Requirements for Degree Verification

[BruceMangosteen]

37 minutes ago, ozmeldo said:

 

The letter is just formality.

 

The letter(from the Director and the Governor of the province) is face. Questioning it results in loss of face. Up to you whom you upset. I remain convinced the officers in immigration don't want to cause a loss of face of those in the same government with a higher "rank". God Bless You and OO.

[ozmeldo]

On 5/28/2017 at 10:27 PM, BruceMangosteen said:

The letter(from the Director and the Governor of the province) is face. Questioning it results in loss of face. Up to you whom you upset. I remain convinced the officers in immigration don't want to cause a loss of face of those in the same government with a higher "rank". God Bless You and OO.

Honestly, I know nothing of the letter but I seriously doubt that the Governor of each province personally signs each application, doubly so in Bangkok. Further, I also doubt that said govt official would have the slightest issue with an Immigration officer making his best effort to see that when a year long visa is issued, it is done with as much certainly that the applicant is applying with legitimate and valid paperwork.

 

Further, Governor or not, one cannot simply override policies based in law, enforced by the Royal Thai Police and is hugely intertwined with Immigration and the MFA. 

 

I see absolutely no loss of face. Simply because a govt official signs (ISSUES) a request does not neccitate another official needing to rubber stamp it. It's daily government business. My hunch is a hundred are turned down daily based merely on political macinations. You're lost in the weeds. At best it's a photocopy and the Governor has not the slightest interest whether a particular farang is provided a visa to teach at some crappy little school in Nakon Nowhere. Too lol. 

 

Simply that fact that Immigration officials especially in apparently far flung provinces are doing this proves the point.

 

Your posts are becoming pedantic and nearly trollish.

 

They are doing it. They can and they are. Loss of face, tripe.

 

Again, the teachers with the crappy paper need to move on. Perhaps Western China is hiring. 

Edited May 30, 2017 by ozmeldo

[BruceMangosteen]

9 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

Honestly, I know nothing of the letter but I seriously doubt that the Governor of each province personally signs each application, doubly so in Bangkok. Further, I also doubt that said govt official would have the slightest issue with an Immigration officer making his best effort to see that when a year long visa is issued, it is done with as much certainly that the applicant is applying with legitimate and valid paperwork.

 

Further, Governor or not, one cannot simply override policies based in law, enforced by the Royal Thai Police and is hugely intertwined with Immigration and the MFA. 

 

I see absolutely no loss of face. Simply because a govt official signs (ISSUES) a request does not neccitate another official needing to rubber stamp it. It's daily government business. My hunch is a hundred are turned down daily based merely on political macinations. You're lost in the weeds. At best it's a photocopy and the Governor has not the slightest interest whether a particular farang is provided a visa to teach at some crappy little school in Nakon Nowhere. Too lol. 

 

Simply that fact that Immigration officials especially in apparently far flung provinces are doing this proves the point.

 

Your posts are becoming pedantic and nearly trollish.

 

They are doing it. They can and they are. Loss of face, tripe.

 

Again, the teachers with the crappy paper need to move on. Perhaps Western China is hiring. 

For Government schools, the Governor is required to sign the initial request not so much for the VISA but to hire a foreigner for the position. I think it's more of a permission to do it. The second letter is from the Director him/herself saying no Thai is available to do the same job. Your long diatribe against me, a member not afraid to add her experiences, is noted. Read or don't read mate. This is a library, not a bar. Don't be afraid of the books you don't like. Don't try to get them burned. I personally don't want under educated, unable to speak English, "teachers" placed in the schools here to teach English, but it is what the salary offered is going to attract and what the Thai people have decided. God Bless You and OO.

[Phatcharanan]

On 5/31/2017 at 5:40 AM, BruceMangosteen said:

I personally don't want under educated, unable to speak English,

 

Its actually 'undereducated'. 

[GanDoonToonPet]

My recent experience...

