If you have the DTV for Thai language lessons, how long are you allowed to be out of the country? For example, if we wanted to travel somewhere in Asia for a couple of weeks, would that be allowed? I haven't found any information on this.

# Got my DTV Visa (Remote Work) approved in HCMC, Vietnam.

I will share the full story (I was asked twice for additional documents), but first here are some short notes:

- Applied from Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

- Used Revolut account (including Pockets)

- German Passport

- Remote work with a US LLC

Short Timeline:

Monday, November 10 – 10:11 am – submitted application

Wednesday, November 12 – 4:40 pm – requested further documents

Friday, November 14 – 11:45 am – submitted additional documents

Monday, November 17 – 3:30 pm – requested further documents

Monday, November 17 – 11:48 pm – submitted additional documents

Tuesday, November 18 – 10:11 am – visa approved ✅

Because not many people share this, and I was a bit confused at the beginning about these parts:

— Address information: You must first enter your current location address, then click “No” when asked if this is also your permanent address. After that, add the address where you live most of the time.

— Intended Date of Arrival: The date when you plan to enter Thailand.

— Intended Date of Departure: The date when you plan to leave Thailand (within 180 days).

— Last Port of Embarkation: The country you were in right before entering Thailand on your last entry.

— Flight number: If you have not booked a flight yet, just check Google Flights and enter a flight number.

⸻————————

And now, the full story:

Applied in HCMC, Vietnam (from Phu Quoc Island).

For everyone staying in Phu Quoc and confused that the district (Kien Giang) is listed for the Hanoi embassy: I called the Hanoi embassy, and they told me I can apply at both, but I should apply in HCMC. I think it’s better there, but Hanoi would also accept.

Applied as Business owner with a US LLC – income more than 80,000 USD / year.

Submitted documents (10th of November 2025):

—> Passport bio-data page

—> Photograph

—> Financial evidence:

(1) Self-written letter with an overview of my bank statements, including total balances on August 1, in between, and on November 7 (more than 500,000 THB). I added the euro amounts from personal and Pocket accounts and converted them to THB.

(2) Revolut bank statements (33 pages) with highlighted income payments. Most of the funds were in Pockets and only a small amount in my personal account. For those using Revolut: I explained in the letter on the first page that both are part of the same personal account—they are just separated in the statements.

—> Business:

(1) Cover letter + information about additional documents

(2) Business registration certificate (US LLC)

(3) Full portfolio (including an introduction about me, how I work, what I offer, tools I use, visual work examples, website links, pictures, sample pricing packages, client feedback)

(4) Cooperation agreement with one of my clients

(5) Four business invoices from 2024 and 2025

(6) Table with an overview of business income in 2025

(7) Proof of remote work letter

(8) Screenshots from my website

—> Current location

(1) Accommodation booking confirmation on Phu Quoc (two weeks via Agoda)

(2) Flight confirmation from Koh Samui, Thailand to Phu Quoc, Vietnam

(3) Boarding pass

(4) Vietnam entry stamp

(5) Photo of me with my passport in front of the hotel

To be honest, I thought I had already given more than enough, but after two days they asked for additional documents (12th of November 2025):

***Povide your income tax for the last 2 years.

***Provide more information about your experience in this field and details about your current work, including (1) your CV or portfolio and (2) examples of your work, along with any supporting materials demonstrating your experience and qualifications.

Submitted additional documents (14th of November 2025):

—> For income tax:

(1) Income tax return from 2023 from Germany (English certified translation + German original)

(2) Letter explaining that I was temporarily residing in Thailand in 2024 (stayed over 180 days) and paid taxes according to Thai rules (only money transferred to Thailand), and listing the attached documents

(3) Thai income tax declaration (Thai and English versions)

(4) Overview (Excel screenshot) of income in 2024

(5) Official business statements from Wise Business Account for 2 months in 2024 (to support the Excel data)

Explanation: The 2024 tax declaration does not show my full real income because I did not transfer everything into Thailand. To avoid further questions about my income in 2024, I proactively added the income overview and statements.

—> For business:

(1) Letter outlining professional background and experience

(2) CV listing all relevant periods since becoming self-employed / founding my company, to show the timeline and development

(3) Additional portfolio pages covering services I offer (again!), 2 detailed project examples (with screenshots, descriptions, results, project dates), client feedback (again!), screenshots and website links (again!)

I did not expect another request, but they asked again.

This time they asked for (17th of November 2025):

***Please provide evidence of all previous employment listed in your CV, including employment contracts from former companies, photos at previous workplaces, and any other relevant documentation.

***Document indicating current location (e.g., valid visa, receipts / proofs of payment for airline tickets or accommodation, etc.): Provide the full passport, including empty pages (TAKE A PHOTO, DO NOT SCAN). The date the photograph was taken is required.

***Please describe your journey entering the job market, including your starting salary and the steps you took to negotiate and reach your current salary level.

Documents I submitted (17th of November 2025):

—> For employment evidence:

(1) Letter explaining that I am not employed and cannot provide employment contracts. Everything listed in the CV is self-employment / business activity, and I added proof of my self-employed work since 2022.

(2) Another client cooperation agreement (client since 2022)

(3) Another business invoice (from 2022 – to show when I started; English + German)

(4) A photo of me working on my laptop in an apartment while traveling

—> For passport:

(1) Photos with timestamp and location (there is an app like “Timestamp Camera”) of all passport pages — do not forget the cover page and the last outer page!

