Hello, I applied in Hanoi for a soft power visa Muy Thai on Friday around 5 PM. On Monday around 5 PM, it went into "pending approval" and I haven't heard anything since 😥

I’m planning to apply for the DTV (Soft Power ) in Fukuoka ( or Tokyo, Osaka )

If anyone has applied before, could you please share how long it took and what documents you prepared?

Canadian passport, considering applying for soft powerfrom Vietnam (so I can scope out gyms before choosing which one) as the Ottawa embassy is experiencing a large backlog.

I read a few months ago that the 500k proof needed to be "stamped by the bank" but when I did a "test" application, the site didn't specifically ask for it to be anything more than statements.

So I'm asking for clarification, can I just (CONDENSED ALL INTO ONE) the pdfs of the last 3 months of bank statements, proving the funds? Or do I need to get an official letter from the bank?

I have appreciated all the info the group has provided.

# Soft Power - HCMC - 14 Working Days

Just thought I would give an update on Ho Chi Minh Approvals as it took a lot longer than expected!

Type: Soft Power - Cooking Class 6 Month with Arun Thai Bangkok.

Passport: Australian

Funds: 3 Months of Bank Statements, Had 1 Mill Baht so 2 x amount required and the money had been in their the whole time.

Unemployed: with < 20000 USD.

Submitted: 14th October 2025

Request Documents / Provided Documents: 17th October 2025

Pending Approval: 27th October 2025

Approved: 3rd November 2025.

Documents Requested:

1. Student confirmation letter from Cooking School.

2. All pages of passport

3. Proof of income and what I plan to do for the whole 5 years ( I showed some rental income that I earn plus mentioned that I had double the amount required that I would use)

All up it took 21 days ( 14 working days) for approval. If I was to do it again I would definitely have just locked in a months accommodation and relaxed instead of having to stress about whether it was approved and moving accommodation constantly!

Another thing is that I did email and send messages to Line about 3 times throughout this period. They didn't acknowledge them at the time, but today as soon as I got the approval I got a line message and email response which was great!

Very Grateful today as I am about to board my flight to Thailand!

Hello, everyone. I submitted an application for about two weeks. I don't know why it was rejected.I applied for soft power, and the school sent a message to the Immigration Bureau.Anybody know what's going on?

Hi all, my visa was approved on Oct 16th.

And I wanted to share my experience too for you all to apply.

1) Embassy Location: Fukuoka embassy, Japan

(I was a Tokyo resident as a Japanese national)

2) Timeline

Applied on at night on Oct 9th.

Asked for extra docs on Oct 15th, which I submitted in the morning on Oct 16th.

Got approved on the 16th in the evening when I was exhilarated.

3) Type: soft power(Muey Thai gym)

4) Requested more docs as below

* Accommodation booking document

I am staying with my Thai gf, so she gave me her condo contract, a cover letter and her ID.

* Flight booking confirmation

* Financial evidence: an amount of no less than 500,000 THB (e.g., bank statements for the last three months, sponsor letter): A bank statement showing transactions for the past three months (Aug - Oct).

Initially I submitted only the full amount of my savings.

Other request documents: Please scan all pages of the passport that contain entry or exit stamps and visa stickers.

It went all quick.

Hope it helps.

Hello everyone, I’d like to ask something.

I’ve already applied twice and was rejected both times (the first time under the freelance work category, and the second time under soft power).

My question is: how long should I wait before applying again? And is it true that if you get rejected the first time, it’ll be harder to get approved in the next attempts?

Thank you so much for all your comments!

DTV - rejected 1st time under workaction in Hanoi, approved 2nd time under soft power in Vientiane

This group has been super useful as we were preparing for our application for the DTV, hence wanted to share our experience here alongside some tips that might be useful for others going through it. It has been an intense journey for us - it took us 4 weeks, 2 countries & lots of patience :D

Below you'll see the details + tips of the process. Turned out that Hanoi workaction route was not easy for us, even though we provided everything correctly we still got rejected without any reason why.

If you have any questions about any of the below, let me know, happy to help!

---

-30th September left to Vietnam

-2nd October non B visa expired

-8th October further documents requested (further invoices & proof of income from company)

-9th October further documents requested (previous visa)

-10th October further documents requested (asked for work permit & business license in Thailand, submitted cancelled documents for both from our lawyer)

-10th of October few hours later REJECTED "unsuitable for DTV, please apply for non V visa & work permit, which doesn't make sense at all if proper look would have been given to our documents)

-11th October went to embassy - no help/support at all at the little window there, told us to send an email, which we did, but never got a reply

-11th October reached out ot Siam Legal for advice & support; they confirmed that our documents submitted for application make total sense & they don't understand why it was rejected; advised us to fly to Laos & apply there again (can highly recommend them!)

-12th October flew to Vientiane Laos

-14th October submitted all documents for soft power Muay Thai route via agency

-15th October went to the embassy to pay the visa fee of 10,000TBH. NOTE: we went to 10 different banks, non of which could exchange US or KIP to TBH. Best, do it at the airport.

-19th October received email for scheduled interview for the 28th of October

-28th October 10min interview at the embassy (what's your plan in Thailand, why Muay Thai, which Muay Thai school, show me payment for it in your bank account, how do you make income, show bank statement)

-28th October 4 hours later - DTV approved

Hello people Im applying under soft power

How long a course should be whats the minimum duration? Like 6 months ?

So if i take a 1 year course will it help my visa for whole 5 years or just that first year only ?

Muay thai or cooking class which is affordable ?

Recommend a school if possible

Im on a budget !!

Looking to get digital nomad dtv. However i dont do any sort of work, my income has been stable through property i rent out in Australia and İ do have 500,000 baht in my bank account. Would it be possible to get the digital nomad dtv or should i look into soft power dtv?

İf i go for the soft power dtv it will be through muay thai training. İ also want to know if i can change gyms throughout the visa if needed or am i locked into the one gym i applied to the visa with (the reason id most likely need to change gym is due to moving to another city within Thailand)