Here is my story on how I applied for DTV through Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo (Sri Lanka) : [members only]

This is how I applied for Thailand Destination Visa (DTV) From Sri Lanka under Workcation category: Refer [members only] for more info.

I’m a Sri Lankan living in Chiang Mai. I got an ED visa last year, which I can use until this December. I wanted to apply for the DTV soon, so I came back to Sri Lanka on 31st October. I gathered the following documents and submitted them on the eVisa portal.

Financial Proof:

• Bank balance confirmation letter: Final balance as of 3rd November.

• Pay slips: Last 6 months.

• Bank statements (salary account): Last 6 months.

• Bank statements (savings account): I only had the 500,000 THB+ balance for the last 2 months. There was no money there before.

Work Profile:

• I wrote a cover letter about my situation (I’m a software developer working remotely for a foreign company, and I’ve been to other Southeast Asian countries as a digital nomad).

• Attached my professional agreement letter with my employer and included their contact emails for verification if needed.

Payment:

• The fee is 120,000 LKR, equivalent to 14,000 THB. (Not sure why it’s higher than usual.)

Timeline:

• Application Submission: 5th Nov, 6:30 p.m. (IST)

• Document Request: Received email on 6th Nov, 3:30 p.m., asking to upload all pages of my passport.

• Passport Upload: Uploaded on 6th Nov, 11:30 p.m. (Creating a PDF under 3MB while retaining image quality for 33 images was tricky.)

• Interview Request: Received email on 7th Nov, 11:00 a.m., asking to visit the Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo for an interview on 8th Nov, 10:00 a.m.

• Interview: I went with hardcopies of all my documents (bank statements, offer letter, etc.). (It was a casual conversation — I think they just wanted to confirm I was in the country.)

• Visa Approval: Received on 8th Nov, 11:30 a.m.

Interview Summary:

There was no one else at the embassy. The officer asked me why I wanted this visa. I explained that I’m a digital nomad and have been traveling in Southeast Asia for the past few years. I mentioned I’d wanted this visa since it was announced.

• He asked how long I’d been in Thailand; I said 15 months on a student visa.

• He asked what I was doing there, and I explained I was learning Thai and living there.

• He asked about where I stayed, and I said mostly in Chiang Mai, though I’d visited the south as well.

• He reminded me I’m not allowed to earn money in Thailand, to which I replied that I understood.

• He asked if I had any family there, and I said no.

He took all the hardcopies and informed me that I’d receive the result via email.

Everything was pretty fast, with no major issues.

#srilanka #colombo #dtv