possible visa's

[nathan christian]

Hi all,

Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated.

I am a Uk citizen with a Malaysian wife and two children aged 2 and 8(both UK citizens). We currently live in Malaysia,

My 8yr old will be attending an international school in Koh Samui this September. I have been told my wife and I can apply for guardian visa's. My only concern is that they require 400,000 Baht for me and another 400,000 Baht for my wife in a Thai account in order to apply for this visa.

My question to you all - Is there any other visa that we could apply for that wouldn't need such a big amount of cash in a Thai account. I have an income from abroad so living funds are not a problem.

We are both under 50 yrs of age.

Thanks in advance for those replying to this post.

[ubonjoe]

It is 500k baht in a Thai bank for 30 days for the first application of an extension of stay. Only one parent is allowed to get the extension.

From clause 2.11 of police order 777/2551

(5) In the case of parents, funds must be deposited in a bank in Thailand, under the father’s or the mother’s name, of no less than Baht 500,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 30 days prior to the filing date.

You could possibly get multiple entry non-o visas from a consulate or embassy in the UK for you. For your wife she should check with the embassy in KL or one of the consulates. If you got the visas you would have to leave every 90 day for a new entry.

Another option would be for one of you to attend a language school and get an extension of stay. The other then could get an extension as the the others dependent.

After these the other option is to get tourist visas.

[nathan christian]

Hi Ubonjoe,

I will check the paperwork the school gave me but I'm sure it was 400,000 or 500.000 each as we are a couple. I couldn't get my visa in UK as I'm living in KL, so wouldn't want to travel back just for the visa. Could I not do that in Malaysia.

Also, the non O visa is that valid for 1 year and then do just a border run every 3 months or do I actually have to apply for a new non O every 3 months?

Dont really fancy studying, did plenty of that in my youth, don't fancy another stint.

Tourist visa, border run every 30 days, don't fancy that either, especially with a two year old, hard enough taking him to the shops.

Cheers

[ubonjoe]

You could have your wife check for the visas in KL. You would not be able to get them until you child is enrolled and has their extension done. They will first need a non-ed visa before they can apply for the extension.

A multiple entry gives 90 day entries for a year you just have to leave the country and re-enter.

A tourist visa gives a 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days at immigration.

[nathan christian]

Cheers mate,

Back to the initial guardian info. Once my child has her education visa. if I deposit the 500,000 or whatever the amount into a Thai account. Will that be a one time deposit for the duration of her education or do you think I will have to do that every year. If I just do it once then take it out after a month then that's ok but If I have to do it every year then.....

I guess what im asking is does my childs visa last for years and every year i just get an extension of stay which doesn't require proof of funds all the time

[ubonjoe]

The 500k is needed for each extension application and it has to be in the bank for 90 days for the 2nd extension. You can do what you want to with the money after the extension is done but it has to back in the bank for the next extension,

The info I posted earlier is directly from Thai Police Order 777/2551 . Download it and look at clause 2.11.

[nathan christian]

Thanks,

I did have a look and i think it's possible to do two guardian visa's. I think if I provide a marriage certificate and deposit 500,000 into two separate accounts (mine and my wife) or one joint account with 1million Baht then I think it's possible.

It does say that one guardian visa per child but i found some other info saying about two parents.

Thanks for your help. I guess with having to put it back in for every extension then I probably won't go down that route.

I do have a few Thai friends who have big business's so they could do a work visa for my wife. I would do for myself but they say the minimum income for a UK citizen is about 50,000 Baht per month. For a Malaysian it is 35,000Baht per month. Me and the children could then get dependant visa's of her work permit/visa I think. I guess this way I would have to pay tax every month for a job I don't have but i guess it could keep us in the country without the dreaded border runs..

What do you think?

[ubonjoe]

Immigration only allows one extension per child. This from the clause indicates that "father’s or the mother’s name".

[nathan christian]

I guess there has to be lots of two parent (both foreigners) cases where their children go to school in Thailand. What does the other parent do? Seems an odd clause but that's what it states.

[ubonjoe]

It is one parent per child. Two children gets 2 extensions for 500k baht in the bank for each one.

For the other one where there is only one child the multiple entry non-o visa is the only option.

I cannot easily explain the reasoning behind only one parent per child.

