What should I do after my DTV visa application got rejected while applying from China?

@Greg **********

This change literally went into effect May 19, 2026. You can look it up on the Thai Embassy website. 

@Dustin ********

as long as you are not staying 90 days continuously in Thailand no reporting needed. If you do stay 90 days it took me 3.5 minutes yesterday to complete the task at the local IO. Same requirement for the DTV visa and any other visas except the LTR visa and the Privilege Pass.

@Jos ******

depends where you live and how you live.

Loas vientiane might work for your DTV. heard China is one of the hardest

@Dustin ********

just be aware that you cannot work as a musician in thailand on a DTV. not a single gig, nothing. not even „for free“. even recording something in a studio would probably count as work.

@Dustin ********

@Andrea ************

You both applied through my school. One of you was approved, while the other was not. This clearly shows that the final decision is made by the embassy, and each Thai embassy has its own level of scrutiny and assessment process.

However, Dustin, you should have contacted me first. I could have advised you on the best option, whether that was reapplying or requesting a refund.

Please let me know which option you would like to proceed with.

@Andrea ************

If you actually follow the DTV trend on this group, you'd see that many people have abused the system, most of them through the soft-power route. The Foreign Ministry likely designed this visa too fast, without input from immigration police — which reportedly upset them, and they spoke about it in the Thai news. Then, month after month, they noticed people gaming the system: some with a few months of a course, some with just three dentist appointments. So it's no surprise they're now making this visa much harder to get.

@Dustin ********

it's not about you, dude. You're probably a nice guy, but like a lot of foreigners, you seem to feel 'entitled' — like you're owed this. Embassy officials issue visas at their own discretion. They choose who they want to let in and who they don't. In your case, they decided you didn't meet the criteria. You're free to apply through a different embassy and see if another officer sees it differently. Also, Thailand will be just fine with or without your money. I've heard this kind of colonial mindset a thousand times, again, not aimed at you personally, but it's a mindset a lot of people should leave behind if they ever get the chance to live in Thailand.

@Dustin ********

AIs sure aren't rocket science, they provide a lot of misinformation, particularly where visas are concerned

The Thai Language and Culture school that I applied through told me that certain local embassies were to be avoided. I have cut and pasted from their first email exactly what they said:

--

Due to the most recent updates, approval rates for the Soft Power (DTV) visa at Thai embassies in the countries listed below are currently extremely low.

- SPAIN

- GERMANY

- NIGERIA

- JAPAN

- CHINA

- USA

- SINGAPORE

For this reason, if you are planning to apply through one of these Thai embassies, we regret to inform you that we are unable to accept your enrollment at this time.

Kindly let us know which country you plan to apply for the visa from. We will check the latest situation and update you before you proceed with the payment.

If you have any questions or need help during the process, please feel free to contact us anytime we’re happy to assist you.

We look forward to welcoming you to study and experience Thai culture with us here in Chiang Mai!

___

In a later email, they specifically advised me to go to Laos.

@Dustin ********

she probably meant to apply from Vietnam

Partial refund for classes and visa application wasted

Well, guess what there is Issa Compass with money back guarantee agency. Total cost for my 6 months Thai boxing, visa application and agency processing 1k USD. Easy breeze if you qualify

@Dustin ********

single-entry visa is relatively easy. But if you're gonna apply for it after already spending 90 days in the country, better use some agency's services.

Sadly, guaranteed entry is never a possibility in Thailand these days. Used to be very different.

Okay that was going to be my guess as to why the canceled it,

Did you include a copy in ur application?

@Andrea ************

I didn’t realise this was a dating site and I should treat all posts like they were my partner. People wanting cuddles instead of hard facts shouldn’t come to facebook. Again another comment I don’t understand. Good luck with your dependent visa application.

@Dustin ********

I totally understand being annoyed at losing money, had my fair share of losses over the years. You are advised on application that if you are rejected the visa fee is non-refundable. They don’t provide feedback, they list the exact documents you need, if further information is required they request it. It’s down to you as the applicant to provide sufficient information and evidence to support the application. How have you been ripped off? My take on this group is for helping, you haven’t asked for any tangible help. Make a list of what you submitted and what the additional information was and let the group help. If you want to stay sulking go ahead it’s not going to get your visa approved, it’s only wasted energy. Hopefully you’ll learn this when you grow up. 🙏🏼 what’s not confusing? Ok don’t let the group know, why would I care. You very clearly don’t meet the visa criteria as you were declined. I don’t care about what you have to do in china, I’m trying to help you with your DTV. But I have no information to go off. What solutions are you looking for as you didn’t ask for any in this original post? Wishing bad karma on someone because they are trying to convince you to stop complaining and get back up and reapply for the visa you want is crazy. Good luck on your journey.

