Key Visa Monthly Visa Tips
Welcome to Key Visa’s monthly visa tips and in these monthly updates we shall be keeping you informed on current visa changes in Thailand and also taking your Thai partner overseas but in the past few months the concentration has fell solely on the changes to the visa structure in Thailand which has really been blown out of proportion with most visa categories to stay in Thailand not being affected as most of us recently thought they would. One of the most common visa types that has been affected currently is the education visa which seems to be a favorite for most Foreigners under the age of 50 years old but now more strict procedures have been put in to place to stop the system of being a student abused and below is a summary of what is now required and the procedure.
A student- education visa is predominately known and used by Foreigners wishing to learn the Thai language including reading, speaking and writing which is an arduous task but taken up by many as it helps in business and general communication in Thailand and is a huge bonus especially if you live alone in Thailand. The new Immigration rules now set out from August 2014 state that a student on an educational visa may only reside in the Kingdom of Thailand for the duration of a year at a time and after one year if the student wishes to continue their studies they must leave Thailand to re start the visa process again. When you start the process of obtaining an educational visa you must start by attending an accredited language school who will guide you on the fees involved and they should furnish you with the correct documentation from the Ministry of education to travel to a Thai Consulate outside of Thailand, most Foreigners already residing in Thailand choose a neighboring Country like Laos or Cambodia so they can obtain a Non Immigrant ED visa for education purposes only and the visa lasts for 90 days which is needed to start the process so when the Foreigner re enters Thailand on the new ED visa they will receive their first 90 days and the process begins.
Each education course has rules on how many hours you have to attend the school to qualify for a further 90 days that will be given by the Thai Immigration Bureau so make sure you keep the hours up and also do your best to learn and the reason is now every 90 days you have to report to the Thai Immigration to receive your next 90 days stamp and during this process you will probably be tested by the Immigration Officer so if you are learning the Thai language they will expect you to know the basics in communication and maybe writing and reading and as the course develops and you require further extensions you can guarantee that the tests will become more intense so just turning up for a stamp is a thing of the past you must prove to the Immigration Officer that you are abiding to the rules of the visa or face problems getting a further extension.
As previously stated you will be given three extensions of 90 days which all together adds up to a year and if you wish to continue studies in Thailand you must start a new education course and obtain documents from the school as you did the first time and leave Thailand to obtain another 90 day Non immigrant ED visa and then the process will re start thus giving the Thai Immigration a better control of the system and to wean out the students that are abusing the system to solely reside in Thailand.
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