ED Visa PROBLEMS in Laos! Any recent experiences / advice?

[brokenbone]

steer clear from thailand if you arent stuck here already

[Crazy Noobie]

I just finished my trip to Laos and was successful in getting my 4th Education Visa. See my comments at: 

 

[Captain 776]

They KNOW 99% of ED Visa is not legitimate.

Its a way to get a Visa when not old enough for Retirement.

 

So expect problems.

[Caldera]

41 minutes ago, Captain 776 said:

They KNOW 99% of ED Visa is not legitimate.

Then why approve the schools and their programs in question? This is ultimately a scam. People pay for courses that do have the Ministry of Education's stamp of approval, but then fail to get a visa based on that extensive paperwork.

[ScottBooth]

maybe try Penang,but go thorough one of the agents?

[brokenbone]

2 hours ago, Captain 776 said:

They KNOW 99% of ED Visa is not legitimate.

Its a way to get a Visa when not old enough for Retirement.

 

So expect problems.

ed visa is every bit as legitimate as extension on being 50+,

the real question is: why do thai immigration discriminate on

grounds of age ?

just make it a flat fee with a proof you are making money from abroad regardless of age

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, Caldera said:

Then why approve the schools and their programs in question? This is ultimately a scam. People pay for courses that do have the Ministry of Education's stamp of approval, but then fail to get a visa based on that extensive paperwork.

I believe they are approved by a completely different ministry. As you say, Min of Ed. They do not issue Visas, that is Min of Foreign Affairs. Another factor comes into play too, the applicant and his record. 

[Ebumbu]

5 hours ago, Crazy Noobie said:

I just finished my trip to Laos and was successful in getting my 4th Education Visa. See my comments at: 

 

 

Cool. Good to know. I can speak Thai while fighting in the bar (hand-to-hand-combat visa). 

 

 

[mosan]

4 hours ago, Caldera said:

Then why approve the schools and their programs in question? This is ultimately a scam. People pay for courses that do have the Ministry of Education's stamp of approval, but then fail to get a visa based on that extensive paperwork.

Somehow the sequence seems backwards to me.  Why in the world would anyone pay for a course prior to knowing you're going to be allowed to stay here!  Something is not right.

Edited September 12, 2019 by mosan
Clarity

[sanemax]

12 hours ago, mosan said:

Somehow the sequence seems backwards to me.  Why in the world would anyone pay for a course prior to knowing you're going to be allowed to stay here!  Something is not right.

To apply for an EDvisa at an embassy , you need to have enrolled into a year long school.

The school will not enroll you until youve paid in full

[Caldera]

57 minutes ago, mosan said:

Somehow the sequence seems backwards to me.  Why in the world would anyone pay for a course prior to knowing you're going to be allowed to stay here!  Something is not right.

Back in the day when I went to college in the U.S., I had to enroll with the college first, got paperwork from them and subsequently used that to apply for my student visa. That seems to be the procedure all over the world, so Thailand doesn't stand out in that regard.

[mosan]

27 minutes ago, sanemax said:

To apply for an EDvisa at an embassy , you need to have enrolled into a year long school.

The school will not enroll you until youve paid in full

My position still stands.  Considering you may be refused a visa or even refused entry even after you have the visa just seems like a gamble to me.  It is an ass backwards process-one is simply taking a chance that things will work out...

[mosan]

Just now, Caldera said:

Back in the day when I went to college in the U.S., I had to enroll with the college first, got paperwork from them and subsequently used that to apply for my student visa. That seems to be the procedure all over the world, so Thailand doesn't stand out in that regard.

Ah, but did you pay x number of dollars, for an entire year up front, and in cash to enroll and leave the country only to be refused the student visa and or refused entry back into the country because your other entries "may" appear dodgy???

Edited September 12, 2019 by mosan
clarity

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, mosan said:

Ah, but did you pay x number of dollars, for an entire year up front, and in cash to enroll and leave the country only to be refused the student visa and or refused entry back into the country because your other entries "may" appear dodgy???

When I enrolled, I did have to pay tuition for the first term (and a lot more than what people pay for language schools in Thailand, obviously). If I had been refused the student visa, I'd imagine that I had been given a refund - I wouldn't count on that in Thailand.

