Ok, adding my experience to be helpful, even though I'm sure I'll get plenty of snide comments for using a Visa company.

Have been on plenty of different visas over the years, as my situation has changed many times, and I've always done it myself, because it's just basic paperwork.

With this one, I have reasons for deciding to use these guys, especially with their money back guarantee, and I'm not going to get into the details about why.

I had my paperwork submitted by Issa Compass, and overall had a good experience with them.

My nationality: USA

Applied in: Jakarta

Date applied: May 17

Date approved: May 29

No additional paperwork requested. Applied as a freelancer. I'm an online tutor.

Papers I gave to Issa Compass:

-bio data and Thai related visa pages of passport.

-my address in Thailand

- my booking in Indonesia and my evisa confirmation from when I entered Indonesia

- 6 months of personal bank statements, where you can see deposits from my income and over 500k baht

- my resume, screenshots of my website, screenshot of my classroom software business account, in-class screenshot as an example of what I'm doing

-invoices to my clients for the past 3 months, pdfs of the money hitting my overseas payment service, transfers and receipts of the transfer service I use to convert the currently into USD (that correlate with my US bank records), and because there are so many steps to this.... I made a little info-graphic showing the payment process step by step, with currency conversions into baht on all the relevant payments highlighted.

- a cover letter explaining what I do, how I'm paid, and why I want to be in Thailand, thanking them for their consideration.

-the 1040 Tax return page of my 2024 taxes, showing my previous year income that is listed as freelance tutor work.

Any of the pdfs/images that could be bundled together, I merged as one PDF (money related, proving work related, location related, passport pages, etc), which can be done on websites for free.

I was thorough, I know, but Issa Compass was helpful in telling me what was safe and what was overkill, and verifying that all documents were organized and presented in the way the embassy likes. I got to ask them questions I wouldn't ask publically, and about things particular to my situation that I was worried about- and they let me know if it would affect my outcome. All was well.

They do tons of these, and have a money back guarantee, because they know that if it passes their test, it'll pass the test of the embassies they recommend. They submit for you, so you don't get to log on and check it every 5 seconds (as some of us would like to do), but whenever I messaged and asked how it was going, they got right back to me and assured me I was still in a reasonable timeline and not to worry.

You could totally do all of this yourself and be fine in most cases- but if you have reasons to worry that the stakes are higher for you for various reasons and you'd rather pay for the peace of mind, then I do recommend Issa Compass. They couldn't offer the govnt fees back to their customers (in case of rejection) without it being a terrible business model, if they didn't facilitate what they do with confidence and experience. Anyway, just wanted to share.

I got hit up by 2 or 3 people by DM asking if I actually was using them, after mentioning it in a comment, so I know people are weary of whether or not they're legit. Now that it's finally all done, I can say that they are 👍🏼

I'm giving them this big rundown and praise because before using them I searched for their name in these groups a TON to see if I could trust them, and a good amount of the praise was posted anonymously, or the poster got ripped apart being accused of working for them. So, I wanted to help contribute a real account of being their customer. Yeah, I wish the fee was less for sure- but compared to what I've paid over the years for visas, I'm still super happy with what it cost in the end for me to not stress on this crap for another 5 years 😁

Stay, work online, so I can be paying into the Thai economy. I'm really happy this visa option exists for us now ❤️ 🙏🏼

I don't think I left anything out, but if you have any questions I'm happy to share more details of my experience if it's helpful. I know I relied heavily on the experiences of others to make choices to prepare for this visa myself, so happy to pay it forward. 🫶🏼

PS- if you're staying on Java and don't want to be in Jakarta, but relatively close, I have a great recommendation for a place in Bandung. 30 minute whoosh train from Jakarta, and you're in a city that's way more interesting and is a jumping point for tons of activities. Out guesthouse arranged some amazing day trips for us at half the cost I'd seen advertised online, and they really changed our experience of this visa run from a hassle to amazing. 😊

Anyone actually used Issa Compass for their document checking service & rejection guarantee?

🙏🏼

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐂𝐌𝐂! Finally got my DTV🙏

I wanted to share my experience using Issa Compass for DTV application — if that’s okay — in case it’s helpful for others in this group. This isn’t an ad, I just had a really positive experience and thought I’d pass it along.

I first tried applying on my own in Taipei for the remote worker category and got denied (back in December, when Taipei was still in person. I was coming off of a non-B, with a brand new contract, and they hated that). So I decided to hang out on tourist visa for a few months and try again in Ho Chi Minh City.

I was really worried about getting denied again and wasting money. So this time I decided to try Issa Compass. I think I would have been approved anyway if I did it myself, but tbh this just took a lot of stress off me to use their services. I got approved yesterday (in 6 working days). The DTV visa fee is $340 in Vietnam I think, and I paid $487 total, including the service + visa cost (so like 147 for service).

I did the free consultation with them where they determined if I was a good fit for the DTV. Obviously, you can do this all yourself, but having an expert check everything just made me feel way more comfortable after the denial the first time. I’ve seen a lot of people say they got denied over little errors like a passport number being input incorrectly, so I wanted to have a second pair of eyes look at my documents.

I uploaded my documents directly into the app (it’s cool tbh, really user-friendly. You can see in second picture), and they’ll review them all before you pay anything. I compiled all myself when I applied the first time, and it’s easy if you’re organized, but this just really made it super simple, and I knew I didn’t forget anything.

They review your docs pretty quickly and once done, then you can leave the country. I messaged them when I landed with like a picture of my boarding pass and they submitted the DTV application for me immediately.

When I was in Vietnam, they communicated with the embassy for me as well (there was a follow up question about like pay slips vs. direct deposits), and we had a WhatsApp group the whole time where I could ask questions and get the updates.

And yesterday my visa came through! So anyway, I just wanted to share because it’s like a cool middle ground between doing it yourself and getting a full on agent.

Feel free to ask me questions!

Edit: One more thing! If you are denied, they’ll refund the fees or reapply for you for no extra cost🫶

Good evening DTV community. I'd appreciate any advice on the following.

I've seen an ad for Issa Compass, a company that helps foreigners get visas like the DTV.

I looked into them online, but it would be great to hear from someone who has used them or knows someone who has.

Is this a credible company?

Any clarity would really help me. Thanks for your support 😄