Hi Ben, from our experience, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia are a lot more strict compared to other neighbouring countries of Thailand.

Secondly, the two main categories accepted under Thai Soft Power are Muay Thai training or cooking classes. Unfortunately, most other cultural activities generally don't get approved.

I do not recommend applying a 2nd time at the same Thai Embassy in Tokyo after a rejection, it is not about having an agent or not. We have come across several applicant's who had a rejection applying the DTV visa from Japan and had the approval on the 2nd application in another country.

That said, if you choose to apply under freelancer, do take note that the documents required are more strict compared to Thai Soft Power. If you still decide to apply under the freelancer route, I would suggest making sure that you have all the required documents before making the 2nd application so you don't lose another application fee.

Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions, we've assisted over 300 students successful get their DTV through our cooking programs so we're quite familiar with the process.

Hello! We've assisted a number of students apply from the Thai embassy in Taiwan to attain their DTV Visa. Thai embassy in Taiwan can be quite strict and the interview is common. That said, our students did not have any issues. In fact, the interview is an advantage for genuine applicants for the DTV visa.

Just check that you meet all the requirements needed! All the best with your journey to get the DTV visa!

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions. We've assisted over 300 students attain their DTV visa through our cooking programs so we're quite familiar with the process.

@Sherl *********

We are based in Bangkok. So unless you visit often, it may be better to find a reputable cooking school or muay thai gym in Chiang Mai.

That said, we do have several students that travel monthly from Phuket, Pattaya, and Hua Hin! In case, I wish you all the best on your journey :)

Hi Katrin, I believe you meant Destination Thailand Visa (DTV)!

Yes you may apply for the DTV visa for the main applicant and once approved, you may apply for your wife as the dependent.

You should also know that the DTV visa has 2 categories 1) Freelancer/remote worker , 2) Thai Soft Power. The documents required depends on the category you are applying under.

If you are a remote worker, you'll just need to produce documents from your company (based outside of Thailand). For freelancers there would be more documentation required such as contracts, invoices, etc.

Under the Thai Soft Power program, you may apply for the DTV visa upon enrollment in a cultural activity in Thailand (should be min 6 months duration). The two most widely accepted activities are Thai Boxing and Cooking Classes. It's an easier path compared to remote worker/freelancer category due to less documentation required.

Do note that for both categories, it is required to show a minimum bank balance of THB500,000 per person held in a personal current or savings account for 3 months. For dependent application, you'll need to provide marriage certificate.

Feel free to reach out if you have anymore questions. We've assisted over 250 students successfully attain their DTV visa through our school's cooking programs! So we are quite familiar with the process.

Hello, I'm assuming you are referring to the activities accepted under DTV Thai Soft Power categories. Language schools are mostly accepted only under the Education Visa, while the two most accepted activities under DTV Soft Power are learning Thai Boxing or Thai Cooking Classes (in-person classes)

Like others have mentioned, you will likely get rejected applying for the DTV visa using a language school. Besides language schools not being accepted, online courses are also not recognised.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, we've assisted over 250 students successfully attain their DTV visa through our cooking programs so we are quite familiar with the process

Hi Kazuman, sorry to hear about your Visa being adjusted to 6 months instead of the 5 years you were expecting. Unfortunately, I have seen similar cases to yours for applicants applying through Thai embassy in Tokyo. Embassy in Japan are generally more strict compared to some other embassies.

Other factors depend on the category of DTV visa you applied under. For example, under the DTV Soft Power Program, embassies have started requesting for minimum requirement of 1 class per week for the programs joined.

Happy to share more details as we're quite familiar with the process, we've assisted over 250 students successful attain their DTV visa. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions.

Hi Ariel, from our experience it would not matter if the activities of husband and wife are different as the application will be looked at individually.

Like some others have shared, the other option is applying as a dependent after 1 applicant has been approved.

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions. Happy to share that we have assisted over 250 students successfully attain their DTV visas through our school's cooking programs, so we're quite familiar with the process.

I am not too familiar on this part

To add on to what some others have shared:

1) generally only savings and current account in personal name is accepted

2) from our experience, unfortunately Chinese passport holders have a harder time getting approvals (for all countries) since the scam center stories broke out earlier this year. I would advise to use your NZ passport.

You may consider applying from a different country, and through the DTV Thai Soft Power route - which has more lenient requirements compared to applying under the DTV remote worker / freelancer category.

We've assisted over 250 our of students successfully attain their DTV visa so we're quite familiar with the process! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.

Just to add that not only has embassies started requiring minimum 6 months course duration under the DTV Thai Soft Power, they have recently started requesting for Soft Power programs to have classes at least once per week.

We believe this may be implemented across more embassies in the future so it may be prudent to avoid programs having "too few" number of classes over the program.