Answered5 months ago
Why is the Muay Thai visa application process through the Vienna embassy so strict?
TL;DR: Do not apply through the Vienna embassy (my home). They seem extremely strict
I’m applying for the Muay Thai visa under the Soft Power category, and they keep asking me for more and more documents that are not even listed in the official requirements. At this point, it honestly feels like they are just looking for a reason to reject me.
In my initial submission, I sent everything they listed as required documents, and honestly thought they would easily grant me the visa given how much I exceed the requirements (500k+ THB deposit, high monthly income, and the fact that I’ve been training Muay Thai for many years). This visa was literally made for someone like me, that's what i thought.
A week later, they requested additional documents again:
* another photo (which was weird, but okay, so I went and took another professional photo)
* a cover letter
In the cover letter, I explained that I’ve been training Muay Thai for years and included many photos of me training at multiple gyms in Thailand over the years.
Another week passed, and now they want even more documents:
* Criminal record issued within the last 6 months
* Copies of all my Thailand entry stamps from my passport
* A copy of my recent work contract
* Copies of payrolls from the past 6 months
* A letter from a relevant authority under the Ministry of Education or from organizations including the Sports Authority of Thailand
* A Muay Thai course syllabus, including a timetable and the number of hours I must attend
A syllabus for a Muay Thai course? What am I even supposed to write there? That I’ll train every morning? 15 minutes of rope skipping, a 5k run, 100 knees, 100 kicks, pad/bag work?
Has anyone received similar request?
And regarding the payroll/work contract requests — I’m not even applying for a workstation visa. I already sent them 3 months of bank statements where they could clearly see both my income and savings, and I’m well above the financial requirements.
And the “letter from a relevant authority under the Ministry of Education” request is also confusing. I already sent them multiple documents from the gym, including certifications and supporting paperwork. Am I now supposed to ask some ministry office to write me a recommendation letter just to train Muay Thai?
I genuinely train Muay Thai, and that has always been the real reason I come to Thailand. Vienna is also my home embassy, so it’s not like I’m embassy shopping. Reading this group, it seems like many people submitted far fewer documents, especially those applying outside their home country. Right now it honestly feels like I’m being asked to fulfill the requirements for a Soft Power visa, Workation visa, and LTR visa all at the same time.
I'm sorry for such wall of text.
I’m applying for the Muay Thai visa under the Soft Power category, and they keep asking me for more and more documents that are not even listed in the official requirements. At this point, it honestly feels like they are just looking for a reason to reject me.
In my initial submission, I sent everything they listed as required documents, and honestly thought they would easily grant me the visa given how much I exceed the requirements (500k+ THB deposit, high monthly income, and the fact that I’ve been training Muay Thai for many years). This visa was literally made for someone like me, that's what i thought.
A week later, they requested additional documents again:
* another photo (which was weird, but okay, so I went and took another professional photo)
* a cover letter
In the cover letter, I explained that I’ve been training Muay Thai for years and included many photos of me training at multiple gyms in Thailand over the years.
Another week passed, and now they want even more documents:
* Criminal record issued within the last 6 months
* Copies of all my Thailand entry stamps from my passport
* A copy of my recent work contract
* Copies of payrolls from the past 6 months
* A letter from a relevant authority under the Ministry of Education or from organizations including the Sports Authority of Thailand
* A Muay Thai course syllabus, including a timetable and the number of hours I must attend
A syllabus for a Muay Thai course? What am I even supposed to write there? That I’ll train every morning? 15 minutes of rope skipping, a 5k run, 100 knees, 100 kicks, pad/bag work?
Has anyone received similar request?
And regarding the payroll/work contract requests — I’m not even applying for a workstation visa. I already sent them 3 months of bank statements where they could clearly see both my income and savings, and I’m well above the financial requirements.
And the “letter from a relevant authority under the Ministry of Education” request is also confusing. I already sent them multiple documents from the gym, including certifications and supporting paperwork. Am I now supposed to ask some ministry office to write me a recommendation letter just to train Muay Thai?
I genuinely train Muay Thai, and that has always been the real reason I come to Thailand. Vienna is also my home embassy, so it’s not like I’m embassy shopping. Reading this group, it seems like many people submitted far fewer documents, especially those applying outside their home country. Right now it honestly feels like I’m being asked to fulfill the requirements for a Soft Power visa, Workation visa, and LTR visa all at the same time.
I'm sorry for such wall of text.
