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What is the process for extending a Digital Nomad Visa in Phuket for a family?

Apr 4, 2025
24 days ago
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Part 3/3—

DTV Extension SUCCESS at Old Town Phuket for myself and my wife (Remote Worker / Digital Nomad)

First, a Note (for the 100th time)—— there's literally no need to tell me "it would've been easier if you would've just boarded an airplane." Busy family of 5 with three young kids— it would've been more expensive, more chaotic, and potentially more risky in our case. PLUS— I care about other people having access to this process. I'm happy to do it for science so people can have a little more clarity.

if you're somehow disgruntled about my doing this extension in this way, then why are you even in the group?

Timeline—

1st Day— Went to Immigration at Old Town Phuket. See previous posts about what I brought. Went through two or three rounds of varying degrees of checks. The Immigration officer was actually very kind, and let us know we needed: a *bank statement* for the *current* month. We also needed a *more recent* remote work authorization letter than the one I originally applied for the DTV with (Even though it's my own company— me authorizing myself).

2nd Day— Waited for my bank to auto-generate a bank statement for Feb-March (brought Jan-Feb, too). Wrote myself a new auth letter. Brought it all in. Waited my turn (very quick), the officer remembered us, quckly flipped through the documents and asked: "These are the new ones, right?" (he remembered us). Took our passports, docs, and money (1900THB each) gave us a little slip of paper telling us to pick up our passports on Friday (submitted on Monday).

3rd Day — Brough paper straight to Desk 5, they brought our passports out with a receipt and an extension stamp. Did our second 90-day check-in on the spot.

Tips / Takeaways :

- We were a primary holder + 1 follower. We have a shared bank account that has at 500,000 THB in it, but not much more than that. Our statements did not show that amount going below 500k at any point. There didn't seem to be concern about needing 500k per person.

- We kept all of our documents in order from the time we initially applied for the visa in Jakarta, Indonesia. This made it very easy to apply for an extension. All I had to change were the bank statements and authorization letter.

- Applying for an extension in Phuket took longer than applying for the visa in Jakarta. We submitted the application on Monday, picked up Friday (submitted on Monday, picked up Wednesday in Jakarta).

- The officers and staff, while they didn't talk much (likely because they're very busy), were very helpful and kind. Any anxiety and pressure I felt was put on myself, and never came from the staff or officers.

10/10 would do it again (but can't)
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The post outlines the successful extension process of a Digital Nomad Visa (DTV) for a family in Phuket, Thailand. It details a step-by-step timeline of their experience at the immigration office, including required documentation like updated bank statements and a work authorization letter. The author shares tips for a smoother application, mentions the kindness of staff, and highlights the efficiency of the process compared to their initial visa application in Jakarta. They also address comments regarding the financial sufficiency for supporting a family of five on the given visa.
DTV VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
James *******
thank you for sharing sir! Very helpful, I’m also a dtv remote worker in Phuket so will probably follow a very similar process to you.

To confirm, do you need the equivalent of 500k in your bank at the point you wish to extend your 180 days also?
John **********
@James ******
you have to show it's been there for 30 days i believe
James *******
@John *********
ah, I thought it was just for the initial visa approval😅
John **********
@James ******
if you go to immigration for an extension you have to prove pretty much everything over again
James *******
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
My exact words and impression when we left immigration 🤣
Lee ***********
Well done Thomas, I agree with your process, keep the 500tb, most suggestions of leaving are due to avoiding questions that can't be answered.

Nice experiment with a good success, thanks for sharing.
Scott ***********
@Thomas *******
how much is the extension each 6 months, per family member? Ive heard many things 🤷‍♂️
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Scott **********
so you can only get one extension per year. After this one, we’ll have to exit. Each visa extension is 1,900 baht.
Anonymous ******************
@Thomas *******
it’s actually one extension per entry, while yes if you maxed out the 180 days extension it would be rare to do another in that year, but if you left earlier than expected, left and came back and the time of year you could end up doing more than 1 in the calendar year.
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Anonymous participant 207 tomato, to-mah-toe
Scott ***********
@Thomas *******
awesome! thanks for letting me know that
Paul *******
500,000 to support 5 people isn't enough money...
Paul *******
@Thomas *******
I didn't say not to extend your visa (good you were able to) I'm saying that you will be forced to do a border run eventually and that will be in 6 months time.