[nathan christian]

Yeah it's a funny one but it is what it is. What did you think about the work permit possibility I mentioned. My friend will not be hiring me just giving the paperwork reqd for the permit, and then get dependant visas for the rest of family.

[ubonjoe]

The work permit and extension option will not be cheap but it might work. Taxes, social security. accounting and etc unless your friend is covering that.

[nathan christian]

Would I only have to do a one year extension after the work permit is issued.

If I dont have any visa just a tourist stamp every 30 days at the border it will also be quite costly for a family of four every 30 days. Travel hotel etc..

I thought the work permit option would cost me about 4,000 baht a month in tax, not sure what the social security thing is. Would I just have to pay for the non imm B visa, apply for work permit and get extension for a year. dont really know how much that would be altogether.

My friend would not be paying any of it, he would just provide me with the paperwork,

Really just looking at different options.

Can me and the family get a visa for a year that just requires doing a border run every 3 months. ie 4 runs per year. What type of visa would that be ?

[nathan christian]

So if i get a education visa for my daughter, can me, my wife and two yr old son get the non imm O visa. which requires the 90 day border run. i think thats what you mentioned previously? Do i need to proof income or living expenses etc with this visa.

Thanks for your time in replying to these posts, very much appreciated.

[ubonjoe]

So if i get a education visa for my daughter, can me, my wife and two yr old son get the non imm O visa. which requires the 90 day border run. i think thats what you mentioned previously? Do i need to proof income or living expenses etc with this visa.

Thanks for your time in replying to these posts, very much appreciated.

If you (or your wife) enrolled in school and obtained an ED visa and then an extension of stay at immigration your wife (or you) and child could also get extensions of stay as your (or your wife's) dependents. There would be no need for border runs with this option. It would just require going out for single entry non-o visas in order to apply for the dependent extensions.

[nathan christian]

Thanks ubonjoe,

can my wife or I obtain this type of visa without actually learning Thai? I guess one of us would have to enrol in a language school.

If my daughter has an education visa is there any way my wife, myself and son can get a non imm O. even if I must renew every 3 months thats not too bad as my wifes family are from Penang so a visit every 3 months would be fine.

From what you tell me it really does seem like the education visa for me or my wife is the best route.

The work permit option does sound expensive with tax, That money could pay for the language course I guess. Any ideas how many hours you must attend classes?

[ubonjoe]

As I said before I am not sure you can even get a multiple entry non-o visas visa at any nearby location based upon your child having an extension for attending school.

The minimum is 4 hours in class a week at a school to get an extension.

[nathan christian]

Ok mate,

Thanks for all your help. I will enquire about language courses. Seems the best option.

[Suradit69]

Would I only have to do a one year extension after the work permit is issued.

If I dont have any visa just a tourist stamp every 30 days at the border it will also be quite costly for a family of four every 30 days. Travel hotel etc..

I thought the work permit option would cost me about 4,000 baht a month in tax, not sure what the social security thing is. Would I just have to pay for the non imm B visa, apply for work permit and get extension for a year. dont really know how much that would be altogether.

My friend would not be paying any of it, he would just provide me with the paperwork,

Really just looking at different options.

Can me and the family get a visa for a year that just requires doing a border run every 3 months. ie 4 runs per year. What type of visa would that be ?

"If I dont have any visa just a tourist stamp every 30 days at the border it will also be quite costly for a family of four every 30 days. Travel hotel etc.."

Serial 30 day visa exempt entries are no longer a realistic option.

[nathan christian]

I know what you're saying regarding the 30 day border run, i think that route has run its course and wasn't really an option I considered.

Back to school it is I think.

[rdog]

I know what you're saying regarding the 30 day border run, i think that route has run its course and wasn't really an option I considered.

Back to school it is I think.

You could try Mind Your Language in Bophut, my friend does the course and got the Ed Visa from there and it all worked very smoothly. Owners name is Jom (very nice guy), you can just google Mind Your Language Samui

and contact details should come up.

[nathan christian]

Cheers Rdog,

I know Jom very well, I used to learn Thai with him in 2001 when I lived in Samui. Only did a beginners course (wasn't for a visa), I actually had a work permit at that time. Fast forward to 2014 and I've got a wife and two nippers. Looking to move back there in September so I will go and see him and maybe get the wife to do the course and hopefully obtain the visa's that way.

Cheers for info, good to know he's still there.