Why was my Soft Power DTV visa application rejected at the Taipei embassy for a 2-week cookery course?

Oct 30, 2024
24 days ago
Saul *******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hi all,

I just had my Soft power DTV rejected in the Taipei embassy, they said a 2 week cookery course was not enough to get approved...I can try another embassy and do an online application as they don't leave a record. I'm quite disappointed as so many seem to have been approved for Soft power.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A user experienced a rejection of their Soft Power DTV visa application in the Taipei embassy, citing that a 2-week cookery course was insufficient. The discussion reveals a consensus that shorter courses may lead to stricter approval criteria, with some suggesting a minimum of 3 months for soft power activities to qualify for a long-term visa. Participants share experiences of varying approval success across different embassies and the need for clearer guidelines.
DTV VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
Derry *********
At first short courses were approved but very quickly most embassys started looking for a course that matched the length of stay... 180 days. They were also many reported cases of courses less than 3 months resulting in a tourist visa.

I run a muay thai gym and we have learned how to present a course in a way that it's always accepted. Done 90 now.
Tammy ********
If you want to get soft power dtv, speak to
@Tom ********
at phuket king muay thai. He sorted my dtv visa within 5 days for me in Laos. Stress free service through his gym. I hear that they are more strict with cooking classes because such short courses can be done with ED visa or tourist visa especially when your only signing up for 2 weeks. You have more chance of getting approval for 6 - 12 month classes. I just provided my bank statement and passport and Tom did the rest for me.
Angie **********
@Tammy *******
hi Tammy I'm totally new and wonder if you know where I can get a list of all the things that qualify the soft power dtv?? Thanks
Tammy ********
@Angie *********
if you message
@Tom ********
he will give you all the information you require. He's very helpful. 🙏
Angie **********
@Tammy *******
will do thanks!!!!
Roberto *******
Just call them, and ask how long of a course you need to take to get approved. It really that easy.
Roberto *******
Ric ******
@Roberto ******
sure, like any consulate answers the phone these days. 😅
Roberto *******
@Ric *****
Lol, spoken by someone who has obviously not called a consulate before, it’s literally what they’re there for. I spoke directly to the person in charge of approving the DTV visas.

He confirmed all my info was correct, and also told me the amount of qualifying Muay Thai classes for that particular consulate.

Did it for myself, my wife, and daughter.
Ric ******
@Roberto ******
what consulate did you call? The Thai consulate in Frankfurt does not answer calls or emails. And this has been the same with Brasil. The Frankfurt Consulate of Mexico answers the phone 1x per week for 1 hour. You have to ask in person to know when that is.
Roberto *******
@Ric *****
not what I’m seeing on the Thai embassy of Frankfurt site. It’s literally asking you to call them and “Don’t be a stranger, say Hello!” Lol.

Where are you looking?
Wannikea *********
And here's why folks should be reading the previous posts of approvals to discern which embassy to apply at for your particular chosen DTV path.
Luit *****************
@Wannikea ********
If you really belong to the target group for this visa, it is not really important which embassy you apply.

Only when you are in the grey area, it might be easier at some embassies to become the visa.

