@Christopher *******

then you have no clue about the dynamics at play in Thailand boy. This visa was pushed and promoted by MFA. MFA issued your visa but a totally different entity called Immigration (which is a branch of Royal Thai police) granted you access in Thailand and is responsible for extension of your visa. When you see that Immigration requires more documents for extension than for the initial application, even a donkey can understand that immigration is not very happy with this visa. Thorough checks at the border or even total revamping of this visa might be just around the corner … it won’t be the first time …

@Marb *******

In English language when it’s not approved yet, it means you are still applying .

@Phyu **********

Agree 👍🏼

Might be because the address of the soft power organization is not the same on your bank statement .

Is it free only for DTV holders ?

@Paul ******

No. It has never been mentionned like this. DTV is a 5 years single shot visa.

@Rob ********

rules harder now ?? Haha 😂

Not for the “soft power” category apparently : 2 guys I know just switched from retirement visa to DTV soft power with only 1 dental appointment in a clinic in Bangkok. When people say rules are getting harder it’s only because they read comments from people applying in some “difficult” embassies. Some embassies are very strict, some are very easy . Just choose wisely and you can get soon a 5 years multi entry visa with zero hassle. Now we have enough feedback: absolutely nobody with DTV (including the soft power category based on a 1 week cooking course) got denied entry after a border run (6 months ago stamp per entry). Rinse and repeat. For 5 years 😛

It’s a no brainer : get a DTV !!! Far less paperwork , no 23k US$ to be sleeping on a thai bank account for the time of your retirement visa , no yearly extension (with retirement visa you have to extend it every year: lots of paperwork every year AND you have to be in Thailand to do it: you cannot travel outside Thailand when it’s time to extend it) !!!

Anonymous participant

It has already started …

Hell yes. A tenth of the paperwork