Here is my DTV story. I am Canadian and have been living mostly in Thailand since January, 2022. This is my 5th time applying for an evisa in Canada. 2 SETV, 2 non-ED, and now the DTV. I had planned to apply for the workation category but I had a few concerns.
1. I am a non resident of Canada for tax purposes (I don't pay income tax in Canada). I saw many posts here of people either being asked for or voluntarily submitting their tax returns with their applications. As a tax resident of Thailand with no assessable income besides bank interest, I don't really have anything to submit in this regard.
2. Most of my income is from my own company registered in Hong Kong. I saw some posts here saying that some embassies were asking for company registration documents to be notarized by the embassy of the country where the company is registered or even not accepting a company registered outside of your home country or the country where you apply.
3. The workation category asks for too much personal information in my opinion. I suspect this information may be shared with the revenue department for future income tax collection if staying in Thailand over 180 days per year. Especially if they change the law to tax income not brought into Thailand, which seems to be under consideration.
After reading many posts here I realized that the soft power medical treatment category was the best option for me. The requirements are much simpler with much less scrutiny.
I was planning to apply a few weeks before my return to Thailand in October so I could use the visa for 1 last entry in 5 years from now and get 5.5 to 6 years out of the visa (I usually spend the summer in Canada and go back in early October). However I kept thinking that this visa is too easy and surely they will change it soon to make it more difficult. The anxiety was getting to me so I decided I better apply sooner than later.
I applied to the Ottawa embassy through the evisa system on Sept 2 and was approved today (Sept 10).
For my medical treatment, I started doing immunotherapy for allergies (allergy shots) at an allergy clinic before I left Thailand. I completed 15 out of the initial 40 weekly injections for the initial phase.
I had some documents with me from the clinic because I planned to check with a doctor in Canada about continuing the injections here. I asked a friend in Thailand to go to the clinic and ask for another document showing that I have a confirmed appointment in October to continue the treatment.
After the initial 40 weekly injections, there is a maintenance phase which requires injections at less frequent intervals. I feel confident that I can justify my continued use of this visa over 5 years if immigration starts asking for proof of continued medical treatment upon entry.
For the proof of funds, I used a statement from a Thai bank account. I requested a statement for August through the SCB app and it was sent to me by email. The only complication is that the PDF is protected with a password which is your date of birth. To remove this password, open the PDF, print, and then choose print as PDF. This will create another PDF without the password.
For proof of current location I used my Canadian drivers licence.
These 3 documents were the only documents requested by the evisa system. My application was approved without being asked for anything additional. No air ticket was required to be submitted but I had to enter a date for a flight out of Thailand as part of the application. I entered around 180 days out from my fight into Thailand but I don't think this really matters. I haven't booked a flight out of Thailand yet and not sure if I will bother. My understanding is that the flight out is not a requirement when entering with a visa, it's only required when entering on a visa exemption?
I'm very grateful for this new visa category. As someone under 50 and not married, this is exactly what I needed. I applied for an "elite" visa last year before the price increase but I was denied for having a previous ED visa even though it was from a real school and I was really studying. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Saved myself 1 Million baht!
TLDR : Answer Summary
The author is a Canadian expat who has applied for various types of visas to Thailand, culminating in a successful application for the new DTV (Digital Nomad Visa) after considering alternatives. They detail concerns about documentation requirements given their tax residency status and company registration, before opting for the DTV due to its less demanding requirements. The author describes the application process, documentation submitted, and their future plans related to the visa, expressing contentment with the recent changes that better accommodate under-50 expats without dependents.
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