But it might also depend on which officer handles your application.
Somari *********
Don't feel bad I've been rejected twice pretty much for a legitimate business in the United States.
Tuatini ********
I met you this morning at the embassy, I sent you a PM
Shay ******
Any  Muay Thai school to get approved for DTV in Kho Phangan ???
Kay ********
They must be strict. I just read a post of someone getting it with a 2 week cooking course.
James ********
Sign up for a LONGER course and resubmit your application at Taipei.
Myles *******
Did u seriously think a 2 week course would warrant a 5 year visa?
Roberto *********
@Myles ******
A friend of mine got the DVT with five dental appointments
Jennifer *********
Roberto Stephen was this in Bangkok? Could you share which dental clinic it is?
Pat **********
Roberto Stephen does anyone know if LASIK surgery would qualify? Thanks in advance.
Myles *******
@Roberto ********
and? A bit different than a 2 week cooking course!
William ********
@Myles ******
I was approved yesterday for a two week cooking course. The accredited school I found, the only one in Bangkok, doesn’t offer a course longer than 1 month.
Roberto *******
@William *******
what school was it?
William ********
@Roberto ******
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Saul *******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@William *******
congratulations! where was your visa approved?
William ********
@Saul ******
Washington DC.
Myles *******
@William *******
fair enough
Roberto ****
If you're taking a culinary court why not just get an ED visa
Roberto *********
@Roberto ***
The OP wants the five years. The cooking course is just the excuse to get in. Everyone's doing it
James ********
@Roberto ***
really only wants the 5 year DTV visa for 2 weeks cooking course.
Justin ********
It's pretty ridiculous how arbitrary they're all being, you'd think they'd have the professionalism to product a short list of guidelines that would take all of 20 mins to put together. I mean, NO SOFT POWER NOTHING is going to take 180 days a year for 5 years. So it is absurd to act like 2 weeks is different than say 2 months (2 weeks is 1.5% of your in country days allowed on the dtv, while 2 months is 6% still nothing)
Geoff ************
@Justin *******
muay thai people could easily be training 180 days per year for 5 years, no problem.
Justin ********
@Geoff ***********
true. otoh the ed visa for that has existed for decades
Geoff ************
@Justin *******
yes, the Ed visa has been good, I was just replying to your comment that NO soft power nothing is going to take 180 days py for 5 years.

As I do muay thai long term I considered your statement incorrect.
Deepak *******
@Justin *******
there is nothing arbitrary. Every embassy/consulate of any country in the world has absolute power to deny a visa and nobody can do anything except post their grievances on FB.
Ric ******
@Deepak ******
actually no. Consulates operate under the law of their respective country. In this case Thailand. As the Thai DTV law is very vague about the criteria, there's truly no point in taking them to court over such a decision. But it's not like they could do whatever they want.
@Justin *******
is correct in pointing out the lack of professionalism on the side of the Thai government. At least from a western perspective.

I guess it's a cultural thing. Basically, they are handing those DTV out for nothing to get some cash in the country, but they are ashamed of openly saying so. The side effect is that some embassies behave emotionally as well. Best counteraction is to share information in groups like this to avoid frustrations to your peers.
Mun *****
@Ric *****
thank you for this reply! I was going to say the same thing.
Justin ********
@Deepak ******
there's a distinction to be made between the visa application process itself and the decision made based on required materials being presented. If the requirements are known the decision is still arbitrary for probably every country every Embassy - you can say this is 'as expected' - the work is not done by robots. The difference here is that the requirements themselves are not being made known in large part
Justin ********
@Deepak ******
Strawman response. #1 most countries don't have the same policy as Thailand, which is that each embassy functions independently to set their own criteria #2 this is literally the dictionary definition of arbitrary, the general requirements of the visa are published but each embassy has its own additional requirements which are not published - unknowable - up to guessing - not according to the published standard - arbitrary
Paul *******
@Justin *******
I don't think that's the case at all. All Thai consulates operate in a similar fashion, but the interpretation of the rules may sometimes be a little different AND sometimes the rules change over time.

In Laos, due to a large volume of applicants, particularly from countries such as Myanmar who used agents, they clamped down on the financials, requiring applicants to keep the required funds in their account for 3 consecutive months, to prevent agents from lending the money for a few hours, then asking for it back.