Answer summary
The user is applying for a Muay Thai visa under the Soft Power category through the Vienna embassy and experiencing unusually strict requirements, including repeated requests for additional documentation not listed in the official guidelines. Despite exceeding the financial qualifications, the applicant is frustrated by the demands for documents like a criminal record check and a specific Muay Thai course syllabus. Concerns are raised about the embassy's approach, with other users sharing their less rigorous experiences with different embassies, recommending applicants consider other locations due to the strictness observed in Vienna.
34 repliesnewest first
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Robert *******
It sounds strange, but you apply for the wrong purpose.
You obviously want to work in Thailand and train in your free time.
IF you work only on-line with companies outside Thailand you need to apply for the option workcation.
That you train genuinely in your free time is allowed, but working while having a visa that does not allow working could be a problem.
You obviously want to work in Thailand and train in your free time.
IF you work only on-line with companies outside Thailand you need to apply for the option workcation.
That you train genuinely in your free time is allowed, but working while having a visa that does not allow working could be a problem.
ArticulateN************
Try Budapest much easier no questions and 1 week done
Jon *******
If you get rejected try Frankfurt super easy and did not ask for any more docs
Jason ********
them asking for this extra stuff is a good thing and normal part of process. you can either be ‘That’ foreigner about it, or just do it and get the visa approved
Angelo ***********
The wall if text is okay - however lots of the stuff is standard, it is strange you missed it in the initial submission.
For example:
- A copy of my recent work contract
- Copies of payrolls from the past 6 months
- A letter from a relevant authority under the Ministry of Education or from organizations including the Sports Authority of Thailand (the school should provide that)
- A Muay Thai course syllabus, including a timetable and the number of hours I must attend (I guess the schedule of the school is enough, as in which hours of the week you are training what)
It seems the key component is the letter of the ministry of education. That is the schools job, not yours.
Good luck!
For example:
- A copy of my recent work contract
- Copies of payrolls from the past 6 months
- A letter from a relevant authority under the Ministry of Education or from organizations including the Sports Authority of Thailand (the school should provide that)
- A Muay Thai course syllabus, including a timetable and the number of hours I must attend (I guess the schedule of the school is enough, as in which hours of the week you are training what)
It seems the key component is the letter of the ministry of education. That is the schools job, not yours.
Good luck!
Frank-Steven ***********
I wasn't ware that Thai consulates in European countries are going that crazy, too, now. Welcome to Thai bureaucracy, where way too often cluelessness meets making things up on the go. Sounds like they are mixing up requirements from a variety of different visa here. Nothing much you can do but play their game and send things remotely resembling what they requested.
StunningP*********
Sounds like you need to submit all the documents your thai gym should of sent you. Such as their certification from the Ministry and sport, a rough schedule of what you will be doing and when etc etc
Ron ****
Do they want anyone on dtv or not...
Christopher ***********
What are their requirements for the criminal record checks (apart from that it must be less than six months old)?
Anonymous *************
OP@Christopher **********
Full history, i will ask my goverment and they will issue the official document and my full history. It's rare embassies ask this but will do it if they want.Anonymous *************
OPHome country only, not sure how i would be able to request this from Thailand and im sure theyre able to background check this on thai side automatically with all other stuff like visa overstay and so on.
Christopher ***********
Anonymous participant Which countries? Home country, present country or all that you’ve lived in?
Dragiša *******
I applied for DTV in Vienna, worcation, they responded very quickly and correctly, I got the visa in two weeks. I am from Slovenia.
Marcin ************
@Dra****
When did you apply for the DTV?Dragiša *******
@Marcin ***********
ViennaDragiša *******
BeautifulDragon2531 September 2025
Beautiful**********
@Dragiša ******
whenAnonymous *************
OPDid they ask for the same requirements as they did from me? Is that normal? Reading this group, it seems to be on the extreme end, especially for Soft Power, which has much easier requirements.
Dragiša *******
Anonimni udeleženec They were also interested in my entire travel history, I scanned my entire passport.
Dragiša *******
Anonimni udeleženec No, they didn't ask me for these things, they were most interested in the operations of my company and whether I had enough funds to live in Thailand. They were also most concerned that you don't work for Thai companies, which is logical, so you don't take jobs from Thai citizens.
Anonymous ******************
Any documents related to the course you will enroll, the gym should be responsible for that including the letter from the authority under MoE.
