Soft power (cooking) approved in HCMC, Vietnam.

Sharing my experience last month, all thanks to this group which has been a big help. Background: I am an Australian who live in Thailand. I filled out the form, uploaded as many documents on the evisa website as I could prior to my flight to Vietnam. As soon as I arrived in HCMC I uploaded the arrival stamp. The embassy did not ask for any further documentations.

Nov 22nd, Friday 1am: Applied online.

* Passport photo 4x6, taken at a passport shop

* Copy of the biometric page of my passport

* Manually filled out all my personal details, rather than use the the pre-filling option

* Permanent address: Thailand address

* Current address: VN hotel

* Copy of my arrival stamp, hotel key with its name and business card in the background. I would have uploaded a hotel booking if I had one, but my accommodation was booked under my husband's name as we were in Vietnam for his work trip. I was worried they were going to ask for one but they didn't

* 6 months bank statements in my name only with at least 500k THB each month (overseas bank). Because it was Nov 22nd, I only had estatements for May-Oct. I did not upload current bank balance of that day. The website didn't ask for 6 months, but from what I read in this group I decided to upload 6 months of statements just in case since I already had the savings.

* Cooking documentations from Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy. Acceptance letter, payment receipt, business registration and copy of the director's ID. I highly recommend them for anyone wanting to go through soft power cooking course. They're very responsive to emails and experienced with the DTVs. I love to cook so am looking forward to the classes.

* Flight details: picked a random date in the next 2 months and looked up a flight number. I wanted to wait for the DTV before buying flight tickets. I wrote that I planned to stay in Thailand for 175 days (because the entry stamp is only for 180 days).

* Accommodation in Thailand: my condo address as I already live there. I did not upload any lease documents or hotel bookings.

Nov 26th, Tuesday 1pm: Status changed from 'awaiting document check' to 'awaiting approval'. I did not receive an email regarding status change, I just kept checking the website periodically so I'm not sure on the exact time.

Nov 29th, Friday 5pm: Approved via email.

In total it took about 6 business days. I would recommend anyone who wants to apply in HCMC to stay longer than '5 business days' to allow some time in case it gets delayed or they ask for more documents. Double check the form and maybe have someone else go over it (luckily my husband caught a mistake on my form) and never use the pre-fill setting. Type your passport details yourself!

If anyone has any questions, please let me know! Happy to help :)