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What are the requirements for extending the 180-day DTV Muay Thai visa in Thailand?
DTV Muay Thai visavisa extensionThailand immigration rulesborder runvisa requirementsexpat advicelong-term stay in Thailand
Jan 5, 2025
a year ago
Morgan *******
ORIGINAL POSTERHello everyone, has anyone extended the 180-day DTV Muay Thai visa? What documents do immigration ask for to get an extension?
TLDR : Answer Summary
There is currently no established process for extending the 180-day DTV Muay Thai visa. Many users have reported that immigration offices do not have clear guidelines on what documents are required for an extension. It seems the most common advice is to perform a 'border run' to obtain a fresh entry stamp rather than attempting an extension in-country.
DTV VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
- Take the basic DTV Qualification Test to see if you're eligible for the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV).
- For immediate assistance, contact Thai Visa Centre directly via LINE at @ThaiVisaCentre or Email them.
- Explore recent discussions by using the DTV Visa tag in the search box at the top of the page.
- Join the Thai Visa Advice Facebook Group to ask your questions, and get advice from others.
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Henrik *****
It is as it generally is with new rules in Thailand, nobody will know how it is administered until after a while, and since there is nobody who has passed the 180 day mark after
****
, when DTV was started, there is no precedence established yet, and there will be at least a couple of weeks until the smoke clears, until the Immigration offices adapt to each other to have uniform ways ( if ever) to handle the new situation.Dennis *********
So it’s a 5 year visa with 6 month border bounce instead of 3 months (not that the three months visa exempt stamp was guaranteed). This is considered a tourist visa. For people with three or more dependents can be expensive doing a border bounce. Seems there wasn’t all the details planned when they created the visa. People have packed up there entire life and moved to Thailand because of this visa. I was told the person that created the visa is no longer involved with decision making. If that is true maybe they don’t really know what to do to improve or fix or complete the facts on this visa. I am interested in the future because we are approaching the 6 month date of creation.
Sefton ********
@Dennis ********
"this is considered a Tourist visa" no it isnt.. This is a new class of visa, it isnt an adapted old class. Tourist Visas do not offer remote work rights etc, or 180 day stays. Its an entirely new thing.
Georgijus ************
@Dennis ********
so if family of 3 should have 45k $ balance on the account to get DTV. How it can be expensive to fly out and back and spend just couple of hundreds dollars?Dennis *********
@Georgijus ***********
expensive is relative Every situation different. $45K not a large nest egg
Plus if your living on the $45K it’s not very much money
Reply to
Dennis *********
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James ********
If you read the posts on this forum...
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Tod *********
not a single person who has a DTV has extended it in country at the immigration office
SO
no one knows what documents are required
I was at the main immigration office in Bangkok last week and the officers still had no hand out listing the extension requirements or anything from the head of immigrations about what will be required to get the 180 day extension
They were telling people to bounce out/back and get a new stamp
So I guess the easy answer is;
bounce out and back to get a new 180 day entry stamp
SO
no one knows what documents are required
I was at the main immigration office in Bangkok last week and the officers still had no hand out listing the extension requirements or anything from the head of immigrations about what will be required to get the 180 day extension
They were telling people to bounce out/back and get a new stamp
So I guess the easy answer is;
bounce out and back to get a new 180 day entry stamp
George *******
@Tod ********
I read here I think it was about a guy who'd supposedly been to Krabi immigration to get an extension in his DTV and he reckons he was asked for insurance, I presume if this was true, health insurance. Seeing as the DTV is classed as a tourist visa, which you don't need to have health insurance for, this seems strange. 🤔David ********
@Tod ********
thanks good reliable info no one seems ready to chance the extension seeing it looks like a new application for 1900 bht. May as well bounce for not much more and less headacheTod *********
@David *******
well it's not the 1900 baht cost of the extension that is worrying (I mean that's the cost of ANY extension in thailand no matter how long it's issued for)The real questions are
- what documentation is required to get the extension
- Do you need to show continuing treatment/enrollment/etc if you got the visa due to soft power
- Do you need to show the 500K baht still in the bank account
NO one has those answers . .. ... .. . yet 🙂 BUT I am sure in not that long a time in the future the immigration offices WILL have the requirements
I still can't see why people wouldn't just bounce out/back and get a new 180 day entry stamp without showing anything more than the passport and the visa
Dom ********
@Tod ********
people have tried to extend via immigration and have been asked to show proof of 500k thb again. Someone posted a few days ago on this group about itSefton ********
@Dom *******
Immigration officers have a long and well established history of saying things rather than saying 'we dont know'.. At this point anything said by regional offices not stated by central HQ is entirely suspect and not worth considering as factual.
Dom ********
@Sefton *******
what do you mean? They didn’t seem to just be saying it, they were saying unless they can provide proof of the 500k thb again they won’t get their extensionWannikea *********
@Dom *******
it kinda goes without saying that extensions at immigration in country typically require the exact same requirement criteria as when a visa was applied for. Why anyone would want to go through that and it's current unknowns when a border bounce is so simple is beyond me.Dom ********
@Wannikea ********
100% agreed 👍Sefton ********
@Dom *******
What I am saying is.. Anyone who has been here a long time knows when a Thai official doesnt know something, many simply make stuff up. Its cultural. Combine that with the FACT that the people who will actually decide this, in HQ Bangkok, have made zero comments or statements to anyone.
So it is then a fair conclusion that ANY information, good or bad, from any regional office or low level desk IO in the boonies, is just made up 'go away' type comments with nearly zero value.
When Bangkok makes an announcement, or a consistent message comes from the major centers and connected agents, then we will have an idea. Until then this is just useless speculation and simply because an IO said it, doesnt make it less speculative.
I think we will know in the next weeks, as the 15th July was the DTV launch (mine was applied 16th issued 17th).
Dom ********
@Sefton *******
I get you and yeah, I only have around 2 years experience with Thai immigration and one thing I know is that every single application / extension will be unique depending on which immigration officer you get / what mood they’re in 🤣Boarder runs for me from now on
Wannikea *********
@Dom *******
not only were they told to show the 500k again, they were told it had to be in a Thai bankDom ********
Reply to
Dom ********
Reply
Andi ***********
No one extended yet via immigration. Easiest way do a border run and get a fresh180 day stamp. Speculation you need to provide an updated bank balance of 500K and continued evidence of activity to extend at an immigration office
George *******
I read here I think it was about a guy who'd supposedly been to Krabi immigration to get an extension in his DTV and he reckons he was asked for insurance, I presume if this was true, health insurance. Seeing as the DTV is classed as a tourist visa, which you don't need to have health insurance for, this seems strange. 🤔
Andi ***********
@George ******
He is widely thought to have been informed about another visa extension not the DTV. No health insurance required for the DTVGeorge *******
@Andi **********
Oh! I was under the impression that he was on a DTV. He said if my memory serves me correctly that he went to get a 180 day extension. As far as I understand only the DTV can be extended by this period.Andi ***********
@George ******
Yes, he is on a DTV but the info he received was in line with a retirement visa extension which requires health insurance.Reply to
Andi ***********
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