UPDATED POLICY REGARDING THONGSOOK COLLEGE EDUCATION VISA

The following is the information we received at our recent meeting with immigration officials at the Chaeng Wattana Office Immigration's new policy for Thongsook College students who enrolled prior to Aug 2016 is as follows:

OLD PROGRAM (Students enrolling prior to Aug 2016):

Immigration's new policy for students who enrolled prior to Aug 2016 is as follows:

18 credits and an 18,000B payment receipt for Semesters one or two is the new minimum requirement to obtain a six month visa.

Students who provide transcripts with a minimum 12 credits in semesters one or 2, along with a 12,000B payment receipt will receive a 90 day visa.

Students are also welcome to register and pay for both semesters 1 and 2 (36,000B) and apply for a 1 year visa. Our office will assist you with course selections for the semester that does not have a working schedule at the time you apply. However, the decision and approval is solely made by the Immigration Officer at the time of application.

COHORT Schedule (Enrolled after August 2017)

The requirement for students on the cohort schedule.

Students who have enrolled after Aug 1, 2016 still need to show a minimum of 5 courses in Semesters 1 or 2, along with a tuition payment receipt of 25,000B plus the individual semester admin fees, to receive a 6 month visa.

These students are also able to apply for a one year visa by showing 11 courses in an academic calendar year: five courses in semesters 1 and 2 and one in the summer semester 3.

IMPORTANT

The job of the Immigration officer is to ensure that foreigners in the Kingdom are here on the correct visa. Education Visas are issued to foreigners who are studying full time and extensions are issued as long as the foreigner continues his/her full time studies to a maximum of seven years. It is the the task of the foreigner to provide proof in the form of course registration and payment receipts.

The change to the policy is the result of several institutions who have been caught manipulating the ED visa system and ED visa extension documents.

At Thongsook College it is the Faculty of International Programs obligation to continue to provide support, guidance and updates on the policies from the Ministry of Immigration.

If you have concerns about your time commitment for any given semesters, please contact the Faculty of International Programs office, to help make the best decision for your specific circumstances.

Please be aware, any students whose transcripts show multiple course cancellations following a visa extension and no new courses to replace them, are at risk of losing their tuition fees despite the existing course cancellation policy. In addition they run the risk

of losing their Education Visa Privileges.