Extension of stay for 1 year EDU Visa holder

[avatam]

The immigration ordeal

 

Living in a house in Samut Prakan. Two kids go to school across the street of Soi Baering. The other side of the street belongs to Bangkok.

 

Education visas are issued for one year but the maximum stay in the kingdom is limited to 90 days. These 90 days are extendable. So the first step was to find out through the immigration homepages where to extend the visa for the kids. It said if your home is in Samut Prakan you go to the immigration office in Samut Prakan which I did. I found the form No 47 in the homepage for the extension of 90 days, filled in the form and took it with me.

Arriving there I showed the lease contract and all other papers (school certificates, passports, etc) and a friendly gentleman at the counter for “90 days extension” told me I first of all have to register the home I´m staying in. So I took another number waited for some time and the friendly trainee gave me forms to be signed by my landlord. So I left the immigration office after 90 minutes and tried to meet the landlord on the same day. Going back the next day with the signed forms I successfully did the registration for the home but I had to pay 1.000,- Baht for every one of us.

So luckily I got the registration paper I went back to the officer for the 90 days extension.  Now he took a first look at the passport and said sorry you have a one year visa so it is not a 90 days extension but there is something else I have to do and handed me over the form number 7 (before I filled in the form number 47). He sent me downstairs where about 50 people were waiting and the lady at the reception told me that it will be too late today to queue I shall come back tomorrow.

 

So I came on the third day into the department for extending the stays if you have a visa and presented the passports, photos of the kids, the house registration, the school papers and form 7. The friendly lady told me (after I waited only half an hour) that the kids have to show up in person. Even though I presented the photos she said they have to take another photo at the immigration office so I left again.

 

So the fourth attempt I made together with the kids who I had to take out from school. I arrived very early so I got the number three in the queue, waited about 40 minutes until the lady was ready to look at the documents. She gave me two more forms for each kid to fill in which we did and it took another 15 minutes. Then we handed over the passports, the photos, the form number 7, the two more forms and the school papers. She took a look at the school paper and said “Your school is in Bangkok” so not the immigration in Samut Prakan but the immigration in Bangkok has to extend the 90 days. I referred to the homepage where it said it depends where your home is. She answered this maybe applies for retired or little kids not yet attending school but as soon as you have a work permit or you go to school you have to go to the immigration where your work or your school is situated. She said besides the big immigration in Bangkok all the way far out close to Dong Mueang airport there is another immigration close to the railway station Hua Lampong.

So I left with the kids after the fourth attempt to extend the 90 days.

 

I had to take the kids off another day from school and we went to the immigration close to the railway station Hua Lampong. They open at 8:30 we´ve been there at 8:32 and found about more than a 100 people waiting. So I got in line with all the papers, the passports, the form number 7, the photos, the two more forms I received one day ago, the school papers. Standing in line a gentleman in front asked me if the kids have an education visa which I confirmed. Then he said sorry you are at the wrong immigration. For education and work permits you can not use this immigration you have to go all the way out close to Don Mueang Airport to the big immigration Bangkok but please count for about 7 to 8 hours waiting time because this immigration is fully overbooked.

 

So all together after 5 attempts, wasting about 10 hours, taking the kids out of school for two mornings we finally decided to take an airplane and make the visa run out of the country and on the same day back in. This is what I recommend to all parents with kids in school in Bangkok and just forget about any extension at immigration offices in this country.

 

But maybe the head of immigration could instruct his officers that they should look at all the papers the foreigner brings with him and tell the foreigner right away which immigration office is in charge for him and which additional papers he should present. That would make life much easier and also less work for the generally very friendly and helpful immigration officers.