We have a Filipina teacher has recently joined our school.

The school have processed her WP3 and she is all set to go down to Penang to get her Type B visa. No problems there.

The problems are that her Filipino husband is a 'house husband' and doesnt work. I think that he can get a Type O visa as her dependant. Does this sound about right? He'd also have to go down to Penang with her and he would get a Type O? Once she gets her work permit and extension to stay, he would also get an extension to stay based upon that?

Another problem is that they have a 10 year old child. I have no experience of what visa he requires. Someone told our Filipina that the child doesnt need a visa of his own until he is 14. Would this be correct?

The poor woman doesnt want to suffer the cost of paying for 3 people to go down to Penang if she doesnt have to. She is the sole bread winner.

Any help or advice gratefully received.

If she has a 12 month extension from Immigration the Husband and Daughter can get 12 month extensions as her dependants. They would need Non Imm Visas to start with.

A child would not be fined for overstay although the passport would be stamped Overstay.

The daughter could also get an extension if she goes to school in Thailand.

The both can get non-o visas based upon her visa/extension of stay. Dependent on where they are at and the type of visas they have now they might be able to do a change of visa status at immigration and then get an etension of stay after she gets her extension of stay.

A child does not pay overstay but should have a visa to be in the country legally. If the child is going to school then she could also get a visa/extension based upon that.

Penang is not he only place to get visas. They might find it less expensive to go to Vientiane or another location dependent upon where they are living.

All very confusing this visa business.

Ok well i advised her to go to the horse's mouth, so she went to immigration in Phuket.

She was told that the child does NOT need a visa until he is 14 years of age.

The boy is currently 10 years of age.

She will go to Penang on Monday and submit forms for her own Type B (paperwork from our school) and her husband will submit his forms for his non-O visa (nothing to do with our school in any way)

They won't be taking the son with them to Penang.

I will update again when i know more, in case it's useful for other people. The Filipinos in particular tend to be here with their families.

As long as she has all the correct paperwork for her visa it should not be a problem to get his visa. The best way to do it in Penang is to use an agent.

Just because one immigration officer says that the child does not need a visa does not mean it is legal. Another one might make it a problem. They should still get her a visa/extension of stay.

Reports are that Phuket immigration does not do a change of viisa status so that option I gave earlier does not apply.

Just because one immigration officer says that the child does not need a visa does not mean it is legal. Another one might make it a problem. They should still get her a visa/extension of stay.

Reports are that Phuket immigration does not do a change of viisa status so that option I gave earlier does not apply.

Never a truer word spoken Ubonjoe.

It's a real shame, and frustrating too, when there is contradictory information from different Immigration officers !

The immigration act says that every alien has to have a visa of some type. There is no age exclusion.

There is some rule that says they do not charge overstay for a child so that gives some people (immigration officers included) the impression that a visa is not needed.

So you might come across an immigration officer that would say a visa is needed and they would be correct.