First, some basic info. I'm a US citizen, currently living in the US. I'm 25 years old, and I've never been to Thailand before. I require a non-immigrant visa as I'm volunteering to teach English for 4 months followed by some backpacking around the country and SE Asia in general. My planned stay was roughly 6 months, of which at least the first 4 would have been in Thailand.

I have a flight to Thailand that departs on August 8th (9 days from this posting) and I've been having a load of trouble getting my visa from the embassy. I sent in my passport and all required documents in the beginning of July to the embassy in Washington DC. Roughly two weeks ago I was contacted and told that I had forgotten to send in the money, and that I needed to send an 80 dollar money order immediately. I received one, and express mailed it (along with yet another express envelope for the passport return) on Thursday, July 26.

Today, the embassy contacted me to tell me they hadn't received the envelope (I don't even know how that's possible - I'm SURE I used the correct address, as it was the exact same one I used when sending in the original documents in the first place and it's just a trip from Grand Rapids, MI to Washington DC). Furthermore, the USPS had guaranteed that it would have arrived by noon on Friday, July 27. Regardless, I was told they would 'check their mail' again tomorrow (tomorrow being Tuesday, July 31) and contact me again.

I suppose depending on what information I receive tomorrow from the embassy, I have a few options.

1) Receive my passport with the correct visa by August 7th at the latest - seems unlikely at this point.

2) Change my departing flight date and wait for passport return - the most reliable option, but also the most expensive.

3) If the embassy continues to insist they haven't received the money order, ask for the return of the passport, and go to Thailand anyways. In the first 30 days, head to an embassy outside the country and apply for a non-immigrant visa.

4) Same as above, but instead of applying for a non-immigrant visa, just make border trips once a month for the 4 months I'm in Thailand.

Basically, I'm looking for some advice - what would you do in this situation? Is it reasonable to hope for the return of my passport by August 7th? Is it possible for a US citizen to apply for and receive a non-immigrant visa from a country like Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, etc.?

Thanks VERY MUCH for any help you can give me, I'm a bit stressed by the whole situation.

You are aware a work permit is required to teach and can not be issued without a non immigrant O visa? So 1 or 2 seem to be the legal options if you intend to teach. If you wish to be a tourist you have the other options but entry without visa may require you purchase an onward ticket within 30 days for airline to allow boarding.

I was told that since it was a volunteer position only, no work permit is required. Is that not the case? This was information given to me by the organization in Thailand.

A Work Permit is required for any type of work paid or unpaid.

Work permit is required - although many organizations do not provide it and most will likely not have a problem it would be you in trouble if found out.

Did you check the USPS website https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction!input.action to see if it was delivered?

@ubonjoe

Yes, I did, actually, after I posted this - and it WAS delivered. Should I throw that in their face if they claim not to have received it still, or should I try to be more politic about it?