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GeraldArno

My girlfriend (Vietnamese) and I (Austrian) are moving to Phuket this year.. 

We want to get an EDU VISA. How do we obtain one?

Thanks!

Gravitas

There isnt one for that category, you come under the tourist requirements unless you are aged 55 and over.

GeraldArno

Gravitas wrote:

There isnt one for that category, you come under the tourist requirements unless you are aged 55 and over.


I forgot to mention that we want to get an EDU VISA. We are good to study Thai for a few hours a week.

Gravitas

As there are changes to this visa perhaps you should read about them here:

http://thaivisa.thailand-blogs.com/educ … a-changes/

GeraldArno

So it's possible to study in Phuket? I can see ,t's 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. That's a lot of time.

How about a business visa? What are the requirements here?

Gravitas

Take a look here to find answers to your question:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=139896

GeraldArno

I don't want to be employed. I want to start a business like selling Vietnamese food.

cthierrymk

GeraldArno wrote:

I don't want to be employed. I want to start a business like selling Vietnamese food.


To do business in Thailand you need to understand the law as it is not simple for foreigners, and you will need a Thai partner , start to have look at the 3 links below ( board of investment and ministry of foreign affairs ) :

Types of Business Organizations
http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=set … anizations

Below is another link in line with this topic

What You Need to Know About Setting up a Business in Thailand
http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=set … a_business

Business Visa ( work or start business both cases are explained )
http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4 … a-%22B%22-(for-Business-and.html

happyhour

GeraldArno wrote:

I don't want to be employed. I want to start a business like selling Vietnamese food.


Why you don't look yourself for the right informations here in the blog or just google.

You got some useful links but commenting like a kid.

Gravitas

He just wants a short cut and an easy life - forget Thailand if that is the requirements!!

Some people expect to be "special cases", and not fit into any rules. But as experienced expats have attested, there are usually no special cases.

stumpy

No short cuts to an easy life in Thailand. After coming and going in Asia for over 40 years I agree with what Gravitas and happy hour have said.

You also need to read through and understand the information that cthierrymk has given. Complicated, time consuming paperwork trail.

GeraldArno

Will take a look at the 3 links you sent me. Thanks for your effort.

GeraldArno

cthierrymk wrote:
GeraldArno wrote:

I don't want to be employed. I want to start a business like selling Vietnamese food.


To do business in Thailand you need to understand the law as it is not simple for foreigners, and you will need a Thai partner , start to have look at the 3 links below ( board of investment and ministry of foreign affairs ) :

Types of Business Organizations
http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=set … anizations

Below is another link in line with this topic

What You Need to Know About Setting up a Business in Thailand
http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=set … a_business

Business Visa ( work or start business both cases are explained )
http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4 … a-%22B%22-(for-Business-and.html


Thanks buddy.

The first two links are down. The third is working.

The last link was very helpful. It says there's a 20k Baht start-up capital needed. That is no problem.

However there's a lot of stuff that these links don't clear up.. like what's required for me to employ my Vietnamese girlfriend or is it possible to have her as a key partner?

Happynthailand

I think you read the start up caital wrong it should 2 million THB

and no you can't employ you Vietnamese girl friend nor can she work in Thailand

an to get an ed vias you have apply at the school,they give you the paper work for the vias

cthierrymk

GeraldArno wrote:

Thanks buddy.

The first two links are down. The third is working.

The last link was very helpful. It says there's a 20k Baht start-up capital needed. That is no problem.

However there's a lot of stuff that these links don't clear up.. like what's required for me to employ my Vietnamese girlfriend or is it possible to have her as a key partner?


I retype the links

Type of Business
http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=set … anizations

Setting up a business
http://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=set … a_business

You don't really understand the law : there are many differences about the rules to get Business visa, and getting work permit to work legally in Thailand ( I did not provide any links for this topic but I explain below ), as well as the type of business you want to set up :

The rule for work permit is :  for every 2 million THB in paid up registered capital one permit can be issued.

RATIO between Thai employees and Foreigners : The minimum number of Thai employees per Work Permit is four.

In your case : you will need 4 M THB just for 2 work permits NOT to set up your business and NOT for VISA, PLUS
you will need to employ 8 Thai Citizens.

Now I think your dream is over.... and you will NOT as a foreigner have control of the company !!!

GeraldArno wrote:

The last link was very helpful. It says there's a 20k Baht start-up capital needed. That is no problem.


