non immigrant- work visa-90 day- teaching- question

[bkkrooftop]

Hi, I have a quick question.  

 

I have accepted a teaching job in Thailand and I am gathering the documents together to get my 90 day work visa sorted.  

 

I am in Hanoi at the moment and have been here for about 3 weeks.  I was in Thailand before that a couple of times and Cambodia as well.  I have been traveling for awhile now. 

 

My question is, under the documents listed for work visa;  it states this for police check

 

" Police certificate verifying that applicant has no criminal record or equivalents or letter issued by authorised agencies in applicant’s country. (The requirement of the submission of such police certificate is optional. The applicant must submit it if consular officer requests he/she to do so. This requirement is effective as from May 2007)"

 

What would be the most practical way to approach this.  My school is telling me to tell them what to do and gather the documents they need?  Which is interesting in itself. 

 

I have only been in Hanoi for 3 weeks and it also has a clause that I might not need to do this? 

 

It would be pretty hard for me to get this done back in USA. 

 

Thanks in advance for any insight?

[ubonjoe]

Not sure if the embassy in Hanoi will want the police clearance or not. The info on their website seems to a the generic requirements from the MFA website.

Other nearby embassies and consulate want one to get a non-b visa for teaching. They accept a police clearance certificate done here.

You best option would be to contact the embassy to fine out if they want one or not.

[bkkrooftop]

Thanks, yea. 'Probably call them today and see what I need to do.  Im worried that if I need to get it from the states it will take a bit. 

 

You would think with today's technology there would be faster ways around this and countries 'would communicate better. 

 

 

 

 

[ThaiMeow]

Or come to thailand with a tourist visa contact your embassy about criminal check and take the proper action from there

You can take it from thai police station too but it takes time

 

 

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[bkkrooftop]

54 minutes ago, ThaiMeow said:

Or come to thailand with a tourist visa contact your embassy about criminal check and take the proper action from there

You can take it from thai police station too but it takes time

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

 

 

Does anyone know if degrees need to be notarized and checked as well for wp for teacher?  If so, does anyone know if US Embassy does any of this.  I have searched but it seems like it needs to be done on the state and fed level in USA? 

[ThaiMeow]

On 4/28/2017 at 2:36 PM, bkkrooftop said:

 

Does anyone know if degrees need to be notarized and checked as well for wp for teacher?  If so, does anyone know if US Embassy does any of this.  I have searched but it seems like it needs to be done on the state and fed level in USA? 

yes they want it surely

first you need to translate your degrees into english (if not), take your degrees to your embassy and ask them for stamp that tells they are real. They will take your degrees and contact with your university. Time depends on how long your university will response. Then translate them into thai. Take them to the ministry of foreign affairs and get another stamp telling that all your embassy stamps are real. Then you are good to visit the imm.

PS: in some cases you dont need to transllate them into thai. because the paper from the imm says english or thai. So some imms accept eng. some not and ask for thai translation too.

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, ThaiMeow said:

yes they want it surely

first you need to translate your degrees into english (if not), take your degrees to your embassy and ask them for stamp that tells they are real. They will take your degrees and contact with your university. Time depends on how long your university will response. Then translate them into thai. Take them to the ministry of foreign affairs and get another stamp telling that all your embassy stamps are real. Then you are good to visit the imm.

PS: in some cases you dont need to transllate them into thai. because the paper from the imm says english or thai. So some imms accept eng. some not and ask for thai translation too.

The US embassy will not certify anything other than a person's signature or a copy of a document.

They will allow a person to do a self certification by doing a affidavit stating it is true and correct.

[new2here]

When I started at my university, this was a requirement.

To get this I had to...
1) get an official copy of my transcript and diploma..

2) have the university registrars office issue them under Notary Public capacity
(A few folks in the Registrars office are state notaries - and therefore can notarized the signature of the Registrar herself - in my university's state, a Notary Public can't self-notarize. So a senior clerk level employee holds the notary capacity for the Registrar)

3) sent the notarized copies the Secretary of State -- state level.. some states may use different wording, but all states have a department that will verify a Notary Publics credentials/stamp/signature.
This office will verify that the Notary Public is legit and the name/stamp and credentials are valid.

4) send all of this to the US Department of State, Authentication office (in Wash D.C.) where they will verify the stamp/signature of the Secretary of State in #3

4) send this to the Thai Embassy or Consulate General- they will verify the US DoS' stamp.

Now you've got a certified, true and verified copy.

Be careful how you handle the documents because if any pages are torn out, you render the whole document set invalid.

The US DoS will secure all the documents together using a tamper-proof metal/copper grommet in the corner so you can't add/remove pages once it's sealed.

Each step has its own costs. From beginning to end it took me about 10 weeks total.. the longest time was getting the docs to and back from the US DoS.. getting the copy and having it notarized at/by the university, as was getting the State-level Secretary of State to verify the signature/stamp..

The docs are all date stamped, but none of them have a "valid until" date.. so depending on who is accepting or using them, you may be able to use them over again.

To get a US police clearance- while in the US, I did that via my State level law enforcement agency who (for a very small fee) took my finger prints on a valid 258 card. I then send this card, plus the application and check to the FBI's office.. report (or lack thereof) came back in about 3 weeks.

I recognize that this is all state side and that may not be possible from overseas.. but you may be able to get some or most of it done via mail.


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[ThaiMeow]

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The US embassy will not certify anything other than a person's signature or a copy of a document.

They will allow a person to do a self certification by doing a affidavit stating it is true and correct.

 

well one of my american teacher had to do all the things i wrote. Thats why i know. Im not sure if something different happen to her or not. But i remember it took some time for her to university responds. I think like 2 weeks

[ubonjoe]

32 minutes ago, ThaiMeow said:

 

well one of my american teacher had to do all the things i wrote. Thats why i know. Im not sure if something different happen to her or not. But i remember it took some time for her to university responds. I think like 2 weeks

From embassy website. https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/authentication-vital-records/

Quote

U.S. Consular Officers overseas are not empowered to authenticate public documents that were issued in the United States because they do not have access to the records of the issuing offices or the seals of the custodians of these records. Such documents include vital records (birth, marriage, death, and divorce), as well as academic, commercial, or other credentials. We can notarize a sworn affidavit which may or may not satisfy the Thai requirement for U.S. Embassy “certification.”  Please confirm with the end recipient in advance.

 

[ThaiMeow]

thnx Ubon