Just got my non o education visa in laos! Very easy!

[JandT]

I just wanted to let everyone know how easy it was for me to get my nonimmigrant education Visa which is extendable up to one year. Im from the us and My wife and I plan to stay for a few years so this is one way to begin. My 60 day tourist visa was about to expire so I went to assist Thai Visa in chiang mai with my Thai wife and they took care of contacting a local language school for me and getting the paperwork so everything taken care of and all I had to do was make a trip to the laos Vientiane border. Total cost for everything including the 3 Visa extensions and the 1 year of school was around 39,000 baht.

You can take a 8 to 9 hour bus ride there from chiang mai but Definitely if you have the extra money it's much easier to take Nok Air Lines from Chiang mai to the udon airport (1 hour flight) and then grab a limousine Charter van from there to the Thai border (1 hour) and then get another van from there to the Friendship Bridge Crossing (5 minutes) on the laos side because then they will take you straight into the hotel.(about 30 min) We stayed at the loagolden hotel for $30 a night it wasn't the greatest Hotel but it was very affordable and they offer free breakfast. We walked to the Thai consulate the next morning on Tuesday (about 10-15 min walk) and got there around 7:30am and they started letting people in around 8 to sit in the outdoor area. There was about 50 people around 830 so not too busy. Everyone got up and one at a Time and took their paperwork to several ladies that were standing there separating them and they would give certain people a number and tell them to go wait till that number was called to goto one of the windows nearby. It didn't take more than just a few minutes for your number to be called when they start. You walk up and they verify the information and tell you it's 2000 baht and to come back tomorrow and pay and pick up your passport. We went back the next day around 1 and at 1:30 they start calling the numbers for people to come up usually about 10 at a time and we were number 16 once they started calling the numbers it only took about 10 minutes we walked up paid the fee they handed us the passport with the new VISA inside and we left. We stayed over one more night so we didn't have to rush and the next day we grabbed a bus back to the Friendship Bridge border and from there we took the limousine taxi from there back to the airport the Thai border and then all the way to the udon airport. It was very easy and quick the only thing to remember is have your paperwork, 2 small photos on a white background ( you can get photos for cheap and also document copies made right beside the consulate to the right there's a little place there where they have a chair and a white background set up and will take your photo for just a little bit of money and it makes it quick and convenient if you don't have them) also have your thai address ready and make sure you have a correct copy of the visa application that has the front and back sections. if you print it off the website it tends to cut it off at the bottom and you will not get the back of it printed. This was one issue that assist Thai Visa needs to be aware of but other than that the whole experience was very painless. Another quick tip is you can use Baht at nearly any restaurant or business in Lao while you are there and they will give you change back in laos kip but please make sure you convert it back at the border before you enter Thailand again because their currency is utterly worthless anywhere else and no bank will be willing to convert it to Thai baht for you. Another tip is the tuk tuk drivers tend to charge a good bit of money if you're coming out of a hotel or if you need a trip to the Border. Your best bet to save money is to take the bus back to the border so you can have a tuk tuk take you to the bus station but our driver actually charged double what he was going to charge simply because I'm a foreigner and my wife is Thai. He told her fifty Baht and turned around and charged us a hundred. he actually wanted more but she said absolutely not. It will cost you 20 baht to leave laos as well but nothing to enter Thailand. We plan on doing the marriage visa when this year is up. All we need is our american marriage certificate, an Affidavit of income which is very easy to get at the American embassy and then have the forms translated into Thai and then notarized at the Thai City Hall. Anyway I hope these tips will help somebody because I know dealing with visas here can be a real struggle if your new to it. I'm looking forward to learning Thai this year and hopefully I can start having conversations with more folks in this country. :)

[Falcon]

Glad all went well and smoothly. Never heard of a non-o education visa though, you probably mean a non-ED visa as non-o is for marriage visa.

[TerryLH]

"Anyway I hope these tips will help somebody because I know dealing with visas here can be a real struggle..."

 

So can long posts written without paragraphs.

[Toosetinmyways]

You forgot to mention how many days you got stamped in for in Thailand. The guy in front of me at Nong Khai immigration three weeks ago, could not understand why he had been granted a 1 year ed visa but he only got a 60 day  permit to stay.

[anon789561]

"I'm looking forward to learning Thai this year and hopefully I can start having conversations with more folks in this country" 

That's a lovely thought but i bet you'll find the more you learn and the more conversations you have the less appealing it becomes ; ) 555 you'll see

[Cranky]

Hope some of that education is grammar.

[jeab1980]

Thanks op good post very informative.

One question 

"Total cost for everything including the 3 Visa extensions and the 1 year of school was around 39,000 baht."

3 visa extensions? Not to sure what you mean

 

Edited September 1, 2017 by jeab1980

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

3 visa extensions? Not to sure what you mean

Three 90 day extensions of the 90 day entry from the non-ed visa that gets him to the max total stay of one year allowed.

[jeab1980]

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Three 90 day extensions of the 90 day entry from the non-ed visa that gets him to the max total stay of one year allowed.

Not up on these but interested as i know someone wanting to come over for a year to learn Thai.

So unlike non O an ED visa you extend 90 days in country at immigration? No border runs.?

[ubonjoe]

15 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

So unlike non O an ED visa you extend 90 days in country at immigration? No border runs.?

Yes and yes if attending a informal school such as a language school up to one year of total stay.

