asking for my son who is studying MuayThai. Are people still being successful with Ed visas since DTV came in please? he would have all the necessary docs from his Gym in Phuket.

Hi everyone, my wife (44 years old) and I (51 years old), both New Zealand citizens / residents are planning to retire to Thailand in a couple of months and wanting to sanity check our approach with this group given my wife is under 50.

Firstly I'll apply for the Non-O Retirement from New Zealand so that I can easily open a bank account in Thailand upon arrival, deposit the THB 800k, and then apply for the 1 year extension.

As for my wife, the two options based on advice from visa agencies and forums appear to be as follows:

Option 1. Travel to Thailand visa exempt, apply for ED granted for a stay of 90 days, extend once for a further 3 months, then apply to change to a Non-O dependent (on my Non-O Retirement).

The issue we're finding with the ED is that schools seem to be catering only for DTV now and not supporting ED. I expect we'd also not be able to leave the country and travel until the conversion to Non-O dependent is complete and immigration appear to be taking a dim view of people on ED visas travelling when they should be studying. But the ED duration is intended for only 6 months so that's not really an issue.

Option 2. Apply for the DTV from New Zealand based on Thai soft power activities. The 5 year duration of the visa will be sufficient to cover the period until my wife is 50 at which point she can apply for the non-O Retirement.

The concern with the DTV is the soft power category seems to have a lot of problems with immigration based on the forum posts, particularly when reentering the country. This creates the risk she will be denied entry.

Greatly appreciate your expert opinion as to the best approach given the current lay of the land in Thailand right now. Thanks!

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.

My son has an ED visa, and I am his guardian. He's going to change schools. How should we proceed with our visas? I never find the same answer.

Thank you!

Hey everyone, I'm South African currently living in thailand and my Ed visa is coming to an end.

I wanted to know if I go to Vietnam to do my DTV visa do I need to stay there until I get it back or do I need to go back to Thailand and wait until its been approved?

Also, what is the best country to go and do my DTV visa?

Thank you so much for the help!!

I’m still confused about which visa fits my situation. Can’t work on the ED Visa and i don’t currently meet the financial requirements for the DTV. Is there a visa that allows me to work remotely and stay in thailand for at six months or a year? Without the $15,000 in the bank.

Hello everyone,I received a rejected email, but the website shows ‘finished’ and doesn’t indicate ‘rejected’. Is this correct?”

With Thai Cuisine

Submitted and do payment on 19June

Pending Documents check 20June

Pending Approval 23 June

Approved 25June

I have a question regarding the immigration stamp. When I re-entered thailand, I got a 'Out-A' stamp which I did not get before. Does anyone know what this means?

Some background information. Not sure if it's helpful or not. I have been studying thai in Thailand for about 1.5 years. The first 1 year 2 months, I had an ED-Visa. The other 4 months I had a normal visa-exempt in which I had to do a border run. For the last 6 months of my studies, I studied in Chula.

Good evening! What type of multi-entry Visa (other than DTV) is fast (hassle free) and cost efficient for those who intend to stay up to 1 year in thailand.?