—> For job journey:

(1) A letter describing how everything started, where I found clients, how my expertise grew, the natural progression of improving my services and increasing income, and where I stand today.

I submitted everything on November 17 late in the evening (just before midnight) and finally received approval on November 18 around 10 am. 🥳

Overall, it took about one week, which is okay.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

DTV MANILA APPROVAL —

Applied on 9th November for Workcation, Requested documents on 14th November, Approved 17th November.

I was initially quite surprised that they requested more documents as I sent over more than what I thought was required. The initial submission was about 80 pages including bank statements being about half of that. I included message logs from me and my team, business registration documents, messages to and from suppliers, invoices from suppliers, invoices from 3rd party businesses, messages to and from 3rd party businesses, 4 month statements from all accounts (business, personal and savings account), then proof that I was in PH (Airbnb receipt, stamp and flight details)

The additional requested documents included 6 months statements from business and personal - I submitted a years worth.

wanted to see sales dashboards from my business for the year

Wanted to see orders going through and who they were going to

Listings online for my products

And payment confirmations from e-commerce sites to my business bank.

I reckon with the new changes, they are possibly going to tighten down as I thought that I submitted more than enough details business wise but my recommendation is to submit everything you would feel is necessary to prove that your business is legitimate, even going over board.

Can someone share their experience and steps they took to get a ED visa for a Muay Thai school (1 year) and what visas the spouse and children got? Thank you for your help. We're just trying to figure out all our options.

Hi, I'm hoping for a bit of advice, please.

My wife and I have lived in Thailand for 3 years, utilising non o-a visa and extensions (retirement), we're both uk citizens.

Our extension was due at the end of September, however my wife had a major operation booked in the UK (following cancer) at the time the extension was due (we'd been waiting 4 years due to NHS wait times so couldn't rearrange 😞).

We have re-entered thailand under visa free a few weeks ago and will return to UK on Dec 02nd for her to have a post operation checkup, coming back to Thailand on 07th Dec. We then have a trip booked to Vietnam to visit family 26th to 30th Dec, and intend returning to Thailand on 30th Dec.

My plan is to apply for an e-visa non-o while in UK (on 3rd Dec), return to Thailand visa free (but with e-visa pending) on 08th Dec.

Go to Vietnam as planned then on returning to Thailand on 30th Dec use the (hopefully) approved 90 day non-o e-visa, extending by a year when appropriate.

Sorry this is such a long message, does what I've written seem sensible and within the rules?

Many thanks

Hi there,

I just applied today for my DTV visa. I am an offshore worker from UK. I live in Phuket Thailand but have been using the tourist visa with no problems for the past few years. After returning to Phuket from work last time I was told I cannot keep using the free visa.

I submitted today all my information, 6 months of payslips, bank account savings in showing over the required amount. My work gave me a letter to confirm I am a remote worker but put my passport I was using up until earlier this year. I still have the passport but I am concerned that they may reject based on that it is not the same as the passport I submitted. I have applied to the Thai embassy in South Africa.

Does anyone have any insight on my situation or anyway I can send an updated document to the embassy now that it is submitted?

Many thanks

Well that was fun.

1 year O A extension at Nonthaburi

Everything by the book. Went a week before and got a printed list of the documents required. Nothing unusual. Bank book with today’s date, passport, bank letter, insurance certificate.

Go to bank to get book updated and letter

Then to office.

SURPRISE!

also yellow book, wife’s IC (!?), copy of TM30, a 15 minute negation on whether or not a number greater than 800k is….greater than….800k

And then a 1 hour wait as the clerk forgets to call that the passport is ready.

Learnings:

1). Update bank book FIRST. that way if for some odd reason it doesn’t give today’s date you can sort it at the counter -1 stop

2). No matter what the office says for paperwork bring EVERYTHING and make a copy of EVERYTHING.

anyway, good for another year. Jan I start the LTR as I really do not want to go thru this rubbish every year.

How long does the visa come through when you send in all the paperwork from the Thai London embassy

Just had an interesting situation on my application. I initially submitted a first application (London) but was notified by email that it will be cancelled because I indicated the wrong passport issue country, however the application status stayed at *pending document check*.

So I submitted a new application, and additional documents have been requested and submitted, this new application is currently pending document check as well.

However, a few hours ago, the status of the first application changed to *pending approval* as confirmed by an email from the embassy (in attached screenshot). Note that even though the email says it would be changed to pending document check, when I checked, it was actually changed to pending approval.

Has anyone encountered this?

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding my situation

I’ve been staying in Thailand on a DTV visa while working remotely. My wife also got a DTV visa as my dependent.

Now I’ve received a full-time job offer in Bangkok, and the company will provide me a Non-B visa.

I’d like to ask

1. If I switch to a Non-B visa, can my wife continue staying in Thailand with her current DTV visa, which was applied as a dependent under mine? (Her DTV stamp doesn’t mention “dependent.”)

2. After 6 months, when she needs to do a border bounce to renew her stay, will there be any issue re-entering Thailand since my DTV will no longer exist?

3. Would it be safer to cancel her current DTV visa and apply for a Non-O dependent visa later (even though I’ll still be in my probation period under the new job)?

Thank you very much in advance for your advice and experiences!