Job Discussion Forums

[rbos]

I'm a newbie, as I have never taught ESL before. I'm an American (currently in the US) and I'm thinking of the possibility of teaching in Thailand, but I have a couple of questions:

I'm in contact with a school placement agency in Thailand, and it looks like they might hire me (even though I have not earned an TESL certificate yet-they say they'll let me take a free TESL certification class if I teach with them for 4 months).

My questions are the following:

Doing everything legally is a matter of principle to me. I'm wondering, is it technically legal or illegal to recieve a work visa in Thailand if I have not yet earned a TESL certificate (like the school says they might be willing to have me do)?

Also, as a separate issue, I'm not sure how long it takes the Thai government to process your work visa request once you've arrived in Thailand. How long does it usually take, and most importantly-do employers usually make new teachers start working immediately when they get to Thailand before the work permit/work visa have even been processed? If so, is this technically illegal?

My whole concern with this stems from the fact that recently I was actually interested in teaching in Taiwan. However, I learned that schools in Taiwan often want you to start working immediately once they hire you, even though it takes the Taiwanese government about a month to process your work permit, and so in the meantime you're required to work illegally.

Thanks for your help.

[tttompatz]

Working without the "B" visa and work permit IS illegal.

If you have a degree, transcript, TESOL cert (not required for immigration or issuance of the visa/WP) and CBC then they can process your "B" visa in an afternoon at the BKK immigration office.

It takes about a week to process the WP.

Now you are legal to work.

Then you will need to extend your visa out to 1 year. Then extend the WP to 1 year.

What your agent is proposing is not only illegal it also means that you will be doing border runs every 90 days to get a new tourist visa and you do risk, if someone gets ticked off and reports you, landing in a Thai detention center.

NOT worth the risks.

IF you have a degree there are lots of other employers who will do things to keep you legal and there are LOTS of job openings NOW for the mid May new school year start.

If you don't have a degree then it is a one way road to poverty with no guarantee of being able to stay in the country or continue working. You may not ever recover the cost of your airfare.

Just my humble opinion.

.

[rbos]

Thanks for the reply, tttompatz. I'm just wanting to make sure I understand what you are saying. You mentioned:

[tttompatz]

No, you misunderstood or more likely the case, I was not as clear as I could have been.

PM sent.

If you have the degree you are good to go.
Don't settle for some dodgy arrangement of working illegally and getting a questionable tesol cert for your effort.

Get a good job, visa and WP and enjoy your stay in the LOS.

.

[PattyFlipper]

If you have an abhorrence of doing things illegally, Thailand might not be the place for you.

[MaiPenRai]

Tom got it right for the most part.

However, it is legal (at least to my knowledge) to work without a work permit IF you are in the process of applying for it. All you need to show is the receipt that you have paid.

While in theory it takes 1 week to process the work permit, it will most likely take 2-4 weeks.

TEFL cert is NOT required to teach in Thailand. Without a B.Ed/PGCE, etc, after 2 years, teachers have a few hoops to jump through.

As Patty said, Thailand is a country that does not view the law they same way most western countries do. Decisions are often made based on circumstances and situation rather than the law.

[Warhammer820]

So is a CBC really necessary?

[tttompatz]