Hi all! Any Canadians in the room? I'm a retired man from Montreal now living in Thailand but still on visa exemptions because filling the form is complicated, more than I thought.

Last week, I was in Laos, in order to get the 3 month retirement visa. After weeks of gathering all the documents, I felt it would go smoothly.

I had the photos, I had proof of health insurance, and certifications about my retirement incomes, both from my personnal pension plan (the canadian embassy in Thailand does no longer provide proof of income) and also from the Québec pension plan. I am above the required 65 000 bahts monthly.

I had a big surprise though : I needed to get a criminal record clearance from the RCMP. Never had I heard about such a requirement for the thai visa. Afterall, my finger prints were taken each time I arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport and I never had a problem there.

So here I was in Vientiane, stuck with this obstacle. How do I get such a clearance? I learned that I needed my fingerprints taken by the local police, send them to Canada for an RCMP approved firm to digitalize them and transfer the results to the RCMP. This process would take weeks, especially since the postal service is not at full gear in Canada.

The thing is that the way the questionnaire is built, you don't know all the requirements in advance because if you are missing a document, you cannot move forward to the next page. So I am wondering what the next surprise will be.

Seriously considering hiring an agency to get the visa quickly but finding one at a decent price is quite a challenge. It would cost somewhere between 50 and 60 k$.

Any brilliant advice would be greatly appreciated at this point.

Thanks in advance folks.

I just had an interview for DTV in Vientiane thai embassy and were told I would get the visa approved by 2pm today.

Do I have to visit the embassy again once I get the approval email? Or would the immigration stamp my passport when I cross the border?

I'm planning on taking a bus back to Thailand at 4pm.

Hi, I'm hoping to get a Thai driver's license. I'm a DTV holder and I live at my wife's condo in BKK. I have a Canadian DL and valid IDP. The specific question I have is regarding the residence certificate - I understand I get this from the immigration office at Chang Wattana. Can I book an on-line appointment time for this? And what specifically do I need to bring? Passport, pictures, TM16 application form, TM30 are straightforward, what I'm not sure about is "proof of residence"). A lot of out-dated and conflicted info on-line......thanks

DTV approved, Canberra Embassy, Workcation (Freelancer).

* Applied on 24th October 2025

* Rang for an update a week later, the embassy staff were very helpful, and gave me a timeframe of 10 days to 1 month for approval (told me to email them a few business days before my flight if the status hadn't changed)

* Changed to pending approval on 30th October

* Approved on 5th November, no request for further documents

For context, I have a flight booked to arrive in Thailand on 18th November.

What documents I provided:

For proof of location:

* Cover page with the title of document and my contact details

* Plain letterhead from myself explaining some variation in information

* My Australian driver's license

* Letter in my name sent to the residential address I provided

For financial proof:

* Proof of Balance confirmation from my bank

For proof of work:

For this I made a multiple page pdf document including

* Cover page

* Clear table of contents with page numbers

* Cover letter briefly describing my work, reasons why I want to live in Thailand, strongly emphasising that I will not work for Thai businesses or source income from within Thailand (i.e. work with international clients only)

* Work description with dot points for main work responsibilities

* Proof of my Business Registration (screenshots and link)

* My Work's Online Presence (screenshots of my website and LinkedIn)

* Letterhead from myself confirming that I'm self-employed and am authorised to work remotely

* Ongoing Client Overview (description of my ongoing client and screenshots of the relevant case study on my website)

* Letter from my Client confirming that I work remotely

* Signed Service Agreement between the same client and myself

* Work Examples (screenshots and links)

* 5 most recent paid invoices

ilovepdf is a life-saver when it comes to compressing large pdf documents while still keeping a good quality.

Would also recommend making sure that any scans of physical documents are very good quality.

Make sure all names and addresses match across all documents - if there are any variations (even small ones), include letters/clarification statements to explain.

Couple of questions if I may. I'm in Thailand now,on visa exempt. I'm married to a Thai for 22 years, she has UK citizenship. We've lived in the UK holidaying in Thailand amongst other places never staying more than 3 weeks so visa never been an issue. Now I've retired we want to spend longer in Thailand, maybe buy a place, we're thinking halk/half, UK winters in Thailand. UK summers in UK. We're here now and intention is to stay here until May, spending a month 6 weeks in various places while we decide where to settle. So first question, can I get a non O while I'm here, seems tricky catch 22 as non 0 requires bank account, and to get bank account requires visa and which non O would be best, marriage or retirement, seems marriage as requires less financial commitments but I defer to your expert advice. I'm thinking forget the non O until we return UK next May and then get it in UK in readiness for returning to Thailand next November, but if can do it while here, we will for ease. Next question is border runs, since I'll need to to stay here until May and we planned to holiday in Viet Nam, Laos anyway. Could I do border runs after 60 days rather than extending 60 to 90 days, I realise that would be 2 border runs needed to reach May rather than one, but that doesn't bother us and saves us 1900 baht to spend on a trip if my thinking is correct? Also, I have a certificate of residency from Thailand immigration since were staying with my wife's family while we're here, if that helps with the first question. Thanks all.

Hello everyone and thank you for your input.

I’m getting the LTR visa for wealthy pensioners, I have everything i need. My only question is to those who have used this visa. When you got your BOI letter and then went to the consulate and had your visa stamped where you told how many days you have to enter Thailand? I can’t seem to find any info for this question and AI couldn’t find any specific reference to it. Looking forward to your reply.

Hello everyone 👋

My wife and I, along with our four children (one of whom has special needs), are planning a long-term move to Thailand in early 2026. Our son with special needs will be receiving stem cell therapy in Bangkok, and we hope to settle down long-term near Jomtien Beach, Pattaya.

During his therapy sessions, I’ll be traveling with him to Bangkok for a week at a time, while the rest of the family stays in Pattaya.

My wife is a disabled U.S. veteran and receives a guaranteed monthly income of about USD 4,500 (~166,000 THB). We can provide full documentation of this income, along with supporting bank statements.

We’re currently trying to figure out the best visa pathway for a family of six that:

1️⃣ Accommodates dependents (spouse + children),

2️⃣ Doesn’t require a large upfront 3-month bank deposit, and

3️⃣ Allows long-term residence with minimal renewal hassle.

If anyone here has experience with family moves like this — or can recommend a reliable visa agent or immigration lawyer who handles complex family or medical cases — we’d really appreciate your advice 🙏

Thank you all for your time and any recommendations you can share ❤️

Hello, are there any norwegian in this group with experience or knowledge about requirements on upholding membership in the norwegian "Folketrygden" when working at homeoffice in Thailand for a norwegian employer. In this case its not the employer who sends me to Thailand. Employer have agreed to let me work from Thailand as i have a thai girlfriend and the requirements are different in these cases as i do understand. But NAV in Norway gives me different answeres when i ask about when i can go back to Thailand after my first stay of max 12 months. I will apply for a DTV visa. Thanks for anyone who can give me some input.

Hello all☺️ Which education option would you recommend for the DTV -

Tingly Thai Cooking School

Arjun Thai Cooking

House of Taste Thai Cooking School

I move 19 February. Also, should Indo the application now or closer to date? Please advise

When i complete the TDA form

and leave now in November and revert finally in March but make a trip home over Christmas which date I put in the form?

The date in March or the temporary date home in december??