Visa Information for English Teachers in Thailand
Sponsorship & Assistance for Non-Immigrant Business Visa
The teachers enrolled for the Teach and Travel Program with American TESOL
Institute are
expected to bear the entire cost involved in acquiring the Non-Immigrant B
Visa.
Teachers enrolled for the Teach and Travel and teaching project with ATI are allowed to enter Thailand on a free 30 day transit Visa. But in order to acquire work permit, it is necessary to obtain the Non-Immigrant B Visa. The best option for the teachers is to collect Non-Immigrant B Visas back home, issued by Thai consulate or embassy, shortly before departure. Alternatively, the South Africans need to visit Malaysia and others, Laos to bag a Non-Immigrant B Visa through visa run, while in Thailand.
ATI will also assist those TESOL trainees who could not land in Thailand with a Visa. To secure a 90 day single entry Non-Immigrant B Visa from Laos. For a Visa trip to Laos, a teacher is expected to cough up about 5000 – 6000 (approximately) baht that covers transportation, accommodation, Laos Visa, and Thai Non-Immigrant B Visa. It is necessary to pay the cost to American TESOL Institute in advance and also follow the set schedule prepared by American TESOL Institute.
American TESOL Institute aims at sending the entire set of relevant Visa papers to the
respective Thai Embassy / Consulate for processing, 15 days in advance,
before the ESL teachers land. Therefore, those who have travel plans
elsewhere before landing in Thailand may not get the Non Immigrant B visa
from the third country with the papers sent for the Visa! (If you are
traveling in Asia before landing in Thailand). The alternative is to enter
Thailand with 60-days Tourist Visa (30 days Visa on arrival is not
recommended) and eventually get it transformed in Thailand, else appear for
a Visa-run. The charges involved would approximately sum up to 5000 – 6000
baht.
Important Note:-
* The Teach & Travel Project Group starting, please note you are going to
teach in a school group; this school operates as ESL providers to Thai
Government & Private Schools all over Thailand. This Group will also give
you a specialized 3-5 days training in Bangkok after the you have completed
the Online TESOL and landed in Thailand. Recently we have noticed that when
you apply for the Non Immigrant B visa in your country and also get the
same, in your visa the school name is mentioned where you are going to
teach. This means you are bound by law to teach in the same school and that
school location only. If you are not doing that after landing in Thailand
then you need to go for cancelling the visa and apply for fresh visa again
from the nearest Thai embassy. This is a big hassle, and to avoid this
hassle we have worked out a solution from last semester.
You are requested to apply for a simple 60 day's tourist Visa from your home
country Thai embassy or any other country where you are presently traveling.
The School will convert your visa from Tourist Visa to Non Immigrant B visa
in Thailand or by getting you a Visa run trip to Laos. This will not only
solve the problem of cancelling visa, but will also allow you to convert in
country instead of again going out of Thailand. Secondly the cost factor
also. The cost of Tourist Visa and conversion comes to much less! please
come [prepared with 6000 THB for this purpose.
Work Permit
Work Permit can be applied for, only after the teacher has secured the
Non-Immigrant B Visa. Application is forwarded, approximately after 2 weeks
of teaching. The TESOL trained teachers assigned for ESL teaching in local
schools pay for the copies of educational documents, passport pages, health
certificate and photographs, whereas the school clears the processing fee in
fetching the work permit.
*In the case of shifting to a different school (different province) once the work permit has been arranged for, the teacher is responsible for bearing the cost of a new work permit.
