What should I do if my DTV visa application is stuck at the Thai Embassy in Frankfurt?

Anonymer Teilnehmer The process of obtaining my DTV visa through the Thai Consulate in Frankfurt was an absolute bureaucratic odyssey, defined by what can only be described as "salami tactics" and a total lack of coordination. I submitted my initial application on December 7th, and from that moment on, I was met with a constant stream of piecemeal requests that dragged the process out for months.

The pressure reached a breaking point on December 27th, when I was finally called in for an interview—just one day before my scheduled flight on the 28th. During the meeting, the officials were visibly confused by my corporate structure. As the Managing Director of a Latvian S.I.A., they couldn't seem to grasp how a foreign company could maintain a permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte) in Germany. It felt like they were suspicious of a perfectly standard international setup. I actually had to log into my business banking account right there in the office and show them my invoices just to prove the company was active and legitimate. Despite knowing I was flying the next morning, they told me the visa wouldn't be ready in time. Interestingly, they suggested I just enter Thailand via a visa exemption, which worked perfectly for my three-month stay, despite all the conflicting advice you see online.

However, the real "salami tactics" started while I was already in Thailand. Throughout January, February, and March, the consulate continued to send new document requests every 3 to 4 weeks. The most absurd part involved the legalization of my trade registration. After first getting it certified by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was told it needed a final attestation from the embassy in Stockholm.

This led to a logistical nightmare: the embassy in Stockholm required payment in cash, specifically in Danish Krone, which had to be physically placed inside the envelope with the documents. Since I was no longer in Latvia and was trying to coordinate this from Germany, simply sourcing Danish Krone cash was a challenge in itself. It felt completely archaic to be mailing cash across borders in a briefcase-style maneuver just to get a stamp.

Each time I submitted a document, the consulate would go silent for nearly a month, only to pop up with yet another requirement they could have easily mentioned in December. In the end, after all that back-and-forth and the bizarre currency hunt, my DTV visa was finally issued—but only after I had already returned to Germany from my three-month trip. It was a masterclass in inefficiency and demonstrated a significant gap in their understanding of how modern, cross-border businesses operate.