Visa

[marty827]

Can anyone give me some advice please?

I am a British citizen and am 50 years old.

I am getting mixed answers from my question about a visa.

I am married to a Thai teacher in Korat. We have a house together, but at the moment I am living and working in Singapore as a teacher. I have been offered a job in a government school and have the contract signed already. The school has sent me letters offering the job and other letters about the registration etc. of the school. But I didn't get a letter from the ministry of Education because they said they don't come under that jurisdiction because they are a government school, but after going to the embassy they refused to process my application for a non-B visa without the MOE letter.

I have been told by other people to apply for a non-O visa as I am married to a Thai.

Can I work on a non-O visa? Do I need to have a certain amount of money in the bank? As I have no money saved. If I apply for a non-O should I apply without mentioning my job offer from the school?

Please help! I leave for Thailand 14th May and don't know what to do

[naboo]

I'm no expert on this but as far as I understand things...

Regulations for government schools and private schools are different for visas, but from what I remember you still need the letter from the MoE.

You can get a work permit on a non-O based on marriage, so yes you can work legally.

If you can't get the paper work sorted in time, if you get a tourist visa (get the double entry, your school may need time to sort paperwork out), you can convert tourist to non-B in Bangkok and then get a work permit.

As I said, I'm no expert on this and hope someone else will confirm or correct what I've stated.

[Scott]

Your question seems to be a visa question more than a teaching question, so I will move this to the visa section.

[Lite Beer]

You can work with a Non Imm O Visa based on Marriage to a Thai national.

Most local Consulates will issue a single and KL will issue a Multi Entry if you have 100,000 Baht in the bank.

[marty827]

Thanks, Naboo.

I feel a bit more at ease now. I'm just waiting for my marriage certificate to arrive, then I will go to the embassy