Trevor Jackson your comment makes no sense. What’s so vile? If you or the author want to cuddled in life go to your go to your family. Others in the group including me would help if actual questions were asked but none were, nor any details about what the author submitted. Nothing in life is guaranteed and the quicker that’s realised the less hurt people will feel. If the host country has any doubt about your intentions or compliance to the restrictions of the visa then you’ll be denied. They also provide no feedback so again don’t know why your or the author are up set. 🙏🏼

@Dustin ********

did you check if China approves dtv to non Chinese residents ?Guessing your not Chinese, Its highly likely where you applied is the issue if you say you meet all the criteria.

@Dustin ********

how to get residency there? Very hard?

Do we know of any foreigner approved in China?

@Dustin ********

not sure what you are trying to say in regards to drinking beer all day. The response doesn’t make full sense. Maybe your lack of clarity is why you were rejected. There are a lot of people who come here and try to make a living off of their music. I was just asking if it is possible that somehow maybe they interpreted something you wrote as trying to do something similar. “Working” on your music, could incorrectly be interpreted as working as a musician. Just trying to help you figure out where it went wrong .

@Dustin ********

did you state in your application that you are a musician? Like could they try and assume you would play in Thailand?

@Noah ***

like what?

@Michael *******

Look at the map — there’s a whole world out there besides Thailand. Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, etc

Then you will be rejected and will wonder why for the next 5 years .

@Dustin ********

Yes with soft power and after 5 days I just got email that my application was reject

@Dustin ********

A better way is just buy fully refundable tickets, then you don't loose money when you need to cancel when you don't get approved.

@Michael *******

There are sites that sell ”dummy tickets”. They are verifiable on the the airlines websites for a few weeks or so. I have used it multiple times myself.

@Greg **********

Question is how does the Thai embassy know if you book a dummy ticket? They are not checking your credit card… or the airlines… every one talks about fraud… if you book a ticket and don’t use the ticket…isn’t that fraud if you got your DTV based on a paid airline ticket? Just book a refundable ticket so that if you can not get the visa, you can cancel.

@Greg **********

so they can tell if it’s an onward ticket “reservation”?

@Greg **********

This isn’t correct. The booking PNR is verifiable on the airlines website if you use a reputable page for your dummy ticket. I have used it myself and we also used it for my gfs ticket for Schengen visa.

everything isn’t fraud. it’s crazy how yall don’t know that GOVERNMENT DEFRAUD people all the time SIR and never give you an explanation or a person money back so who is the real fraudster

so what you do is just go on cheaptickets.com. why because that is the only website i know that you can cancel a ticket within 24hours and get your money back. So buy any cheap ticket to whatever destination your going to the whole goal is you need the itinerary but make sure it says you can cancel free within 24hrs for your money back. You still have to have the funds in your account. Make sure it is a roundtrip tickets as well When they send the flight itinerary to your email then ya BOOM! cancel the flight. i first learnt how to do this when i was married to a someone who lived in the bahamas. You can also just do that if you want to go to a country that you want to send an extended time in and unsure of what date you wanna leave. There is no airline in the world can confirm if that flight will actually leave out that day and things always change on the personal side of your life. So you’re not lying or defrauding anyone. You basically don’t want to waste your money cause you don’t know if you going to be approved or not. That is an estimated date that you are expecting to travel. 😉

@Paul *******

well you would imagine that a new company planning to trade 5 years and a 5 year cooking course would be the answer.

But this visa and logic doesn't work.

A 6 month old company which doesn't trade after the visa and a 12 month, 9 month or even 6 month boxing or cooking course is fine 🤣

It's a terrible system.

@Michael *******

he meant go to the philippines instead of thailand. Not go to apply there- scratch thailand for the philippines altogether

@Alexander ********

Completely agree lived there for 12 months. Bar El Nido, Cebu and really north Luzon I found it a sh1thole and dangerous.

@Alexander ********

because better to live as a rat outside than a rat inside