Answered4 months ago

What are the challenges and requirements for obtaining an educational visa for a child and a guardian visa for the parent in Thailand?

Educational Visa Guardian Visa Visa Requirements Thailand Immigration Expat in Thailand International School Visa

OrangeAp*********

asked Jul 6, 2026

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Has anyone had experience with a child (mine is 7) on the educational visa, and you applying as their guardian?

My husband will be on the DTV, but I will apply as my childs guardian. The international school that we are most likely to go with has a service which appears to sort the visa for us. Maybe the just give us their required docs, I'm not 100% sure yet.

My question is, how difficult was this education and guardian visa to obtain, is there anything non obvious I should be aware of?

Answer summary

The process for obtaining an educational visa for a child and a guardian visa for the parent in Thailand entails several steps and requirements. Firstly, the international school must provide the necessary documentation for the child's education visa. A financial requirement exists, where the guardian must demonstrate a minimum balance of 500,000 baht in a Thai bank account for a specified duration, or present a bank letter verifying sufficient income. Experiences shared indicate that applying online is often efficient, with approvals generally received within a couple of weeks. Planning is crucial, particularly regarding school schedules in Thailand and ensuring all documentation is ready before arrival.

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USAD****

I’m in the US and just got my child’s ED visa. Applied online and and uploaded all the documents that the school sent us. I did combine them into larger PDFs first. Wife created an account and submitted his application then applied for her guardian visa immediately after. Both were approved in 12 days. We arrive in Thailand next week!

4 months ago

OrangeAp*********

USADad76 congratulations!! So do you need to apply out of country? Or can we apply in Thailand? We plan to visit the schools first, then apply with the school of choice.

4 months ago

USAD****

OrangeApricot4057 the school told me that they could enter on a visa exempt tourist stay then immediately apply in person, but it is much easier to do online from your home country. Once you are accepted to the school of your choice AND pay your tuition and fees, the schools are very helpful.

4 months ago

Henry *********

My kid is on an Education extension (11 years old) and my wife has the Guardian extension. The school have to provide all the paperwork regarding the child, and the applicant needs 500,000 baht in the bank which needs to have been there for 3 months. We ended up using an agent, to avoid my wife having to leave Thailand for a new Non-O visa.

4 months ago

OrangeAp*********

Henry Durrant Thank you!! So to start with, did you have the 500B in your home country bank account for three months, then got the Education visa and guardian visa... then transferred the money to a Thai bank account to get the extension? As per Brandon's comments, I'm confused as to how it can be a requirement of the education visa to have all this money in a Thai bank account before you even get to Thailand?

4 months ago

Henry *********

OrangeApricot4057 My situation was different as my wife already had a Thai bank account. If you're not yet in Thailand you should just apply for the O visa and can show the funds in your home country bank to the equivalent of 500,000 THB. You can open the Thai bank when you get here and then use that for the first extension.

"Financial Proof: You must hold a balance of at least 500,000 THB in a Thai bank account for a specific period before your application, or provide an official embassy letter verifying an annual income equivalent to 500,000 THB or more."

4 months ago

Brandon ************

You need to understand there's also a financial requirement for the extensions of this visa, which is 500,000 baht in a Thai bank account in your name only.

4 months ago

OrangeAp*********

@Brandon ***********

my husband and I have 2mil baht in a joint account - will this not suffice as it is joint?

4 months ago

Brandon ************

OrangeApricot4057 It's a Thai account? You would need to ask your immigration office. Some will accept a joint account as long as there is 2x the required funds, but some will not accept a joint account at all.

4 months ago

USAD****

OrangeApricot4057 Keep in mind that the private schools in Thailand start their school year in August while public schools are on a completely different schedule. You may want to keep the school calendar in mind when planning the timing of your move. Though younger kids are less affected by this.

4 months ago

Brandon ************

OrangeApricot4057 Then the joint account thing doesn't matter since you have to have the money in a Thai bank for the extension.

4 months ago

OrangeAp*********

@Brandon ***********

no its a bank account from our country of origin, as we arent actually in Thailand yet. We plan to move in November.

We were going to apply as dependants on my husbands DTV but heard its a better idea for me to apply as a guardian since its a legal requirement for our daughter to have the educational visa (which we only just found out a couple of months ago)

4 months ago