The other consideration is that it’s way easier to open a bank account on a Non O visa rather than an exempt entry. You’ll need to set one up fairly sharpish to allow for the month seasoning before applying for the year extension.

With a DTV you don’t need funds in Thailand. Obviously you’ll only be allowed to stay for 180 days at a time but you say you’ll be travelling so that wouldn’t be an issue for you.

You will need documentation from the school in order to apply online or in person depending on the consulate you are going to use.

You can enter visa exempt (if you qualify) and then get the ED visas and initial Non O in country but you may find some immigration offices may not be willing to issue the guardian Non O in country.

@Patrick **********************

They are technically the same type of visa, but noted as what establishment they are issued for.

You can apply prior to arrival for the Ed visas and Non Os which will be 3 month visas. When they’re winding down you apply for the year extension for each. None are multiple entry. You buy a re-entry permit from immigration. A single one is 1,000 baht or multiple is 3,800 baht. They are valid till the end of your current “allowed to stay” stamp, so you probably wouldn’t want multiple for the initial 3 month ones.

With a guardian visa (only 1 parent per child) you have to have 500k in the bank for a month before applying for it and for subsequent years it needs to be in 3 months prior to applying.

The issues you may have read about with ED visas are with informal ED visas like language schools or Muay Thai, etc.

Formal education visas for international schools or universities are not the same and you’d have no issue entering with those.

Whether you go the Guardian Visa route or DTV is your call.

Immigration would rarely ask anyone for onward travel. If they do it’s because they are probably looking for a way to deny entry. Usually this is because they suspect abuse of the tourist visa or exempt entry schemes.

Can’t see any reason they would ever ask for onward travel for a legitimate long term visa holder. But they potentially could.

For most offices they don’t have an issue if you filed it late. There’s is no reason that you couldn’t say I just got “back home” today and file anyway.

Some may be pedantic and issue a fine but unlikely. They just want you to have filed one for interaction with immigration

@Paul ****************

I guess you haven’t been in the group long enough to realise that what a Thai embassy posts about immigration rules for entering the Kingdom may or may not be correct.

Embassies sell visas. They control how and what they sell. Immigration control rules of entry.

Two different government departments.

Sometimes embassies have been known to give completely incorrect information.

@Chan *****

In Bangkok you can only get a residence certificate IF you have done a 90 day report.

What visa are you on? Have you done a 90 day report already?