Dear community of ASEAN Now, good afternoon.

I allow myself to create this thread as I think my VISA-related question is quite specific and that I still haven't found any thread talking about that issue.

For many years, I worked as a volunteer for a legitimate Thai association.
Being member of the board of this association, I managed to get a NON-O Immigrant (volunteer working for an NGO) VISA without issue in Laos, Cambodia or even my home country, France.

In Bangkok, throughout the years, I managed to extend that VISA quite easily at Chaeng Wattana as the association provided me with a legit work permit (indeed, in the past, even volunteers needed work permits in order to work legally in Thailand).

Unfortunately, the rules seem to have changed in the recent years and I must admit I did not follow everything as I changed my type of VISA after Thailand was hit by the pandemic.

Anyways, here are my two questions:
 

 - Every Thai consulate now requires a special letter:
 

Thai Consulate in Savannakhet, Laos: "Original letter of approval for foreign volunteer from relevant Thai government agencies (Department level or equivalent)"

Thai Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam: "The applicant shall submit a letter from relevant Thai government agency with the details as mentioned above.
Invitation or acceptance letter from the concerned organisation/foundation in Thailand indicating the following details:

(1) Job position

(2) Volunteer/work programme

(3) Length of stay in Thailand

Apparently, we now need that special letter in order to get a volunteer VISA (a few years ago, this letter seemed to be needed ONLY for your 2nd NON-O Immigrant (volunteer working for an NGO) VISA request).
 

Question: have you ever heard about this letter too? Where can I get it (knowing that our association has been registered under Wang Thonglang Khet in Bangkok)?
Does this letter even exist (I guess it does exist but I went to many departments and every officer told me that they were not the people responsible in writing and certifying this kind of letter)
Has anyone managed to get it? And if yes, is it a difficult letter to get?
 

 - As I have written just above, it seems like volunteers do not need any work permits anymore in order to work legally in Thailand (but they do need the appropriate NON-O Immigrant VISA in order to stay legally in Thailand and perform their duty).
However, Chaeng Wattana immigration won't extend your VISA unless you have a Work Permit.
 

Question: How am I supposed to extend my VISA at immigration if I don't have the Work Permit to do it?
 

These are my two questions for now. 

I am so sorry if these questions look so specific.
It might be difficult to answer as I am not sure many foreigners faced this kind of issue in the past, but I may be wrong, whence the creation of this thread hoping one of you could help me.
 

Thank you so much for reading and for your time,
 

I look forward to reading you. If you need any more details, please let me know.
 

Best regards,
 

Kevin

22 minutes ago, Kevin95 said:

I allow myself to create this thread

 

Welcome to the ASEAN forum! 

9 minutes ago, Equatorial said:

 

Welcome to the ASEAN forum! 

Thank you so much for welcoming me here!

Everyone seems so nice in here, it is just a great idea to create this forum.

I have been applying for Non-o volunteer visas in Penang, Malaysia, for the last 2 years. Even though they mention a letter from a government agency in their requirements, they never asked for it. However, they always asked for a work permit after the first volunteer visa was obtained. My understanding is, for private NGOs, you cannot get a corresponding letter as government agencies do not oversee private NGO's. So 1-year extensions are only available for government NGO's now. And the only possibility is to get 3 month visas from abroad continuously. (This happened because the volunteer visa was widely abused). Hope it helps 🙂

18 hours ago, Kevin95 said:

Dear community of ASEAN Now, good afternoon.

I allow myself to create this thread as I think my VISA-related question is quite specific and that I still haven't found any thread talking about that issue.

For many years, I worked as a volunteer for a legitimate Thai association.
Being member of the board of this association, I managed to get a NON-O Immigrant (volunteer working for an NGO) VISA without issue in Laos, Cambodia or even my home country, France.

In Bangkok, throughout the years, I managed to extend that VISA quite easily at Chaeng Wattana as the association provided me with a legit work permit (indeed, in the past, even volunteers needed work permits in order to work legally in Thailand).

Unfortunately, the rules seem to have changed in the recent years and I must admit I did not follow everything as I changed my type of VISA after Thailand was hit by the pandemic.

Anyways, here are my two questions:
 

 - Every Thai consulate now requires a special letter:
 

Thai Consulate in Savannakhet, Laos: "Original letter of approval for foreign volunteer from relevant Thai government agencies (Department level or equivalent)"

Thai Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam: "The applicant shall submit a letter from relevant Thai government agency with the details as mentioned above.
Invitation or acceptance letter from the concerned organisation/foundation in Thailand indicating the following details:

(1) Job position

(2) Volunteer/work programme

(3) Length of stay in Thailand

Apparently, we now need that special letter in order to get a volunteer VISA (a few years ago, this letter seemed to be needed ONLY for your 2nd NON-O Immigrant (volunteer working for an NGO) VISA request).
 

Question: have you ever heard about this letter too? Where can I get it (knowing that our association has been registered under Wang Thonglang Khet in Bangkok)?
Does this letter even exist (I guess it does exist but I went to many departments and every officer told me that they were not the people responsible in writing and certifying this kind of letter)
Has anyone managed to get it? And if yes, is it a difficult letter to get?
 

 - As I have written just above, it seems like volunteers do not need any work permits anymore in order to work legally in Thailand (but they do need the appropriate NON-O Immigrant VISA in order to stay legally in Thailand and perform their duty).
However, Chaeng Wattana immigration won't extend your VISA unless you have a Work Permit.
 

Question: How am I supposed to extend my VISA at immigration if I don't have the Work Permit to do it?
 

These are my two questions for now. 

I am so sorry if these questions look so specific.
It might be difficult to answer as I am not sure many foreigners faced this kind of issue in the past, but I may be wrong, whence the creation of this thread hoping one of you could help me.
 

