Education Visa for parents of students

[davidjg]

Can anyone confirm whether proof of income overseas of 40k per month will suffice to get an Ed visa for parents of kids in school? Or must you keep 400k in the bank for 30 days prior to the first visa application? Also, what documents are required to get this visa? Can you apply in any country outside of Thailand?

Thanks in advance.

[thepool]

It would help if you were to state where you, the parents are, where the "kids" are and the "kids" ages.

Secondly could you clearly explain what it is that you are attempting to achieve ?

Finally information about the parents Nationalities would be helpful.

[davidjg]

I am English and my wife is French. Our kids are hold French passports. We have 3 kids, aged 1, 2 and 4. The plan is to send our 2 oldest kids to school in Phuket for the new term in May. We would like to be able to get Education visas for the 2 kids and both parents as caretakers. Our third kid I guess would just have to overstay based on the 'no fine' rule, until he is able to also attend school next May. Neither my wife or I will be working in Phuket as we have income from abroad.

Is this the most efficient way to get visas for our situation? Any alternative solutions will be highly appreciated.

[ubonjoe]

If you have a child attending attending school and has obtained an extension of stay from immigration one parent can get an can get an extension as their caregiver. For the first application it requires 500k baht in a Thai bank for 30 days after that the money must be in the bank for 90 days.

See clause 2.11 of Thai Police Order 777/2551

Edit: You did a reply while I was posting. A parent can get an an extension for one of the children but you will need 500k in the bank for each parent.

[phuketrichard]

I am English and my wife is French. Our kids are hold French passports. We have 3 kids, aged 1, 2 and 4. The plan is to send our 2 oldest kids to school in Phuket for the new term in May. We would like to be able to get Education visas for the 2 kids and both parents as caretakers. Our third kid I guess would just have to overstay based on the 'no fine' rule, until he is able to also attend school next May. Neither my wife or I will be working in Phuket as we have income from abroad.

Is this the most efficient way to get visas for our situation? Any alternative solutions will be highly appreciated.

new term meaning Thai school correct? You can get one extension/child but will need show 500,000 in bank for each extension ( so for both of you 2 accounts of each 500,000) , I am fairly sure.

The school will help you out with all paperwork,

Just get a non immigrant single entry before u arrive for everyone.

I am not sure if you need show acceptance papers from the school in advance to show the embassy thou.

[thepool]

"We have 3 kids, aged 1, 2 and 4."

The 4 year old will for sure be accepted by a school. I am unsure about the 2 year old for whom a nursery may be more suitable.

Has any investigation been undertaken as to the availability/costs associated with schools/nursery's for two non Thai speaking children ?

[davidjg]

Yes - Thai school. The 2 older kids are in the application process and just waiting for acceptance but have been told that it should be fine. The school is Thai Hua - Chinese/Thai and the kids have been living in China there whole lives so the Chinese part will not be a problem. They should pick up Thai pretty quickly.

I found info here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/464335-ed-visa-for-parents-of-student/

It suggests 40k per month as an option rather than 400k total. Does anyone know if this is still a possibility? Looking at the 'official' regulations there is still mention of this but it is not entirely clear. Does anyone have first had experience? I do not have 800k-1m for my wife and I to lock in a bank for the next 30 days but can easily prove the monthly income.

If this doesn't work, what are my other option? Tourist Visa?

[ubonjoe]

Yes - Thai school. The 2 older kids are in the application process and just waiting for acceptance but have been told that it should be fine. The school is Thai Hua - Chinese/Thai and the kids have been living in China there whole lives so the Chinese part will not be a problem. They should pick up Thai pretty quickly.

I found info here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/464335-ed-visa-for-parents-of-student/

It suggests 40k per month as an option rather than 400k total. Does anyone know if this is still a possibility? Looking at the 'official' regulations there is still mention of this but it is not entirely clear. Does anyone have first had experience? I do not have 800k-1m for my wife and I to lock in a bank for the next 30 days but can easily prove the monthly income.

If this doesn't work, what are my other option? Tourist Visa?

Post number 2 in that topic gives the same info I posted earlier.

The 40k or 400k number is for having a child of Thai nationality.

If you have funds for one of you to get the extension then the other could possibly get a multiple entry non-o visa and make border runs every 90 days.

The children and the parent getting the extension would need to go out for single entry visas. That is non-ed visas for the children and a single entry non-o for the parent. The other parent could then try to get the multiple entry non-o visa. If not then a tourist visa would be the only choice.

[davidjg]

ok. I was hoping it could also work in my case. I guess I will have to explore another route.

Any ideas?

[ubonjoe]

I did an edit of my post while you were posting. Look there for more info.

[ubonjoe]

I have removed 2 posts containing adverts for a company.

[davidjg]

Thanks for the advice. I'll work on getting the funds for one of us and give your method a try.

[davidjg]

Thought it best to revive my old post rather than start a new one as it's on the same topic.

Thai Hua school were unable to issue the letter of acceptance before the school term started, so i had to bring the family in on tourist visas. I now have the letter and tried to convert the kids visas from tourist to Ed visas but have been advised this can only be done in Bangkok and not in Phuket. I think the best situation will be to fly everyone out to Penang and get non immigrant O visas then come back in and get the 1 year extensions.

Does this seem like the best option?

[ubonjoe]

The kids should get non-ed visas for attending school. You would get a non-o visa as their parents.

[davidjg]

Would it be possible to apply for a 1 year guardian visa for myself and then once I have this, transfer the funds to my wife so she can apply for one also? Seems this would be a better situation than 90 day visa runs. I understand that we would need to keep the 500k in the bank for 3 months, so perhaps my wife can get another tourist visa first and then 3 months later she can start the guardian process.

Is this an option?

[Mario2008]

Only one parent per kid is allowed the extension. Your kids are simply to young to be considered students. Many immirgaiton officers will interpret that as going to elementary school or upwards. Kindergarten is not considered, but you can always check with your local immigration office.

[davidjg]

If the immigration office says it's ok, then would it work? I have 2 kids attending school.

[Mario2008]

If immirgaiton says ok, than it will work.

But you have to ask if they will accept it for kindergarten. Normally it is for elementary school and up.

[davidjg]

And the proof of funds is once a year?

[Mario2008]

Yes, needed for every extension it must be there the required time.