Success story from Hanoi. Figured I should write one of these because I found it helpful reading others' accounts when I was planning things out. (Thanks!)
I applied for a Workation visa. I'm a freelancer with a sole-proprietorship from the US. Previously, I've stayed in Thailand for over five years on Tourist visas and Education visas.
I supplied all the required information and put "Freelancer" for occupation instead of "Business Owner". The tricky part is the PDFs it asks you to upload to prove everything. I suggest getting AS MUCH information as possible. Err on the side of providing TOO MUCH rather than too little. I was never asked for any additional documents or for an interview.
For documents indicating current location (merge all into a single PDF, plenty of tools to do this online):
1. Photo of entry slip to Vietnam
2. Hotel reservation PDF
3. Plane ticket PDF
4. Photo of Vietnam visa stamp in passport
5. Vietnam e-visa PDF
6. Photo of hotel key with the name of the hotel in my reservation
Financial documents:
1. Balance letter from my bank indicating current balance (created on the day I applied)
2. Screenshot of bank app from the day I applied (from the web as my phone app did not allow screenshots)
3. 6 months of bank statements (reverse chronological order, I had the 500,000 baht in my checking account for only the past 3 months)
4. Screenshot of exchange rate from the day I applied (Google or any other exchange rate website are fine, put 500,000 baht in so they can see how much it's worth in your currency)
Employment contract or proof showing I'm a remote worker or freelancer:
1. Proof of employment document (I'm self-employed, so I wrote a letter explaining that I'm a freelancer, have a sole-proprietorship, the work I do, how I do it, and that I will not take any Thai clients. Put my name and contact info, signed and dated with a PDF signing service)
2. Contracts with two of my clients (I had no formal contracts with them, so I drafted up a simple, two-page document for each explaining the work I do, how long I've been working with them, how I am paid, explaining that I can work from anywhere remotely, including Thailand, and sent it to them with Dropbox Sign for their signature and date, and sent them a polite email explaining it's for a visa)
3. 5 invoices from recent months sent with my invoicing software
4. Screenshot of Stripe's transactions page, which I use to accept payments, showing the last few months of transactions
I stayed in Hanoi the entire time as I knew I could be called for an interview any time. I arrived on April 17th, applied on the 18th, got my status changed to "Pending Approval" on the 21st, sent an email to the embassy on the 29th asking for a status update, and got approved on May 1st. It was a bit longer than most stories here (9 working days), but patience is a virtue, I guess. My stay in Vietnam is until May 14th, which may or may not have had an effect on the processing speed.
Hope this helps anyone else planning a trip to Vietnam. All in all, it was a pretty easy process, but it was a bit nerve-racking with it taking so long. I would recommend quadruple-checking all of your info before you submit it. I spent nearly an entire day just filling out the application (about 6 hours of work compiling and checking all the info as well as formatting PDFs). Good luck!
TLDR : Answer Summary
This post details a firsthand experience of applying for a Workation visa from Hanoi, Vietnam by a freelancer holding a sole proprietorship in the US. The author emphasizes the importance of thorough documentation, suggesting applicants provide extensive proof of their financial status and freelance work. They detail the required materials, including documents confirming current location, financial proof, and employment verification. The entire process took 9 working days, with approval achieved promptly. The post aims to help future applicants by sharing insights into the documentation process and the overall experience.
