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1 Year Education Visa "No Attendance" 50k = Fair?


Jackie2013

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Hi guys, 

I'm currently on a STV ending in November and I would like to stay longer. Unfortunately I'm under 50 and border-runs/flights ain't happening this year (IMHO). 

A agency that I perceive as legit and have good reviews, can solve a 1 year education visa "with no attendance" for 50k. 

Would you guys say that's a fair price or is it over the top? 

I'm sure many of you fellow board-member wants to be helpful recommending other alternatives such as Elite, Marriage or "go home". While I'm extremely grateful for other options, let's put that energy in another trade that someone, or me, makes :) Let's just talk about Education visa in this one and make it searchable for other users. Bless! 

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1 hour ago, Jackie2013 said:

A agency that I perceive as legit and have good reviews, can solve a 1 year education visa "with no attendance" for 50k.

you may see  them as legit but despite their ability to get that Visa you described it is not legit 

 

I have to keep reminding myself its a job :GoldenSmile1:
At Babydolls we are serious about fun

 

 

babydollsaddict.gif

 

 

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4 hours ago, Jackie2013 said:

Hi guys, 

I'm currently on a STV ending in November and I would like to stay longer. Unfortunately I'm under 50 and border-runs/flights ain't happening this year (IMHO). 

A agency that I perceive as legit and have good reviews, can solve a 1 year education visa "with no attendance" for 50k. 

Would you guys say that's a fair price or is it over the top? 

I'm sure many of you fellow board-member wants to be helpful recommending other alternatives such as Elite, Marriage or "go home". While I'm extremely grateful for other options, let's put that energy in another trade that someone, or me, makes :) Let's just talk about Education visa in this one and make it searchable for other users. Bless! 

Volunteer Visas are cheaper if you're going the dodgy/no attendance way anyway and there's no possibility of them deciding to test your English or check if you're actually attending. I think a volunteer visa is around 36k depending on the agent. I'd recommend Tik Tok Services or maybe Mot's but Mot's always quotes me a higher price for everything.

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2 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

Volunteer Visas are cheaper if you're going the dodgy/no attendance way anyway and there's no possibility of them deciding to test your English or check if you're actually attending. I think a volunteer visa is around 36k depending on the agent. I'd recommend Tik Tok Services or maybe Mot's but Mot's always quotes me a higher price for everything.


Thanks! When I needed help with 2 x Driving License both Mot's and TT quoted me quite high prices. I'll check with them what a ED visa might cost me. 

With 'Legit' I meant as in a service, albeit a shady one, that will be performed and it's not someone who will runaway with my money.

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6 minutes ago, Jackie2013 said:


Thanks! When I needed help with 2 x Driving License both Mot's and TT quoted me quite high prices. I'll check with them what a ED visa might cost me. 

With 'Legit' I meant as in a service, albeit a shady one, that will be performed and it's not someone who will runaway with my money.

If you insist on an ED visa, check with Pro Language School Pattaya as well. I think it's around 36k or less through them. They're across from Big C Extra and seemed very professional/friendly. You put down a deposit of 10k or something I think and pay the rest when you get your stamped passport back.

Edited by Ohyesuare
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As far as I know, unlike with the regular TR visa or exemption, the STV can't be converted to another type (authorities are explicit about this), so be extremely careful with any promises and don't give a substantial sum of money in advance.

While they still offer 60-day emergency Covid extensions for 1900 baht/pop why bother with more expensive stuff? Sure, those won't last forever, but at the point where they discontinue them, there might be more options available, such as a visa run.

Edited by bobblobfish
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1 minute ago, bobblobfish said:

As far as I know, unlike with the regular TR visa or exemption, the STV can't be converted to another type (authorities are explicit about this), so be extremely careful with any promises and don't give a substantial sum of money in advance.

While they still offer 60-day emergency Covid extensions for 1900 baht/pop why bother with more expensive stuff? Sure, those won't last forever, but you can cross that bridge when you come to it.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. 

Why bother? I'm not that confident that they will offer emergency extensions in december as I am now, hence my preparation. 

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Safest way would be to pay for an Elite Visa, that way you will not have any worries about a crack down like happened a few years ago.

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3 minutes ago, Roadglide said:

Safest way would be to pay for an Elite Visa, that way you will not have any worries about a crack down like happened a few years ago.

True, but a 5-year Elite visa for 600k baht is a bit of an overkill if you're not absolutely certain you'll use it for the entire duration.

If they offered a 1-year variant for 120k (basically same price but not all upfront), it would be far more attractive.