Last link was about Business Visa and has nothing to do about the structure of the company or capital, you mixed everything reading quick, Thailand laws are very complicated to understand.

In others words, to get any type of Visa in Thailand you have to meet a financial requirement as example : Retirement Visa is 65,000 THB per month or 800,000 THB per year, for Spouse Visa married with Thai National, 40,000 THB per month or 400,000 THB per year..... there is absolutely no link with work permit or business...

And whichever the requirement for Business Visa, you will have to declare a minimum salary depending on your nationality which can be as high as 50,000 THB per month, even you don't get paid this salary you will have to pay taxes based on this salary !!!.

Minimum Salary Requirements per Nationality

European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, and U.S.A. ( 50,000 THB / month).
South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong ( 45,000 THB / month).
Asian Countries, South America, Countries in Eastern Europe, Countries in Central America, Mexico, Turkey, Russia and South Africa ( 35,000 THB / month).
African Countries, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam ( 25,000 THB / month).

Happynthailand

The rule for work permit is :  for every 2 million THB in paid up registered capital one permit can be issued.

In your case : you will need 4 M THB just for 2 work permits NOT to set up your business and NOT for VISA, PLUS
you will need to employ 8 Thai Citizens.

it doesn't say any thing about 20K

Never done that

If you have the money, maybe look into.
"Thailand Elite easy access 500k THB card"

That give 1 person 5 years stay in Thailand, simple and easy.



Or do like many others, use the Tourist Visa 2 or 3 entry.
Every entry give 60 days, Extend at Immigration for 30 day more, do a boarder run and get a new entry.

So 60+30 days, boarder run and you get 60 days + 30 days = 180 days.

If you have 3 entry that 270 days.

Gravitas

Never Done That - Reports are coming in that Thailand and Malaysia have changed their handling of "visa runs" and they are now much more stringent and do not give extensions on the basis you mention if people do a couple of visa runs. I think the days are over of using Tourist visas to live in either country.

Never done that

As a  Extension for Tourist Visa is done at a Immigration Office inside Thailand, i do see the problem you talking about.
As That have nothing to do with other country's at all.

Laos give Tourist Visa 2 Entry, They some time want to see a income letter from once Embassy, So they know you not here to work.

I know some people on Tourist Visa for +5 years, And they still don´t have problem.

Thailand have not change anything about Tourist Visa. Visa run have nothing to do with Tourist Visa.

But have change things about 30 days, Visa run for new 30 days. And even so many people is confuse about the 2 things, there are not the same thing.

KhomKhom

Sorry son but you are in for a world of hurt trying to start a food biz or any biz in Thailand, forget it, you are not ready is 2 hrs study is too much for you.
Get the Thai Elite card, see web, and relax.   Otherwise, just tour.

Pigman58

Like many people on here, I've seen young people coming to Thailand thinking they are going to live an easy life, only for reality to strike, sending them home poorer but wiser. If they have one, their "great" business idea works no better here than it would in their home country, and needs just as much hard graft to get going, and does not allow them to spend half the year travelling around SE Asia,  Thailand is not paradise, it's not easy to get permission to stay here (unless you qualify for a retirement visa), and starting (or even worse, buying one from another farang) a bar / restaurant is a one way ticket to financial ruin.

The government are tightening up the visa rules - for the Ed visa, they expect you to actually learn Thai or whatever you are supposed to be studying - and the days of endless border runs will doubtless come to an end in the next few years.

Sorry but you've got to be like everybody else - live and work in the real world. Listen to the advice others here have given you, and take off those rose tinted spectacles.

stumpy

Pigman58

Your post says it all.  :top:

Godfree

The Thai language school you choose will get an EDU visa for you. Just come on your tourist visa and they will handle the rest.
Remember to bring originals AND good copies of all your documents, degrees, certificates and licenses. That makes the process much easier.
You can read more about visas here:http://www.thailandretirementhelpers.com/a-cautionary-thai-visa-tale/.
Let me know if you need more detailed help.

fang37

What visa you desire & which visa you qualify for can be vastly different.

Visas here are relatively easy to obtain once you complete some research. Which visa/s am I eligible for?

Advance to "Go".

bodacious

good question! so some information to start? married? retried? income?
I am married and working on my third visa, so that I can get a one yr visa. because of my situation I had to get 3, 90day visas. then can get the 1yr. The people at the government center in BKK can be helpful if you treat them right. best to go there before 9am. because lines build fast. and they all take lunch at 11am

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