This did not occur at consulates further afield, meaning that at those consulates, they care less about how long the money has been in your account (which is relatively meaningless) but more about how you acquired the funds (say through your salary or invoices being paid to you).
Sam *********
why would they give a 5 year visa for a 2 week cooking class that can be taken using a visa exampt?! i think at some stage they will change it so any soft power activity should be 3+ months and will require proof of a repeat for each new entry.
Deepak *******
@Sam ********
Because many DTV visa holders were already working illegally in Thailand, and now they want to legitimize their living in Thailand with a short, two-week coarse DTV visa and continue working illegally in Thailand. Thai immigration did not think of all the scammers who are not able to find jobs or earn a decent living in their home countries and will soon devise plans to legitimize their illegal work in Thailand with DTV visas. The
*****
rule applies here also. 80 are dubious applicants,, and 20% are genuine applications.
Dean ********
@Sam ********
agreed, i think that will change soon
Uwe ****
Yeah... Most people are still dwelling on the past... The world changes fast and Thailand wants to just get anyone at this point to come to their country... Germany has officially entered a recession and the EU is going down along with it. The US is a freaking mess. China is barred up. The only ones left are Russians... and yeah, Indians, but they prefer to share drinks and food. So...
Roberto *********
@Sam ********
That won't happen. The DTV was designed to get people into the country, and it's achieving that goal. They're not going to start with restrictions. It's the best visa ever
Greg ********
@Sam ********
I tend to agree with you. The DTV was a rush job by the MFA. It was supported by the previous PM Thavasin to try and boost the economy with increased tourism spending.
Justin ********
@Sam ********
3 months is only 10% of 900 days, your logic doesn't work. You cannot justify a 900+ day of in-country time visa with a pathetic 3 months
Luit *****************
@Justin *******
Indeed a 5 year visa is strange for something only needing 3 months, but there is not really anything in between the 90 day tourist visa and the 5 year DTV.
Justin ********
@Luit ****************
just meant, if their intent with the dtv was to time box the soft power activity, they'd have told embassies to grant dtvs with a visa length equal to the activity length. clearly it wasnt the intent overall since they made dtvs a fixed length visa type of always 5 years ☺️
Luit *****************
@Justin *******
I think the DTV is not designer for soft power, but for workcation and digital nomad.

The soft power is just an extra option.

Thailand has no variabele length visa as far as I know.

Maybe they were just to naive about people not finding the correct visa for their situation, but just wanting DTV and then try to comply with requirements.

If I would have to do some activity in a country which takes 2 months, I would look for a visa covering this, and not finding a 5 year visa.

That would be the logical thing to do.

For some reason this logoc is not valid for Thailand.

I see a lot of people here trying to trick the visa system in all kind of possible ways, including border runs, visa runs, wrong types of visa, bribing officers through agents and so on.

MFA should know about this stupid practices, and could have done a better job to make each visa type only available for the correct group.
Roberto *********
@Luit ****************
But the Thai government is pushing the soft power options. Getting people into the country to spend money is the object.

*********************************************
Luit *****************
@Roberto ********
Yes, they try to push, but with only 2 week training it does not really do much for the economy.

A lot of people in this group are not really interested in the soft power options, but only see it as an excuse to get a visa not meant for them.

So when the government really wants to help the companies behind the soft power options, they should change the requirements for the DTV so applicants really have to invest into soft power options.

