Visa Assistance

If you are currently outside Thailand, then you will need to get a visa before coming into the country. An added advantage of enrolling on a TEFL for Target Learners Course is that visa assistance can usually be provided. Indeed, if you are European, American, Canadian, Australian, South African or a New Zealander or Scandanavian, it may be possible to help you acquire up to a one-year visa for Thailand – provided that you apply while you are still abroad.

The kind of visa you need basically depends on what you intend to do when you get here.

You have three options:

1. A 30 day stamp in your passport, given at the point of entry into Thailand. No hassle to get but a problem when your stay is longer than 30 days as this “visa” cannot be extended, so you would have to journey into a neighbouring country and then go to the Thai Consulate there and acquire another new visa stamp before starting , or mid way through your course. This is both inconvenient and involves you in extra expense and is not to be recommended, if you have an alternative.

2. A 60-day tourist visa , which can be extended by 30 days. You must apply at your nearest Thai Embassy or Consulate outside of Thailand and request a 60-day tourist visa, specifying at least the approximate date you plan on arriving here as a tourist. This visa is generally granted automatically and fast.

This 60-day tourist visa will see you through the 6 weeks of our TEFL for Target Learner Groups Course, and also is easily extended in Bangkok for an additional 30 days, giving you 90 days in total. This means that you can enjoy a month or more of actual holiday here before you start your course; or, after finishing the course. On expiry of your Tourist visa or whenever you accept an offer of employment (whichever is the sooner), you will need to go to a neighboring country (e.g. Malaysia or Singapore) and acquire a Non-Immigrant B visa, which allows you to work legally in Thailand. You cannot do this on your own as the school must provide you with the necessary paperwork needed to help you do that.

Should you "go this route", you will probably regard the short period you are away as a very nice "holiday" period itself, as you will have earned it by completing all of your course requirements! You will not be able to apply for a work permit and teacher’s license (the other requirements of working as a teacher here in Thailand) unless you have a Non Immigrant B visa.

A word of warning: There is currently some question regarding changes in Thai Immigration law as to how many of these “stamps” or tourist visa’s you are allowed to have in your passport over a period of one year and there have been reports of “long stayers” being turned away at the border.

3. Probably the best option, if you are seriously considering working in Thailand after successful completion of your TEFL/TESOL Course, is to obtain a Non Immigrant B visa before arrival. This means that you don’t have to go out the country again, to convert your Tourist Visa to a Non Immigrant B, before you can legally work. Please note, you cannot get a Non Immigrant visa inside Thailand, you must apply outside the country.

You will definitely need help in order to obtain this, as it comes down to applying at exactly the right place and having all the right papers. After your successful enrollment in our TEFL course and payment of deposit, you will be given advice on who to contact, if this is the option you choose.

A Non Immigrant visa when obtained, is either granted as a single entry 3 month visa, or a multiple-entry ("B" as in business), and is usually valid 12 months, (with each of the 4 entries good for a 3-month period). A 12 month visa means that, after each 3 months, you will need to "step across" a neighboring country's border (Ranong is closest to Hua Hin and there are weekly organized trips with some of the local tour operators) and then get stamped back into Thailand again.

After completing your TEFL course and accepting a job with a school which will help you get a Teacher's License and Work Permit, you will no longer need to worry about a Non Immigrant Visa, as you should receive a one-year extension each year, for as long as you continue to teach for your sponsoring school in Thailand. Getting a Non Immigrant visa before you come in, if possible, is a good idea, however, as it gives you plenty of time to choose just the right school to work for, and you are not incurring additional costs, or losing valuable time going out of the country again, to change your visa to a Non Immigrant one.

You cannot usually acquire a Non Immigrant visa on your own, as visas required for taking employment in Thailand have recently become much more difficult to acquire through regular channels abroad, owing to fears of admitting undesirable persons.

If you decide to try to apply for a Non-Immigrant B Visa all by yourself before you leave your country, your chances for success are not good; and if you fail the consulate will now know that you plan to come and work here, so even a tourist visa application could be declined!

For details on Ranong, the nearest border crossing to Hua Hin, (not to be confused with Rayong) click on the link below. Ranong is approximately 6 hours away by car/mini bus and is only good for 30 days “visa” stamps or for getting a re-entry stamp, every 3 months, for the 12 month Non Immigrant B Visa. The Ranong Immigration border post cannot issue Non Immigrant or 60 day Tourist Visas, as this must be done at a proper Thai Embassy/Consulate, somewhere like Malaysia or Singapore.


Please be aware that Thai Immigration laws are subject to change and the information contained on these pages are intended as a guideline only.

For further, comprehensive Thai visa information go to www.thaivisa.com