Can someone explain this... tried to get my wife of 2 years a visitor visa to the US. Came prepared with every document we could think of. Including chanoot for land we have, bank statements, hell even a sponsor from the US.

Lady asks my wife 4 questions. Doesn't look at any paperwork then just denies her.

Our 6,000 baht gone.

Questions were.

Where are you going

How long

Where are you staying

Oh and how long we've been married.

Had answers to all of it along with documents showing it.

Journey of APPROVED DTV & more.

Ho Chi Minh City, DTV Soft Power (Muay Thai), Italian passport.

Visa background:

- 2022: 60d TR + 30d extension from Italy.

- 2022: 1 year of ED visa, language.

- 2023: 60d TR + 30d extension from Laos, at DMK the officer took my passport and disappeared for 1 minute and came back without questioning.

- 2023: 1 year of ED visa, language.

- 2024: I went to HCMC for 5 days and came back Visa free (60d), at DMK the officer asked me few questions in Thai and let me go.

- 2025: I went 3 days in HCMC and came back Visa free (60d), at DMK again few questions in Thai and let me go. I extended another 30d.

- 13-03-2025: I went 3 days in HCMC and tried to enter again Visa free at DMK. The officer at the queue called other officers and they pulled me over to the back office behind the queues. They made me fill the form and I handed it to the lady sitting at the laptop. The lady never talked to me, but she wrote something on the back page of the form and my passport disappeared for more than 1 hour. I knew by then something bad was to happen. They brought me to another proper office where officers were ready with the deportation form. They were all nice to me and they listened to my explanations. All the conversations were in Thai, as I can really speak decent Thai. They phoned the big boss for let her talk to me. The big boss arrived and she was the lady who was sitting at the computer before. She wasn’t as nice as the others. Always in Thai she said that I had had enough time to travel already so she denied my entry. She said that if I wanted to come back, I had to do DTV. They made me buy the first ticket for the morning after back to HCMC and I spent the night in the detention center. Awful experience. They don’t have an ATM inside the airport, only exchange boots so I couldn’t withdraw cash from anywhere. I was aware that I couldn’t go on visa free anymore and I had already some plans to make something longer but they stopped me before. They kept my passport until I was landed in HCMC and in the queue for Vietnamese immigration. The Vietnamese officer didn’t asked me anything but stamped my passport. I was free again.

Thanks to a friend I contacted a Muay Thai gym and paid for 1 year course.

On Sunday 16/03 I applied for the visa. I submitted:

- Bio data page.

- Passport style picture.

- Proof or residence in Vietnam (screenshot of Airbnb booking).

- Letter from the school, payment receipt and school registration document combined in a single pdf.

- Statement of Italian bank account with >500k THB of 4Q24 in Italian. My bank doesn’t provide English version and they issue the document only after the quarter is ended.

- Selected “Unemployed” and filled other minor infos which I don’t remember.

The preview of the uploaded document in the system shows only the first page of the pdf.

At 5pm of Monday 17/03 I got an email asking:

- Passport pic of the Vietnamese entry stamp, which I provided. Probably I should have attached as single pdf to the bio data page.

- As the financial evidence, they accept only documents in Thai or English. If necessary, I had to make my Italian documentation translated. So I switched my Italian back account with my WISE bank account statement of last 6 months, which is in English and up to date (I didn’t think about this account before).

- Since i selected unemployed, they asked me how I think I could sustain myself. I wrote a cover letter saying that as full time student of Muay Thai I wasn’t planning to do any job in any country and I intended used my liquid funds for my living expenses. I attached again the balance of my wise account from the statement, the balance of my Thai bank account from the statement and a screenshot of my Italian bank account from the bank app (which is in English).

On Monday 24/03 at 12:30pm (5 working days after I uploaded the additional documents) they sent me the email with the approved visa.

Today 25/03 I arrived at SUV airport. At the immigration line, the officer pulled me over and brought me at the back office. A fast video recorded interview in Thai and I got stamped 180d. They only wanted to see my TM30 to verify my accommodation. No documentation needed for my visa was asked.

To be honest reading other people experience, only made me more anxious as I was afraid my history of visas and the denied entry could work against me.

I’m writing my experience to give some hope to others who might be in my similar condition.

All the best and good luck!

Denied entry !

I’ve been in Thailand since 2022 with visa free stamp and always doing border bounces every 60 days.

What happens if you get denied at the border? Can you just apply for a tourist visa right away?

Any recommendation will be helpful

Hello, has anyone heard about someone getting denied trying to enter Thailand, even though they have the DTV?

Not sure where to ask this question. Today we went to the American Embassy. My Thai girlfriend had an appointment. We hope to get a B1 B2 visa for her to travel to America for holiday. I hired a Thai company to help us prepare all the documentation necessary for her application, checked all the boxes.

 According to the Visa company, she met all the requirements. Submitted a flawless application .

She just returned from her appointment at the Embassy. She was denied a B one B2 a Visa .

The reason, insufficient information. That’s it, no explanation of what the insufficient information was. 

Please !! For the ones who got approved/Denied for the DTV specifically regarding the Thai soft power activities may you please share your experience and if you completed the application online or at a embassy and the reasoning for getting denied/approved also how many months do I need to enroll in a activity.

Thank you In advance 

I just wanted to go ahead and share my experience. I have been living in Thailand for two years now initially just doing boarder runs and then on a 1 year student visa. My student visa ended in September 2024. I did a boarder run to Malaysia and came back on on a 60 day exempt and extended another 30 days. I left Thailand December 20th. I applied for my DTV visa in Vietnam was approved under the workcation category. I entered Thailand and was denied entry initially. I had an interview/interegation my Thai language was tested. I do know quite of bit of Thai but didn't understand some of the questions asked and ultimately failed my interview. They asked for my outgoing ticket I didn't have one I bought a ticket on "OnwardTicket" that I have used in the past with no issues. This time didn't work and was denied entry all together. After my case being transferred to another officer and almost deported. I paid an additional 20k baht and was finally let in the country. Don't know if there was really an issue or just wanted bribe money. But Just thought I'd give a warning to those in similar situations.

I currently have the Visa on Arrival stamp and can stay in Thailand until March 11. However, I will be traveling to Vietnam for 10 days in early February to apply for the DTV visa. What happens if the visa application is denied and I have to return to Thailand? Can I still stay until March 11? Technically, I’ve already used up my allowed days with the tourist visa since I was here for 90 days before. But first I need to go back to my condo in case I have to leave... 😬

Can 'pending approval' in the system still be denied ? Has anyone ever gotten rejected ?

DTV visa Hanoi, denied / put on hold

I applied for the DTV visa in Hanoi. Got requested for further documentation twice. Third time, after nine days, they said I can't get DTV since my tourist visa is still valid for one and a half month more, but that I can come back reapply at the end of next month when the tourist visa has ended. I had read through the rules many times before going to Hanoi to apply, and had never heard of this rule. When I asked where this rule was stated, Thai embassy in Hanoi couldn't give an answer. I thought that the DTV visa replaced current tourist visa. That is what other people in this group have said. Has this happened to anybody else?

Disappointed I traveled back to Thailand. At the airport, I got stopped. Thought it was just a routine control first, but it ended up with them detaining me and sending me back to Vietnam. Because they said I have been on multiple entry tourist too long, even though I still have one and a half month left. So now I'm basically stuck. I can't get the DTV visa because my tourist visa is still valid, and I can't enter Thailand because they said they don't think I am tourist and that I should already have the DTV. Don't know what to do really