Thank you so much for reading and for your time,
 

I look forward to reading you. If you need any more details, please let me know.
 

Best regards,
 

Kevin

 

2 hours ago, tarika said:

I have been applying for Non-o volunteer visas in Penang, Malaysia, for the last 2 years. Even though they mention a letter from a government agency in their requirements, they never asked for it. However, they always asked for a work permit after the first volunteer visa was obtained. My understanding is, for private NGOs, you cannot get a corresponding letter as government agencies do not oversee private NGO's. So 1-year extensions are only available for government NGO's now. And the only possibility is to get 3 month visas from abroad continuously. (This happened because the volunteer visa was widely abused). Hope it helps 🙂

Dear Tarika,

Thanks for taking the time to read my message and to give an answer. Thank you for your experience.

One thing came back to my mind when I read your answer: a few years ago, I remember going to the Thai embassy in my home country and deposit all the required documents. The request was accepted and when I arrived a couple of days later to get back my PP, they asked for this letter. They told me that if they cannot get this letter, they won't give me back my PP because they had already put the VISA on it. After hours and hours of trying to get this letter without success, I decided to take back my PP, so they put a big "VOID" stamp on the brand-new VISA on my PP because I did not manage to get this letter... What a bad memory!

The fact they ask for your Work Permit for the 2nd request makes sense as when entering Thailand with your first NON-O VISA, the volunteer should make sure to get a Work Permit as soon as he can to perform his duties and extend his VISA.

When you say "And the only possibility is to get 3 month visas from abroad continuously.", you mean after extending your VISA every 3 months at a local immigration until your 1-year limit, right?

Thanks a lot again for all of your details!

That helps!

Best,

Kevin

2 hours ago, Kevin95 said:

Dear Tarika,

Thanks for taking the time to read my message and to give an answer. Thank you for your experience.

One thing came back to my mind when I read your answer: a few years ago, I remember going to the Thai embassy in my home country and deposit all the required documents. The request was accepted and when I arrived a couple of days later to get back my PP, they asked for this letter. They told me that if they cannot get this letter, they won't give me back my PP because they had already put the VISA on it. After hours and hours of trying to get this letter without success, I decided to take back my PP, so they put a big "VOID" stamp on the brand-new VISA on my PP because I did not manage to get this letter... What a bad memory!

The fact they ask for your Work Permit for the 2nd request makes sense as when entering Thailand with your first NON-O VISA, the volunteer should make sure to get a Work Permit as soon as he can to perform his duties and extend his VISA.

When you say "And the only possibility is to get 3 month visas from abroad continuously.", you mean after extending your VISA every 3 months at a local immigration until your 1-year limit, right?

Thanks a lot again for all of your details!

That helps!

Best,

Kevin

That was an unpleasant situation indeed.. but as I said, at Penang Embassy, they never asked me for this letter. In fact, me and some Thai people from our foundation went to several government offices and were told that they cannot provide a visa letter for a private NGO.

 

What I meant is that basically you have to go outside the country every three months and get a new volunteer visa every time. I live near the Malaysian border so I travel to Penang every now and then.

 

7 hours ago, tarika said:

That was an unpleasant situation indeed.. but as I said, at Penang Embassy, they never asked me for this letter. In fact, me and some Thai people from our foundation went to several government offices and were told that they cannot provide a visa letter for a private NGO.

 

What I meant is that basically you have to go outside the country every three months and get a new volunteer visa every time. I live near the Malaysian border so I travel to Penang every now and then.

 

Dear Tarika,

Thanks again for your detailed reply.

Interesting to know that the people from your NGO did not manage to get this letter. We are more or less in the same situation.

However, I assumed you managed to get a Work Permit given that you have been on this kind of VISA for the past two years.

My question is: did you not manage to extend your 3-month stay at your local immigration with your Work Permit (as I also used to do in the past? It worked very well. I could do 3 more extensions of 90 days until the 1-year limit).
I am still confused to read that even with a Work Permit related to your NGO, you had to leave Thailand and re-enter with a new NON-O (working for an NGO) VISA every 3 months.

Please let me apologise first if I misunderstood what you have said.

Hope you can give me more details about your situation.

Thanks a lot,

Best,

Kevin

12 hours ago, Kevin95 said:

Dear Tarika,

Thanks again for your detailed reply.

Interesting to know that the people from your NGO did not manage to get this letter. We are more or less in the same situation.

However, I assumed you managed to get a Work Permit given that you have been on this kind of VISA for the past two years.

My question is: did you not manage to extend your 3-month stay at your local immigration with your Work Permit (as I also used to do in the past? It worked very well. I could do 3 more extensions of 90 days until the 1-year limit).
I am still confused to read that even with a Work Permit related to your NGO, you had to leave Thailand and re-enter with a new NON-O (working for an NGO) VISA every 3 months.

Please let me apologise first if I misunderstood what you have said.

Hope you can give me more details about your situation.

Thanks a lot,

Best,

Kevin

Yes, getting a work permit was no issue. However, the local immigration won't give any non-o extension (1 year or 3 months) without a letter from the government. Go figure 😁

Good afternoon Tarika,

Thanks for your answer!

Wow, I must admit I am so surprised by your answer! That means the rules have changed more or less in the past years, as I remember having no problem extending my VISA with a Work Permit about 3 years ago.

Living in Bangkok, having this kind of VISA might not be the best solution for me if I need to leave the country every 3 months and ask for a new VISA...

My question then is: which VISA would be the most appropriate and legitimate to work long-term as a volunteer for an NGO?
Does anyone have some recommendations?

Plus, is there anyone who has had a similar experience to Tarika? Would you mind sharing it with me?

This would really help!

Thanks in advance,

Best,

Kevin