I am looking to return to Thailand in a few months to stay and work for a while. How long, is dependent on work but it will be for a minimum of six months, but possibly a year or two if I can secure something decent.
I have worked as a TEFL teacher before and will initially work casually in language schools before possibly looking at a 12-month contract in a school in April/May. I have a degree, TEFL and I am married to a Thai who is coming back with me.
So, what visa should I apply for before I fly off? My options are I guess the following:
- Get an Non-Immigrant B visa from the Liverpool Consulate. I believe all you need is a letter offering employment and I could probably get one from an ex-employer in LOS. Should I go for multi-entry bearing in mind I might end up with a steady job with a WP in May or would this be a waste of money?
- Get a Non-Immigrant O visa as I am married to a local. Are these easy to get? Can they be converted into a B visa if you start working officially? Any difference in price or entry rules etc?
- Tourist visa. Is this the fool proof route if I just want casual work but may eventually go official? (I doubt it but worth throwing out there!)
Any info would be most appreciated!
A multiple entry non-immigrant B visa would be great. Each entry is good for 90 days of stay. At one of your last entries you can go for an extension of the permission of temporary stay based on employment.Originally Posted by wildbill
I don't know how easy you can get one at the Liverpool Consulate but if you can get a multiple entry it would have the same benefits as the non-immigrant B. It's not about a conversion but about an extension op stay. Either based on employment or having a Thai spouse.
http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/paperwo...05-2551-a.html (Extensions of Stay. The Official Immigration Rules. 777/2551 and 305/2551)
Both Tourist Visas and Visa Exemptions can be converted into non-immigrant B visas.
http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/paperwo...-teachers.html (Changing a Tourist Visa or Visa Exemption into a Non-Immigrant B visa for teachers)
The multi-entry B sounds like the best option although I seem to remember you having to start all over again if you got a different job and having to bus it to Laos to the Embassy?
Are visas on arrival still 30 days and can these be renewed at the border for three times or have those rules changed too?
---Update---
Just checked on the Liverpool Consulate site and it appears that you can only get a multi-entry B with a WP. See link: http://www.royalthaiconsul.com/visas.htm
Am I better off getting a multi-entry O? What's all this bullshit about having to leave the country for 48 hours every 90 days? Talk about hoop jumping!
If you're going for an extension of stay, then that's the case but I thought you were thinking about on-and-off work.
http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004...78-2551_en.pdfOrder of RTP No. 778/2551, dated November 25, 2008
Any holder of a passport or a substitute passport whose nationality falls under the category for which the Minister permits a temporary stay for tourism purposes, by consent of the Cabinet, shall, according to Clause 13 (3) of the Ministerial Regulation Stipulating the Criteria, Procedures, and Conditions for Verification, Exemption, and Change of Visas B.E. 2545 (A.D. 2002), dated August 16, 2002, be granted multiple entries. The permitted period of temporary stay for each entry shall not exceed thirty days from the date of entry into the Kingdom. However, an exception is made in the case of travelling into the Kingdom through immigration checkpoints at borders with neighboring countries, whereby the permitted period of temporary stay in the Kingdom for each entry shall not exceed fifteen days from the date of entry into the Kingdom.
Also worth mentioning that my passport expires Sept 2013. Should I apply for a new one before going or are these easy enough to get from the Consulate out there? Can you get a multi-entry visa on a passport with less than a year to run?
Just the other day, hubby and I discussed me going back to Thailand from December to April or May. Hubby is Thai. I did have a marriage visa, a Non-O, for one year while we were both there. Now that we are both out of the country, I had to check into getting a Non-O based on marriage to a Thai and it's again pretty straightforward. The difference with me this time is that I won't be working.
As you have seen, if you go for the Non-B, you will have the headaches of having to leave the country, and possible issues with school giving you, or possibly not giving you the work permit. So IMO, I think it would be best for you to go on the Non-O based on marriage to a Thai.
Oh, re your passport expiring next year, just do that a few months before, in Bangkok. I did that twice while I was in BKK - the Canadian passport only lasts 5 years.
So those on a Non-Imm O don't have to leave Thailand every few months but those on a B do? I know when I had a B and a WP I only had to sign in at immigration every 90 days but I am guessing that was because of the WP?
Do schools (both casual and contracted positions) prefer B visas to O visas or does it not really matter? If you get a WP do you have to scrap the O visa and start again with a B visa and a run to Laos or similar?
Its a bit confusing!
It IS confusing. With the Non-O, you don't need to leave the country, just go to Immigration every three months to check in. I think you can also check in via mail too, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Since your work situation is a little bit iffy, in the sense that it will be part time, and anything can happen with work situations in Thailand, I would suggest just applying for the Non-O based on marriage. This will give you a 3 month visa at the start, then a one year extension after this, so you get 15 months.
Get a new one before you travel. For a Brit, getting a new passport while in Asia is a royal pain in the posterior and cannot be done locally.
.
Looking more likely that this is going to be just a six month jaunt (as I have been offered a career break from my current job) with some casual TEFL work thrown in to stop me eating up my savings before Christmas. Probably going to keep the old passport (as its got until Sept 2013 on it and would cost £80 to renew) and get a Non Imm O visa based on marriage.
However I was just wondering how it works if I leave Thailand during this six month period? Do you just get stamped in at the border or is there more hoops to jump through?
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Bookmarks