Getting Educational Visa While In Thailand

[Andreas84]

I have received an invitation letter from an institution, which will make me eligible for a 90 day educational visa. Will I need to go to a thai embassy in another country, or can I get the educational visa inserted in my passport here in Chiang Mai, then in example do a border run to get it stamped? How does it work? If I need to go to another country, what is the most convenient way (I stay in Chiang Mai). The institution which I will attend is in Phuket, and I plan to start using the educational visa just before my course starts there. So I could fly to KL, then to Phuket. I understand that in KL it takes only one business day to obtain the visa. Are there other countries - not too far from Chiang Mai or Phuket, which would be advisable?

[lopburi3]

Yes you will have to visit a Consulate to get the visa and KL would likely be a good choice as they normally issue next workday afternoon if you apply in morning.

[Andreas84]

Yes you will have to visit a Consulate to get the visa and KL would likely be a good choice as they normally issue next workday afternoon if you apply in morning.

Ok, thanks. So by having to visit a consulate, I understand I have to leave the country. While KL might be an easy and good choice, is there no easy way to get it in Burma or something, which is not far from CM and could save me one airfare?

[lopburi3]

Suspect you would first need visa for Burma and then a flight (suspect not discounted as with KL) and then obtaining visa (have not seen any reports yet from there). You could travel by bus to Udon and across border to Vientiane as many do from Chiang Mai.

[Andreas84]

Another question which came to mind:

I have a triple entry tourist visa, with one entry left. The final entry has to be before 15th of June. I am planning to get an educational visa for a course I will attend in Phuket, starting in the beginning of April. The course lasts for two months. After that, I plan to do a border run in the middle of June, just before the triple entry visa expires, so that I can start using my third entry then.

I wonder if getting and using an educational visa in the meanwhile will make my triple entry visa unvalid, so that I can not use my third entry. Any idea about this?

[Mario2008]

You cannot have two different visas at the same time, normally the consulate would make your visa invalid and give you another one.

Note you can study on any kind of visa.

[wayned]

You can study on a tourist visa and there is no need for you to get an ED visa. If you do, it will cancel your tourist visa.

[Andreas84]

You can study on a tourist visa and there is no need for you to get an ED visa. If you do, it will cancel your tourist visa.

Ok, thanks

[4evermaat]

You can study on a tourist visa and there is no need for you to get an ED visa. If you do, it will cancel your tourist visa.

Ok, thanks

What you do is wait for your current visa to finish, then either get another tourist visa or non-imm visa. But it is good that you are doing research early to find out the basic requirements. Start buckling down after you do your last extension of tourist visa.

[Bakeman]

Can someone give me insite for what kind of Visa I should get when coming to Thailand for University entry. Should I get one in Dubai before I arrive because school doesnt begin until May or should I arrive at the end of this month and have the school perform this task?

[Mario2008]

You can only get an ED-visa with paperwork for the school. In most cased you will get a visa allow you to stay for 90 days and with additional paperwork from the university you can extend your stay up to 1 year at the time.

You cannot get an ED-visa in Thailand itself.

[Andreas84]

What you do is wait for your current visa to finish, then either get another tourist visa or non-imm visa. But it is good that you are doing research early to find out the basic requirements. Start buckling down after you do your last extension of tourist visa.

Thanks for reply. I am thinking to stay in Thailand for the next few years, and eventually hopefully find some better visa option than Tourist Visa - I believe in example that by doing some work (a few hours) once a week at a university (in Chiang Mai where I stay), one can get a certain kind of visa on that basis. But for now, I will continue with Tourist visa a little longer.

I wonder if there is a limit to how many tourist visas one can have in the passport in a row - especially when staying in Thailand almost continously for many months, even a few years. Would I be better off to get the Educational visa for the course in the beginning of april, rather than using the last entry on my tourist visa? Just for the reason that when I get more tourist visas after the course, to continue my stay, maybe it would be beneficial in the long run that I do not only have old tourist visas in the passport, but also an educational visa?

[4evermaat]

What you do is wait for your current visa to finish, then either get another tourist visa or non-imm visa. But it is good that you are doing research early to find out the basic requirements. Start buckling down after you do your last extension of tourist visa.

Thanks for reply. I am thinking to stay in Thailand for the next few years, and eventually hopefully find some better visa option than Tourist Visa - I believe in example that by doing some work (a few hours) once a week at a university (in Chiang Mai where I stay), one can get a certain kind of visa on that basis. But for now, I will continue with Tourist visa a little longer.

I wonder if there is a limit to how many tourist visas one can have in the passport in a row - especially when staying in Thailand almost continously for many months, even a few years. Would I be better off to get the Educational visa for the course in the beginning of april, rather than using the last entry on my tourist visa? Just for the reason that when I get more tourist visas after the course, to continue my stay, maybe it would be beneficial in the long run that I do not only have old tourist visas in the passport, but also an educational visa?

Dont over-think this. Play out your tourist visa until it is finished (optionally, you can do one extension for 30 days after your last entry....60 days + 30 days extension on day 59 or 60 for 1900 baht). During your last entry, then start lining up options for either another tourist visa or ed or whatever visa. Take it one visa at a time.

Some border consulates or nearer to SE Asia consulates may make a stink about having multiple tourist visas. I understand that KL, malaysia does not care the amount of tourist visas. Certainly you must have some sort of medical care or dental work, however slight, that needs to be done? Or some tourist visa, mall, or island you want to "tour". If you put a reason such as "to visit my thai son" or "to visit spouse", they may actually deny you and recommend a newer visa. I never had this happen (never had a tourist visa either) but did hear a report of someone getting denied because of the reason for visit and then told to apply for non-imm o (even though there technically is nothing wrong with using a tourist visa to visit family in the mean time).

[Andreas84]

Dont over-think this. Play out your tourist visa until it is finished (optionally, you can do one extension for 30 days after your last entry....60 days + 30 days extension on day 59 or 60 for 1900 baht). During your last entry, then start lining up options for either another tourist visa or ed or whatever visa. Take it one visa at a time..

The only reason I was thinking to get the educational visa now, rather than using the last entry of my triple entry tourist visa, is because I perhaps cannot get an educational visa later. In early april I will be doing a course which makes me elligible for educational visa. There might however be ways to get educational visa later, but this is a definitive chance. So that´s why I though maybe it would be good now, so I do for sure have one educational visa inbetween two tourist visas.