Success story from Hanoi. Figured I should write one of these because I found it helpful reading others' accounts when I was planning things out. (Thanks!)

I applied for a Workation visa. I'm a freelancer with a sole-proprietorship from the US. Previously, I've stayed in Thailand for over five years on Tourist visas and Education visas.

I supplied all the required information and put "Freelancer" for occupation instead of "Business Owner". The tricky part is the PDFs it asks you to upload to prove everything. I suggest getting AS MUCH information as possible. Err on the side of providing TOO MUCH rather than too little. I was never asked for any additional documents or for an interview.

For documents indicating current location (merge all into a single PDF, plenty of tools to do this online):

1. Photo of entry slip to Vietnam

2. Hotel reservation PDF

3. Plane ticket PDF

4. Photo of Vietnam visa stamp in passport

5. Vietnam e-visa PDF

6. Photo of hotel key with the name of the hotel in my reservation

Financial documents:

1. Balance letter from my bank indicating current balance (created on the day I applied)

2. Screenshot of bank app from the day I applied (from the web as my phone app did not allow screenshots)

3. 6 months of bank statements (reverse chronological order, I had the 500,000 baht in my checking account for only the past 3 months)

4. Screenshot of exchange rate from the day I applied (Google or any other exchange rate website are fine, put 500,000 baht in so they can see how much it's worth in your currency)

Employment contract or proof showing I'm a remote worker or freelancer:

1. Proof of employment document (I'm self-employed, so I wrote a letter explaining that I'm a freelancer, have a sole-proprietorship, the work I do, how I do it, and that I will not take any Thai clients. Put my name and contact info, signed and dated with a PDF signing service)

2. Contracts with two of my clients (I had no formal contracts with them, so I drafted up a simple, two-page document for each explaining the work I do, how long I've been working with them, how I am paid, explaining that I can work from anywhere remotely, including Thailand, and sent it to them with Dropbox Sign for their signature and date, and sent them a polite email explaining it's for a visa)

3. 5 invoices from recent months sent with my invoicing software

4. Screenshot of Stripe's transactions page, which I use to accept payments, showing the last few months of transactions

I stayed in Hanoi the entire time as I knew I could be called for an interview any time. I arrived on April 17th, applied on the 18th, got my status changed to "Pending Approval" on the 21st, sent an email to the embassy on the 29th asking for a status update, and got approved on May 1st. It was a bit longer than most stories here (9 working days), but patience is a virtue, I guess. My stay in Vietnam is until May 14th, which may or may not have had an effect on the processing speed.

Hope this helps anyone else planning a trip to Vietnam. All in all, it was a pretty easy process, but it was a bit nerve-racking with it taking so long. I would recommend quadruple-checking all of your info before you submit it. I spent nearly an entire day just filling out the application (about 6 hours of work compiling and checking all the info as well as formatting PDFs). Good luck!

If I'm in da nang Vietnam, is it better to apply for evisa through Hochimin or Hanoi?

Anyone did it successfully under soft power/Muay Thai that I can DM? Thanks 🙏

Hi new here I recently got contract to work remotely for Aus company. If I fly to HCM Vietnam can I do application online while still have the retirement or wait until after the 23rd to apply?

Approval from the Hanoi embassy in less than 24 hours!

I applied for DTV via the Muay Thai route on Wednesday, while technically still in Thailand (at the airport, after immigration with an exit stamp in my passport). I provided:

* statements (SG bank account, 1 month)

* passport copy

* conformation letter from Muay Thai gym

* hotel booking in Ha Noi

By the time I landed, I received additional document requirements:

* a new copy of bank statements (poor quality the first round)

* passport copy of confirmation letter signatory

* entry stamp to Vietnam

* business registration of Muay Thai gym

I provided the docs immediately. The following morning (Thursday) I received an additional email requesting:

* work permit of the person who signed the confirmation letter (non-Thai individual).

5 hours later I received an approval email. Total time - 22 hours. Total cost - 33k THB (gym package), 10k THB (visa cost), costs related to travelling to Vietnam.

Has anybody applied using online e-visa from vietnam and been approved? How was the wait time from apply date to receiving visa?

Just a quick post about our experience bringing our 12 year old niece from Vietnam to Thailand. Something we've not done before - traveled with a child, and also not our own child. We got the Viet government form, which lists the Mother & Father, has my wife's information too. All notarized, which we had translated to English, and notarized. Checking into the Tan Son Nhat airport, the Viet Air desk, or Immigration, never checked anything but her passport. When we arrived at Suvarnabhumi, immigration never asked either. Must say I was a bit surprised, but happy.

I'm in Vietnam to do a 60 days tourist visa,

Do I need a paid hotel booking for all 60 days??

Or, how can I make a hotel booking in one location for just 60 days which is pretty weird