Here the story of someone, who visited the Immigration Hua Hin and wanted to know, what were the requirements for a 180-days extension of his DTV

You will love the story of his experience

Posted by “Tom Tom“

"I just came back from a visit to the Hua Hin Immigration to have my entry stamp (on a DTV visa) transferred from my old passport to my new passport. So far so good.

Then the lady checking the papers pointed out to me, that since I still have the DTV sticker from the Phnom Penh Thai Embassy, ​​I should always carry the old passport with me. That's perfectly clear so far, too.

Then I asked if I could extend the 180-days stay permit here at Immigration.

She said it's no problem, BUT, and this came a a total surprise, I would have to show proof of a Thai bank account with a deposit of 500,000 THB.

Another officer then approached us while I was trying to explain to the lady that I didn't have a Thai bank account with this kind of deposit, but that the credit was in my German account.

He advised I should just leave Thailand for a short time and come back after a few days. Then this banked money rule would no longer apply to me.

Can anyone confirm this? My extension for another 180 days would be at the beginning of March 2025”

My answer to Tom Tom was as follows:

“If you take a look at the Facebook group “Destination Thailand Visa DTV”, you will notice that there is disagreement and heated debate on this very point.

None of the current DTV holders have applied for an extension at immigration to date, because the earliest date would be shortly before the expiry of the first 180 days for the first wave of DTV, which was introduced on July 15, 2024.

No one can know how the various immigration offices will react to something for which no fixed rules have been issued at all, apart from the usual procedure for the 30-day "touristic extension", which should actually also be applied to the DTV, because the DTV is a tourist-visa class.

There is therefore a heated debate in this group as to whether or not immigration will pull out some fictitious guidelines in the case of a 180-day extension.

You have by now provided a typical example: No immigration officer currently knows with absolute certainty any rules on the extension, because no such rules exist.

So this specific officer pulls out whatever comes to her mind and asks you to provide proof of 500,000 THB again, and this is where it gets really ridiculous, must be in a Thai account?

That's why, before you allow yourself to get invited to ride the carousel, you should do a border run and activate the next 180 days stay permit.

No one at the border will ask you about your account balance, or about health insurance, or how often you go to the toilet

It goes without saying that you have to keep the old invalid passport with the visa sticker - because this is the only proof that you have been issued a DTV. Without presenting this, you will not get a new 180-day "admitted stay" stamp at the border”