Everyone was so helpful in this group, I wanted to share my experience getting approval on my workcation/freelance DTV in Vientiane, Laos. It’s long, but hopefully helpful!

In advance of my arrival, I prepared all my documents.

Here’s everything I submitted, and I also submitted a cover page for each, explaining what I was including.

Financial Documents

1/ Bank Statement Summaries for three months (includes ending balance).

(I also offered them full bank statements (17 pages!) with all transactions, but they didn’t request them)

2/ Payments from clients (past three months)

3/ Client letters confirming self-employment status and that none of them were based in Thailand or had any offices there, along with 1099s (independent contractor tax form)

4/ Tax Return from 2024 (to show business income)

Professional Portfolio

1/ Cover letter explaining why I wanted to be in Thailand. Again, I mentioned I had no clients with business in Thailand, that I would be working remotely. I also mentioned wanting to immerse myself in the culture.

2/ Portfolio (I’m a freelance copywriter, so it was samples of client work, and an explanation of my role in the project)

3/ Resume

Proof that I was in Laos:

1/ Photo of plane ticket with arrival in Laos

2/ Photo of passport page with Laos entry stamp

3/ Hotel receipt

Tuesday, 11/11, arrived in Laos and submitted all documents online. PRINT OUT the payment voucher.

Wednesday 11/12, I went to the Embassy of Thailand (15 Rue Bourichane) to pay the $10,000 baht.

They open at 9am, but get there early! I was there at 8:45am and there were already 5 people in front of me. Go to the bank window, present your payment voucher and baht. They’ll stamp your voucher, but you don’t get any receipt.

Thursday, 11/13, they asked for a clearer passport page, and the full page of the passport page with entry stamp (I’d only sent the entry stamp). Respond quickly to any requests for additional information.

Friday, 11/14. I received my request for interview for Monday, 11/17! Just to be on the safe side, I printed out all my bank statements, and everything else I’d submitted.

Monday, 11/17. Interview at 10am. Again, go EARLY. They give the same time slot to multiple people.

The interview was 10 minutes at most: What are your plans while you’re in Thailand, wanted to see online bank balance, and again see client payments. I showed my website, explained my business, and where I’d be living in Thailand. I was told if I’d been approved, I’d hear by 2pm, and the answer was yes!

So amazingly, the whole process took less than a week!

I should mention that I applied before in August (Washington, DC Embassy) and was denied because my 500,000 baht had only been in my account for 2, not 3 months. I was offered the Multiple Entry Visa, which I declined. Having applied and been rejected before had no impact on this application in Laos.

How long does a dtv in the uk take to process does anyone know this . And any good soft power places accredited.🙏🏻 thanks

DTV MANILA APPROVAL —

Applied on 9th November for Workcation, Requested documents on 14th November, Approved 17th November.

I was initially quite surprised that they requested more documents as I sent over more than what I thought was required. The initial submission was about 80 pages including bank statements being about half of that. I included message logs from me and my team, business registration documents, messages to and from suppliers, invoices from suppliers, invoices from 3rd party businesses, messages to and from 3rd party businesses, 4 month statements from all accounts (business, personal and savings account), then proof that I was in PH (Airbnb receipt, stamp and flight details)

The additional requested documents included 6 months statements from business and personal - I submitted a years worth.

wanted to see sales dashboards from my business for the year

Wanted to see orders going through and who they were going to

Listings online for my products

And payment confirmations from e-commerce sites to my business bank.

I reckon with the new changes, they are possibly going to tighten down as I thought that I submitted more than enough details business wise but my recommendation is to submit everything you would feel is necessary to prove that your business is legitimate, even going over board.

Just FYI to Americans in the Northeast, the NYC consulate appears to be very backed up with visa applications so I'd strongly recommend applying early and triple checking things before clicking submit. I applied for a 90 day non 0 retirement visa on September 15 and was finally approved *today while literally on the plane to Thailand.* The immigration officer accepted the PDF version of it on my phone as I had nowhere to print it out.

Would have been pretty funny if I hadn't checked my email upon landing.

Hi everyone! 😊 I was wondering if anyone here has already applied for the digital nomad visa in Vietnam, specifically in Hanoi. I’m planning to apply there soon and would really appreciate any information or tips you could share.

Thanks a lot, and have a wonderful day!

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Hey, I’ve had recurring issues with my passport number because it contains a zero (0), and some authorities or offices mistakenly treat it as the letter O.

Do you think it makes sense to include a note about this when applying for the DTV? I don’t want my application to be rejected because the passport number doesn’t match or something like that.

I was thinking of adding an extra page into the passport upload, since I’m not sure where else I could mention it. What do you think?

💡 DTV Visa Tip: How to Prepare Financial Proof the Smart Way

Just want to share a quick trick from my experience helping clients apply for DTV visa.

Even though the rule allows you to combine multiple bank accounts to reach 500,000 THB balance — from my experience, putting all the funds into one single bank account gives you a much higher chance of getting approved.

Why? Because imagine you’re the officer reviewing your application online.

When they open your documents,

what do they want to see?

✅ A clear, simple statement that says

“Here’s the account, and here’s

the ending balance over 500,000 THB.”

That’s it.

No confusion, no extra matching between different accounts, and no unnecessary

questions like “where did this money come from?”

A few quick notes:

🚫 Don’t include crypto, digital assets, or e-wallet balances — they don’t count as financial proof.

💳 If you show multiple accounts, it usually takes them longer to review, and sometimes raises doubts even when you meet the requirement.

So if you want to make the process smoother keep it simple, keep it clear, and keep it in

one account.

Hope this helps someone preparing

for their DTV visa.

Good luck everyone! 🌍✨

Hi I'm of to vietnam for an 90 day non o. Does anyone know what the wait time is thanks

I’m applying for a DTV Workcation visa in Hanoi, where I’m currently located, as a U.S. business owner.

I have all my documents ready: bank statements (USD 17,000 savings, weekly USD 1,000 transfers), tax returns, self-employment letter, and hotel confirmation.

I’m confused about the apostille for my business registration. The embassy says it proves my business’s legitimacy, but it takes 1-2 weeks to get from Utah. Some say Hanoi might accept a non-apostilled certified copy if financial proof is strong.

Has anyone applied for the Workcation DTV as a business owner in Hanoi? Did you need the apostille, or was a certified business registration enough? Any tips? Thanks!

Hi everyone, I am new to this page and could do with a small favour please, if anyone has ever written a successful invitation letter for their gf/partner to visit the UK, could they do me the honor of proof reading my invitation letter please and let me know if its either good or bad or don't mention that or elaborate this please, it would be a great help to me. Thanks very much.