*DTV VISA EXTENSION - UDON THANI*

Hey folks, here's the lowdown on my successful DTV extension and how it worked.

Chapter 1 - Preparation

Bureaucrats love papers, right? As such, I painstakingly prepared a portfolio of 48 pages. It included:

-A table of contents

-An explanation of my work/income sources as a freelancer and my situation working from Thailand

-Screenshots of recent payouts and invoices

-My Upwork profile page for content writing + teaching profile from two platforms I teach on

-A freelance contract with one of the companies I work with

-3 months of bank statements

-An invitation letter from my accommodation

-My accommodation owner's ID copy and house book copy

-Published writing samples (as more evidence of freelance work)

After carefully preparing the portfolio, making the long journey from the countryside to the city, printing the portfolio, and running across the city to the immigration, I marched in, sure that imminent victory was mine.

"Passport please", requested the smiling officer at the info desk.

Guess who was so caught up in preparing the portfolio that she didn't even think of bringing her passport? Yep, that's right.

So, two days later, I came back, portfolio AND passport in hand. First at the info desk, the staff called over some other colleagues to talk with, probably because DTV is not a common visa class around here.

One of the staff members asked me why I don't just leave the country and then come back and get another 180 days. I briefly explained why it's much more convenient for me to extend. That seemed to satisfy her.

The staff at the info desk looked through my portfolio, but they were only interested in:

-The bank statements

-The accommodation docs (invitation letter, owner ID, house book)

After awhile, they sent me to sit down and wait. I waited for around an hour or an hour and a half, then they called me up to a.) sign my name on every single page of my portfolio, plus a few other documents (wow, I haven't practiced my signature this much since about first grade) and b.) pay. And that was that! They granted me a 6-month extension of DTV.

I'm sharing this here because lots of people who try to extend in Chiang Mai are denied, and I'm not sure how the situation is in other cities. So, if your city makes it more difficult, maybe Udon Thani can be an alternative for those who don't fancy a trip to Laos.

Hi all, I have 2 questions about the additional documents requested by the Fukuoka embassy for DTV today. If anyone knows anything or has experienced the same thing, please let me know.

1. A bank statement showing transactions for the past three months.

Can this be just screenshots of the bank transaction history and a translated version? I submitted a bank statement provided by the bank, but it has no transaction history shown. I already asked my bank to send me the version that shows the transaction history, but it takes 7 days according to the bank.

2. Accommodation booking document

I have a partner there in Thailand so I wrote the name & address of the condo that my partner is renting. So it is not under my name. I am wondering if I should just attach the condo contract and my partner's ID photo while telling that she is my partner etc, or ask the condo owner to put my name in the contract which might take time, or book another hotel or something for a few weeks with a letter saying I changed the accommodation.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!