Sharing a personal experience. Questions and thoughts welcome. Extending a 90 Day Non-O Visa for one year at Bangkok Immigration Division 1 on 27 January. This is directed at anyone doing this for the first time ever or someone seeking a refresher. It’ll be long and not very informative for the experienced. Please keep it in mind.

Getting there: I’m located near the Sukhumvit Road BTS aka the Green Line. Left residence at 10:35. Arrived @ Mo Chit Station 50 minutes later cost 62 baht. Taxi arrived at BKK Imm Div 1 main entrance 11:45. 105 baht on the meter. Paid 120.

Initial Entry: Show passport; guard scans it. Pass through security with bag going through detection machine. Straight to information desk to pick up forms for the extension. Proceded directly to queue area. Received queue ticket section L1 at ~11:55. 28 people ahead in the queue.

Bangkok Bank Information: Walked straight down to bank. 11 people ahead of me in the queue. Filled out TM7 & associated forms in the bank. Queue moved slowly. Had copies made in the meantime. Took 55 minutes for me to make it to a bank employee. I had 800,000 baht letter made and also ordered a six month printout of my account activity, each cost 100 baht. (As a test I ordered a one year activity letter (200 baht) which you cannot get same day. It arrives by email one day later. Estimated earliest arrival time by bank employee was 2:00 pm. Arrived 1:20 pm.) Walked out of the bank at ~1:05 pm.

Back to copy area to make duplicates of the banking information just in case. Always have extra copies made.

Arrived area L1 at ~1:10 pm.

Documents I brought with my to the L1 Area to be processed. 1) 12 month lease signed by me & owner with owner Thai ID attached. Each page initialed/signed by me and owner; witness page also signed by real estate pro. 2) TM30 online version completed by real estate pro. 3) Passport main page, most recent stamp page & Non-O Page. 4) Bank Letter 800K. 5) 6 month activity report from bank. 6) Same day update: bank account activity. 7) Passport Photo.

Area L1 wait: Line moved quickly. Called to Immigration Officer desk at ~2:25 pm. & presented docs. Approval process was pleasant and quick. Signed a few docs again in front of the IO, drew a map of the area in which my building is located & paid fee. IO applied stamps and stapled slip informing me of date to do first 90 day report which must be done in person. I briefly surrendered passport and bank book for supervisor final approval. IO officer says everything OK; please wait outside. It’s now 2:40 pm.

~2:50 pm: Intern/Trainee: “Mr. Michael” She has passport and bank book and bill in hand. One year retirement visa stamp in passport. I’m good in the Kingdom for 1 year. I walk out the door at 3:00 pm.

Getting home: This is for the 30 day extension group at Laksi. Lak Si IT Square is 3 km from Imm Div 1. Aircon Taxi cost usually 70 baht. The Dark Red train line run by State Railway of Thailand is adjacent the Mall. Laksi to Bang Sue main railway station is 20 baht. MRT Blue Line from Bang Sue to Sukhumvit (connect to Asok BTS) is 37 baht. Your cost from there will vary. It’s a bit of a roundabout way to travel (takes about 40 min to reach the BTS) but you can chow down or shop at Laksi & Asok. The MRT and BTS are separate companies so each have a different rider smart card.

General Thoughts:

*Train transport was free due to the Lunar New Year celebration gift from the companies to the public. I believe the real bonus was so many people were celebrating the new year fewer people were seeking immigration services. If you eliminate the lunch hour (12:00-13:00) I was in and out in less than two hours. I consider that a quick processing time.

*You can get an 800K bank letter ahead of time and update your bank book using automated machines in the government complex. My time in the bank was much longer than I anticipated.

*The one year account activity letter from cannot happen same day. One year renewals: keep this in mind!

*The copy shop in the complex I use knows what stamps you are required for the each visa that I’ve needed.

*Making an appointment is great. Allow a little extra time so you are ready with all your paperwork. If you aren’t fully prepared you have to get a new queue ticket.

*Thank you if you made this far and are still awake. I’ll reply to questions if anyone has them.

180 days on a DTV coming up, living in Pattaya. Can I border bounce either via BKK airport or via a van service to Cambodia on the same day to get another 180 days or do I need to spend time out of the country?

Spouse Visa Approved! Royal Thai Embassy , Washington DC.

Sunday 2 March application submitted. Passport. Marriage license. 3 months of her bank statement (December, January, February). Driver’s license. Bank statement and drivers license noted as proof of current residence. My DTV. Fee paid. Next status was pending document review. Monday March 10. Request for additional documents, my passport bio data page. Status awaiting documents Submitted Tuesday, March 11, status pending document review. Wednesday March 12, 9:15 pm, email received, we would like to inform you that your Visa application has been approved. What a relief. By the way, I did have one question that this group answered before I submitted her application, I listened to the good advice, and everything worked out fine. Thanks again to most of you, you know who you are, and you are greatly appreciated. 🙏 

*Edit* Printed out the visa. Handed it to the immigration officer with my passport. 0 questions asked. A simple thank you and smile and that was it.

Edit2 I forgot to mention I already had a 1 year lease agreement that expires in November with my name in it. I provided it in full with my application.

Edit3* I have been living in Thailand for 3+ years already on a Special Tourist Visa , Ed visa, a few border bounces and a couple of visa on arrival through the airport.

DTV Approved from HCMC as a contract worker. I'm Canadian and teach English online for a reputable platform.

