DTV soft power (cooking) w/o income

Hi everyone, since I currently am on a career break with enough savings, I'm thinking of applying for a DTV and a cooking course. I meet the bank balance requirement - but I wonder if it's an issue that I have no income from a job? (I do have USD 1.3k rental income)

Any advice is appreciated.

Hi everyone!

I’m currently filling out the DTV application and have a quick question.

Since I haven’t received the visa yet, I don’t have flight tickets or a confirmed arrival date. I also don’t have a fixed hotel yet, as I plan to look for long-term accommodation after arrival.

What is the best way to fill in the “arrival date” and “place of stay” sections in this case?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I'm setting up my 900k Baht deposit in June so it's fully seasoned. Since the hard part (the money) is done, what are agents charging these days just for the paperwork and process? Any tips to find a reliable one in Thailand?

I’m getting ready to apply for a non-o retirement visa…. I’m going to use an agent, which I have sat down and talked to already.

They’re going to help me out, including opening a bank account, etc.

He gave me two different prices, based on if I entered the country with a certain visa prior to filing for the retirement visa

What visa was he asking me to get, when I enter this next time so we could file for the retire retirement visa…? Any ideas…?

The fees were substantially different if I came in on a certain visa prior to filing for the retirement

Over $1000 USD difference

Chiang Mai - Softpower DTV

Applied DTV soft power via a language school in Chiang Mai (cultural).

Looks like it might get rejected.. received a reply from London embassy as follows:

"Thai Language or Culture learning class is not included in DTV soft power . Kindly ask school to provide the License for Establishing a Non-Formal Private School permitted Thai cooking class issued by Provincial Education Office, relevant Thai Authority"

I don't actually mind doing a cooking course. Should I apply to a cooking school under same application? Thinking otherwise will lose my application fee.

Any recommendations for cooking school or other suggestions in CM area?

Ta

In 3 months time I will apply for dtv visa, I have 2 options, 1 is soft power cooking class, the 2nd one is medical purpose (dental implant).

Which embassy is easier for approval please?

And if they reject me in first instance for example for soft power, can I try again from the same town for medical purpose?

Or can highlight both reasons in my request?

Many thanks

DTV in HCMC | Landing in Hanoi

I am landing at Hanoi airport from Bangkok and heading to HCMC after a few days.

I will apply for soft power Muay Thai DTV visa in HCMC...

As you've to provide your passport stamp photo, I am wondering if this would create an issue since I am applying in HCMC.

I will of course provide proof of my accomodation in HCMC.

APPROVED from Washington DC Embassy. WORKCATION ROUTE

Mine was somewhat of a convoluted case due to my funds being scattered all around.

Timeline:

- April 16th Applied

- April 28th (11am) Request for more documents

- April 28th (2pm) Submitted requested documents (Payslip, 3 months bank statements again, employment verification letter)

- April 28th (5pm) Changed to Pending Approval

- April 29th (3pm) Approved

Originally I submitted the following:

- Financial Documentation Package:

1. Table of Contents with hyperlinks in the PDF

2. Cover Letter explaining why my funds were not in the same account and how the package was put together.

3. Reconciliation of Accounts with statement dates, account ending numbers, bank names, ending balances, and conversion to THB.

4. January, February and March Bank statements in the SAME order by account as they were reconciled on the reconciliation sheet.

- Employment verification package:

1. Remote Work authorisation letter - stating that I am authorised to work worldwide remotely but will not be working with Thai clients in any capacity and that I only exclusively service US Based clients.

2. Backdated Work Contract - I did not have this so I had to make it because I work for the family business. This detailed my scope of work, my pay, pay frequency, and position and title.

^^ Both of the above were signed by my father as he is the head of the company and we do not have an HR Department.

Additional documents Requested

I submitted the following - only difference this time versus last time is I didn’t do the conversion to THB as the embassy specifically requested to see $16,000 USD every month for three months.

- Financial Documentation Package:

1. Table of Contents with hyperlinks in the PDF

2. Cover Letter explaining why my funds were not in the same account and how the package was put together.

3. Reconciliation of Accounts with statement dates, account ending numbers, bank names, ending balances, and conversion to USD.

4. February, March and April Bank statements in the SAME order by account as they were reconciled on the reconciliation sheet.

- Work Verification

1. Another letter stating my employment status, when I started the position, what my role is, that I was authorised to work worldwide but NOT with Thai clients in ANY capacity

2. Recent payslip

My case was convoluted, stressful, and confusing on how to put together because I do not generally keep a lot of funds in my personal account. Most of them are in investments, crypto or my business account. In order to meet the requirement for personal accounts ONLY, I had to include the money I have parked in CommonWealth Bank in Australia. This was nerve wracking because I emailed the embassy and they basically told me it was up to the consular officer whether they would accept funds NOT held in USD or from institutions outside the United States.

Thanks a lot for this group for help and I hope this helps someone.

Just curios. You need to show 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account but you can’t open a thai bank account before you have a long term visa ..

How do people come around this?

My husband and I are planning to retire and move to Chiang Mai, arriving on Sept 1st. I know we need to apply for the Non-O Retirement Visa and that we should do the application in our home country (United States). My question is: how soon in advance of our planned arrival should we start the application process online with the Thai embassy? I understand we’ll have 90 days to complete the process once we apply and I know we’ll need to open a Thai Bank account and deposit 1,600,000 Baht (typo fixed) once we get there. Any guidance on timing and order of operations would be helpful as I wasn’t entirely clear on this from my research. Thanks in advance for the advice!