Approved 😀
Thank you to this group for providing such valuable information!!!! To pay it forward, here's how my application went.
Applied in HCM on Wednesday 15/01 around 8PM for Muay Thai DTV
Had a quick look on Friday 17/01 and saw status moved to pending approval
Was getting a bit nervous today (business day #5) as I didn't want to be stuck here for Tet. Emailed the consulate this morning (no reply) and called them at 4:30PM (30 minutes before closing). The lady on the phone said my application would be approved today or tomorrow, I asked her if it please can be today and she said she'd speak to the consul.
40 minutes later (5:10PM) I got the approval email.
Documents:
Proof of location: pdf with a picture of entry stamp, boarding pass, hotel booking and Vietnam visa
Financial: Savings account 01/07/2024 - 15/01/2025 (day of application), there was well over THB500K in the account for the entire period. I gave them monthly statements with all transactions and beginning/end amounts (Dutch bank, did not translate the statements)
Muay Thai:
* letter of endorsement
* letter of enrolment (8 months training, start date, also stating I had paid 1 month ahead and will be living in the gym)
* training schedule
* gym business registration
* sports authority registration
* house book gym
* house book gym owner
* ID (back and front) gym owner
Form
Home address: hotel in HCM
Permanent address: gym in Thailand
Thai address: gym in Thailand
Employment: unemployed (I'm actually a freelancer but between contracts so technically not lying)
My background
November '21 - July '23 countless visa exempts, a few tourist visa's, extensions, border runs and (remember those?) 2 COVID extensions
July '24 - now ED visa + 1 ED extension (did not get a re-entry stamp when I left last week), visa I got through a language school
I genuinely train at the gym, have been since 2018, it's a relatively small, family-owned gym that only does DTV for people who will actually attend training (so unless you're willing to do so, don't ask which gym it is 😉)
Flying back tomorrow, will update this post to let you know how immigration went (Phuket).
