My school hired two South Africans this school year. They were informed at the labor office that they needed their kurusapa before they could get their wp last week. I was under the impression that the kurusapa was not required until you extended the visa at immigration. Has that changed? My wife told me that the Filipinos are now required to take the TOEIC before they can get their temp 2 year kurusapa. Does that requirement extend to South Africans and other native speakers as well?

The Kurusapa is the Teachers council, what is neded from them is a teaching license OR waiver of the license.

Yes, you need it before you get the work permit and extension of stay from immigration, not there after.

Non-native speakers, as determined by the Kurusapa, are required to take an Engish proficiency test. If i recall correctly, South Africans are currently not considered native speakers. Best to inquire with the Kurusapa itself, Foreign relations Unit.

Abut 5 or 6 nationalities are considered native speakers, that of course includes Brits and Americans.

1) First, you need a visa which will allow you to work (NON B or Non O - married)

2) Second, a Teaching License or waiver from Kurusapa

3) Third, a Work permit from the labor department with 1 and 2.

4) Visa extension from Immigration with 1, 2, and 3.

5) Tax id number within 10 days of your work permit being issued. (will be needed for second visa extension)

6) Social security registration

Legally you can not work until you have a work permit.

Edited June 3, 201313 yr by gosompoi

I was able to get my work permit last october without the kurusapa for the third year in a row. My personal experience with Hatyai immigration was the kurusapa was not needed until you went to extend the non imm b visa. Many Filipinos that I know used that to their advantage and went to Penang for the second time and completely bypassed that requirement. Be as it may be it's different now. I am surprised that South Africans are not considered native speakers. The two that my school hired are white.

The provincial Labour Offices have adopted the teacher license, provisional teaching permit or exemption documents issued by The Teachers' Council of Thailand since April 2010. It's in the WP.1 and WP.5 requirements, provided the applicant is working in a government or private basic education school. Immigration adopted the TCT requirements since April 2008 as stated in Police Order 777/2551 and 305/2551.

The countries that are considered by the TCT as native English speaking countries are the UK, USA, CDN, AUS, IRL and NZ.