Anonymous *************
OPThey gave me a lot of documents in both Thai and English, so I’m going to double-check everything. It’s a well-known gym where real fighters train, so I wouldn’t call it a “tourist” gym. It’s just weird that they’re grilling me about Muay Thai when I already proved with photos that I’m very passionate about it, and also about my finances when I exceed the requirements by so much. That’s why I feel like it doesn’t even matter if I provide more documents.
If you aren’t actually training Muay Thai and are just using the DTV as a way to stay in Thailand, and you’re someone with €20k in savings making €3k per month, I’d probably avoid applying through the Vienna embassy. Maybe they’ve been instructed to start rejecting more applications.
If you aren’t actually training Muay Thai and are just using the DTV as a way to stay in Thailand, and you’re someone with €20k in savings making €3k per month, I’d probably avoid applying through the Vienna embassy. Maybe they’ve been instructed to start rejecting more applications.
DTV_Be*******
Anonymous participant - The soft power option is to take a Muay Thai “course”, not to train at any Muay Thai gym. You need to ensure that the gym you are working with has the correct registrations with the Ministry of Education (not many do). I beleive the gyms that are catering to this visa have the paperwork down solid and this might be what is holding you up. Do you know if they have experience with DTV applicants?
Ho ******
Yep, it sounds like he hasnt signed up for a course at a specific gym
Anonymous ******************
Anonymous participant I get your frustration but with the Thai bureaucracy and visa processing, it is papers and facts based.
I will try to provide another perspective of someone who has to process your application, you don’t need to answer me - but you should be able to provide the documents that answer these.
1. you met the financial requirements, your statements show the salary transactions : how could you leave work for that long to train muay thai?
Are you gonna quit your job? Does your employer allow you to work remotely? If yes, does your company have Thai clients.
It is not the requirement for soft power - but I hope you can see my point of how one event can relate to the other events.
2. the documents from the authority and stuff are the required documents for Non-ED visa (for training muay thai).
It is not something new. Your gym should be able to find a way to get you that. You don’t need to worry about writing to the ministry yourself.
At the end of the day, the embassy can request any additional documents - most of the time, to just check the legitimacy.
I will try to provide another perspective of someone who has to process your application, you don’t need to answer me - but you should be able to provide the documents that answer these.
1. you met the financial requirements, your statements show the salary transactions : how could you leave work for that long to train muay thai?
Are you gonna quit your job? Does your employer allow you to work remotely? If yes, does your company have Thai clients.
It is not the requirement for soft power - but I hope you can see my point of how one event can relate to the other events.
2. the documents from the authority and stuff are the required documents for Non-ED visa (for training muay thai).
It is not something new. Your gym should be able to find a way to get you that. You don’t need to worry about writing to the ministry yourself.
At the end of the day, the embassy can request any additional documents - most of the time, to just check the legitimacy.
Anonymous *************
OPAnonymous participant 890 The whole reason I applied for Soft Power was because I train Muay Thai and visit Thailand every year for Muay Thai. The easier requirements were just a bonus, but now that I have to provide all the documents as if I were applying for Workcation, I will ask them to switch me to Workcation instead, as it seems like a safer and more stable option for the future, according to this group.
In that case, there shouldn’t be a Soft Power and Workcation split, but just one DTV category, since we need to provide proofs and documents for both anyway.
I still think the Vienna embassy is just extremely strict compared to other embassies. I just wanted to warn people to maybe skip this one for Soft Power, because even someone who is actually training Muay Thai is being asked for extensive documentation—I can’t imagine what they would require from a “regular” applicant.
In that case, there shouldn’t be a Soft Power and Workcation split, but just one DTV category, since we need to provide proofs and documents for both anyway.
I still think the Vienna embassy is just extremely strict compared to other embassies. I just wanted to warn people to maybe skip this one for Soft Power, because even someone who is actually training Muay Thai is being asked for extensive documentation—I can’t imagine what they would require from a “regular” applicant.
Kerry *******
Yes mine wasn't far off this. But my Gym pre-prepared many of the points on your list in the evidence submission for activity. Other gyms might need a bit of nudging. Mine was 16 pages of extra documents on top of this as additional requests. It was a lot.
Advise to contct your gym over .5 and .6. At my other MT gym (Not current) they had to be instructed to send these documents for another students DTV.
Advise to contct your gym over .5 and .6. At my other MT gym (Not current) they had to be instructed to send these documents for another students DTV.
Greg ********
It certainly appears that they're very strict there. It might be a better idea to cancel it, lose the 10,000 baht, and apply in Vietnam.
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