Is it advisable to use an agency for the DTV application while in Thailand?

I sid the same thing as I’m retired early and don’t qualify for retirement visa due to age. Good to have a bank account with non b already because banks don’t like dtv. Cancellation of the work permit took a while but went smooth

Not the risk worth to break laws, be rejected and loose the fees, and be banned for years coming back to Thailand.

DTV is not the visa for you, if you wont live up to the requirements.

If you are allready working in Thailand with a workpermit, then it will be better to countinue at that way, or you have to stop your current job, and get a new remote only job, making yourself visibel if you continue working your present job.

I have seen that there are some agents who get all your documentation prepared, then bounce you out to the border, have you send them a copy of the visa/entry stamp to the nearby country, they upload that as proof you're out of thailand, then they bring you back in and you wait here until the DTV is approved, THEN they bounce you out/back again to activate it 😮

It's just a giant cash cow for the agents/agencies now to 'game the system' so people can jump on this Destination Thailand Visa bandwagon by any means

Every agent in thailand is offering this b/s "we'll apply for you while you're here in thailand" line to hawk this visa.

Just so people understand, you are applying for a visa with false information, <- that would be lying on the visa application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the people who run the embassies/consulates in other countries) 🙁

You cannot physically be IN thailand and apply for a DTV, the system errors out and won't let you proceed, SO the only way to get around that is to lie and say you're in another country.

Now some countries want you to upload PROOF you're there (visa/entry stamp) but agents get around that by applying in your home country and just using an address there 😕

It's bad, it's not the way the system was designed 👎

I would imagine (and hope) at some point the MFA will have a way to verify (thru entry/exit stamps) that you were IN thailand when you applied for the DTV in another country

I did read that at some border crossings the thai immigrations was asking people who were bouncing to activate a DTV how they got one from (Canada/USA/UK) while they were IN thailand 😮 and they were charging a fee to let those people bounce to activate the DTV

Notice this image shows you can't select you're in thailand to use the eVisa system 🙂

1. you need to leave the country to apply. everything else would be illegal and sketchy

2. all the countries are changing to eVisa and there is no more 1day visa run to Laos for example. Laos especially lists 10-15 days processing time with the eVisa starting from january (all appointments booked our weeks ago for 2024).

3. an agency cannot really impact your visa process. they can check your documents and help with questions. but so can this fb group for free. up to you if you want to pay that much money for basicaly 20mins of work - uploading 4 documents.

the process by itself is not complicated. I would stay away from using an agent because that's what immigration looks for. When they see you used an agent they look at you differently and sometimes give you a harder time because they know you are willing to pay.

Beautiful post. Money can do lots of wonders ✨️

So they offer to do it while you don’t leave the country??

As long as you accept the downline risks. That price seems very low though ie 18k for their fee and whatever bribe they are paying at the Embassy/Consulate.

DTV better than work permit ?)

The agents, so far, are taking you out of Thailand to apply for the DTV, it’s illegal otherwise. Maybe they say you won’t have to leave Thailand, but keep that in mind. Just a friendly FYI.

They have a good reputation. Money can solve a lot of problems. Probably worth it. Don’t listen to those who think saving pennies for a lot of stress is worth it. I’m doing it myself in Vietnam as it’s jus e visa. No way I’m waiting around outside in the heat pollution and noise for hours in Laos for the same or more money. Plus ventianne is a total dive.