What you need to know after your ED Visa is approved

90-day visa

The ED visa to study Thai at a Thai language school is not a 6-month, 8-month, or 12-month visa. It is a 90-day visa that can be extended a maximum of 3 times:

First extension: 30 days

Second extension: 60 days

Third extension: 60 days

This gives a total stay of up to 8 months.

For those wishing to stay longer than 8 months, you will need to apply for a second ED visa. This visa is also a 90-day visa and can be extended twice:

First extension: 60 days

Second extension: 30 days

This allows for a total stay of up to 14 months.

Note: The ED visa for language schools is different from the ED visa for universities, so the conditions and extension rules may vary.

Visit our school

Once you receive your 90-Day Single Entry Non-Immigrant ED Visa from a Thai embassy or consulate and enter Thailand, you must visit our school with your passport within 7 days.

We are required to submit copies of your passport and ED visa to the Ministry of Education in preparation for your extension.

ED visa extensions

Once your first 90 days are close to ending, you will be required to extend your ED visa at Immigration on a regular basis.

The cost per extension is 1,900 baht. Be prepared to be asked simple questions in Thai by the Immigration officer, such as “What is your name?”, “Where are you from?”, and “What do you like to eat?”. Don’t worry, if you’ve been attending lessons and doing your homework, these questions will be easy to answer.

In most cases, you’ll receive a 60-day extension if you can demonstrate that you’ve been studying Thai. Failure to do so may result in a 30-day extension, or in the worst case, just 7 days to pack up and leave the country.

90 day report

Apart from extending your visa, you are required to report your address to immigration every 90 days while in Thailand.

This not a visa extension.

If you haven’t left the country during your first 90 days, your first visa extension and 90-day report will coincide. You will have the convenience of handling both matters at Immigration on the same day.

After that, your 90-day report will no longer coincide with your visa extensions. However, the good news is that you do not need to report in person. You can either pay an agent to do it for you, or submit the report online if the website is working.

The window for reporting online is from 15 to 7 days before your actual report date. The window for reporting at an immigration office is from 15 days before, up to 7 days after your actual report date. If you file your 90-day report more than 7 days after the due date, you will be fined 2,000 baht.

Re-Entry Permit

Remember to apply for a re-entry permit if you plan to leave Thailand while on an ED visa. Failure to do so will result in the cancellation of your ED visa upon re-entering Thailand.

The cost is 1,000 baht for a single-entry permit, or 3,800 baht for a multiple-entry permit.

The re-entry permit can be obtained either at an Immigration office or at the airport (both Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports).

Having a re-entry permit does not exempt you from your visa extensions. You must return to Thailand on time for your extension, or your ED visa will be revoked after the extension date has passed.

A re-entry permit is only valid as long as your current “extension of stay” stamp is valid.

Leaving Thailand with a re-entry permit will keep your current extension status “active.” If you do not apply for a re-entry permit, your visa will be canceled. When you re-enter Thailand, you will be stamped with the same “admitted until” date as your extension of stay.

The countdown for your 90-day report resets every time you re-enter Thailand. Your next 90-day report will be due 89 days from the date you enter Thailand because Thai Immigration counts the day you enter the country as Day 1.

DO NOT throw away the receipt from your previous 90-day report (even though the due date for your next report may be incorrect). Keep it and submit it along with the TM.47 90-day reporting form when you file your next 90-day report.