Advise About Work Permit.............

[aussiestyle1983]

This is my situation, I have been working with out a work permit for about 8 months now, the main reason being is that I am pretty sure it will be rejected due to me not having a Degree. I am not prepaired to submit a fake or khao san road degree to get a work permit becuase both my employers employed me knowing i dont have a degree and they dont care about that. I work for a very very large private school chain in Bangkok, how ever, the branch of the school I work for is only Mini-Bilingual and there are only 2 farang teachers there, i am about to be then only one as the other is leaveing due to the new VOA rules. So because my school is not bi-lingual im not really worried about it being raided. Here are my questions, keeping in mind I only plan to be here for about 6-12 more months untill my wifes spouse visa gets approved to Oz.

1- Without a Degree could I still obtain a work permit?

2- Can i work for 2 Places with the same work permit? Because I wrok for a language school on the weekend, the language school has very strong ties with the MOE and have told me they can get me a work permit without the qualifications but I would rather get the work permit through my school if I can only get one work permit which would entitle me to only work at one place because I get paid a lot from my school, so Id rather be working legally at the school.

3- Even if i apply for the work permit, and TL, am I able to work here while it gets processed (rejected in my case)?

4- Does your application / qualifications relate to what age group you will be teaching, because I only teach English and PE to KG1 KG2 and KG3?

[Loaded]

This is my situation, I have been working with out a work permit for about 8 months now, the main reason being is that I am pretty sure it will be rejected due to me not having a Degree. I am not prepaired to submit a fake or khao san road degree to get a work permit becuase both my employers employed me knowing i dont have a degree and they dont care about that. I work for a very very large private school chain in Bangkok, how ever, the branch of the school I work for is only Mini-Bilingual and there are only 2 farang teachers there, i am about to be then only one as the other is leaveing due to the new VOA rules. So because my school is not bi-lingual im not really worried about it being raided. Here are my questions, keeping in mind I only plan to be here for about 6-12 more months untill my wifes spouse visa gets approved to Oz.

1- Without a Degree could I still obtain a work permit?

2- Can i work for 2 Places with the same work permit? Because I wrok for a language school on the weekend, the language school has very strong ties with the MOE and have told me they can get me a work permit without the qualifications but I would rather get the work permit through my school if I can only get one work permit which would entitle me to only work at one place because I get paid a lot from my school, so Id rather be working legally at the school.

3- Even if i apply for the work permit, and TL, am I able to work here while it gets processed (rejected in my case)?

4- Does your application / qualifications relate to what age group you will be teaching, because I only teach English and PE to KG1 KG2 and KG3?

From my experience this is what I believe to be the situation:

1. yes I know many teachers without a degree but with wp.

2. the wp is valid only for the school named inside. BUT many many teachers do extra hours at language schools and I've never heard of there being a problem

3. yes, I believe. Everyone works while their wps are processed, totally impractical for teachers to wait 3 months while the documents are processed before they work.

4. No

[aussiestyle1983]

Thanks for your help. I know working with out a work permit isnt the smartest thing to do as it is breaking the law but since I might be able to get one without a degree, i might just go ahead and apply.....................

[Ijustwannateach]

Part of the difference of getting a work permit for *teaching* *is* the qualifications- in other words, that's why you have to get a teacher's license (through the MOE) before you get the work permit (through the MOL).

Certain institutions (many public schools and, apparently, language schools) can either ignore the teacher's license or sponsor you for it anyway in the absence of a degree. This means that for certain types of teaching jobs it is possible to get a work permit without having a college degree. As I've said many times before here, I provisionally agree with this as long as we're talking about teaching simple conversational English to very low-level speakers (and so does the Thai bureaucracy, apparently, since they allow it).

I feel sorry for those who have taken advantage of the lax enforcement over the last decade or so to settle here and who now must be uprooted or go through a period of uncertainty- but as usual, it's really the best thing to make sure you are obeying all the laws of the country you're in, especially with regard to taxation, visas, and labour practices.

For those who are still letting the schools tell you not to worry about it, remember- *you* are the ones who are legally at risk, not the schools. Tell them to get you legal or start looking for other jobs, before the authorities come looking for you.

"Steven"

[Ijustwannateach]

Guys, this is the teaching forum. We're not going to have an debate on international immigration policy here- take it somewhere else more appropriate.

"Steven"

[Chang_paarp]

It is possible to get a second work place added to a work permit. 2 step process, apply for 1, then apply for second. Check in visa section. Or ask Sunbelt to outline the process.

Edit spelling

Edited October 6, 2006 by Chang_paarp

[kenkannif]

^ Sunbelt doesn't really deal with schools....my mate had a meeting with them last week about this...no idea.

Also yes it does matter the level you're teaching. If you're teaching kindy it SHOULD be easier to get a work permit without a degree than if you were at a University (which makes sense really).

IJWT,

Mate way OFF the mark here:

Certain institutions (many public schools and, apparently, language schools) can either ignore the teacher's license or sponsor you for it anyway in the absence of a degree. This means that for certain types of teaching jobs it is possible to get a work permit without having a college degree. As I've said many times before here, I provisionally agree with this as long as we're talking about teaching simple conversational English to very low-level speakers (and so does the Thai bureaucracy, apparently, since they allow it).

Not really the case at all to be honest. It's easiest it seems for government schools and hardest for language schools. They can't ignore the TL really (government places kind of can but it still needs to go through an educational place (I forget the name) and if you don't have a degree it's still possible to get a TL...you don't not get one if you don't hold a degree.

Often they'll look at experience, background as well as other quals. And to be fair IJWT it actually makes far more sense to issue a TL to someone with a specific teaching qualification than someone with a degree that has nowt to do with teaching...so a bit unfair of you to comment on 'basic' convo classes mate....not everyone that went to Uni is an able teacher, just like not everybody that didn't go is a moron.

And actually going by Geronimo's verifiable course case....it is indeed as much the schools problem as yours if you fight it!!!

[Ijustwannateach]

^I defer to the master!