Getting a new teaching work permit after having 2 already

[orangeyblack]

Hi,

A lot of people seem very knowledgable here so I am hoping someone can give me some good advise.

I first came to Thailand in September 2011 and did a TEFL here, applied for the non B before I left the UK and the agency I worked for got me a work permit for a government school in Sakon Nakhon. This was my first job and I decided for various reasons to move closer to the city and worked at another school for a year, again with a new work permit and visa.

Then after leaving this school I got a job at a private school in Bangkok as a homeroom teacher. My school were aware of my previous jobs, they were probably part of the reason I got the job. Anyway I went to Laos got a non-b and came back happy. Except when the school went to file my paperwork for the new work permit it was obviously not allowed as I had already used up my allotted two.

Since then I have been on a tourist visa, but i was warned I may not get another one.

I am going back to the UK for Christmas and I am going to get another non B for the school and they said I will sit exams in January which will enable me to get a work permit.

I keep pressing the point with my staff at school but I don't feel very confident that they will get this organised in the 90 days I have when I get back. I currently only have a TEFL and a degree in philosophy.

Can someone advise what exactly would be required to gain the teachers licence in such a short time? i.e. exams/ culture course/ other courses.

The more I read the more I get confused and I worry that I will return on my flight after Christmas and have to book another one when this mess doesn't get sorted out.

Any advise would be extremely welcome, I am very stressed as obviously I have a life and a home here now.

[Mario2008]

Your problem is not about the work permit, but about the waiver for the teaching license.

Moved to the teaching forum.

[orangeyblack]

Thank you for that

[macsuirtain]

i am in the same boat as you. i have had two permits already, and cant get another, so i am interested to see the replies here. I am currently working illegaly and financing my own visa runs for 7months with out any help from my school. Not a fantastic situation to be in so I understand!

The exams you are doing in january, are they this teacher development at one of the universities around here that can help get the teachers licence? My HR department has told me I need the thai culture course and to do the teacher development to get the licence. As it is their responsibility, I have been asking them to register me for it. They have told me that there wont be another teacher exam for another year, so february contradicts what they say. They have also told me there is a change in the Thai culture course curriculum, so there wont be any course for this for an unknown amount of time.

In my case, I am pretty sure the school is trying to pull a fast one on me by not paying for these courses and my permit, so I am interested to know what exams you are doing in feb.

Anyway, as far as I know, you need to have the culture course and the development exams, and they are the quickest ways to getting the licence. In the long run, A PGCEi will suffice, but they only accept the final certificate, not letters stating your place on the course.

On a side note, I am also being taxed while working illegaly on a tourist visa. School refuses to give me my tax as they say they will backdate my tax when I get my work permit - which will be never. Doesnt seem to add up! Share your thoughts please!

[Eddy B]

I know of a few teacher here with degrees and a few without that are getting around this by just having the school alter the title of their work position. Not a "teacher" of English but English advice councillor,lecturer, tutor......the are many more.

[SlyAnimal]

Sounds like a bit of a nasty predicament.

I assume that the exams which your school is referring to, are the Teacher's licence exams. From what I understand the announcement of exams and/or registration for the exams is in January. From memory, the exams themselves are usually around 3+ months after the registration.

You'd also need to do a Thai culture course, these are often not advertised well, and spots fill up quickly. So if you do see one available, sign up as quickly as possible. If you regularly check the forums people might post details of culture courses they hear of, otherwise doing a google search for "Thai Culture Course 2014" you might be able to find some.

http://site.ksp.or.th/home.php?site=englishsite

Should also have information about both the upcoming exams and institutions which provide Thai Culture courses. Although when I just checked their website now, it didn't have any information on upcoming tests/culture courses (Just a list of what I assume are meant to be links, but they didn't work).

In general, you're going to be stuck between a rock and a hard place if you can't get another letter from Krusapa/TCT. The best legal/non corruption option might be to get married and change your visa to an O. You can then likely Obtain a work permit from the Department of Labour, even without a letter from Krusapa, as they're often a lot more relaxed than immigration (At least in my province).

Alternatively, universities and language schools don't require a letter from Krusapa in order to obtain a work permit or extend your visa.

Obtaining your full teacher's licence is a long and drawn out process, as the exams are extremely difficult and only held 1 - 2 times per year.

Another option might be to look into studying a Graduate Diploma in Education at a Thai university. This would remove the need for you to pass the 4x exams (Although I think the Thai culture course is still necessary). However this would likely still take at least 1 year to complete, and depending on where you live might not be an option.

In saying all that, I'd recommend that you get your school to keep applying for another waiver from Krusapa. As the decision to accept/reject your application may be different if it comes across a different staff member's desk, or if your school tidies up it's paperwork and asks very nicely. An application in person might also be worth trying, one of the teachers at my school was previously denied when the school sent it, but their application was subsequently accepted when they did some research themselves and filed the paperwork themselves in person (with their wife to translate etc). I'm not sure if that was a case of the school having not filed their paperwork incorrectly, or if applying in person actually made a difference.

[mike123ca]

I agree with SlyAnimal, I'm also in the same boat and my family is based in Issan. The wages here are <deleted> and all the required courses are in Bangkok as a extra bonus.

I started teaching on a O visa based on marriage, then the teacher's council (KHURUSAPHA) demanded that I use a non-b visa or no visa waiver. I heard that they changed the policy again are now accepting non O visas.

[Scott]

We had a staff person whose parents were Thai but he was born in the US and had not acquired Thai citizenship. His parents had relocated to Thailand and he was here on on a non-immigrant O visa because of his parents. When he started teaching for us, he had to get a non-immigrant B visa to get the Teacher's License. This was about a year and half ago.

[Scott]

I also know a few people who have given up working legally. Some have left Thailand and others have just gone the less-than-legal route to stay in the country. It's very difficult for those who have settled in the country and have family.

[aidenai]

We had a staff person whose parents were Thai but he was born in the US and had not acquired Thai citizenship. His parents had relocated to Thailand and he was here on on a non-immigrant O visa because of his parents. When he started teaching for us, he had to get a non-immigrant B visa to get the Teacher's License. This was about a year and half ago.

In the first TCT requirements for the provisional teaching permit in April 2012 the non-immigrant O was not included. That has been changed with the update launched in September 2012.

I also know a few people who have given up working legally. Some have left Thailand and others have just gone the less-than-legal route to stay in the country. It's very difficult for those who have settled in the country and have family.

It is, Scott. However, if you look back at other threads on ThaiVisa, you'll see that members already wrote about the existence of the TCT since 2007. So I think teachers who have problems now have never taken the alerts seriously. Always thinking, 'this will fly over as this is TIT' to find out it won't!

Edited November 29, 2013 by aidenai