As others have said all immigration offices are different. If you are going to be applying at one of the bigger offices (Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket Chaing Mai etc.) then you may be able to get better advice from this group.

Sounds like you have done the correct thing by getting the 800k into your bank account as early as possible. All the other requirements are normally easy to obtain.

Downside of the DTV

1. You need to extend every 180 days. Details of what the requirements are to extend are not currently clear and are very likely to vary from one immigration office to another.

2. You can only extend once so you need to leave the Kingdom every 360 days.

3. Border bounces are becoming harder with some border crossings requiring stays outside of Thailand for one or two nights.

4. It is a new visa with many questions outstanding about how the Thai Immigration will actually deal with this visa in practice.

With all the above said it is an excellent visa, especially for someone under the age of 50 who is not married or has a dependent child. Also good for someone who travels regularly outside of Thailand.

@Steve *******

what you are saying makes complete sense and I know is true.

If you moved a few Km into Phetchaburi and needed to extend your stay in Cha Am you would need to fill in all forms by hand.

It's just another of the anomalies of living in this wonderful kingdom. 😊

@Marcin ******

don't worry, you obviously didn't have any visits to you Immigration Office in that 3 weeks.

Don't sweat the TM30 too much, especially if you are travelling around the Kingdom. The odd day here and there will make no difference whatsoever.

When you need ether an extension or a 90 day report make sure you have a TM30 then. TM30 is the responsibility of the owner of the property that you stay to do. Unfortunately there is an anomaly meaning that if it isn't done and you need a service from immigration (visa extension or 90 day report as examples) you are the one who gets a 2,000 Baht fine. So my advice would be when you need to go to immigration make sure you have a TM30. Most hotels will just give you a print out.

@David *******

you are in a very small minority then. The vast majority of those of us that stay in Thailand long term need a TM30 with all interactions we have with immigration. By interactions I mean visa extensions, certificates of residence and 90 day reporting.

Which immigration office do you use?

@Tony *******

great advice.

@Craig *******

this is a good point. Once he has the Non Immigrant visa he can open a second account in Kanchanaburi for day to day spending leaving the first account solely for his visa. It makes the paperwork at the yearly extension so much easier.

@Michael ******

I would like to bet that 5 years is about average for the process. Congratulations on finally getting it.

@Us ****

because Thailand is a wonderful country and the USA isn't. Look at the best two candidates the USA have come up with to be president. Bear in mind this is the best line up in the last 3 elections. 😂