Ed Visa Procedure - Language School In Phuket

[karlski]

I have a couple other posts that eventuate in the decision to pursue learning Thai in a school here in Phuket.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Areeya-Langu...ts-t216168.html

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Stay-Longest...staying+longest

I have signed up for the school, and have attended about 2 classes. I like the teacher, and even though the place is far away from where I live in Kata, I am learning a lot, and that's what counts.

As for the Visa, I have been instructed the steps to complete the process are as follows:

Filled out a bunch of paperwork asking all of my information, parents info, Thais who could vouch for me, how much expenses I have, where I live, etc., etc.

The school then submitted this to the Ministry of Education along with their credentials and promptly returned it to me once it came back. There's one more item they are waiting for which will arrive on November 5th.

I have been advised to:

1. Take this paperwork to Penang, file for a 3 month Non Immigrant ED Visa, stay overnight to wait for the paperwork to process, and return to Phuket.

2. Fly to Bangkok to the US Embassy with all paperwork, and in addition, a Letter from the School certifying I am a student there. This letter is written in Thai, and also has a copy in English. The embassy is supposed to process it somehow to get me to the next step. Once I have the resulting paperwork, return to Phuket.

3. Visit Phuket Immigration with all paperwork, and file for a 1 year extension.

-Are these steps correct, have you done this before? Did you get approved?

-what service am I requesting of my embassy when I show up with this letter from the school, after going to Penang?

I trust my school's staff, but I don't want to make any mistakes and have my visa situation subject to the advice of others without at least confirming the process is correct, and the steps have been experienced by some others.

They mentioned some other students from my country who have gone through the process, so i'll be seeing if I can ask them, just so I know what to tell my embassy to do when I show up.

[ubonjoe]

The US embassy/consulate thing. It could only be someting that has to be notarized. Maybe somebody else can give a definitive answer.

The consulate has an appointment system now. It is not mandatory but it does speed things up because you don't have to take a number. Info at the following link. http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service.html

[Lite Beer]

This is from the web site of one of the forum sponsors. Not the same school as you are going to but the procedure should be the same.

http://www.thaiwalen.com/student_visa.php

[MKAsok]

I'm not sure either what step 2 of the OP's post could be. When I applied for my ED last year the (British) embassy wasn't involved at any point. Here's basically what happened:

1) Enrolled September 2007 and filled out all the necessary paperwork (pretty much the same info requirements as you described). Took around 2 weeks for the paperwork to come back from the MOE (I believe it's slower now for some reason - you need to allow at least 4 weeks).

2) I had to go back to the UK anyway, so went back to London in late October 2007, applied and, having given them all the paperwork, was approved by the Thai Embassy in London for Non-ED Multiple Entry without any problems or issues whatsoever.

3) Returned to BKK, got stamped in at the airport for 90 days, started classes late November and then commenced the cycle of 90 day renewals.

As I said, at no point in the application process was my home embassy involved. You also mentioned a "1 year extension." I don't believe these are available for private Thai language schools. The best you're going to do (and I'll be happily corrected on this) is 90 day extensions from local immigration based on your continuing attendance (unless, I believe, you're enrolled in a full-time course, or a part time course that's not based at a private language school i.e. some kind of degree course). If you need any other info, let me know...

mk

[karlski]

Well, the letter from the Education Ministry did not show up on Nov 4th as stated by the school. They have advised me twice in the last 2 days, so i'm worried a bit.

First, they said that they need to now submit documents to Phuket, because when they submitted to Bangkok, they "got sent back, saying they need to be filed in Phuket". Then, the instructor called back and said she had written a letter herself for a student and had them go to KL to get an ED Visa, and that the move had succeeded, so that if I wanted to do the same, I could.

I asked if waiting a couple weeks for the Education Ministry letter was OK, did she think it would arrive, and she said "yes". I have 2 months and 3 weeks left on my tourist visa, so it's OK to wait 2 more weeks. It just allows me to milk some more time out of it instead of losing the days to another visa stamp of different class (ED).

I wanted to refrain from deviating from the usual pattern, I feel that it's perhaps better in the long run. A letter from the Education Ministry vs. a letter from a school might be viewed by various immigration personnel in a different way. Someone new might reject it, or one of the seasoned vets would reject it, all for their own reasons. I reticent to leave the country and hope things work, unless they have been proven fairly recently by other of my classmates...

I might end up opting for her idea later down the road of the ED Ministry exhausts a month or more returning a response, but even then i'd be more inclined to ask "why did the ministry take so long, is something wrong with my paperwork?"

-krb

[ubonjoe]

It's probably the ED ministry playing games. Remember TIT.

You still have plenty of time to wait it out.