 

In Thailand's case, the problem is that the Ministry of Education doesn't do its job properly and that consulates take it out on individual applicants instead of working on fixing this mess internally. I don't think that the process in itself is unusual, it just doesn't work as it should and needs to get fixed.

[Max69xl]

On 9/11/2019 at 2:21 PM, CangguSurfer said:

Yeah, this whole situation is quite frustrating (like most bureaucratic things here in the Kingdom are getting). 

 

My school is highly regarded and has never been denied approval by the Ministry of Education, yet the Consulates seem to have completely arbitrary criteria that changes from one day to the next and is rarely documented on their official websites!  Even worse, if they do grant the Visa, the you have to deal with Airport Immigration who can still throw a "wrench in the works" and deny entry.  This issue isn't even confined to ED Visas but includes the issuance of 2nd Tourist Visas.

 

It's all very hard to understand.  I mean, I can appreciate them denying a visa if they think the applicant might be secretly seeking to work in Thailand, or that they don't have the financial means to live here, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  It's just arbitrary, and there are no unified criteria among the different Consulates.  Each seems to have their own set of rules, and they are constantly changing from one day to the next.

 

This problem is not confined just to getting an ED VIsa or Tourist Visa but seems to permeate every bureaucratic organization in Thailand from the Police Departments to Post Offices to Customs to banks.  They are all the same; no set system wide rules and guidelines.  Rules and guidelines that are constantly changing from one day to the next, bureaucratic screw-ups that take weeks or even months to fix, and an unbelievable amount of open corruption to boot!

 

My patience in dealing with all of this is really starting to grow thin now. It sure wasn't like this when I first came here, but it just keeps getting worse and worse!  

 

Perhaps it's just time to move on to a place like Vietnam where foreigners are valued for what they can contribute, and shown a little bit more respect than Thailand seems willing to offer lately.  I think the Kingdom might be forgetting where most of their gross domestic product really comes from.

 

"I think the Kingdom might be forgetting where most of their gross domestic product really comes from"

I don't think people with ED-visas contributes as much as you think. 

[Max69xl]

On 9/11/2019 at 3:04 PM, mosan said:

It seems to me that the foreigners here-and those still arriving-haven't figured out that they are not the "valued" guests that they thought they were...

When were people visiting Thailand on endless ED-visas ever  "valued" guests? 

[fforest1]

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

When were people visiting Thailand on endless ED-visas ever  "valued" guests? 

10 years ago just about every one was a valued guest....Now almost no one is a valued guest except the Chinese and Indians......You retirement visa guys are no more valued than a Tourist or ED visa....

[mosan]

53 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

When were people visiting Thailand on endless ED-visas ever  "valued" guests? 

For the record, I was generally referring to all foreigners. Those from the western societies seem to think they're valued more than other groups.  That may have been the case in the past, but that ship sailed many, many years ago.  Disclosure: I first came here in 1972. Visited frequently (at least every other year since and move here full time in 2000. By the mid to late 1980s the new trajectory was already in place.  Anybody that's been here less than 5 years would never see the changes coming unless they were really paying attention.

[fforest1]

38 minutes ago, mosan said:

By the mid to late 1980s the new trajectory was already in place.  Anybody that's been here less than 5 years would never see the changes coming unless they were really paying attention.

Ok I was not here in the 80s or 90s but things were still pretty good In the mid 2000s I think.....

[sanemax]

12 hours ago, fforest1 said:

10 years ago just about every one was a valued guest....Now almost no one is a valued guest except the Chinese and Indians......You retirement visa guys are no more valued than a Tourist or ED visa....

Why do you think that Chinese &Indians are more valued than other nations peoples?

[Max69xl]

57 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

10 years ago just about every one was a valued guest....Now almost no one is a valued guest except the Chinese and Indians......You retirement visa guys are no more valued than a Tourist or ED visa....

Well,we don't have problems with Immigration same as "tourists" doing border runs all the time or people with phony ED-visas. I think that says a lot.

[EricTh]

On 9/11/2019 at 4:03 PM, Gumballl said:

The ED visa is for those that want to study in Thailand, not for those that merely want to live here. Your last paragraph makes it quite clear that you could give one iota about the education.

