# What's the chance of getting a visa? Advice please



## youngatheart (May 6, 2012)

Background: Husband and 3 year old twins are US citizens, wife Indian citizen with US green card. Permanent residence: US. Work permit: Not needed, comfortable income from USA.
Our family is on a 2 year trip around the world. We have been in India for about 2.5 months and it's almost time to move. We went to Thailand last month and love Chiang Mai a lot. We want to move there for about 12-15 months, make Chiang Mai our home as we take side trips to neighbouring countries of Thailand.
The question is how do we get a non immigrant visa for our family.
We are so set in Thailand that we have enrolled our twins in an international school (Govt. Registered school) in Chiang Mai, paid all tuition and fees for one semester. They suppose to join school March 1st. The school advice that we apply ed. visa for the kids and non immigrant visa o for me and hubby. My head is spinning how to go about this, what documents, additional documents I need to submit, do I need to take the twins with us to Delhi for Visa interview, when do I apply if I plan to leave Feb 15, 2013?
Your help is much appreciated.


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## cooked (Jan 30, 2011)

Interesting question. 
You will be able to get 'O' visas and without problems, but these will be valid for only three months. You will need a valid reason for being able to extend them. Maybe you will enroll in a Thai language school and get an ED visa also? What ever advice you get on this forum I think you will be going to Delhi more than once to get things sorted out.
I think everyone's head starts spinning when they start on this bureaucratic pursuit, don't worry, stay polite and do what the guys tell you.


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## joseph44 (May 4, 2011)

Usually, when your kids are eligible for an ED-visa (school should be recognized, accredited and registered at the Ministry of Education), you and your wife could apply for a non-immigrant-Dependent-visa as the legal guardians of your kids. 

Ask the school to assist with the ED-visa for your kids: school-registration, letter from Ministry Education and a letter from the school, that your kids are actually going to study there. 
You add the enrollment statement as well as prove of payment. 

Once a Thai consulate submits the 2 ED-visas, you can apply for a non-immigrant dependent visa at the same time. 

It's a bit of a hustle, but the first step has to be made by the school of your kids!!


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## mikecwm (Jun 18, 2008)

Your kids are 3 years old and you want them to go to school?
My boy only started kindergarten when he was 5, school at 6.
Let me know what sort of school it is that takes kids at 3.


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## joseph44 (May 4, 2011)

mikecwm said:


> Your kids are 3 years old and you want them to go to school?
> My boy only started kindergarten when he was 5, school at 6.
> Let me know what sort of school it is that takes kids at 3.


Usually, Nurseries take kids from 3 years and up.


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## Song_Si (Jun 11, 2010)

From a UNICEF report:

Starting at the age of three, all children should be enrolled in some form of early learning services to help them start developing the skills they need to do well in primary school.
In Thailand 60 per cent of children benefit from some form of early childhood development services.
UNICEF is working with the MoE and the Ministry of Interior to promote access to quality early childhood development services. With UNICEF support, in 2010 Thailand adopted the use of Early Childhood Learning Development Standards (ELDS), which set measurable knowledge and activity levels for children 0-to-5 years of age. 


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The basic Thai education school ages are typically between 3 and 17 years old and are summarised below. Nursery school is for younger children before attending kindergarten, and it has no specific formal requirements.

Kindergarten (in Thai: _Anuban_), levels 1-3, children aged between 3 and 5.

Primary school (in Thai: _Prathom_), levels 1-6, children aged between 6 and 11.

Secondary school (in Thai: _Matthayom_), levels 1-6, children between 12 and 17.

Secondary school is split into lower school (levels 1-3) and upper school (levels 4-6). The upper levels can lean towards vocational or academic courses. The academic programmes usually aim to prepare students for a bachelor’s degree at a university or for additional higher education.


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## youngatheart (May 6, 2012)

Update.
We got our visas yeah! I didn't know that non-immigrant visa for family is a piece of cake. My husband submitted our applications on Wednesday we got our visas on Friday. Here we come Chiang Mai!


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