DTV approved

* Consulate: New York

* Category: Workcation (remote employee of a company in the United States)

Documents submitted:

* Driver's license as proof of residence

* Bank statement for proof of funds of at least 500,000 THB

* Employment contract

The same day the visa application was submitted, I received a request from the consulate for additional documents:

(1) A bank statement with at least $16,000 USD - my balance in the statement was more than 500,000 THB, but it looks like each embassy has their own minimum in USD (I've seen someone mention Los Angeles requires $17,000), so I requested an updated statement from my bank and resubmitted one which was above their required amount.

(2) A detailed description of my job duties and a job description that states my position can be worked remotely - I was expecting this because the employment contract I submitted didn't make any mention of remote work. I resubmitted a document with my job description listing the duties, and since it also doesn't make any direct mention of remote work, I attached the approval from my employer to work remotely abroad.

Approval timeline: The initial visa application was submitted on 17 Mar, and the status changed to Pending Approval on 10 Apr. The status remained at Pending Approval until 5 May, so I emailed the consulate requesting an update since this is considerably longer than the other approval timelines I've seen. They responded the next day that it will be approved as soon as possible, and I received the visa today.

Another success story from Hanoi - after 2 years on ED visa I was a bit worried, but I got my DTV and entered succesfully through DMK in Bangkok - no question asked. This group helped me a lot applying for my DTV visa, so I too want to contribute. Below are all the details:

Embassy: Hanoi

Category: Workcation (sorry, I forgot which subcategory I picked, not sure if freelancer or company - but my company is registered in my country as Sole proprietorship = 1 person "company")

Time: 7 days = 5 working days

Timeline:

20th April (late night): Applied & paid

21st April: Pending document check

22nd April: Pending Approval

27th April (evening): Approved

> NOTE: I got approved on Sunday, and since there were numerous similar reports (some even mentioned they received visas on official holidays), it seems like the embassy is working also on weekends, and probably also during holidays in some limited mode. So don’t lose hope, you really can receive your visa anytime.

Documents:

1. Proof of current location: 3-page PDF:

- booking of hotel in Vietnam (for 5 nights)

- stamp from Viet immigration

- my Viet e-visa

2. Financial evidence: 10-page PDF:

- last 6 months of bank statements

- also added a screenshot from the current (unfinished) month of April, as I've applied ~ 20th

> NOTE1: I had ~ 600k on my bank account for around 3 months, not 6

> NOTE2: I did not translate stataments to English, as that would be an enormous amount of work (translating 20+ pages of PDF, without breaking layout is not fun…), but it didn’t matter. All I did was highlight the ENDING monthly balance + my monthly paycheck.

3. Portfolio: 16-page PDF:

- Portfolio: 3 pages, just screenshots from my (web) portfolio

- Payslips for the last 6 months: 6 pages

- Proof of my company/business registration: 2 pages

> NOTE: I did translate this one, as it’s quite important, and attached BOTH the original and translated versions.

- Letter to allow myself to work remotely from TH: 1 page

> NOTE: Since my company is a Sole proprietorship, I wrote myself a generic letter that I allow myself to work remotely, my role is this and that, and that if there are more questions, you can contact me any time at a@b.c. There are many examples, so just search this group

- CV: 2 pages

- Screenshots from LinkedIn: 2 pages

Summary:

I made sure all the documents looks nice + I also added a little table of content at the beginning of each document - I think it's quite useful, if you have 10+ pages. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. It was quite exhausting, and I’m glad it’s over, but it paid off ;)

Useful tools: Use smallpdf.com for merging and editing PDFs. It's not perfect, but I didn't find anything better.

IMPORTANT: Double, triple, quadruple-check your application with fresh eyes before submitting! It’s a lot of documents, a lot of work, mistakes can happen. For instance, I discovered a tiny mistake on my 3rd and final check, so just to be sure, I made a 4th one again lol.

FOR NON-ENGLISH SPEAKERS: Looks like you don’t need to translate everything to English. I only translated my business license, and that was enough. I’d go crazy if I had to translate, let alone notarize, all 30+ pages of financial evidence and portfolio!

Good luck to everybody!

Approved DTV (Workcation) in Jakarta

Applied: 16 Apr

Approved: 23 Apr

Documents provided:

1. Certificate of employment (signed by me)

2. Employment contract (contract between me as company owner and me as Director)

3. My resume (with screenshot from LinkedIn)

4. Motivation letter

5. My company certificate of incorporation and Original application to register a company

6. The most recent Company Information from Company House

7. Company profile

8. Stripe payment activity from my clients for the last 2 months (just a screenshot)

9. Stripe transaction history to my business account

10. Recent invoices to my client

11. Another recent invoice to my client

12. Business bank account statement (for the last 3 months)

13. Personal bank account statement for the last 8 months with payslips from my company to me

1st Home address (permanent): From my original country

2nd Home address (current): hotel in Jakarta

No extra document was asked for.

Passport holder: Eastern Europe (not EU zone)

Flight to DMK on 24 Apr - no questions.

Thank you, everyone, for sharing valuable information!

Two DTV approvals:

* 1 soft power muay Thai through Chicago consulate.

