The Paperwork to Start Before You Move to Chiang Mai
Which documents an international school in Chiang Mai asks for, why notarisation and authentication have to happen at home, and a timeline that keeps your child's start date from slipping a term.
Almost every delayed enrolment we see has the same cause, and it is never the assessment or the interview. It is a birth certificate that has been notarised but not authenticated, sitting in a government office 3,000 km away while the term starts without the child.
This is the document list, what each one is actually for, and when to begin.
What the school asks for
- The child's birth certificate, notarised and authenticated.
- Proof of the parent–child relationship, notarised and authenticated. This is the document the guardian visa rests on, so a parent who plans to stay in Thailand with the child needs it even if the birth certificate already names them.
- Passport copies and photographs for everyone applying.
- Transcripts from the previous school, in English.
- Proof of enrolment at the previous school, in English.
Why "notarised" is not enough
The two words are often used as if they were one step. They are not:
- Notarisation confirms the document is genuine, and is done by a notary in the country that issued it.
- Authentication (sometimes called legalisation) confirms the notary's authority, and is done by that country's foreign ministry and often its Thai embassy or consulate.
Both happen where the document was issued. Neither can be done from Chiang Mai after you arrive. That single fact is the reason to start early.
Translations
Transcripts and proof of enrolment need to be in English. If the originals are in Chinese, Korean, Thai or any other language, budget time for a translation that the issuing school will stamp — a translation the previous school has not endorsed is usually the version that gets sent back.
A timeline that works
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 4–6 months before the start of term | Request transcripts and proof of enrolment; begin notarisation of the birth certificate and relationship documents |
| 3 months before | Submit the enquiry form and sit the pre-admission assessment (English, Maths, Grammar, Reading) |
| 2–3 months before | Interview, online or on campus |
| 6+ weeks before | Authentication complete; passports and photos ready |
The 2026–2027 school year begins on 3 August 2026, which puts the comfortable starting point for the paperwork somewhere in February or March 2026. Families who begin in June are not out of options, but they are usually racing an office that does not race.
Questions worth asking us
Because school requirements and immigration requirements are not the same list, and only one of them is ours:
- Which of these documents does the school need, and which does immigration need?
- What can we submit as a scan, and what has to arrive as an original?
- If one document is still in process, can our child start?
We would rather answer those in February than in July. The admissions page has the enquiry form, and the admissions team can be reached on +66 (0) 62 620 8307. For anything that concerns visa status itself, confirm the current requirements with Thai immigration or your nearest Thai embassy — those rules change independently of us.