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8 hours ago, bobblobfish said:

True, but a 5-year Elite visa for 600k baht is a bit of an overkill if you're not absolutely certain you'll use it for the entire duration.

If they offered a 1-year variant for 120k (basically same price but not all upfront), it would be far more attractive.


Thanks for all the feedback guys. I checked with a local agent and the STV to ED was dead on arrival. I'll probably do a short stunt back home (1 month or so) and return with a regular TV.

Elite visa is great but honestly I'm thinking this next year will probably be my last year, for a while. 

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I had a 1 year ED visa that I used from age 49 to 50.  One year at the school cost 40K baht.  In order to activate the visa I had to be out of the country which I did at a Thai consulate in Denver, Co.  I actually went to class, 4 times a week for 2 hours.  The first 6 weeks was a lot of homework trying to memorize the alphabet and many words.   The teachers would take photos of you in class 2 or so times a week to prove that you are there.  They give you about 3 days absent per 90 days before you might have issues.  An Immigration officer will show up unannounced too, this happened all of 2 times during my year.  Thailand has a lot of holidays too.

Even though your visa is a 1 year ED visa you renew it every 90 days.  Luckily my school is on top of everything and gave me all the paperwork and stacks of photos of me in class and other documents to give to immigration.  You also will pay 1,900 baht every 90 days.  There were rumors about immigration quizzing your Thai language skills but this never happened to me.

Now we did have students that never really attended class, I would see their pics and paperwork when we signed in at class every.  I remember  one young guy that would show up maybe once a week and couldn’t speak jack shit.   We found out later that he and the “ghost” students were paying an extra 5K every 90 days to not show up.  TIT, This is Thailand but things also could go horribly wrong every 90 days when you renew things.  I see schools offer a cheaper yearly fee but be weary of their reputation.  Years ago it was much easier to pay for a Bullshit school and never attend but they cracked down on them...for the most part.

Currently many language schools are closed and mine closed for 3 months in the early corona days. We did Zoom classes for about a month but they suck.  Anyway I am now 50 so it is smooth sailing if the corona doesn’t get me.

Lastly the whole border run thing isn’t a practical option under current circumstances.  I did one to stretch out a tourist visa another 60 days years ago.

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Cosmic36 said:

I had a 1 year ED visa that I used from age 49 to 50.  One year at the school cost 40K baht.  In order to activate the visa I had to be out of the country which I did at a Thai consulate in Denver, Co.  I actually went to class, 4 times a week for 2 hours.  The first 6 weeks was a lot of homework trying to memorize the alphabet and many words.   The teachers would take photos of you in class 2 or so times a week to prove that you are there.  They give you about 3 days absent per 90 days before you might have issues.  An Immigration officer will show up unannounced too, this happened all of 2 times during my year.  Thailand has a lot of holidays too.

Even though your visa is a 1 year ED visa you renew it every 90 days.  Luckily my school is on top of everything and gave me all the paperwork and stacks of photos of me in class and other documents to give to immigration.  You also will pay 1,900 baht every 90 days.  There were rumors about immigration quizzing your Thai language skills but this never happened to me.

Now we did have students that never really attended class, I would see their pics and paperwork when we signed in at class every.  I remember  one young guy that would show up maybe once a week and couldn’t speak jack shit.   We found out later that he and the “ghost” students were paying an extra 5K every 90 days to not show up.  TIT, This is Thailand but things also could go horribly wrong every 90 days when you renew things.  I see schools offer a cheaper yearly fee but be weary of their reputation.  Years ago it was much easier to pay for a Bullshit school and never attend but they cracked down on them...for the most part.

Currently many language schools are closed and mine closed for 3 months in the early corona days. We did Zoom classes for about a month but they suck.  Anyway I am now 50 so it is smooth sailing if the corona doesn’t get me.

Lastly the whole border run thing isn’t a practical option under current circumstances.  I did one to stretch out a tourist visa another 60 days years ago.

 

 

Good points all-around. Thanks mate

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6 hours ago, Jackie2013 said:

Good points all-around. Thanks mate

This Lady might be able to help , when everybody was was saying I couldn't get driving license she sorted it . Will be using her to get started on which ever visa is best for me next. 

image.png.16cc4a8f84bb413d67cd9a834e4e2cc7.png

Edited by T-T-T
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I had the ED visa for years @ 30k/year opp Big C south Pattaya. They were reliable and legit. The only issue for many is when the immigration officer at table 5 will definitely ask you basic questions to verify if you can speak Thai. You have been warned. 

