What exactly is required to get "teaching assistant" visa extension?

[happysanook]

I'm now on non-B, but this little privatized school I work for is having a tough time getting the correct documents together. I'm the first foreigner to work for their school.

Is getting the teaching assistant visa easier? If so, what exactly is required document wise and what steps are needed to be taken?

I currently have non-B for the school I'm at now, but no work permit / waiver / license / extension yet.

We're trying to pull all this together tomorrow, any direction would be greatly appreciated.

[SlyAnimal]

As a teaching assistant, you technically don't need a teaching licence waiver from Krusapa/TCT, however immigration/DoL might not necessarily accept this as a valid option.

At my old school, they did this for someone and were able to get them a work permit from the DoL, however immigration refused to extend the visa for an assistant teacher, as they knew that it was just a way to get around the rules. However I know that some immigration offices aren't as stringent when it comes to checking documents.

So if you're able to get a teaching licence waiver (e.g. you have a bachelor degree), then just work through the normal process and do things the proper way.

[happysanook]

Well this is my point. The issue is getting all the paperwork together to do the BKK thing...The school is struggling to pull it all together. With only 3 weeks left on current Non-B. We were supposed to get samples from a larger government school who has experience with this, but they weren't as helpful as we'd hoped.

I know this immigration office recently did it for a Phillipino friend of mine, but not sure what the school gave her.......She did it without the waiver or license from BKK.

What I need are samples, or at least a list of documents I'll need when going to immigration...

Edited September 30, 2014 by happysanook

[Scott]

I doubt that it will be easier to get a work permit as a Teacher's Assistant, at least not with limited time to get everything done.

If you have a Bachelor's Degree then it might be best to contact the Teacher's Council and see if they can get you the waiver. Once you have the waiver, proceed from there. If you have the non-immigrant B, much of this should be done through the Ministry of Labor. Immigration in Bangkok is harder to deal with than some of the provinces.

A lot of people are critical of schools on these issues but unless they know they ropes of getting the TL, the non-B visa and the Work Permit, it can be very cumbersome and lots of places where the process can break down.

Best of luck.

[lostinisaan]

I know this immigration office recently did it for a Phillipino friend of mine, but not sure what the school gave her.......She did it without the waiver or license from BKK.

If they did it for a Filipino friend of yours, bypassing the Khurusapha,, why can't you just ask your Filipino friend, which documents she needed to get it sorted out?

Isn't that what friends are usually for? Unless they're not really friendly friends........

So many guys had to stop teaching, because of new requirements, while more and more schools just change the job title.

That's not freaking fair to those, who had a third, or fourth waiver denied. With 15 + years of teaching experience.

One of the most prestigious schools in a city in lower northeast have got four "Native English speakers", where all four of them in the EP either don't have a degree, or not even 21 years old.

They're assistants, or trainers, making more than twice as much as the Filipinos with a teachers' license.

Three of these "Native English teachers" don't even have teaching experience. All they have is white skin. That really sucks and isn't fair anymore.

Time to close this loophole. And I mean it. Laws and regulations should be the same for all. --

Edited October 1, 2014 by lostinisaan

[brianp0803]

Because of the regulations many schools are finding "creative" ways to hire teachers.

A teacher with title "assistant" is illegal but at least they have a work permit. (Unless truly an assistant-lol)

I hear of someone having a visa because married or retired and teaching (no work permit but school still deducts taxes)

People talk about how to be legal teacher in Thai school and bypass khurasapada.

There are loopholes that with lying to labor board, it might be possible to work and/or get work permit

Don't have the illusion you would be working legsl-although probably not get caught.

I think labor department knows but does not have the resource/desire to pursue.

I predict school will soon employ mostly backpackers and have huge turnover rates and teachers leaving in the middle of terms

Edited October 1, 2014 by brianp0803

[lostinisaan]

Because of the regulations many schools are finding "creative" ways to hire teachers.

A teacher with title "assistant" is illegal but at least they have a work permit. (Unless truly an assistant-lol)

I hear of someone having a visa because married or retired and teaching (no work permit but school still deducts taxes)

People talk about how to be legal teacher in Thai school and bypass khurasapada.

There are loopholes that with lying to labor board, it might be possible to work and/or get work permit

Don't have the illusion you would be working legsl-although probably not get caught.

I think labor department knows but does not have the resource/desire to pursue.

I predict school will soon employ mostly backpackers and have huge turnover rates and teachers leaving in the middle of terms

I predict school will soon employ mostly backpackers and have huge turnover rates and teachers leaving in the middle of terms

Many schools already employ mostly backpackers through agencies and already have highest turnover rates.

Those agencies just want to make money, while the backpacking teachers are waiting for their work permits, which never happens.

But when schools start cheating and "help" some inexperienced 20 year old guys to employ them, just because they're white, it's time to do something.

Three of the four "native English speakers" at mentioned school didn't even attend at a university. Two of them would even be too young to be considered to be a teacher in Thailand, as they're only 20 years old.

They're making 35 K as a starting salary, while the Filipinos are on about 17 K, if they're lucky. Three of them do not have teaching experience, maybe some English camp bullshit, that kept them above water level.

That freaking sucks, and I'm not even from the Philippines. Okay, life's isn't really always fair.

Just curious what Immigration and labor department will say when confronted with it. Or an Army General who needs one more star? .......

[brianp0803]

Although I jumped through the TCT hoop, I think it will hurt Thai education.

Schools are now using loopholes to fulfill positions.

Hardworking caring teachers that follow rules are leaving teaching in Thailand.

Supply and demand will control wages.

Do Thai teachers work hard?

For most Philipino's, English is their 3rd language. 1st their local dialect, 2nd Tagalo, 3rd English.

I met a Philipino credentialed teacher with high salary at an international school. His spoken grammar and pronunciation were very poor. I hope he was a good teacher with good classroom control. I hope he wasn't teaching English but I think he was.

I think equal pay for equal work but generally accent and grammar for many Philipino's is not equal to Western speakers.

[SlyAnimal]

Check out this post I made a while back, I was going to try and make it a more complete list but didn't get as much feedback as I wanted, so didn't end up stickying it.

The document names are in both English and Thai, and are based on what my local immigration office told me. This is from a while back, but the documents should still be correct, and will give your school a better idea on what they need to get.

The most important one, is the teacher's licence waiver from Krusapa, this can take a while, so get them to apply for it this week (Or ideally, visit BKK and apply for it in person, for the fastest results). You'll need a bachelor degree in order to be eligible for it.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/677374-non-immigrant-b-extension-requirements-draft/

[lostinisaan]

Well this is my point. The issue is getting all the paperwork together to do the BKK thing...The school is struggling to pull it all together. With only 3 weeks left on current Non-B. We were supposed to get samples from a larger government school who has experience with this, but they weren't as helpful as we'd hoped.

I know this immigration office recently did it for a Phillipino friend of mine, but not sure what the school gave her.......She did it without the waiver or license from BKK.

What I need are samples, or at least a list of documents I'll need when going to immigration...

I have to check, if I still got all the documents in Thai that are needed in MS office word format. If so I could send them to you and they only have to change names/dates, etc....

[Scott]

An off-topic racist post has been removed.