Which is the best way?

[Too]

Hello!

I've been teaching in Thailand on a visa-exempt stamp now.

I first got my graduation certificate and academic transcript to be sent here from home but the

director of my school told me I'd also need to submit a police clearance to obtain an official

approval letter from MoE that is needed to apply for a Non-B visa for teaching.

I must go back home to get this police certificate at the headquarters of the national police department

in person and so can't get it to be sent here from home now as I did my graduation certificate and

academic transcript. I just got a Thai police clearance but am not sure if they will accept it or not.

My visa-exempt stamp expires in less than 4 weeks and I'm going to fly back home toward the end of this

coming March for a month.

Which one would you think is the best way for me?

1. To obtain a Non-B visa for 90 days and a work permit, make a 1-year extension and get a re-entry permit

before flying back home (if they accept my Thai police clearance).

2. To obtain a Non-B visa before flying back home (if they accept my Thai police clearance) and obtain

a new Non-B visa, a work permit and make a 1-year extension when I come back to Thailand from home.

3. To obtain a 60-day tourist visa in Laos or Malaysia and make a 60 day extension in Thailand (if they don't

accept my Thai police clearance but need one from home) before flying back home where I'll obtain a Non-B

visa with a police certificate OR obtain a Non-B visa with the police certificate from home when I come back to

Thailand. To be honest I do want to teach with a proper visa.

Here's one more question regarding No.2. What'll happen when my first 90-day Non-B visa has expired without

doing a work permit and making a 1-year extension? Can I extend it for 3 months without obtaining a work permit

or will I have to apply for another Non-B visa again with original sheets of my graduate certificate and

academic transcript, not the copies?

Thank you

PS Just for your info, this was how I applied for and obtained my Thai police clearance.

1. I went to The Headquarters of Royal Thai Police in Bangkok to apply for one.

2. I took a written contract with my school but they wouldn't accept it. They asked me to have my school send a letter

to the police headquarters by fax which must be addressed to The Headquarters of Royal Thai Police with some

personal info on me on it.

3. I paid 100B for it.

4. It took me 1 month to obtain it.

5. I had to go back there to get it in person and was not allowed to get it mailed to me.

6. I got all my fingerprints but no photo taken.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Too

[Kf6vci]

How come that I never had to produce such a clearance?!? Someone's making stuff up.Or the rule doesn't get applied to each and every applicant. It's sickening.

Maybe the person at your school invented this whole thing, for unknown reasons?

Can others chime in and say whether they needed such a Police clearance? (I need one now for another country and struggle with the required notary service.$ 50 at the U.S.embassy!

A: I would probe deeper and not just accept this guy's word. Then do the right thing. B-Visa, change it at Immigration. Rinse and repeat. But don't doVisa runs just because someone screwed up or is lazy.

[Loaded]

You'll need to obtain a new non-imm B if it expires.

Chiang Mai MoE permission letter doesn't require a police clearance. The Thai embassy in Laos does/did list one as a requirement on their website but never heard of any applicant actually being asked to produce.

I don't see why a Thai police clearance wouldn't be accepted as people have used them in the past.

This is info I cut and pasted from an old TV thread and stored on my computer.

Thai Police Clearance Instructions:

Police Clearance Service Center (Sub-Division 2, General Staff Division, Special Branch Bureau)
Monday to Friday (Except Public Holidays), from 08.30 am . – 04.30 pm. without lunch break.

Location
The Police Clearance Service Center is located at Building 24, Royal Thai Police Headquarters, Rama I, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 Phone number: 0-2205-2168-9

Directions
The best way to get to the Royal Thai Police Headquarters is by taking BTS to Siam Square station. The entrance is located on Rama I Rd, halfway between Henry Dunant and Ratchadamri Rds.

Documents required (foreign applicant)
1) Passport with two photocopies of first page and two of the current visa page
2) Document(s) certify that the applicant is working, used to work, or is residing in Thailand (Non-Imm B or job offer should be enough)

Notes
No charge for the Police certificate itself. They will fingerprint you and take your picture while there. If you want the certificate mailed to you, you’ll have to pay a fee for postage. Otherwise, you can pick up the certificate in about 2 weeks.

Edited December 25, 2014 by Loaded

[Too]

Hello

Thank you very much for your attention.

I've been told by my school director to submit a police clearance so that they could get an official approval letter from MoE. What he adds is they're very strict in the application rules in one of the school zones in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, where my school belongs. I have no choice but to take his word for it because there's nothing else I can do about it.

We have another foreign teacher at my school, who also had to submit a police clearance to apply for a Non-B visa for teaching last September. He was lucky to have it faxed here from his country. To be honest I had no idea of it until he told me he had had

to submit a police clearance, too.

Just for your info, the website of The Thai Embassy in my country says that we must submit a police clearance to apply for a Non-B visa for teaching now, while we didn't have to last September. I'm afraid that the rules must have changed since The Thai Army started controlling the country several months ago, just like they've started to crack down on the visa-runners. I'm not sure. Nothing will stay the same as ever before, I'd say.

As for how to apply for and obtain a Thai police clearance, this is what I did, NOT what I heard of. I went to BKK to apply for one last month and got back there to obtain it this month.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Scott