New ED-visa rules

[driveout]

So there is some new rules that been applied according to my school but I just want to check if it’s correct. 
 

So my school told me today that my Ed visa is only valid from the day my arrival stamp to Thailand and it begins from there. So if you have chosen 1 year Ed visa and got the ED stamp let’s say Jun 2023, but if your arrival stamp is from January 2023, then your ed visa will only last to 2024 January. 
 

Can someone confirm if this is correct? 
 

Thanks!

Edited October 8, 2023 by driveout

[Ohyesuare]

This is correct, and it's not new. If you are converting a tourist visa etc.. to a non-ed while in the country, you can only extend your stay for the maximum of one year from your latest arrival stamp.

[theoldgit]

This has nothing to do with visas outside of Thailand, I’ll move the question to the correct forum.

[BritTim]

I can confirm that this is a longstanding rule for a Non Ed visa and extensions for studying at an informal school like a language school. Note that it does not apply to language courses run by universities, and you may be able to study there with relaxed immigration rules if a genuine student.

[driveout]

10 hours ago, Ohyesuare said:

This is correct, and it's not new. If you are converting a tourist visa etc.. to a non-ed while in the country, you can only extend your stay for the maximum of one year from your latest arrival stamp.

Thanks for your response. Do you know how long these rules have been in action? 

[driveout]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

I can confirm that this is a longstanding rule for a Non Ed visa and extensions for studying at an informal school like a language school. Note that it does not apply to language courses run by universities, and you may be able to study there with relaxed immigration rules if a genuine student.

Thanks for letting me know. My language school did not tell me anything about this when I was applying for there school and this was 4 months ago. They are telling me this now and they are saying it’s new rules immigration have applied. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by driveout

[driveout]

On 10/9/2023 at 3:11 AM, BritTim said:

I can confirm that this is a longstanding rule for a Non Ed visa and extensions for studying at an informal school like a language school. Note that it does not apply to language courses run by universities, and you may be able to study there with relaxed immigration rules if a genuine student.

Do you know how long these rule have been in action? 

[BritTim]

59 minutes ago, driveout said:

Do you know how long these rule have been in action? 

I vaguely remember the announcement, but it was over a decade ago. It was already in force at the time of the last major overhaul of the requirements for extensions of temporary permission to stay (Police Order 327/2557) in 2014.

[driveout]

4 hours ago, BritTim said:

I vaguely remember the announcement, but it was over a decade ago. It was already in force at the time of the last major overhaul of the requirements for extensions of temporary permission to stay (Police Order 327/2557) in 2014.

Thanks for you answering. This apply to all the city’s in Thailand? I mean when a immigration rules change will it come to action to all city’s or some part?

Edited October 10, 2023 by driveout

[BritTim]

4 hours ago, driveout said:

Thanks for you answering. This apply to all the city’s in Thailand? I mean when a immigration rules change will it come to action to all city’s or some part?

When a Ministerial Police Order is issued, it is the law everywhere. It would not be unknown for individual immigration offices to ignore some of the conditions in an order, but it should be assumed that offices will follow the law until proven otherwise.

 

Also, under unusual circumstances, the Ministry might instruct offices to waive certain requirements for a time. During Covid, some conditions for student extensions were relaxed (not officially announced) but have been back in full force since the start of this year.

[driveout]

On 10/10/2023 at 6:51 PM, BritTim said:

When a Ministerial Police Order is issued, it is the law everywhere. It would not be unknown for individual immigration offices to ignore some of the conditions in an order, but it should be assumed that offices will follow the law until proven otherwise.

 

Also, under unusual circumstances, the Ministry might instruct offices to waive certain requirements for a time. During Covid, some conditions for student extensions were relaxed (not officially announced) but have been back in full force since the start of this year.

Thanks! My school told me its new rules for Pattaya. So now with the new rules i can only stay here for 10 months. Is it possible to extend it if you have 1 month left on your ed visa after the second extension of 9 month? I mean after the second extension it will be 9 month and 1 month will be left since the arrival stamp was 10 months ago. I hope it's not confusing, it's a bit hard for me to explain. 

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, driveout said:

Thanks! My school told me its new rules for Pattaya. So now with the new rules i can only stay here for 10 months. Is it possible to extend it if you have 1 month left on your ed visa after the second extension of 9 month? I mean after the second extension it will be 9 month and 1 month will be left since the arrival stamp was 10 months ago. I hope it's not confusing, it's a bit hard for me to explain. 

I understand the question. Since Pattaya may be applying its own rules (certainly for that particular school) it is impossible to answer. You should be able to stay until at least the one year anniversary of your entry into Thailand. That is the official rule.

[driveout]

20 hours ago, BritTim said:

I understand the question. Since Pattaya may be applying its own rules (certainly for that particular school) it is impossible to answer. You should be able to stay until at least the one year anniversary of your entry into Thailand. That is the official rule.

Yes that’s what I was thinking to. I got a answer from the school and they can’t do a third extension for that last 1 month that is left on my 1 year Ed visa🤷‍♂️

 

[Daithi85]

On 10/19/2023 at 6:09 PM, driveout said:

Thanks! My school told me its new rules for Pattaya. So now with the new rules i can only stay here for 10 months. Is it possible to extend it if you have 1 month left on your ed visa after the second extension of 9 month? I mean after the second extension it will be 9 month and 1 month will be left since the arrival stamp was 10 months ago. I hope it's not confusing, it's a bit hard for me to explain. 

I feel your pain.

People are paying alot of money thinking and being told their getting 12 months,and then a few months later being told "oh by the way you can only get 10 months sorry"..