Prepared all of my documents and uploaded them to the E-visa site ahead of time.

1) Proof of work. Provided:

- a certificate provided by my company stating I work for them on a contractual basis.

- My full contract

- Screenshots of my profile page with hyperlinks and step by step instructions on how to access my public profile showing in active status.

- My company would not provide a registration number but I found it online from a regulatory body in the country it is based in. I also provided hyperlinks to this site so they could find it themselves then provided the number and explanation in my cover letter.

2) Proof of Income

- 6 months of bank statements from an account in Canada. I only had the necessary funds for over 1 month. It was around 100,000baht for the 5 previous months.

- screen shots of payments for 6 months from my payment profile page with my end balances and my lump sum deposit 1 month before highlighted

- statement of received payments for 6 months with another bank account with dates and amounts corresponding with my payment profile page.

*I did not hide anything on the statements. I've read about too many people doing this and it only leads to a request for the full document and/or problems

3) Proof of location

- picture of boarding pass

- picture of visa stamp into Vietnam

- proof of accommodation

4) Cover letter explaining anything unclear in a bullet format. Also stated that I will respect all Thai laws and authorities and will not work illegally in Thailand.

Timeline:

- Flew into HCMC on March 6. Submitted application around 6pm.

- Friday morning stays showed awaiting approval

- Received approval of DTV March 13 @ 14:00

- waiting at the airport as I type to fly into Thailand now.

Overall a very smooth process. One important note is that I manually entered all of my information. Even though it autofilled my passport info correctly I did not want any potential glitches to cause issues. There are too many stories of applications being cancelled because of this. People please triple check all of you information before submitting. I cannot stress this enough.

Another note for those of you that have a cc. I signed up for the Adobe 1 week free trial. It will then give you the option to extend the free trial an additional week if you check close to the end of your first free week. Adobe will protect your data better than the free pdf editors you find online. Protect yourself. I wish I did before using them a few times before.

Ask me anything. This group has been so helpful for me so a big thank you to you all.

Kap Cheong (Surin) / O'Smach border run update: I crossed into Cambodia at O'Smach today. 1500 baht for the 1 month single entry visa to Cambodia. 500 baht penalty for not staying at least 24 hours. 300 baht for a "guide" who found and filled out all the documents including TM6. 300 baht for the Thai immigration officer to not ask for the 3 proofs for a "visa free" entry of 60 days. All over and done in 30 minutes.

Success with Remote Work DTV in Ho Chi Minh in mid-Dec and Children's Dependent DTV in Jakarta the day after Christmas (WITH travel during process):

I can't say for sure the Thais don't allow you to travel during the application process (many other countries do), but I think the key thing is to NOT travel to Thailand, during the process and explain where you've been.

I applied in HCM with:

- work contract,

-payslips,

- savings bank statements,

- letter from employer confirming work and ability to work remotely.

*I used the SmallPDF app for converting, combining, editing, finishing docs (highly recommend!).*

Stayed a few days and then had to leave Vietnam. They came back asking for bank statements showing salary received highlighted. Took approx 3 working days for initial submission to be reviewed, not quite 2 working days to be approved after additional docs provided. (Note, sometimes the requests come later in the evening Thai time - 8pm and later - so do keep an eye on your inbox if you're in a rush.)

By this time, I was in Indonesia. I applied for the children's visas to the Jakarta embassy sending:

- my visa,

-same (combined) bank statements, payslips, etc,

- work contract,

- birth certificates

- a letter from the hotel confirming we were in Indonesia.

- *a personalised letter of support (from me to the children) - template from Gemini AI*

Took approx 4 days for initial review (not incl Christmas holiday). We left Indonesia for Singapore. They came back asking for entry stamps and visa docs. Indonesia had stamped out over the entry stamp. We got on the ferry to Batam, received new 7 day Visa on Arrival (half price).

Sent back photos of both entry and the one exit stamps, both visa slips, and ALL passport pages (for the children only).

I included a letter saying we were in Indonesia when we applied, but had to return to Singapore for the Christmas festivities, but that they were now in Indonesia again and that the children had NOT travelled to Thailand (evidenced by ALL passport pages).

They approved the next working day.

Note, the application did not ask for permission from the other parent (many countries do), which is not to say they can't when you travel.

Dear Expat Community,

I'm reaching out because I'm growing weary of the constant cycle of 30- and 90-day visas. I'm seeking advice on long-term residency options. I'm fortunate to have sufficient financial resources and a retirement account.

I'm hoping to connect with fellow expats who have successfully navigated the process of obtaining a one-year visa or residency permit. Any insights, tips, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Wishing you all a joyous holiday season filled with peace, love, and prosperity.

Been waiting 30+ calendar/20+ working days for my New York DTV application, should I be worried? It went to pending approval in one day and then no changes since then.

DTV (workation) approved by Ottawa. Submitted yesterday afternoon, was immediately asked for additional document (company registration), was approved today. Cost $650CAD (16,500 THB). Ottawa is notoriously slow with e-visas so I was shocked by the quick turnaround. This visa couldn't be more perfect for me as I travel to Thailand annually for about a 5 month stretch, stay with my GF and work remotely. No more extensions or border bounces!

Edit: approved today!! (24 hours)

Hi, so this is the timeline:

Laksi- Cambodia- Laksi- Cambodia- ?

Is Laksi can be the next option or it should be Laos?

Thanks