🚨UPDATE: APPROVED MAY 2nd 2025 - Thai Cooking Soft Power - Los Angeles Thai Consulate

Original Post:

LOS ANGELES THAI CONSULATE:

Applied March 6th. Submitted further documents March 25th. Have not heard back since. It is now April 14th 2025

I applied for the DTV Soft Power on May 6th with all required documents and triple checked all information was submitted correctly word for word.

13 days later (March 25th) I get an email asking to submit a bank statement requiring a MINIMUM of $17,000 USD, with my name clearly printed and it cannot be an investent profile. My name was CLEARLY PRINTED on my bank statement, it is a statement from a SAVINGS/ CHECKING ACCOUNT with my BANK which also has the banks name and address cleary printed on it. I submitted the statement with $15,300 USD AS THE E-VISA WEBSITE and every other resource available online stated the requirement was a minimim of $15,000. I could have submitted the statement with $17,000+ the first time if thats what made clear anywhere but it wasnt.

I resubmitted a new bank statement with $17,500 1 day of recieving that further documents requested email (March 27) and ever since status has been in "Processing Document Check (1) ". I underatand as of now it Songkran in Thailand, but that document was sumbitted way prior to the holiday.

I also submitted the documents for my finacé's DTV SoftPower on April 4th 2025 with all the same required documents except I made sure her bank statement has well over $17,000 USD. We applidd to the same consulate as me. Her status has been "Pending Payment" ever since. Its been 6 business days and no status change.

I'll continue my patience but wrote this out slight confusion & frustration.

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE THAI CONSULATE LOS ANGELES

Applying in a few weeks at Vientiane.

Just need to clarify a few things on documents from ppl who applied there and in general.

1 . Does the letter from your clients need to be signed by them

EG the letter stating you can work remotely as well as the contract.

2 . If my german client sends his company certificate in german will it need translating.

3 . does each client need a letter of approval to work remotely and a contract

Sharing a personal experience. Questions and thoughts welcome. Extending a 90 Day Non-O Visa for one year at Bangkok Immigration Division 1 on 27 January. This is directed at anyone doing this for the first time ever or someone seeking a refresher. It’ll be long and not very informative for the experienced. Please keep it in mind.

Getting there: I’m located near the Sukhumvit Road BTS aka the Green Line. Left residence at 10:35. Arrived @ Mo Chit Station 50 minutes later cost 62 baht. Taxi arrived at BKK Imm Div 1 main entrance 11:45. 105 baht on the meter. Paid 120.

Initial Entry: Show passport; guard scans it. Pass through security with bag going through detection machine. Straight to information desk to pick up forms for the extension. Proceded directly to queue area. Received queue ticket section L1 at ~11:55. 28 people ahead in the queue.

Bangkok Bank Information: Walked straight down to bank. 11 people ahead of me in the queue. Filled out TM7 & associated forms in the bank. Queue moved slowly. Had copies made in the meantime. Took 55 minutes for me to make it to a bank employee. I had 800,000 baht letter made and also ordered a six month printout of my account activity, each cost 100 baht. (As a test I ordered a one year activity letter (200 baht) which you cannot get same day. It arrives by email one day later. Estimated earliest arrival time by bank employee was 2:00 pm. Arrived 1:20 pm.) Walked out of the bank at ~1:05 pm.

Back to copy area to make duplicates of the banking information just in case. Always have extra copies made.

Arrived area L1 at ~1:10 pm.

Documents I brought with my to the L1 Area to be processed. 1) 12 month lease signed by me & owner with owner Thai ID attached. Each page initialed/signed by me and owner; witness page also signed by real estate pro. 2) TM30 online version completed by real estate pro. 3) Passport main page, most recent stamp page & Non-O Page. 4) Bank Letter 800K. 5) 6 month activity report from bank. 6) Same day update: bank account activity. 7) Passport Photo.

Area L1 wait: Line moved quickly. Called to Immigration Officer desk at ~2:25 pm. & presented docs. Approval process was pleasant and quick. Signed a few docs again in front of the IO, drew a map of the area in which my building is located & paid fee. IO applied stamps and stapled slip informing me of date to do first 90 day report which must be done in person. I briefly surrendered passport and bank book for supervisor final approval. IO officer says everything OK; please wait outside. It’s now 2:40 pm.

~2:50 pm: Intern/Trainee: “Mr. Michael” She has passport and bank book and bill in hand. One year retirement visa stamp in passport. I’m good in the Kingdom for 1 year. I walk out the door at 3:00 pm.

Getting home: This is for the 30 day extension group at Laksi. Lak Si IT Square is 3 km from Imm Div 1. Aircon Taxi cost usually 70 baht. The Dark Red train line run by State Railway of Thailand is adjacent the Mall. Laksi to Bang Sue main railway station is 20 baht. MRT Blue Line from Bang Sue to Sukhumvit (connect to Asok BTS) is 37 baht. Your cost from there will vary. It’s a bit of a roundabout way to travel (takes about 40 min to reach the BTS) but you can chow down or shop at Laksi & Asok. The MRT and BTS are separate companies so each have a different rider smart card.

