Approved in Hanoi for Workcation (4 Business Days)

I applied for the Workcation category on Saturday 5 July 2025. My status changed to “Pending Approval” on Monday 7 July, and I was officially approved on Thursday 11 July.

No additional documents were requested during the process.

Before applying, I had been living in Thailand on ED visas for four years.

Here is exactly what I submitted, grouped into three sections.

⸻

1. Work Documents

I am a teacher on italki.

Submitted:

• italki Statement of Activity (The statement includes a clear disclaimer stating that italki is not my employer, that I work independently, and that they do not control my work or clients.)

• Previous 6 months of calendar screenshots (completed lessons)

• Screenshot of upcoming booked lessons

• Screenshot of active packages (pre-paid, ongoing lessons)

• Screenshot of my italki profile and reviews

• TEFL certificate

Cover Letter 1: Portfolio Letter

Explains each document, confirms I do not teach Thai students, and shows I have consistent work and returning students.

⸻

2. Financial Documents

Savings (Revolut):

• 6 months of bank statements showing over 500,000 THB

• A current balance screenshot from the Revolut app

Freelance Income (italki to Payoneer):

• 6 months of italki payout screenshots

• 6 months of Payoneer receipts

Cover Letter 2: Financial Letter

Explains how I receive my income, how withdrawals are made, and clarifies the fee deductions and payout timeline. It also confirms my income and savings are separate and meet visa requirements.

⸻

3. Location Documents

To prove I was outside Thailand at the time of applying:

Submitted:

• Full passport scan (all pages), taken before entering Vietnam

• Photo of Vietnam entry stamp (since it was not visible in the scan)

• Photo of visa cancellation stamp showing cancellation of my ED visa

• Boarding pass from my flight to Vietnam

• Two photos taken of myself on 5 July 2025:

• Holding cancelled Thai visa, Vietnam stamp, and boarding pass

• Holding passport photo page and boarding pass

• Photo of myself with a white background

Cover Letter 3: Location Letter

Explains what each image shows and confirms I am currently in Vietnam.

I used ChatGPT to stitch all of my pdfs together and pdf24 to compress them to 3MB or lower.

Thanks to everyone in this group for the advice and for sharing your experiences, it really helped.

Asking for some help in how to apply with 2 sources of income from outside of Thailand. I work for a UK based company remotely - this is a zero hour/casual worker contract. However, I have worked for this company since 2023 and the work is ongoing. I can show this through payslips, teaching timetables, etc. I also work on an online teaching platform as a freelance teacher - I don't earn very much, but it shows I have worked with them for the past 2 years with a small top up income. As for savings, I have 20,000 pounds in a UK bank account, which has been there for around 2-3 month. I am a bit worried that my contract is zero hour and casual worker contract - do you think this will be an issue? For my freelance teaching work - does it matter that I don't earn very much from this? Any help would be great. Thanks.