Hello, I am seeking expert advice on relocating my family to Thailand in June 2026. My children will be 17, 14, and 13 years old, and I am unsure about the specific visa requirements. Chat GPT suggested that the DTV would be the most suitable option for us. I plan to homeschool my children initially and later explore other educational options. As a remote federal employee, I anticipate continuing in my role abroad, but I am also exploring alternative employment opportunities. I am currently pursuing TEFL and Cybersecurity certifications. Although I do not have substantial savings, I expect to receive $100,000 to $150,000 from the sale of my house and additional funds from selling our belongings. However, I am concerned about meeting the income and asset requirements, particularly if the necessary funds are not available in my account at the time of application. I wont be able to sell my house till around March when it is closer to the time we leave. The price for a monthly rental here in PA will run us at least $5000 which is a lot so if i can stay here as long as possible I will. Can someone explain the financial guidelines to me? Will my current job count as income or my house as assets? Can anyone recommend a professional in Pennsylvania who can assist me with the visa application process? Hopefully I am making sense. Thanks in advance!

5 business days

Applied Sunday, June 22

Pending Approval June 23

Approved Friday, June 27

No further docs requested

Category: Workcation

Work Docs:

Freelance teacher portfolio with cover letter explaining what I do, where my students are sourced, how I get paid and approx monthly earnings, why I'm applying, and stated that I will not seek work locally in Thailand.

The portfolio included my TEFL cert, student roster, earnings spreadsheet, calendar schedule, 2 sample lesson plans with link to materials (3MB is too small to compress everything ), screenshots from my online classes, some teaching reviews, and WeChat communication from parents showing student retention and pre-paymemt for 10-20 classes side-by-side with the transfer pics from their account to mine.

Financial Docs:

3 mos of statements showing over 500k during all 3 months and a screenshot from the account. Included a short letter explaining the minimal activity on the account (savings, not daily use).

Location Docs:

Photos of my cxld Ed Visa and Vietnam entry stamp, vietnam visa, hotel reservation, and pic at the hotel

I am American and have been in Thailand for a while already. Most recently on an Ed Visa. Before that I had a Business Visa. Others previous to that. Though they did not look at every page of my passport, I'm sure it's evident in their system.

Pretty sure this is everything. Hopefully not forgetting anything.

Hi - I'm in Ubon Ratchatani on a 60 day tourist visa; I am fluent in German (native speaker) and English (lived in Australia for the last 40+ years) and I wonder how best to find a job as an English (and/or German) teacher in the Ubon area - amd then to obtain a working visa ... and I have a bachelor degree in architecture and engineering. Thanks!

I’m 19 years old and looking to stay in Thailand long term as an English teacher. I am American native English speaker. I will have my 120 hr tefl certification in three weeks. I’d much rather prefer to tutor but if I needed to teach in a school I could do that. I don’t have 800,000 thb saved but I could borrow it for 24hrs to show them a bank statement. Any ideas?

Hi all! I’m new to the group. We are looking to retire in about 3 years to Thailand. My husband gets both military pension and disability, which we can easily live off of, but I also wanted to maybe teach English, as a supplemental if possible. I’ve taught both high school and college level English. When we move, I would be 53 years of age. I’ve read Thailand has a strict retirement age, but wasn’t sure if that applied to expats. Any information is greatly appreciated!

Hey , so around the summer of 2027 I’m going to be leaving out the army (not retirement) I’ll be 28 and my plan is to use my gi bill to go to college full time learning Thai for 4 years. Any advice of work from home jobs certifications or savings amount and anything else that is recommended to make the move easier that I should do before I move there. I have 2 years to prep.

Does anyone have any advice on teaching English as a second language in Thailand?

I've been told that Thailand has local programs for TEFL certification, which also offer cultural orientation. Any recommendations of those?

Has anyone in here applied for the DTV from the washington dc embassy? When i was looking at the thailand website it says the amount of money needed in your account is set by the embassy but it’s so hard to get a response at the DC embassy. Me and my boyfriend are set to start our expat journey on November 3rd and our first stop is thailand however we are unsure what visa we would need to get! We are currently getting our TEFL and the program would be completed there but i’m getting mixed reviews on applying to teaching jobs before moving vs doing it after moving because of course visa concerns ! Could anyone direct me to a youtuber or a blog with better information ? I’ve been using reddit , national pages and the “Retired working for you “ youtube channel

Hello,

Im planning on moving to Bangkok in the beginning of June and I’m thinking about getting a non-immigrant O visa. I’m wondering what’s a good program to obtain the correct certification?

What is the best school to get certified to teach English in Thailand? What is the monthly salary ? I am from America