 

 

 

It's quite obvious that after the embassies stop giving out affidavits this year that most of the ex-retirees or ex-marriage visas started going for ed visa instead.

 

If they are really serious about learning Thai, they would have done that when they were on retirement or marriage visa for the past years.

 

 

Edited September 12, 2019 by EricTh

[EricTh]

On 9/11/2019 at 1:46 PM, jspill said:

If it's your first ever Ed visa and you've been in Thailand less than 6 months in the last 12 you might be ok in Laos. But yes there are lots of threads recently about people denied especially if they don't meet those criteria, you can probably find with a search. Some were even denied with less of a visa history than that and / or told their school has been blacklisted completely. Some people are now applying in Vietnam instead. 

I don't know why people don't apply in Cambodia or Malaysia? Malaysia would have excellent facilities and lodging.

 

 

 

[EricTh]

33 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Why do you think that Chinese &Indians are more valued than other nations peoples?

Chinese holds the largest tourists number in Thailand and they are big spenders. The second largest is from Malaysia and NOT India.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand#Statistics

 

I hardly see any Indian tourists.

Edited September 12, 2019 by EricTh

[EricTh]

14 hours ago, easydoor said:

"'

Why not extend your "retirement visa" NO FUNDS? So you are just another one who wants advise to escape the rules by ED visa.... thank you, you just make  it better for honest and correct people.

If he had used the 65k monthly transfer, that would have been easier because the immigration doesn't need any embassy letter for that with no questions asked where that money comes from except from out of Thailand.

 

It could be recycled money.

 

BTW, I know of a learn Thai class where many people paid money for the classes but didn't attend and they are on ed visa....

 

So getting ed visa seems to be easy for them.

Edited September 12, 2019 by EricTh

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

I don't know why people don't apply in Cambodia or Malaysia? Malaysia would have excellent facilities and lodging.

 

 

 

It seems it doesn't matter where you apply for the ED-visa. Immigration seems very suspicious about the whole thing. 

[Max69xl]

57 minutes ago, EricTh said:

If he had used the 65k monthly transfer, that would have been easier because the immigration doesn't need any embassy letter for that with no questions asked where that money comes from except from out of Thailand.

 

It could be recycled money.

 

BTW, I know of a learn Thai class where many people paid money for the classes but didn't attend and they are on ed visa....

 

So getting ed visa seems to be easy for them.

It isn't that easy anymore. That's quite obvious. 

[Tim K]

Have you considered getting tourist visa and then converting it to ED at Bangkok or other IOs?

 

When I got here first time, I got 30 days free stamp, then TV from Phnom Penh.

Extended TV for 1 month a week after arriving, valid until 6 Jan 2018.

 

Then, on 25 Dec 2017 I got ED visa without leaving the country at Phuket IO. (for 13000 THB, but no visa run which would be 7000 including visa fee and everything).

 

Of course the language school helped with the procedure.

 

btw Not many people go to Phnom Penh, because of longer processing time, 3 days.

I'm sure they will approve your ED.

I submitted "somewhat real" outbound ticket from Thailand, and my bank statement showed only 700USD instead of required 1000 USD,

but the kind old lady just nodded and said ok.

 

I am thinking about obtaining ED visa at Hua Hin, and thought if they won't convert TV to ED on the spot,

then I would go to Laos, but now I think if not Laos then I would try P-P.

 

Decent hotel with small pool was 18$ and they provide a free bicycle, easy to go anywhere in 5km radius, including the embassy.

Edited September 12, 2019 by Tim K

[jacko45k]

14 hours ago, Ebumbu said:

 

Cool. Good to know. I can speak Thai while fighting in the bar (hand-to-hand-combat visa). 

 

 

Thais don't use their hands!

[Gumballl]

On 9/11/2019 at 6:33 AM, Hackney35 said:

Why anyone would want to pay that amount of money to live in Thailand is beyond me!

All these type threads have too many old people with retirement visas getting on the morale high ground cos they are old and can get an easy visa if they have small income (pension) from home every month flowing in.

 We should be trying to help each other against the ridiculous ever changing immigration system not turning against each other. 

Sorry, I am not retired yet, and I sure heck am not running a charity. If person can't rub two satang together, then perhaps they should not be visiting Thailand, much less attempting to live here.