Going From From Non Immigrant Visa To Student Visa

[ForrestGump]

My mama always said... sorry, I'll start over: I've been living and working in Bangkok for about two years now, and I'm considering to pause working for a year or two to study the Thai language. I've read as much as I could find about this on the forum, and as far as I understand I will need a Student ED Visa and an approved school. I currently hold a one year Non Immigrant Visa and a Work Permit.

- Can my current one year Non Immigrant Visa somehow be transferred to an ED Visa? This sounds too easy to be true but I figured I'd ask.

- Do I have to travel all the way back back to Sweden to apply for and recieve an ED Visa, or can I do this here in Thailand or in a country that's closer, like Singapore?

- What are the requirements for getting an ED Visa, or more specifically: Is there a chance of not getting the Visa for some reason? I don't want to quit my job unless I know that I can study.

- I have enough money to finance both studying and living for 1-2 years, so I won't be needing any student loans. Are these required for the ED Visa?

- The amount of paperwork for my current Visa and Work Permit for the past two years has consumed a total of the following: 1 small rainforest, 32 pens for signatures and time equivalent of raising a small family and two dogs. Am I in for another round of this and if so, is there someone that one can hire for doing the paperwork? (no shady stuff, only legal ways).

Thanks in advance!

[Lite Beer]

If you have acquired your current extension because of your work it will finish on the day you stop work.

You will have to apply for a 7 day extension. You can get a Non Imm O Visa in Asia.

Suggest you contact one of the Thai Language Schools at the top of this page for information on Visa requirements.

[MacWalen]

My mama always said... sorry, I'll start over: I've been living and working in Bangkok for about two years now, and I'm considering to pause working for a year or two to study the Thai language. I've read as much as I could find about this on the forum, and as far as I understand I will need a Student ED Visa and an approved school. I currently hold a one year Non Immigrant Visa and a Work Permit.

- Can my current one year Non Immigrant Visa somehow be transferred to an ED Visa? This sounds too easy to be true but I figured I'd ask.

- Do I have to travel all the way back back to Sweden to apply for and recieve an ED Visa, or can I do this here in Thailand or in a country that's closer, like Singapore?

- What are the requirements for getting an ED Visa, or more specifically: Is there a chance of not getting the Visa for some reason? I don't want to quit my job unless I know that I can study.

- I have enough money to finance both studying and living for 1-2 years, so I won't be needing any student loans. Are these required for the ED Visa?

- The amount of paperwork for my current Visa and Work Permit for the past two years has consumed a total of the following: 1 small rainforest, 32 pens for signatures and time equivalent of raising a small family and two dogs. Am I in for another round of this and if so, is there someone that one can hire for doing the paperwork? (no shady stuff, only legal ways).

Thanks in advance!

Hi ForrestGump,

First question; your curent visa CANNOT be at present changed to an ED visa if you study at a private language school. In theory it can but not in practise. We have tried to do it both in Bangkok and in Pattaya and it cannot be done. I have read some comments on TV by some guys saying that they could do it in Pattaya but I am afraid they were not writing things based on facts.

Second question; you do not have to go back to Sweden to obtain an ED visa, you can go anywhere you like including Sigapore. I heard that there are some problems with issuing visas at some consulates but from personal experience non of our students had a problem at any consualte.

Third question; please visit our website http://www.thaiwalen.com/student_visa.php, requirements are not difficult. You can also call our school and the staff will be happy to explain it to you in detail. We never had a case where we were not able to obtain a visa for our students, i cannot speak for other schools but you will not have a problem getting one if you enroll at the Walen School of Thai.

Fourth question; there is no requirement for you to get any student loans. If you are Swedish you can obtain a government loan to study at our school (Swedish government loan not Thai). We are registered and recognized by the Swedish 'ministry of education' is it not exactly a ministry but they deal with student support. More than that, you can also obtain student support, Sweden will pay you money to study at our school! It is quite a lot of money every month for the duration of your course. Too good to be true? It is true, we have a Swedish speaking customer service so if you needed further information on how to do it just let us know. The Swedish government also offers you full insurance which is important for some students as well.

Aha.......I forgot, our website http://thaiwalen.com/?lang=se is also in Svenska (Swedish)! The information is up to date.

Hope I answered your questions.

Walen School of Thai

[ForrestGump]

Thanks a lot Lite Beer. I'm afraid I missed the link at the top of the page as I have an Ad-blocking filter active. But that's a good tip, I will definetely contact Walen.

Thanks a lot macwalen for the in depth info. Good news that I don't have to go back to Sweden for the Visa, after all it's a quite costly trip. Walen seems to be a suitable school from my studies. I will visit soon!

All the best

[MacWalen]

I have more information for you. The name of the organisation in Sweden is CSN, Walen school is recognised and registered with that organisation. The student support at the present is 570 Swedish Krona per week and from the beggining of 2009 it will be 600 Krona per week. It works out about 10,000 Baht a month, not a fortune but still given by the government. Pretty good deal I think.

Looking forward to seeing you are our school.

Walen School of Thai

[ForrestGump]

Thanks macwalen, that was very helpful. I won't be taking any loans but I will definitely not say no to 10,000 baht a month!