Visa Problem: Cannot Get My 90 Day'S

[teacher17]

Hello Everyone,

I am an English teacher and I work at a government school through an agency. I went to the local immigration office to get renew my non immigrant B visa for another 90 days since my visa will finish in about 2 weeks.

Here's what happened:

I went to the immigration office and the Thai immigration official got really confused while looking at my passport. I don't know WHAT the problem was. I have my non B visa on there, along with my departure card. I also have my work permit (I didn't show the work permit to him yet though). I didn't say anything to him, and he told me to follow him to another room where the immigration police were. So, I went with him and sat down with a woman who worked for Thai immigration police.

Before I go any further, my work permit says that I work for the agency, not the government school I work at. I wasn't thinking straight (and my agency didn't remind me) so I told the woman I work at the government school. She then looked at my work permit and said "But, why does it say you work at this agency?" And as soon as she said that, I tried to take back what I said, but it was too late. As most of you know, it is illegal to work at any other place besides what is written in your work permit.

Basically, they threatened to arrest me (thank god they didn't,) and told me I could not get the 90 days unless I change my visa to say the government school, and NOT the agency. So I left, and called my agency and met the boss at the office. They explained to me that they cannot help me and go with me to the immigration office because their agency could get in trouble. So they gave me 2 choices. The first choice was to have my government school write a fake contract saying that I work for them AS WELL as the agency part time. Then, I would just change my work permit to say the agency AND the school. However, my school won't do that of course because it is illegal. The second choice, would be to cut my contract with my agency and get a new, short contract with the government school. However, they cannot do that either because supposedly government schools can only give contracts that start in May or October, which I think is ridiculous. The teacher at my government school did say she would go to the immigration office today to see what she can do. But I don't know what immigration will say to her.

Overall, it is a huge mess. Has anyone else had this problem. It was a stupid mistake I made (I know,) but I am really trying to find a way to keep my job/visa. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[TerryLH]

Your agency might be able to add a second location where you will working for them.

Deal with the Labor office for that, not immigration.

[beano2274]

So why were you not allowed to extend on a Non immigrant visa, did you have the correct paperwork.

And you say you went to Immigration, then they took you to a room where a woman from Immigration was, well to me that is how it should be.

[Mario2008]

You do not renew your visa at immigration. If you have a valid multiple non-B visa, what you do is make a border run and get a new 90 days on return to Thailand.

You might be asking about an extension of stay, which would be for 1 year (or untill your end of contract if that is shorter).

If your employer is unwilling to do things the legal way, you might be better of walking away from the job. You have already found out what it can mean to work illegaly.

[teacher17]

What I was trying to say is that when I went to the immigration office, I went into a room with another fellow teacher (who does not work with my agency, but through the actual school,) and she had no problem. Got her 90 days in 5 minutes. The guy who looked at my passport seemed confused and he had me come with him to another room, where the Thai immigration police were. I don't know why. But I had all the correct paperwork to my knowledge.

I do not have a multiple entry non B visa, so that is not the issue. If I had that, I wouldn't have a problem. I only have a single entry non B visa.

So many foreign teachers work at schools through agencies. Yes, I knew from the start what I was doing, but I didn't expect to make a mistake like I did. One of the teachers at my school is going to the immigration office today. We will see what happens...

[Mario2008]

As said, you would not get 90 days at a time, but either a 1 year extension or an extension till the end of your contract if that is shorter than 1 year. So it doesn't add up.

Does your visa say non-"B" or "ED", as with an ED you would get 90 days a time but would not be allowed to work.