General Thoughts:

*Train transport was free due to the Lunar New Year celebration gift from the companies to the public. I believe the real bonus was so many people were celebrating the new year fewer people were seeking immigration services. If you eliminate the lunch hour (12:00-13:00) I was in and out in less than two hours. I consider that a quick processing time.

*You can get an 800K bank letter ahead of time and update your bank book using automated machines in the government complex. My time in the bank was much longer than I anticipated.

*The one year account activity letter from cannot happen same day. One year renewals: keep this in mind!

*The copy shop in the complex I use knows what stamps you are required for the each visa that I’ve needed.

*Making an appointment is great. Allow a little extra time so you are ready with all your paperwork. If you aren’t fully prepared you have to get a new queue ticket.

*Thank you if you made this far and are still awake. I’ll reply to questions if anyone has them.

Approved DTV (Workcation) in Jakarta

Applied: 16 Apr

Approved: 23 Apr

Documents provided:

1. Certificate of employment (signed by me)

2. Employment contract (contract between me as company owner and me as Director)

3. My resume (with screenshot from LinkedIn)

4. Motivation letter

5. My company certificate of incorporation and Original application to register a company

6. The most recent Company Information from Company House

7. Company profile

8. Stripe payment activity from my clients for the last 2 months (just a screenshot)

9. Stripe transaction history to my business account

10. Recent invoices to my client

11. Another recent invoice to my client

12. Business bank account statement (for the last 3 months)

13. Personal bank account statement for the last 8 months with payslips from my company to me

1st Home address (permanent): From my original country

2nd Home address (current): hotel in Jakarta

No extra document was asked for.

Passport holder: Eastern Europe (not EU zone)

Flight to DMK on 24 Apr - no questions.

Thank you, everyone, for sharing valuable information!

Hi!

Does anyone have recent experience with Jakarta or any embassy in Vietnam? (Processing time). I havent heard too much good stuff about Malaysia and Laos and Cambodia both have requirements for amount of time for the 500k thb to be in the account.

Also for the digital workers. Did you upload payslips / invioces or what kind of documentation. Or just your bank statement showing 500k + thb.

I have some money spread out on different bank accounts and if i put it all on my main it would not appear as company deposits but just as a private transfer from me to me. Has anyone been in the same situation.

Thanks in advance

My DTV workcation was approved today after submitting on the morning of the 4th of April before the HCMC consulate opened.

Knowing there was 3 days of holidays meaning the consulate was going to be closed (the following Monday + the next Monday + Tuesday for Songkran).

I didn't expect to get my visa until maybe the 18th.

Was asked for additional documents on the 8th (payslips/statement with deposits highlighted + portfolio).

Status change to pending approval on the 9th.

Received my approval email at 6:20pm today the 16th.

Notes about my application.

I used a Wise account statement to show my funds and to show my pay from my company. I was mildly concerned with using Wise as the bank, but having read everyone else's experience with Vietnam and HCMC I felt that it was fine.

I had only moved my funds into the Wise account a few days beforehand as well. No seasoning at all. Though my statement displayed ample activity of transactions from the last six months.

My portfolio was quite long at 27 pages and to fit it under the 3mb upload limit, the images were compressed heavily. I was worried that would be a demerit in my application so I included in my cover letter for the portfolio a web link to an uncompressed version of the PDF.

Not sure whether that helped or not.

DTV Approved - Singapore - Soft Power

*Note only citizens or residents can apply from Singapore

Timeline

24 March 2025 - Applied

24 March 2025 - Requested further documents - Last week Bank statement and update documents from gym

25 March 2025 - Uploaded updated documents

10 April 2025 - Request for Interview

11 April 2025 - Interview day

Interview was very thorough, many questions and details about everything. Ultimately checking if I was legitimately going to train.

Had to print all the documents and carry it with me for their review, pretty much check every single document.

Very strict and particular on every detailed, if you ever going to apply from here make sure you have every single document and you know exactly what you will doing and planned.

Good luck and thank you to everyone for their advice!

Hello. So is this what they need? Or more?

It is certificate from the platform that I am working with them

And I can ask for more details

But, is this enough? Or it should be stamped or what is their requirements?

Or what should I do to make it better

( I am an online freelance teacher) so this is not a contract

Thank you for your help

Hi everyone, i recently applied for the DTV visa in HCMC, Vietnam on the 2nd of April. They asked for additional documents on the 4th and since hasn’t had any updates. I would love to return to Thailand for Songkran. Do you think my visa will get approved?! Should I be worried?!

I'm applying at the KL embassy, i picked medical which may have been wrong, but i've been undergoing PRP/stem cell treatments on my knees and shoulders with ample proof for the last 6 months.

Anyways, I believe I can get those figured out, however, other request documents such as... Other request documents ( Proof of prolonged residence in Thailand for at least 6 months, such as a condominium rental agreement, lease agreement etc. )

baffles me. I currently do not have a lease agreement signed, as it would be crazy to sign a long term lease without knowing that i've been approved for the visa. How do i deal with this?