 

This February I went to CW immigration to change my TR visa to a B & was informed, for the first time in 8 years, that I needed to have my Bachelor's degree 'certified' by my embassy & Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I protested that I'd already sent transcripts to the TCT when applying for the Teacher's Licence but my protests fell on deaf ears.

 

The process goes like this:

 

1. Make an appointment at the (UK) embassy.

 

2. The embassy checks your degree against their list of approved universities.

 

3. They then copy your degree & stamp the copy to verify they just copied it.

 

4. Take to the MFA, near CW. Get there early as queues are long.

 

5. Fill in the form, submit documents & pay for 'express service' B400.

 

6. MFA stamp copy to verify embassy stamp.

 

7. Return at 14.30 to collect documents. I got there at 14.20 & the counters were already open.

 

8. Quickly go to immigration next door to submit visa application. Last ticket at 15.30.

 

Several US teachers at my school went through the process in January so your experience should be similar.

[Airbagwill]

I need a bit of glossing...

CW?

TR visa?

TCT?

MFA?

 

Thanks....

[GanDoonToonPet]

10 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

I need a bit of glossing...

CW?

TR visa?

TCT?

MFA?

 

Thanks....

Chaengwattana (Immigration Office), Bangkok

Tourist visa

Teacher's Council of Thailand

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

[new2here]

I need a bit of glossing...
CW?
TR visa?
TCT?
MFA?
 
Thanks....

CW = Chaeng Wattana, the larger government complex in the Lak Si area that houses several government departments, one of which is Immigration Division 1 - which is where most of Bangkok resident must go for immigration services

TR= a tourist visa (as opposed to others like Non-B or non-immigrant

TCT = Teachers Council of Thailand, (Krusapah in Thai language) which is the governmental agency that deals with (among other issues) the licensing of teachers - foreign as well as Thai nationals - who teach in schools that fall under OBEC (Office of Basic Education Commission) jurisdiction; which broadly speaking is government schools from grade 1 to 12.

MFA = Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



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[Airbagwill]

5 minutes ago, GanDoonToonPet said:

Chaengwattana (Immigration Office), Bangkok

Tourist visa

Teacher's Council of Thailand

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

So they issue a B visa without leaving the country?

I've had to leave every time, but I don't work in Bkk.

 

How much did your Degree verification cost?

 

BTW....It seems that on a 3 month B visa they wave the verification requirement....or forget about it.

[new2here]

My recent experience...
 
This February I went to CW immigration to change my TR visa to a B & was informed, for the first time in 8 years, that I needed to have my Bachelor's degree 'certified' by my embassy & Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I protested that I'd already sent transcripts to the TCT when applying for the Teacher's Licence but my protests fell on deaf ears.
 
The process goes like this:
 
1. Make an appointment at the (UK) embassy.
 
2. The embassy checks your degree against their list of approved universities.
 
3. They then copy your degree & stamp the copy to verify they just copied it.
 
4. Take to the MFA, near CW. Get there early as queues are long.
 
5. Fill in the form, submit documents & pay for 'express service' B400.
 
6. MFA stamp copy to verify embassy stamp.
 
7. Return at 14.30 to collect documents. I got there at 14.20 & the counters were already open.
 
8. Quickly go to immigration next door to submit visa application. Last ticket at 15.30.
 
Several US teachers at my school went through the process in January so your experience should be similar.

I’d wonder how US nationals would do this as the US Embassy can’t/won’t “certify” any educational degrees, as they are not federally issued documents..

I have mine certified, but it was almost mandatory to be stateside.

Step1: get the transcript/degree from the university (usually the university has an in-house notary to certify its a legit copy)

Step2: send the notarized copy to the Secretary of the State where your university is located. They will certify the notary (in this example, it’s the person at the university, but could be in independent person) is legit.

Step3: send all that to the US Department of State in DC. They will certify the signature of the Secretary of X State is legit.

