What is the timeline for Soft Power visa approvals in Ho Chi Minh City?

# Soft Power - HCMC - 14 Working Days

Just thought I would give an update on Ho Chi Minh Approvals as it took a lot longer than expected!

Type: Soft Power - Cooking Class 6 Month with Arun Thai Bangkok.

Passport: Australian

Funds: 3 Months of Bank Statements, Had 1 Mill Baht so 2 x amount required and the money had been in their the whole time.

Unemployed: with < 20000 USD.

Submitted: 14th October 2025

Request Documents / Provided Documents: 17th October 2025

Pending Approval: 27th October 2025

Approved: 3rd November 2025.

Documents Requested:

1. Student confirmation letter from Cooking School.

2. All pages of passport

3. Proof of income and what I plan to do for the whole 5 years ( I showed some rental income that I earn plus mentioned that I had double the amount required that I would use)

All up it took 21 days ( 14 working days) for approval. If I was to do it again I would definitely have just locked in a months accommodation and relaxed instead of having to stress about whether it was approved and moving accommodation constantly!

Another thing is that I did email and send messages to Line about 3 times throughout this period. They didn't acknowledge them at the time, but today as soon as I got the approval I got a line message and email response which was great!

Very Grateful today as I am about to board my flight to Thailand!