* 1 freelance/workcation through NYC consulate

Muay thai soft power visa:

* *Total processing time: 9 business days from Chicago consulate

* Documentation sent by Tiger Eye (Bangkok) for 1 month of unlimited classes

* License (proof of address)

* 3 months of bank account statements showing 500,000 baht

* Passport photo

* Airbnb accommodations

* Flight confirmation

* Photo for Visa, taken against a white wall and background deleted in Photoshop Express

Workcation visa:

* *Total processing time: 15 business days from NYC Consulate

* Utility bill (proof of address)

* 1 month of bank account transactions showing 500,000 baht, which was deposited 2 days before, printed by the bank. "Statement of funds" printed by my bank, and a picture of the ATM showing my deposit.

* Passport photo

* Airbnb accommodations

* Flight confirmation

* Photo for Visa, taken against a white wall and background deleted in Photoshop Express

* Proof of business below

Proof of business documents submitted:

Cover letter/list and explanation of documents submitted

1- Letter of Intent example (thank you to whoever posted it in this group- [members only])

Legal Formation Docs

3- Certificate of LLC formation

4- Employer EIN registration

5- Employment verification letter example (thank you to whoever posted it in this group- [members only])

6- Screenshots of my website

7- Most recent tax return

Client 1-

8- website screenshot with my name showing as a contractor

9- recent payments and invoices from Bill.com showing money being deposited into my account

10- 1099 from 2024



Client 2-

11- Website screenshot

12- recent payments and invoices from Bill.com showing money being deposited into my account

13- 1099 from 2024

Client 3- Fiverr profile

14- Fiverr profile screenshot

15- Payoneer invoices showing deposits into my account

16- 1099 from 2024

Bank statements

17- 3 months of business bank account statements



Things people said might not work and did (ymmv):

* 500,000 baht was deposited into my account 2 days before applying. The funds were not in my account for 30 days.

* Partner signed up for 1 month of muay thai to start. He does plan to continue doing muay thai after that.

* NY Consulate told me that if my visa was not approved in time, I could enter the country on a regular tourist visa and reenter the country after my application was approved.

Hey Everyone!

My wife and I are both freelance online teachers and are considering applying for the DTV Visa in the Workcation category. However, we can’t find accurate information regarding applying separately for the Workcation visa vs having one of us apply for that type and the other apply for the spousal visa.

Does anyone know if you are legally allowed to work (online, not in Thailand) if approved for the spousal visa? I searched the group first, but haven’t seen anything.

Thank you. 🙏

Those of you who applied under workcation for remote worker and had to include paystubs from your employer, on which part of the visa application did you upload those? Do they go in #4 with the bank statements? Or in #5 with the employment contract and employment verification letter?

Will be applying for workaction visa, probably from within an Asian city soon. I have my own UK Ltd company but I am not paying myself regularly from it, apart from a small amount of dividends to a personal account. No problem showing 500,000 baht in £s and a regular income from the business account, but will they expect this to be in a personal account? Obviously my business account goes under the name of my LTD company, although I am the sole director. I could show 500,000 baht in a personal account if I had to. Any other tips from someone applying with their own UK Ltd company? I pay personal tax in an EU country, as I am currently resident there.

Just wanted to thank this group for the wealth of information and help available here. After an anxious wait I had my workcation DTV approved in the UK this evening. Since I delayed the application waiting for documentation from an employer, the real processing time was no more than 3-4 working days. The extra documentation requested was reasonable in all cases and I felt that I was dealing with intelligent people. They didn't, by the way, accept cash in a brokerage account as evidence for the 500,000 THB equivalent.

In case it's of any use to future UK applicants, I didn't fit what I take to be the 'ideal' profile for the workcation - either permanent full time employment done remotely or a thriving business with proper registration and client testimonials.

I demonstrated a mix of seasonal contract employment and online activities (not onlyfans!) plus management of personal investments. It seems therefore that they are prepared to consider people with a 'portfolio' career rather than one simple occupation.

I suspect the seasonal employment was the decider as my employer, somewhat grudgingly, wrote a letter confirming it and saying how many years I'd been doing it. I did demonstrate savings and investments well in excess of £11,000, but it's impossible to know for sure whether this is taken into account.

My advice for future applicants is to rent Adobe Acrobat to make sure your document bundles are presented professionally (I personally paid Adobe through gritted teeth and passionately hate the SaaS model!). Also to take the time to get your ducks in a row with any evidence they request and write a professional cover letter introducing yourself and making clear that you will respect the law of Thailand, particularly as it relates to employment. Lastly, with the anecdotal reports of soft-power applicants who applied at SE Asian embassies facing scrutiny at the border, I'm glad I went for the workcation route in my home country even if it meant a little more stress.

Good luck to everyone!

Has anyone been rejected after applying as an employee for the DTV Visa workcation, even though they submitted all the required documents 100% correctly? (no middle name problem, no Problem with the Bank statements, no further visa problems)

Because most of those who were rejected in the group had applied for a soft visa.

Thanks!!

Just got approved 🥳

Washington DC Embassy Applied February 14th

Request for additional documentation February 26th

(I initially submitted 3 statements from cash app and they wanted to see it in a real bank account so I transferred $15,000 USD to my chase bank and only submitted the statement for February)

Status Changed to Pending Approval February 28th

Approved March 3rd

I applied at night on Friday and that Monday was presidents day so technically it took about 10 business days.

This was the workcation option so I submitted:

Screenshot from my state website of my business being registered and in good standing

Cover letter explaining the nature of my business and that my clients are not thai

My website

A selfie I took of my myself against a wall and I used canva to make the background white

My ID as proof of location

My passport

Flight number for flight I havent purchased yet and address of hotel that I booked just in case but they didnt ask for proof of that

## Hope this helps someone [😊]([members only])