Is it necessary to cancel an ED visa if leaving the country?

[andux]

My school prepared a visa cancellation letter, but I'll be leaving Thailand anyways and come back next month as a tourist, or apply for a new visa.

 

Do I need to take this document to immigration before leaving? It seems that the visa should be automatically canceled if I leave and don't apply for a re-entry permit, wouldn't it? What's the point of the cancellation letter if I'm leaving the country anyways?

 

Experiences? Thoughts?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Caldera]

If you fly out, you will have no problem leaving, but if you apply for another extension in the future, this might well come up and cause you problems. It would be a good idea to have the extension canceled properly before leaving.

 

If you leave overland, there's a good chance you won't even be allowed to leave without canceling your extension first.

[pub2022]

You can fly out without any problem and come back as a tourist also without problems, you're not breaking any law. You may have a problem if one day you want to apply for another NON O visa, then you'll need to "back-cancel" your old one (personal experience).

[BritTim]

If you have a letter from the school, you would probably be able to leave even by land. However, if you plan to use a land crossing, it would be prudent to visit your local immigration office to get your permission to stay formally cancelled. If leaving by air, there is certainly no issue. Keep that letter from the school, just in case you meet the kinds of officials later who try to find problems.

[Pickwick]

11 hours ago, BritTim said:

However, if you plan to use a land crossing, it would be prudent to visit your local immigration office to get your permission to stay formally cancelled.

I hope it's ok to ask some further questions. I am not the OP but feel they are relevant to the subject.

 

Is cancellation required for all ED visas if exiting by land (I am not sure if there is a difference between ED visas for language schools and universities, for example)? Does anyone know the process of cancelling the extension of stay? I would need to do this at Bangkok but wanted to exit via Nong Kai* Do you need to leave the same day as the cancellation stamp or do you get a grace period (ie enough time to leisurely drive to Nong Kai)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

 

*For clarity of my situation: I have an ED visa at a language school. I actually attend the classes and find the structure invaluable (after several stop/start attempts to learn Thai on my own). I'm a little bit ahead of the class with the book/study material and the school said I could use the last week of my extension of stay to travel and everything would be cancelled automatically when I left Thailand (I did not mention exiting by land).

 

I had planned on visiting Vientiane and then getting a SETV. I want to visit the north and then decide my next move. Probably by getting another ED visa and then go down the retirement route after my 50th birthday in just over a year's time. I'd really like to get a second ED visa as I want to be able to continue to learn Thai if I am eventually going to live here permanently, but could equally spend the time travelling in SEA.

 

With the eventual goal of the over 50 route in mind, I do want to keep everything correct and proper for the future. As said above I would be thankful for any advice

[Caldera]

4 minutes ago, Pickwick said:

Does anyone know the process of cancelling the extension of stay? I would need to do this at Bangkok but wanted to exit via Nong Kai* Do you need to leave the same day as the cancellation stamp or do you get a grace period (ie enough time to leisurely drive to Nong Kai)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

 

You ask your school for a letter for immigration which states on which date your studies will end. That date can be in the future, at least a few days.

 

You take that letter to immigration, they will cancel your extension effective the date stated in the letter.

 

With proper planning, you can proceed as you've outlined. 

[Pickwick]

31 minutes ago, Caldera said:

You ask your school for a letter for immigration which states on which date your studies will end. That date can be in the future, at least a few days.

 

You take that letter to immigration, they will cancel your extension effective the date stated in the letter.

Thank you so much for your helpful reply. Would you happen to know if this is something immigration do the same day or do I need to take the letter and then wait a day or two to get the cancelled stamp (I read a post on here - albeit some years ago now - where the OP stated it took two days to get everything sorted and he went into overstay - he did not state if the delay was caused by himself or immigration). Many thanks again.

[Caldera]

49 minutes ago, Pickwick said:

Thank you so much for your helpful reply. Would you happen to know if this is something immigration do the same day or do I need to take the letter and then wait a day or two to get the cancelled stamp (I read a post on here - albeit some years ago now - where the OP stated it took two days to get everything sorted and he went into overstay - he did not state if the delay was caused by himself or immigration). Many thanks again.

 

That's generally something an immigration office will do right away. You could be unlucky with your office, or the official who needs to sign it is out for the day, but it's pretty unlikely.