For a formal school such as a university it would be one year extensions for as long as they attend the school.

[Phuket Man]

8 hours ago, Falcon said:

 as non-o is for marriage visa.

Non Immigrant O Visa.

"O" stands for OTHER so can be issued for a number of reasons, not only marriage.

Thai kids, Volunteering, Retirement etc.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Phuket Man

[BuckBee]

You don't need the application form printed both sides, I print my own from the online pdf single sided and never had issue in 5yrs of using it and hand few out too and never had comeback . If can easily do duplex print then do it as belt and braces but otherwise not a concern in my experience. tuk-tuks indeed rip you off, if paying any more than 30baht or 1USD for small trip you being scammed, 50baht tops for run back to immi but that pointless as best using bus from bus station just up road same side as consulate and near junction as got pay and get on it eventually anyway .

online Savannakhet consulate application pdf > 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Ub2apq5-pfUVgxYjVET3RsUTg/view?usp=sharing

online lao visa on arrival pdf >

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Ub2apq5-pfSXpfMzB4aGltdDQ/view?usp=sharing

Edited September 1, 2017 by BuckBee

[JandT]

It's sad to see that almost half of the people decided to criticize what I posted instead of just being thankful for the information. This is why the current Society is in the decline that it is.

To those of you who actually appreciated the post I'm glad I could help. If you have any other questions please contact assist Thai Visa.

Edited September 2, 2017 by JandT

[jeab1980]

5 hours ago, BuckBee said:

You don't need the application form printed both sides, I print my own from the online pdf single sided and never had issue in 5yrs of using it and hand few out too and never had comeback . If can easily do duplex print then do it as belt and braces but otherwise not a concern in my experience. tuk-tuks indeed rip you off, if paying any more than 30baht or 1USD for small trip you being scammed, 50baht tops for run back to immi but that pointless as best using bus from bus station just up road same side as consulate and near junction as got pay and get on it eventually anyway .

online Savannakhet consulate application pdf > 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Ub2apq5-pfUVgxYjVET3RsUTg/view?usp=sharing

online lao visa on arrival pdf >

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7Ub2apq5-pfSXpfMzB4aGltdDQ/view?usp=sharing

I always double side it was told at Savannakhet some years ago it has to be double sided so thats what i do.

[JackThompson]

On 8/31/2017 at 10:48 PM, JandT said:

We plan on doing the marriage visa when this year is up. All we need is our american marriage certificate, an Affidavit of income which is very easy to get at the American embassy and then have the forms translated into Thai and then notarized at the Thai City Hall.

A note on this - For your one-year extension, or for a "conversion" of visa-type, you will need the translations "certified" by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  This can be done by mail - I did this recently with success.   Depending on your Immigration office (policies differ at each), you may also need the Income-Affadavit from the US-Embassy certified as having a valid embassy-consular's signature.  

 

You have some time now with your new visa, but when the time to change to a marriage-visa is about 3 months away, I would suggest getting your immigration-office's list of needed docs for that process.  Expect that on your 2nd visit, with the docs they asked for, they may ask for more, not mentioned on the "official" list.  Your 3rd trip is most likely to be the successful one, but you might get lucky on your 2nd. 

 

In some offices, some service-desks are controlled by those who would prefer you use an agent, (no required funds, etc needed), than to actually verify your legit-documents.  If the required-list of docs keeps changing and/or valid docs are rejected for made-up reasons, you will know this is the case.

Edited September 2, 2017 by JackThompson

[BuckBee]

9 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

I always double side it was told at Savannakhet some years ago it has to be double sided so thats what i do.

The back is only notes for the person applying and almost totally useless as outdated for current savannakhet regulations so applicants following that only likely have other doc issues, saw this earlier in year when had new requirements for tourist visa and packpackers confused as not matching the application form notes lol, consulate really needs update page 2 of that pdf  ! .

I never heard or read any need of duplex print in savannakhet or the website, only on this forum.

I not once had or seen any hassle using single sided printed sheet , poorly printed or scruffy forms different story, some people turn up with paperwork that looks like been filed in waste bin lol.

Is an extra precaution if do duplex as removes an easy refusal possibility should staff want give your application some hassle .

I never once had hassle and from what I seen it normally applicants that create situation that causes consulate staff get extra rude and fussy .

[jeab1980]

16 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

The back is only notes for the person applying and almost totally useless as outdated for current savannakhet regulations so applicants following that only likely have other doc issues, saw this earlier in year when had new requirements for tourist visa and packpackers confused as not matching the application form notes lol, consulate really needs update page 2 of that pdf  ! .

I never heard or read any need of duplex print in savannakhet or the website, only on this forum.

I not once had or seen any hassle using single sided printed sheet , poorly printed or scruffy forms different story, some people turn up with paperwork that looks like been filed in waste bin lol.

Is an extra precaution if do duplex as removes an easy refusal possibility should staff want give your application some hassle .

I never once had hassle and from what I seen it normally applicants that create situation that causes consulate staff get extra rude and fussy .

Well there you go a first for you. I handed everything in as normal he look at application turned it over and asked where back was? Handed me another application form double sided. Filled it in next to window passed it back to him smiled put my pictures onto it handed me back the old Application form. So i now double side it takes seconds and stops any possible hassle.

 

Edited September 2, 2017 by jeab1980

[theguyfromanotherforum]

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