And getting people into the country also might be an objective as you say, but when I read here most of the people applying now for soft power, are already in the country, and are not really interested in the soft power options itself, but want for as less money as possible this DTV visa.
Greg ********
@Justin *******
He also said a repeat with each new entry ie ongoing activity of the soft power.
Jay *****
I've just applied with a month long Muay Thai course and heard there has been many others approved
Michał *********
@Jay ****
Can you give me the contact details for this muay thai school?
Jay *****
@Michał ********
approved today. Definitely recommend.
Michał *********
@Jay ****
thank you ! :)
James ********
@Jay ****
has your Muay Thai gym school been successful in getting the DTV Visa with it's applicants at a Thai Embassy or Consulate ?
Jay *****
@James *******
yes they have had multiple applications approved. It's Tiger Eye Martial Arts in Bangkok
James ********
@Jay ****
and are you using the Thai Embassy or Consulate at which they have obtained the DTV visa for their Muay Thai training students?
Jay *****
James ********
@Jay ****
frankly I think it's NOT a wise decision to not 🚫 go to a Thai Embassy or Consulate which has not already issued a DTV Visa with documents from the Muay Thai training school where you will be training.
Jay *****
@James *******
approved today
James ********
@Jay ****
wonderful 👍 Congratulations 👏👏👏
Jay *****
@James *******
well I'm Australian and I'm in Australia so I applied in Australia. It really should make no difference. Although I have heard some are harder than others
Ellice ****
@Jay ****
Where is Australia did you apply from? I am looking at going through Tiger Eye also. How long did you wait?
Jay *****
@Ellice ***
I'm in Queensland and applied at the Canberra Thai consulate. Applied about 4 days ago and the application is pending approval so hopefully not much longer.
@Tiger *******************
was great, very fast response and provided all the documents quickly.
Ellice ****
@Jay ****
ok, thanks for the update, so you applied through the Canberra evisa online system, or you physically went to Canberra?
Jay *****
@Ellice ***
online it's
*******************
there is also an app. Super easy to apply.
Ellice ****
@Jay ****
Thank you for all the info. Trying to figure out if its safer and quicker to go back to Australia or try from Vietnam. Others seem to have had luck with both.
Josh ******
Scratching Taiwan off my list now 😪
James ********
@Josh *****
that's a mistake as they are easy to get the DTV visa... just follow their requirements.
Kaia ******
Josh Ford, or just get a longer course. A two-week course for a five-year visa is a bit of a joke, to be honest
Peter ******
Taking the P a bit, booking up for a 2 week course .
Kieran *******
@Peter *****
there have been many posts on this group about this very subject if you care to look back.
Lili ********
@Kieran ******
I was told that I required a treatment plan n dentist gave me a six months plan to pull teeth n wait for them to heal n do implants. They also did not understand the acronym on the bank statement n bank manager explained that investment is redeeemable within 24 hours n I got DTV after one week in Ottawa.
Kieran *******
@Lili *******
London appears to be a lot easier with the dtv
Kieran *******
@Peter *****
is it? Many have obtained dtvs for this, even for a single dental appointment so 🤷‍♂️
Peter ******
@Kieran ******
Who has received a DTV on the basis of 1 dental appointment ? Can you give me their name ?
Peter ******
@Roberto ********
But you have to pay for the appointments before you get the visa . They want to see a receipt for the payment , rather than just a booking
Werner ************
It will get more strict as the embassy compare notes on application procedures etc
Roberto *********
@Werner ***********
Embassies compare notes?? 😂😂😂. That's never going to happen
Werner ************
@Roberto ********
sure they do - not unlike any other workplace they will have meetings to discuss visas, issues, uniformity and consistency, staffing etc
Roberto *********
@Werner ***********
I think you're joking. It's a well-known fact that embassies around the world run their own shows and make their own rules. Even in Australia there are inconsistencies between the Canberra Embassy and Sydney Consulate with visas and pricing. There's no way in the world they have meetings! 😆😆😆
John **********
It does seem a particularly short course. Did they indicate what length of course would be required?
Saul *******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
They said three months minimum
James ********
@Saul ******
then sign up for 3 months. Get the 5 year DTV VISA 🥰
Dean ********
Hi what is soft power please
Henrik *****
Visit the choosen Thai Embassy website before continuing..
Christopher ***********
@Dean *******
*****************************************
Ben *******
@John *****
look at this DTV visa as lasts 5 years just got prove Aussie embassy you got $22k AUD as soft power is digital created YouTube work…worth looking into bro.
Andi ***********
@Dean *******
DTV option for cultural activity e.g. cooking, Muay Thai. Music festival or for medical treatment
Dean ********
Jason ******
did you lose your money for the appliction or they dont charge if got rejected?
Andi ***********
@Jason *****
Taipei is walk in, they do not take your money unless approved
Sky *****
@Andi **********
Vientiane, Laos is also walk-in. You pay for the application, whether it's successful or not.
Andi ***********
@Sky ****
Taipei will tell you beforehand if your application is successful. So you do not lose money. That will change when they move online next month
Andrew *******
Can’t be too surprised for a 2 weeks course. Just get a longer course
Sab *****
Sorry to hear. A friend of mine also went today to the consulate in Taipei and was asked to provide more docs. It seems Taipei has gotten stricter which honestly doesn't surprise me.
Andi ***********
@Sab ****
Yes, Taipei no longer the as easy as before. Best to contact them beforehand to find out exactly what they want before applying.
Paul *******
@Andi **********
I'm not sure they were ever "easy" as such. I don't think they ever approved a DTV for someone with a single dental cleaning. They are more by the book, but relatively reasonable in general.
Andi ***********
@Paul ******
Yeah, by the book and reasonable is a good way of describing them before. Of late though they seem different especially with the financial requirement.
Hana ******
@Andi **********
how to contact them? 😅
Henrik *****
@Hana *****
Heard of Embassy websites ?
Andi ***********
@Hana *****
******************
Greg ********
Sorry to hear that - as we know other embassies/consulates have approved under the same circumstances ie 2 week cooking course. That is no consolation to you though.