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25 minutes ago, Sharklasers said:

I had the ED visa for years @ 30k/year opp Big C south Pattaya. They were reliable and legit. The only issue for many is when the immigration officer at table 5 will definitely ask you basic questions to verify if you can speak Thai. You have been warned. 

I was lucky, other than my first 90 days, we were in covid mode and nobody wanted to talk or hang around there very long.  Some of the younger guys from my classes got quizzed a little.  I think most questions were about food or what you ate that day, Thai mentality.

Language schools are the only ED visa option that I am aware of in Pattaya.  Bangkok offers Muay Thai training/classes and Chiangmai has one called Combat training which were self defense courses taught by cops and ex military.  There may be some cooking ones somewhere but I am not sure.  
 

Some guys I went to class with had live in Thai GFs and could speak Thai pretty well.  They were much younger than me and caught on quickly.  Myself being out of school for nearly 25 years was slow and a bit of a dim bulb in class.  I am glad I learned some basics and it was a good way to stay in the country.  

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 30/05/2021 at 17:29, Ohyesuare said:

Volunteer Visas are cheaper if you're going the dodgy/no attendance way anyway and there's no possibility of them deciding to test your English or check if you're actually attending. I think a volunteer visa is around 36k depending on the agent. I'd recommend Tik Tok Services or maybe Mot's but Mot's always quotes me a higher price for everything.

Any more info on that?  Looking at getting one for my Filipina GF if I do an extended stay in Patts.  She's not going to want to go to any classes, anyway.

Is it available in Patts?  Any nationality restrictions or other "gotchas"?

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On 30/05/2021 at 21:29, Ohyesuare said:

Volunteer Visas are cheaper if you're going the dodgy/no attendance way anyway and there's no possibility of them deciding to test your English or check if you're actually attending. I think a volunteer visa is around 36k depending on the agent. I'd recommend Tik Tok Services or maybe Mot's but Mot's always quotes me a higher price for everything.

Volunteer visa is only 90 days anyway isn’t it?  
 

https://tteo.thaiembassy.org/th/publicservice/62390-non-immigrant-o-(volunteer)?page=5d7dc71915e39c072c004ea4&menu=5d7dc71915e39c072c004f47

Edited by Arnie85
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31 minutes ago, Arnie85 said:

90 days initially and then you can extended for another year or something and have to do 90 day reports which is usually included. All the agents quote 12-15 months.

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1 hour ago, Old Scratch said:

Any more info on that?  Looking at getting one for my Filipina GF if I do an extended stay in Patts.  She's not going to want to go to any classes, anyway.

Is it available in Patts?  Any nationality restrictions or other "gotchas"?

Talk with some agents and they can tell you all the details. Mots services, TikTok are both based in Pattaya or Maneerat.

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24 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

Maneerat

Has  a sign in the office 65K

I have to keep reminding myself its a job :GoldenSmile1:
At Babydolls we are serious about fun

 

 

babydollsaddict.gif

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Soi7 said:

Has  a sign in the office 65K

Seems way overpriced. They were also pretty rude to me when I asked a simple question but I thought I'd mention them anyway.

Edited by Ohyesuare
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20 hours ago, Old Scratch said:

Any more info on that?  Looking at getting one for my Filipina GF if I do an extended stay in Patts.  She's not going to want to go to any classes, anyway.

Is it available in Patts?  Any nationality restrictions or other "gotchas"?

An expat friend has done the same for his Filipina GF. Not a volunteer visa, but an Ed visa through The Language School in Jomtien. Cost is 45k/yr, plus 300B every 90 days for the 90 day report. After several years of "instruction" she still struggles to count to one in Thai. 

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1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

An expat friend has done the same for his Filipina GF. Not a volunteer visa, but an Ed visa through The Language School in Jomtien. Cost is 45k/yr, plus 300B every 90 days for the 90 day report. After several years of "instruction" she still struggles to count to one in Thai. 

Just worried about her getting "tested".  I just learned about the volunteer visa in this thread so thought that might be a better option?

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1 hour ago, Old Scratch said:

Just worried about her getting "tested".  I just learned about the volunteer visa in this thread so thought that might be a better option?

Just checked with my friend and this October it will be three years here on the Ed visa and she's not been tested once. Of course, YMMV.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I heard you can get an EV for Muay Thai. I'd do that in a second and I'd never miss a class! How cool would it be to live in Thailand, train in the morning, and enjoy the ladies all day? Sign me up!

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