Ed Visa, One Year Mulitple Entry

[MacWalen]

Another example of a one year multiple ED visa issued in Copenhagen for a Walen student.

Walen School

[Maestro]

A flame and the replies to it have been deleted.

[Maestro]

Thank you, macwalen, for posting a copy of that visa. The only other multiple-entry non-ED I have in my ThaiVisa gallery at the moment was issued in Amsterdam in September 2008.

visa

[Tod Daniels]

Great news for the student!

I’ve probably met 10 or 15 students who’ve enrolled in various private Thai Language schools here in Bangkok while they were still in the US, and Canada..

The schools emailed / faxed the support documentation from both the school and MOE to the students so they could secure their visa prior to comin’ here.

Each of those students applied for and received a year long multi-entry Non-Immigrant Type ED visas. If I remember correctly, I even saw one issued from Hull for a UK guy (but it was over a year ago, so I’m not quite sure).

I think the consulates and/or embassy’s in UK, EU, the US or Canada have a LOT more latitude on what they’re gonna issue a student as far as a non-ED visa.

S/E Asia is pretty tight and most students ONLY get a single entry for attending a private Thai language school when they apply in neighboring countries.

Converting the Danish Krone into Thai baht shows that visa cost the student about 5300 baht or about $175 USD.

That’s FAR cheaper than getting a single entry ED in a neighboring country for 2000baht and then doing extensions of stay at 1900 baht a pop for the rest of the year. Plus the student has unlimited re-entries too!

Again, really great news!

Kudos to both the school and the student for going that route!

[Tod Daniels]

As an aside to this thread; I was at a well known private Thai language school last nite ‘observing’ some classes (like I often do ).

A brand new student had just arrived from Germany to start school. In our conversation during break; he told me he'd paid his tuition and had the documents sent to him from the school and the MOE asking that an ED visa be issued. He showed me his passport and he received a year long, multi-entry, Non-Immigrant, Type ED visa too!!

It would seem enrolling in a private Thai language school prior to coming here and securing your ED visa in your home country can sometimes yield better results than tryin' to do it once you're here in the neighboring S/E Asian countries Thai Embassies/Consulates.

Face it the worst you’ll get by applying in your home country is the single entry ED visa which people receive nearly 99.99% of the time in S/E Asia, anyway . You’re certainly out nothing by askin' for a year long multi entry ED visa!

[TCA]

From previous communications with the Hull Consulate in the UK, they seemed to not care one way or the other whether they handed you a single entry ED or multiple entry ED visa. If you had paperwork to show you had signed up for a 1 year course of study with an authorised school, they said it made no difference to them whatsoever and was up the applicant. More income for them from a multiple entry visa anyway.

[Tod Daniels]

I seem to be running into more and more students who've enrolled in a private Thai language school AND received year long, multi-entry, Non-Immigrant Type ED visas in their country BEFORE coming here.

When I was at another private Thai language school yesterday, I met a Canadian guy who’d done this too. (FWIW: Yesterday,I was at 3 different Thai schools and an English language school for Thais too ).

Even though the Canadian guy paid for just 6 months of study at the school he enrolled in; he received a year long visa from a Thai Embassy/Consulate in Canada. Why did he get that? He said it was because that was what he ASKED for when he sent in the paperwork from the school/MOE, his application and the fee for a visa to the Thai Embassy!!

This seems to be a far better way to go IF you can do it. The 'traditional way' is quite labor intensive ;

• enrolling in a school after you're here
  
• traveling to a neighboring countries Thai Embassy or Consulate
  
• receiving a single entry 90 day ED visa
  
• going to Immigrations every 90 days to secure additional extensions of stay

PLUS, you may need to leave so add in the cost of a re-entry permit (which is only good for the current extension of stay), not to mention the 90 day reporting you hafta do too.

Holding a year long, multi entry, Non-Immigrant Type ED visa and border running every 90 days would allow a student to stay here nearly 15 months (if they 'ran-4-the-border' just before their visa's expiration date).

They can come and go from Thailand as much as they please; each time they re-enter they receive a 90 day permission to stay stamp and they don’t hafta report either. Financially, it’s a wash to do border runs or extensions of stay. From Bangkok the price currently runs about 2K baht by the major companies doing visa runs. Extensions of stay are 1900 baht plus travel expenses to and from Thai Immigrations at Changwattana.

Anyway, it seems this could be good viable option for people looking to stay here a year. Especially given the 'tightening up' of the issuing of Non-O visas by various Thai Embassys/Consulates. ..

[TCA]

Good points Tod. Actually when I think about it, multiple entry ED visas from a student's home country would be a good option for those currently extending single EDs within Thailand and nearing the end of their ability to do so.

I don't know how long immigration offices around the country will keep extending single entry visas for but those approaching the 3 year mark probably start to get a bit nervous that the end is nigh. I guess a lot might depend on an individual school's relationship with the local immigration office or the office's greed for extension fees, so if the end of the road has been reached then a multiple entry ED visa from one's home country (if obtainable) would be a good option for many.

[Tod Daniels]

Incredibly enough I actually MET another foreigner here studying the Thai language who got a year-long, multi-entry, Non-Immigrant, Type-ED visa in his country prior to showing up here to attend class!

Scant minutes ago, I was standing in line in the 7/11 at the mouth of my Soi, when a foreigner walked in with text-books I recognized as comin’ from a school in the Fico Building near Asok/Sukhumvit.

Being curious (as in being the nosy person I am ); I asked him how that school was working out for him. He said he was from Finland (he sure had the accented English to prove it! ) and he’d arrived here a coupla weeks ago. He had enrolled in the school and applied for the visa with their documentation BEFORE comin’ here. When I asked what type visa he got, he said they gave him the year-long, multi-entry ED visa.

It certainly would appear from the number of foreigners I’ve personally crossed paths with, that applying in your home country for an ED visa is the way to go.

<SNIPPED>I don't know how long immigration offices around the country will keep extending single entry visas for but those approaching the 3 year mark probably start to get a bit nervous that the end is nigh.<SNIPPED>

Another interesting thing I 'stumbled' across was a student who HAS been studying the Thai language for WELL OVER 4 years. He mentioned that his school just changed his paperwork to show the language he's studying is now Korean; although he really is still studyin' Thai. Now, I dunno how that'd actually work out for him IF Thai Immigrations spoke to him IN Korean . Anyway, that's what he told me.

Edited May 3, 2011 by tod-daniels