[Pickwick]

19 hours ago, Caldera said:

That's generally something an immigration office will do right away. You could be unlucky with your office, or the official who needs to sign it is out for the day, but it's pretty unlikely.

I appreciate your help already and appreciate you may not know the answer to this but given the unfathomable logic of immigration rules I now wonder - if I went to immigration and got a future date of cancellation stamp - let's say 15th November (purely as an example), if I reached the border on the 13th would they let me leave? Or would I have to leave exactly on the 15th?

 

Finally (I think and hope), should I decide to ditch my plans and fly to Laos then no visit to immigration is necessary as flying out automatically cancels the ED visa -  and will not cause future problems? As always, many thanks for any advice.

[BritTim]

15 minutes ago, Pickwick said:

I appreciate your help already and appreciate you may not know the answer to this but given the unfathomable logic of immigration rules I now wonder - if I went to immigration and got a future date of cancellation stamp - let's say 15th November (purely as an example), if I reached the border on the 13th would they let me leave? Or would I have to leave exactly on the 15th?

 

Finally (I think and hope), should I decide to ditch my plans and fly to Laos then no visit to immigration is necessary as flying out automatically cancels the ED visa -  and will not cause future problems? As always, many thanks for any advice.

 

To answer you first question, there would be no problem leaving at any time after the formal  truncation of your permission to stay.

 

As long as you have the formal letter from the school identifying when your course of study ended (and maker sure you do not later lose it) there will be no serious later consequences from just leaving by air.

[andux]

Thanks everyone for your answers.

 

I ended up doing the cancellation at immigration.

 

One thing that concerned me is that the letter from the school stated that it was my intention to cancel the visa, instead of stating that the studies had finished.

 

I am not sure if this is normal practice/irrelevant. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by andux

[BritTim]

12 minutes ago, andux said:

One thing that concerned me is that the letter from the school stated that it was my intention to cancel the visa, instead of stating that the studies had finished.

 

The wording of the school's letter, stating that you planned to stop and giving a future date, is exactly what you want. It means the permission to stay is terminated with effect later, giving you time to leave (or, for some people, have time to arrange a new extension).

[andux]

9 minutes ago, BritTim said:

 

The wording of the school's letter, stating that you planned to stop and giving a future date, is exactly what you want. It means the permission to stay is terminated with effect later, giving you time to leave (or, for some people, have time to arrange a new extension).

 

Technically, it's not what I wanted though.

 

I completed the full course and since the ED visa is supposed to be for one year, I just left after both the course and my year were complete.

 

I can't quite wrap my head around the need for this. Aren't ED visas supposed to be for one year? Or are they actually endless and require a cancellation?

 

I mean, what happens if I don't cancel it? Can I keep extending it for years? It doesn't seem to be the case, so the logic here is a bit strange.

Edited November 14, 2023 by andux

[BritTim]

14 minutes ago, andux said:

 

Technically, it's not what I wanted though.

 

I completed the full course and since the ED visa is supposed to be for one year, I just left after both the course and my year were complete.

 

I can't quite wrap my head around the need for this. Aren't ED visas supposed to be for one year? Or are they actually endless and require a cancellation?

 

I mean, what happens if I don't cancel it? Can I keep extending it for years? It doesn't seem to be the case, so the logic here is a bit strange.

 

The termination letter shows that you have been in compliance with the conditions of your permission to stay up until the time you leave. Immigration require the letter to catch people who get the extension, but then fail to study as required. There are other situations where Immigration also wants to retrospectively check that people have satisfied the terms of their extensions.

[pub2022]

On 11/10/2023 at 9:44 AM, Pickwick said:

I appreciate your help already and appreciate you may not know the answer to this but given the unfathomable logic of immigration rules I now wonder - if I went to immigration and got a future date of cancellation stamp - let's say 15th November (purely as an example), if I reached the border on the 13th would they let me leave? Or would I have to leave exactly on the 15th?

 

Finally (I think and hope), should I decide to ditch my plans and fly to Laos then no visit to immigration is necessary as flying out automatically cancels the ED visa -  and will not cause future problems? As always, many thanks for any advice.

 

Flying out does not automatically cancel your permission to stay.

Please read my previous post.

[Pickwick]

3 hours ago, pub2022 said:

Flying out does not automatically cancel your permission to stay.

Please read my previous post.

Many thanks to you, the other members who posted, and the OP - after reading this thread I will get a letter from my school and visit immigration before exiting.