not just "volunteer work"

 

Back to square 1 

 

"After 90 days in Thailand, volunteers need to renew their visa. To do this, volunteers need to leave Thailand and apply for a new visa. This takes a minimum of two working days. Again, we provide all the required paperwork"

[CorpusChristie]

5 minutes ago, anandra said:

one for example is in Pattaya, just type in google  "Father Ray Foundation", you have to pay for room 2 500 a month and for food, but project itself is free this is just one, there are much more, we must spend some  time doing research, searching in google for "charity, foundations" not just "volunteer work"

 

If I want to work six days a week, I would prefer to go home and get a job and get paid to work .

 

"Whilst we want you to enjoy yourself here, we would not class this as a holiday! Volunteers are expected to treat this the same as they would a normal working job. Volunteers generally get 1 and half days off per week, however volunteers are sometimes required to help with fundraising events and going to water parks."

[JoseThailand]

If they really wanted farangs out, they wouldn't allow all those fake student and volunteer visas. No, all they want is dirty money.

[CorpusChristie]

3 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

It will be fun when the extend the amnesty again.

Certainly will not be fun for the people without a visa , 50-100 000 people all trying to book flights out the Country at the same time and to the same destinations 

[JoseThailand]

7 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Certainly will not be fun for the people without a visa , 50-100 000 people all trying to book flights out the Country at the same time and to the same destinations 

I mean, it will be fun to see reactions from people who paid ridiculous amounts of money for ed or volunteer visas when they learn that the amnesty is extended again.

[CorpusChristie]

2 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

If they really wanted farangs out, they wouldn't allow all those fake student and volunteer visas. No, all they want is dirty money.

There have been numerous clamp downs on Student visas in the past .

Student visa denials at Embassys abroad and also immigration within Thailand visiting schools to make sure pupils really are pupils who are there studying 

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, JoseThailand said:

I mean, it will be fun to see reactions from people who paid ridiculous amounts of money for ed or volunteer visas when they find out that the amnesty is extended again.

I do hope that you enjoy it, should it happen , but I wont be enjoying it seeing people frantically trying to get tickets out the Country should the amnesty not be extended .

[JoseThailand]

2 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

I do hope that you enjoy it, should it happen , but I wont be enjoying it seeing people frantically trying to get tickets out the Country should the amnesty not be extended .

The Thai government are not that stupid. The immigration are, but fortunately it's not they who make the decision on the amnesty.

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

I mean, it will be fun to see reactions from people who paid ridiculous amounts of money for ed or volunteer visas when they learn that the amnesty is extended again.

Look at it this way ; A Visa run trip to Laos and back would cost 10 000 Baht for a two month visa and a further 2000 Baht for a 1 month extension .

  Thats 12 000 Baht for three months , which works out to be 48 000 Baht per year and 20 days travelling/getting extensions .

  Theres also the high possibility that you would be denied a Tourist visa four consecutive times from an Embassy .

  So, the "ridiculous" amounts of money that you would be paying for a long term visa , you would be paying that anyway for numerous short term visas and without the risk of being refused and numerous trips abroad .

[JoseThailand]

2 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Look at it this way ; A Visa run trip to Laos and back would cost 10 000 Baht for a two month visa and a further 2000 Baht for a 1 month extension .

  Thats 12 000 Baht for three months , which works out to be 48 000 Baht per year and 20 days travelling/getting extensions .

  Theres also the high possibility that you would be denied a Tourist visa four consecutive times from an Embassy .

  So, the "ridiculous" amounts of money that you would be paying for a long term visa , you would be paying that anyway for numerous short term visas and without the risk of being refused and numerous trips abroad .

Before corona, that made sense. But now people pay 35-40k baht for "1 year" ed visas that actually start from the arrival date, which means that they have only 4-5 months left. And that is even more ridiculous because they probably could get it for free lol.

Btw, a border run to Cambodia was just 2500 baht per month, all included.

