What are the bank account balance requirements for Thai visa applications in Vientiane and Hanoi?

Sep 30, 2024
3 months ago
FYI - Been for my appointment at vientiane and they require 3 months of 500k showing in your account.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
Recent experiences shared by expats indicate that when applying for a Thai visa in Vientiane, authorities require proof of a balance of 500,000 THB maintained for three months. In Hanoi, a similar requirement has been noted, with applicants being asked to log into their online bank accounts to verify balances. Additionally, while discussing payment methods, it was confirmed that only cash payments in baht are accepted in Vientiane and Savannakhet for visa fees. The conversation also touched upon the future E-visa process, questioning if it would allow for online applications regardless of the applicant's location.
Paul *********
When it switches to E-visa does anyone know what the place you apply from rules will be. At this stage clearly you need to be in Hanoi for a visa done in hanoi, but with Evisa does it then mean you can apply online and fly there once you know your appointment time to pick it up is
James *******
That's amazeballs
Netanel *******
Alex *****
Is it possible to pay the 10k fee cash in baht?
Paul *******
@Alex ****
That's the only currency they'll accept for payment of visa fees in Laos.
Tod *********
@Alex ****
only Vientiane and Savannakhet accept Baht for the visa

The rest of the consulates around don't
Alex *****
@Tod ********
Thanks for info
Phil *******
@Alex ****
they insist on it in Vientiane.
Zoe ***********
They did the same to me in Hanoi. She asked me to login to my account and show the balance.
Paul *******
@Zoe **********
However for Hanoi, I haven't heard them requiring funds to be banked for 3 months like Vientiane is demanding.
Zoe ***********
@Paul ******
As a matter of fact they required 6 months of statement.
Tod *********
Yep, people have reported that AND people have reported they make you log in to your online banking and show the balance when you're applying too ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
Sean ******
@Tod ********
absolutely tod they will not accept the bank statements without validation with the mobile banking application irrespective of any country's banking application but you have to open and show them the balance there, same thing happened to me and almost all the people waiting for the DTV at the embassy.
Werner ************
@Tod ********
they are trying to crack down on the rampant fraud in applications
Tod *********
@Werner ***********
correct (y) right when it rolled out agents were banking the 500K for clients updating the bank book, pulling the money out then applying for the visa. A LOT of people got caught out on that once the consulates caught on and that's why they came up with funds in the account for a specific time
เธเธดเธ•เธ•เธดเธจเธฑเธเธ”เธดเนŒ **********
@Tod ********
I'm curious how that's going to be implemented when they switch to e-visa applications
Henrik *****
It is already been implemented at the dozens of other embassies, that have been using E-visa for a long time.
เธเธดเธ•เธ•เธดเธจเธฑเธเธ”เธดเนŒ **********
@Henrik ****
And how is that done exactly? How do you ask someone to show you their phone and banking app when they're not applying in person at the embassy and everything is done online
Paul *******
@เธเธดเธ•เธ•เธดเธจเธฑเธเธ”เธดเนŒ *********
They obviously won't be doing that if you apply online and thus once Laos moves to the e-visa system, they'll be forced to stop doing that.

The main problem is Laos insisting on 3 months worth of banked 500K minimum balance. That's a long time to keep money just sitting in a transaction or checking account earning basically no interest just to satisfy a bureaucrat.

Only reason Vientiane is insisting on this is so they can push applicants to use the services of expensive agents.
Tod *********
@Paul ******
๐—ข๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฉ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€.

That is 100% FALSE..

The reason they went to that was to STOP the agents from banking the money for the applicants for a minute to update the bank book, then pulling the money right out and using it for someone else the same way.

An agent got caught in Savannakhet with I think a dozen people who all had the money in the account the day before the went to the consulate to apply, AND when asked to access their bank account had NO funds anymore

Making people show the funds are in the account for a specific amount of time was to STOP agents
Tod *********
Tod *********
@Henrik ****
which is neither here nor there as far as how the nearby consulates will do it. I mean can we go there, apply, pay, then come back to thailand and wait for it to be approved? OR do we have to stay IN that country for the approval period and only come back once we have the visa? That's gonna be tough if there's FOUR WEEK processing ๐Ÿ˜•
Tod *********
@เธเธดเธ•เธ•เธดเธจเธฑเธเธ”เธดเนŒ *********
you and everyone else too ๐Ÿ˜› guess we'll all find out together huh?

The vietnam consulates said their processing time will go from 3 days like it is for in person applications now to 2 to 4 WEEKS for the eVisa ones ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
เธเธดเธ•เธ•เธดเธจเธฑเธเธ”เธดเนŒ **********
@Tod ********
Yes but at least you can apply and then re-enter Thailand on exemption and wait for your application to go through