Approved HCMC Vietnam as an employee. Applied Monday 3rd March, request additional documents Tuesday 4th, pending approval Wednesday 5th, approved Wednesday 12th.
Instead of providing details about my application I will give some brief points about what I learned.
Many people have speculated that the time to approval depends on the date you're going back. I provided March 17th as my return date, which might have delayed my application. I didn't want to provide an earlier date, because it might have passed before approval. This is only a theory, but I would advise to supply a return date within a week (at your own risk).
I provided a separate bank statement in my initial application with only my salary payments, but I was still requested to provide another bank statement with salary payments highlighted. So don't get creative, was my takeaway.
Web services that help with pdf editing harvest your data. So be careful about what documents you upload online.
The bank statement needs to contain your name and the currency, if it's not a Thai account. I supplied my bank statement in Swedish, not English or Thai. I also read about others supplying it in other languages. So I did not need to get the statement translated.
When you create your application, it tells you which regions of the county belong to reach embassy/consulate. I was initially going to go to HCMC, but someone in this group recommended me to go to Da Nang instead.
Da Nang, and neighboring Hoi An, are some of the best (and cheapest) places in the world to wait out your application. Fantastic weather, cheaper than Thailand, great people, less smog, great western and local food. I totally recommend going there. The only downside is that the Hanoi consulate seems to process applications quicker, and according to some they are less stringent.
Even though I'm an employee and not a freelancer, I was asked to provide my CV. So it's probably a good idea to do that initially.
TLDR : Answer Summary
The author shares their experiences with the visa application process from HCMC, Vietnam to Thailand, detailing the timeline of their application approval. They note potential delays based on the return date provided and emphasize the importance of correctly formatted bank statements. The author also advises against altering documents and mentions the advantages of applying from Da Nang over HCMC, while recommending that applicants bring printed copies of their visas for traveling.
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