Well as with anything there are pros and cons. Unlike other visa types, this TOURIST visa doesn’t count towards permanent residence. However, many remote workers and self employed internet freelancers/entrepreneurs struggle to qualify for those other kinds of visas.

Education type visas have a limit, and you should actually study what you claim to (Muay Thai, Thai language, etc.). However, those visas can restrict your freedom to travel abroad because you need a re entry permit and extended time out of Thailand can open you up to questioning.

Normal tourist visas don’t work longer term safely. Then business visas are too difficult and complicated to get for your typical remote worker making under $10k usd a month- I’d even say under $15k usd a month. Starting a whole new business I’m Thailand and hiring employees is a whole new endeavor, or seeking employment…

So while I would generally prefer some kind of business visa that opens up a path to longer term living, I’m also quite satisfied with the DTV. I did spend 3.5 years straight in Thailand but moving forward I think I’ll be out of Thailand once per year anyways. The fee is super cheap, the visa was relatively easy to obtain, and extensions if necessary (180+ days after entry) aren’t too difficult or time consuming either.

And of course it’s nice to finally have a visa where it’s publicly known you’re working online… in my opinion they didn’t care too much about working online before (see: punspace raid, no one got fined or punished except one guy that overstayed), but still that extra openness is a relief.

I think it’s a great visa so far and we will see how it goes moving forward. I’m happy that it lets me come and go as I please without worrying about re entry permits and so effectively gives 5 years! At the same time, it would be great to have residence on the tables after getting fluent in Thai, but for now that path still requires employment or business in Thailand.

Long story short I’m satisfied. It’s got pros and a few minor cons, but ultimately it’s the best visa for where I’m at in life right now: making some money online but not enough to want to start a business or hire 4 Thai employees just yet. I think they did a great job of learning the trends in the world and creating this to catch it.

@Arya ****

it says the authority is the consulate general of P.R. China in chiang mai. So the issuing country is china because the Chinese consulate is a part of the Chinese government and not the Thai government.

Your passport was issued in Thailand, but by china.

Try re-applying for DTV with this change.

@Ko ****************

If when she looks at her passport it says “china” or wherever, it’s extremely likely issued by china. She probably went to the Chinese consulate, which means china issued her passport, not Thailand.

When you replaced your passport in chiang mai, did you go to the Thai passport office and get a Thai passport or to the Chinese embassy/consulate? My guess is the latter, so your issuing country for your passport is China.

I’m seeing some other comments saying similar things. The nationality of the embassy or consulate you go to is effectively your country, even if it’s staffed with Thai people. The American consulate is a part of the American government, and same for the other consulates- even if your country’s consulate is a tiny office room.

My guess is that there are some situations where you can have a passport from a different country to your nationality. For example, maybe in some places permanent residents can get issued a passport for that country without yet being a citizen. Or in the case of stateless persons where a country issues them a passport but again they are not a citizen of the issuing country.

For the vast majority of people I think, unless in Africa or Asia they do it totally different, but from what I know, your nationality and issuing country are likely the same.

Put simply: what’s the country name of the office you got your passport? Or, when you look at your passport, what country does it say? It’s probably not a common scenario where people are issued a passport they’re not the citizen of.

Also, I just looked it up. At least for the United States there is a special case where non—American citizens can get a United stated passport. In that case their nationality would be X, and the issuing country the United States.

@Sab ****

If you got your passport from the German consulate then the issuing country is Germany. Not Indonesia. That’s why it didn’t work

#3 is fraud with a paper trail. I have a friend that got DTV within Thailand and came back no problem… For now. But why would you do that? Any immigration officer at any point entry/exit/extension can see your exit date and visa issue date don’t match up. So it’s fraud, assuming you do actually have to be in the country you’re applying in (i read somewhere you can select your country of residence, that might be an option but why risk it?).

#2 is crazy fee you gotta spend there 2-4 days anyways and still put in the work to get the documents. Don’t know what an agent could do that would be so special. Most everyone here is getting the visa.

#1 same thing why pay 10k baht extra for a visa that will probably get approved anyways?

You gotta read the posts here you just apply and if it doesn’t work out re apply with more documents.

Taipei, Cambodia, Vietnam, I’ve heard good things about these 3 places. Take a week vacation and handle the DTV somewhere like here and you’re set.

Edit: and good luck. It can be nerve wracking doing it yourself but better than spending 50k baht+ for an agent that probably only just holds your hand while you do it. At the end of the day your documents still have to be in order etc and that’s up to you.

@Kevin ******

they didn’t ask for my bank statement to be notarized but were asking me questions about it… where’s the income for example… gave me a highlighter to mark the deposits into the bank account. I also had to point out my name, point out the last balance, point out the date, point out the name of the bank, etc.

@Paul ******

I was trying to explain that to them and they weren’t getting it. Thought it would be simpler. They didn’t seem to get that the documents were verifiable publicly online

@Paul ******

well I don’t know because they didn’t ask me specifically for a notary but how do you prove that the documents are legit? It seems to be a challenging question and it seems like they’re struggling with verifying it even when it sounds simple to me

@Hana ******

I applied today and similar thing. They didn’t seem to really “get” the documents. I wonder if there’s a translation issue too. I wish I could’ve got my documents notarized beforehand but then I would have to apply Friday. I was told today to come back at 3pm like everyone else, but then suddenly I was told I have an interview at 10am Friday (Thursday tomorrow they are closed) with the supervisor. I plan on bringing my laptop and hopefully they let me open it and just show them all my work and sigh into my business accounts etc.