Step4: send all that to the Thai Embassy/Consulate.. they will certify that the US DoS Signature is legit.

In all it took about 10 weeks with most of that time in step 3 and had costs at all levels.


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[GanDoonToonPet]

8 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

So they issue a B visa without leaving the country?

They have done for a long time. I've always come in on a TR visa when starting a new school. Last time I came in on a 30 day exemption which is a lot cheaper & less time consuming, especially with the new Myanmar border run...

 

8 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

I've had to leave every time, but I don't work in Bkk.

I've always worked for private schools in Bangkok who are more familiar with the process unlike, I suspect, government schools out in the sticks...

 

14 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

How much did your Degree verification cost?

Embassy = B1,150

 

MFA = B400 (express service)

[GanDoonToonPet]

14 minutes ago, new2here said:

I’d wonder how US nationals would do this as the US Embassy can’t/won’t “certify” any educational degrees, as they are not federally issued documents..

You don't need to do all that. Just get the US embassy to do (your) step 1.

[new2here]

You don't need to do all that. Just get the US embassy to do (your) step 1.

I’m confused...

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/certification-true-copies-documents/

The US Embassy clearly states they don’t certify educational degrees. I can do a “self-certification” if you will, but that’s a far cry from the school itself certifying it’s a real copy.

From your experience how are/what are they doing at the Embassy?


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[GanDoonToonPet]

22 minutes ago, new2here said:

From your experience how are/what are they doing at the Embassy?

There may be some confusion over the nomenclature but basically they just:

 

1. Check that the name of the university on your degree certificate matches one on their approved list i.e. it is a real university.

 

2. Take a copy.

 

3. Stamp it.

 

Pretty pointless really as they don't contact your university or verify that your degree is real in any way.

 

As I previously stated, several US teachers at my school managed to do this recently with no problems.

Edited April 14, 2018 by GanDoonToonPet

[PhuketSarah]

On 5/4/2017 at 8:49 AM, maphraw said:

Immigration will not be verifying my degree. They want proof that the degree is real so I have to go the the US Embassy and the Embassy will, apparently, attest to its authenticity. For a fee of course. My employer has just warned me that Sri Racha Immigration is now requiring this verification befor they will renew a work visa/extention.

 

Call the US Citizens Services Unit, US Embassy.  You may be able to do an affidavit.

[otherstuff1957]

The US Embassy does not certify degrees but they will issue an affidavit saying that you vouch for the degree!  . This costs 1800 baht and will be accepted by immigration & the TCT.  Here is a link to the form.

 

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/certification-true-copies-documents/

Edited April 15, 2018 by otherstuff1957

[new2here]

The US Embassy does not certify degrees but they will issue an affidavit saying that you vouch for the degree!  [emoji185]. This costs 1800 baht and will be accepted by immigration & the TCT.  Here is a link to the form.
 
https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/certification-true-copies-documents/

That’s what I’ve always heard ... but I think its fair to note that this really is a far cry from what a real/legitimate verification is or should be.. the fact that immigration or TCT will accept it is one issue ( and from a practical point of view, this is good) but in the most real sense, a self-certification is of little to no value.... but again, IF that’s what immigration/TCT will accept, then that’s their definition of verification


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[Airbagwill]

The silly thing is that is they were really concerned about fake degrees or non recognised institutions they could check themselves.

There's a Wikipedia list.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unaccredited_institutions_of_higher_education

 

3 minutes and it's all over!

[Neeranam]

On 15/04/2018 at 9:30 AM, otherstuff1957 said:

The US Embassy does not certify degrees but they will issue an affidavit saying that you vouch for the degree!  . This costs 1800 baht and will be accepted by immigration & the TCT.  Here is a link to the form.

 

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/certification-true-copies-documents/

The UK embassy legalized my degrees a few months ago. Can't remember how much. Re. 2000 baht each. This was not for a school, but for making an application to become a Thai citizen, which is much easier to get these days if you are married to a Thai.