Good luck to you...just that if you're tired of traveling, then the DTV is not a good option. You'll be better off starting a business or finding a job locally, which means you won't have to leave the country.
Paul *******
@Thomas *******
I travel with my kids all the time but I don't complain about it. I enjoy it.
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
I’m not complaining, I’m knowing my own limits. You don’t know me or my life. You shouldn’t be telling me not to extend my visa because your life looks different than mine. Clearly I solved my own problem cheaply and easily, and still staying in 35 different places last year. Why should I follow your advice?
Paul *******
@Thomas *******
Well, it's just that you've been whining since several posts ago, that you're "tired", it's "difficult" to travel with kids and so forth. Well, that's just the way it is with 3 kids and especially if you're on the DTV, which requires travel. It can be tiring having even 1 or 2 children. Moreover, bringing your children to experience this part of the world provides them with exciting and interesting opportunities to see the world and experience different cultures. From Phuket, you can be in Myanmar, exploring some of the most picturesque and pristine islands in the world in just 4 hours. You can be in Malaysia within an hour by flight or a few hours by car. You can fly to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam from Phuket in 1h20m as well. There are lots of options and with children, any border run can be an opportunity to turn it into a vacation in order to see and experience new things given how close everything is.
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
once again — you have no idea. We travelled with our kids in the US, UK, Italy, Vietnam, Malaysia, Jakarta, and Bali last year (not including Thailand). You seem to have zero ability to appreciate how tiring that would be and why I’d choose to extend instead of exiting the country again.
Paul *******
@Thomas *******
I never accused you of lying. On the contrary; it just sounds like you're roughing it and I wonder whether that's a good way for your children to be living. That being said, it's your business of course.
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
who are you to make assumptions about my parenting and lifestyle? Are you a parent? Why are you even leaving comments about this on my post? Why don't you show your face? Why are you *still* trolling my posts? Do you have virtually anything better to do than make misguided and misinformed statements about other peoples' lives on the internet?
Paul *******
@Thomas *******
Yes, I'm a parent. Take a chill pill dude!
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
Unsolicited advice / concern. It's irrelevant to this post, and comes off as unhelpful, judgy, and pot-stirring.
Paul *******
@Thomas *******
*****
Baht for a family of 5? Including rent?
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
I’m not sure why you think I’m lying. I don’t need to flex or disclose my budget to you. I have no reason to lie about it though.
Paul *******
@Thomas *******
500,000 for 5 people assures a poverty lifestyle.
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
also, 41,000 baht every month in Thailand when you cook your own food and eat locally isn’t exactly “poverty”
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
you literally didn’t even read. I have money elsewhere. I keep 500k in an account just to show to the officers and maintain legal status. I don’t even use it.
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Paul ******
First — idk what your problem is. You always respond to my posts with negative contrarian stuff.

Second — 500k is our proof of funds. We have more than that elsewhere and support ourselves just fine. We fulfilled the requirements to both receive the visa and the extension.

Third — Only two of us are on this visa.

Fourth — You assume a lot about our budget and lifestyle. I’ve lived in Thailand for 10 years. We live a very unextravagant and frugal lifestyle. 500,000 goes a long way.
Justin *************
Nice job!

I’ve decided to try via the exit/entry via a little visit to Singapore.. but more expensive but it’s worth seeing all the other places nearby but appreciate there’s a huge cost for a large family 😉
Sophia ********
👏🏼💯🔝👏🏼
Va ********
Preparation is everything.🤙🏿😎
John *********
@Va *******
exactly 👏🏻
Marcin *******
Out of curiosity, what about the children's visa etc ?
Kristian *********
@Thomas *******
thanks for sharing. Well done. Success!!!
Dany ********
Sounds very easy in Phuket. What did you need to present for the „residency“ part? rental contract? IDs? house book? pictures? that was the most complicated part in Krabi for me.

for „bank statements“ i just logged into my online banking and exported the last 2 months.
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Dany *******
Just my rental contract. I included proof of rental payment, but I doubt it was necessary.

Originally I had given a bank statement from Jan-Feb, but as March hadn’t been generated yet, I gave a screenshot of my bank amount. He told me it would be better to give statements, so I brought them when March was generated.
Dany ********
@Thomas *******
in Krabi i needed the whole residency proof thing that people on retirement visa have to show :( rental contract, house owner Id, house book of my rented house plus house owners book. pictures of me in front of the house and the area. a map of the area, etc.. 😅
Werner ************
Wow major headache
Dany ********
@Werner ***********
not really. pretty easy actually. and if he would have read other extension posts then this would have been one quick visit to the IO
Garry ******
*****
would do it again (after you left and come back for new 180 days stamp) :p
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Garry *****
that’s what I meant by (but can’t) 😜
Wayne *********
This is very cost effective for you and your family. Just shows with the correct documents it's simply to do.

For those with families I would suggest they save this post.
Travis ********
Nice
Dawid **********
Thanks for sharing! Very informative!
Anonymous ******************
What’s auth letter? Is it like where bank acknowledge the authenticity of bank statement something like that?
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Anonymous participant 654
@Greg *******
is correct — authorization letter from company (my own) to work remotely in Thailand. ChatGPT + company letterhead = success.
Greg ********
Anonymous participant 654 He can correct me if I am wrong but from his previous post it was authorisation to work remotely from Thailand. Immigration seems to want a recently dated copy not the one from 6 months ago when you applied for the visa
David ********
Well done it's typical Thai immagration but if you follow the steps it's not that bad saved you going out and also saved cost. Even if you are a single traveller it is still wat more than 1900 bht and 2 days to do border run.
John *********
Useful for those wanting to go down the extension route at their local immigration . You mentioned doing the 90 day reporting at the same time. I didn’t know you can do that in advance of the next 90 days? Also regarding the 90 day reporting is it free or a fee to pay?
Thomas ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John ********
@Wannikea ********
is correct — you’re just reporting your status in Thailand. All it required was handing them my passport. No charge.
Wannikea *********
@John ********
up to two weeks before, no cost