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

The Thai government are not that stupid. The immigration are, but fortunately it's not they who make the decision on the amnesty.

The Thai Government has spent the last six years clamping down on long stayers without the correct visa , its been a gradual process and by 2019 , it was very difficult , neigh on impossible to stay long term in Thailand without a long term visa .

  Will the Thai Gov continue with the strategy of removing long term stayers without the correct visa , or will they have a change of policy and go back to 2014 visa regulations (as many and as often as you like)

   That is the question 

[CorpusChristie]

2 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

 

Btw, a border run to Cambodia was just 2500 baht per month, all included.

You would pay that just for the Cambodian and Thai visa costs , $35 each , $ 70 for both  2500 Baht

[JoseThailand]

5 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

You would pay that just for the Cambodian and Thai visa costs , $35 each , $ 70 for both  2500 Baht

No, if you do a border run with an agency, 2500 baht is the full price, which includes transportation, bribes to the immigration etc. Note that I'm talking about a border run (30 day visa exemption stamp), not a visa run. 

[PhoSai]

19 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

The Thai government are not that stupid. The immigration are, but fortunately it's not they who make the decision on the amnesty.

Indeed. Its interesting to see how many expats base their theories and opinions around amnesty on immigration and not who actually makes policy. 

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, JoseThailand said:

No, if you do a border run with an agency, 2500 baht is the full price, which includes transportation, bribes to the immigration etc. Note that I'm talking about a border run (30 day visa exemption stamp), not a visa run. 

But you can only do two of those per calendar year , with the visa extension, that would cost you 9000 Baht for four months 

[JoseThailand]

1 minute ago, CorpusChristie said:

But you can only do two of those per calendar year , with the visa extension, that would cost you 9000 Baht for four months 

Not if you border-run with an agency. People stayed for years this way.

[BritTim]

11 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

No, if you do a border run with an agency, 2500 baht is the full price, which includes transportation, bribes to the immigration etc. Note that I'm talking about a border run (30 day visa exemption stamp), not a visa run. 

Which you could only do twice per calendar year. With extensions, that allows you to stay a little under a third of the year.

  

4 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Not if you border-run with an agency. People stayed for years this way.

It is clear that you never tried to do three visa exempt border runs in a single calendar year, at least in the last few years. 

 

[JoseThailand]

1 minute ago, BritTim said:

Which you could only do twice per calendar year. With extensions, that allows you to stay a little under a third of the year.

 

3 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Not if you border-run with an agency. People stayed for years this way.

 

[Mike Teavee]

1 hour ago, JoseThailand said:

I mean, it will be fun to see reactions from people who paid ridiculous amounts of money for ed or volunteer visas when they learn that the amnesty is extended again.

it won't be fun for a lot of people if they don't extend the amnesty or only extend it for people with valid Non-O's that are only stuck in-country because they can't do their usual 90 day border bounce. 

 

For further evidence that Immigration (at least at CW & I know the final decision is not theirs) think that the 26th September is a final end date, they've been granting people annual extensions until 26th September 2021 despite their normal 1 year extension ending earlier than this.

 

 

If it were me, I would have a very good plan B & IMHO planning to pay the overstay fine isn't a good one (What will you do if they say the overstay starts from the date your previous permission to stay ends which has been hinted at before, would this put you over the 90 day limit & result in being blacklisted for at least 1 year)?

 

 

[CorpusChristie]

44 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Not if you border-run with an agency. People stayed for years this way.

Even if you could, that would still be 30 000 Baht per year

[JoseThailand]

38 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

What will you do if they say the overstay starts from the date your previous permission to stay ends which has been hinted at before,

Scaremongering from the corrupt immigration

[JoseThailand]

19 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Even if you could, that would still be 30 000 Baht per year

Again, I wouldn't mind paying 35-40k baht for a genuine 1 year ed visa, but not for 4-5 months, especially when you can possibly get it for free.