Congrats! I have some question if you don't mind. Do they require the 500K balance be maintained in the bank for the whole 6 months? I have 500K in my bank account, but only maintained since last 4 months. Will this lead to my visa application being rejected?

Also, my phone banking app on iPhone doesn't allows taking screenshot (the app produces blank white screenshots whenever I try to take a screenshot due to security reasons/feature built into the banking app). How do I submit my banking app screenshot if the officers asks me to? The only option is for me to take a picture of the banking app with another phone and then printing it out, but not sure if that would be accepted. And can you print the screenshot in advance and take it with you, or does it need to be done on the same day of the application?

Thanks for explaining things in details. I’m applying for DTV soon under workcation. I have one question, if you can help me clear this doubt. My US employer sent me scanned copy in PDF format, of my contract and employment certificate on company letter head. I’ll have to print it out, but it’s not the original copy (not easy for me to ask the employer to ship me original copies). Would they accept print out of the scanned PDF?

Secondly, I read somewhere that the company letters needs to have company stamp/seal (called certified copy or something). My employment contract and employment certificate sent by my employer doesn’t have any stamps as such. Only director’s signature. When I asked about it, I was told that stamping seal wasn’t a thing in US and most companies don’t even have any such stamps/seals. Will this be a problem for me?

If you're on an ED visa, it might be easier to open an account and you might not even need an agent if you're lucky. You just need to ask for a letter to open bank account from you school. Take that letter and visit the banks in your nearest shopping malls (Big C, Central, etc.). Some banks may refuse and will also ask for a "letter of residence" from the immigration. Do not feel disheartened, just visit different bank branch and try again. If you have a Thai person accompanying you, it'll help. Hopefully you'll be lucky and find a bank branch willing to open an account for you. If not, try and get the "letter of residence" from the immigration. If you don't want to deal with the hassle of going around yourself and possibly wasting time, just pay an agent to do it for you.

@Doug ********

It can be of benefit to get it legalized as well. But the legalised documents are valid for a period of 6 months or so. If you don't get a job offer or work permit during this validity period, you might have to get your documents legalised again. Might be different for other countries though, but at least in my country the legalised documents comes with an expiry period of 6 months.

@Janelle ****

Thank you for letting me know. I guess they grilled you so hard because you have an unusual job and they wanted to understand more about it. I'm applying for DTV next month from Laos as freelance graphic designer. Hope the people at Laos are chill. Fingers crossed 🤞

Congrats! You had to interview? What did they ask you? Was it same like US visa interview questions? Also what did you show for your accommodation in Thailand? I here some places are asking for long term rental agreement.

@Radost *************************

How high are you? I want to know where you get your stuff from just so I know to avoid purchasing anything from there. I clearly said that he needs to setup his own Thai company to be able to work legally with a work permit (even if that is just doing freelancing).

Same happened with me. I applied to my nearest embassy under workcation/remote worker category. My application was not accepted as they wanted me to provide an invitation letter from a Thai Company/Gurantor. They would only accept the application for Thai soft power related purposes. I returned home and I emailed them asking what are the exact requirements and they did 180 degree and said my documents were enough to apply under workcation category and I can apply. I was utterly confused. I travelled 8hrs from my home to visit the Embassy with proper documents but was rejected, but on email they are telling me my documents were all good and I can apply. How is this possible? They just make up their own rules on their whim. I just gave up, and will probably apply later from Laos or Cambodia.

I would suggest you to consult a business lawyer. As far as I know, if you want to legally do freelancing, then that would require you to setup your own company and add the new company onto your existing work permit. You don't need to have two work permits. Once you have setup the company and all, just go to the labor office with required documents, pay the fees and they'll add the second company onto your existing work permit, allowing you to work legally for your own company and pay taxes on it.

Songkhla and Hat Yai in the south are also a good option. But you won't find many tourists here and not many people will speak English here. Can be difficult making or finding friends and can be lonely in the long run. But it has nice beaches and is quite with all the modern amenities that you would need. Prices are cheap and the south Thailand cuisines are delicious.