Dart12

On 9/24/2024 at 3:06 PM, alw22 said:

If anyone knows a good agent who can help open a bank account for DTV holders in Bangkok, please message me.   I was quoted 21k thb by one agent, which seems steep.

Standard price to get a bank account thru an agent is 5k to 6k.  Just ask around. They can do it on tourist visas even.  

Sorry, don't have one in BKK to recommend explicitly.

Someone else asked about get a bank account with an ED visa from language school. 

I was turned down by every branch type out there in January in Pattaya as it was a new restriction just started back then...HOWEVER, I think Bkk bank was doing them still (but I already had that bank and was looking for a second, back up bank).

that was almost a year ago...things might have loosened.

15 hours ago, JimmyTobacco said:

 

Thanks for your reply. I wonder if it will be possible if I bring my girlfriend who has an account with their bank as well (she has just about any bank, so that gives us a few options). Or if I state certain reasons for wanting the account, like the intention to buy a condo or something like that.

 

It's a mystery to me though why a bank would refuse a paying customer who is going to keep money in their bank. As long as it doesn't involve creditcards or overdraft, I am not sure what risk the bank would run in this case.

It was a change across the board in January.  I went in asking what I needed in Dec. 

I went back in January with the necessaries, and they said they could no longer do it.

My visa was long term ED visa thru language school.  They said they only accept UNIVERSITY based ED visa any longer.

I tried every bank, and a couple different branches and managers with no luck.

ONLY one that would possibly do anything was BKK, but I had one with them alreaady and they would not let me open another even though it was a different branch.

There was one that offered me one if purchased Thai life insurance, but my GF is cambodian so neither of us qualified.

On 9/20/2024 at 9:42 PM, JimmyTobacco said:

Has anyone managed to get a bank account on the DTV? I saw on Reddit that for many people it was a little problematic. I just applied for the certificate of residence here in Chiang Mai and hope to get it within a few days, so maybe that will make it easier to get an account.

if not, the new going rate for bank accounts thru Agents is now 5000 or higher, up from 3k just a short time ago.

On 9/19/2024 at 4:10 PM, Liquorice said:

It's just a different type of visa, like the Smart visa.
It's neither a Non Immigrant nor Tourist type visa.

 

You cannot apply for a 1 year extension of stay (retirement or Thai family) from a DTV. You would first have to obtain a Non O visa from a Thai Embassy/Consulate.

(Already asked the question). Unfortunately, Gemini AI doesn't handle extension applications. 

and can apply of course thru an agent IN Thailand.

Timing of all my requirements seem to make it a wash in what I'm going to spend, but the dTV allows me immediate travel lattitude and $600 less immediate costs.

Only reason I've found to go to retirement quickly is the possibility of the base number requirement in the bank increase and getting grandfathered in.  

Anyone know how often they do this increase?  last was 2004 I researched, from 400k to 800k

35 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

On the visa and the arrival stamp, it says DTV.

Well, I have 2 answers , make that 3, with your answer.

Thai Visa center helper told me it's NOT considered a long term visa as a non immigrant visa  is.

But is considered a long term tourist visa...

but the caveate was that we were also chatting about retirement visas and they lose that income if I go DTV route.  So best to keep me buying a product they sell

I just used Gemini AI for google and it comes back that DTV is a Non immigrant visa and would be very easy to transfer over to a retirement visa unlike a tourist visa requires the extra step of conversion to Non O.  And I had it double check several ways.


 

Anyone know exactly what the DTV visa is classified as officially?

2 hours ago, oldmanofindonesia said:

This is really useful thanks. I'm living in HCMC now and going to apply for DTV. I checked on website and it said next free slot for Visa application is Jan 2026! Every other slot is booked. Surely a mistake? Any suggestions?

I just checked too, and it goes WAY beyond that for booked.

either they aren't going to do it any more OR website has a glitch.

Vientane is open to book daily everyday.

What is the reporting like for DTV?  

RETIREMENT Visa Vs DTV

Has anyone on this thread or eslewhere done a comprehensive PRO's / CONS list of evaluation of which is better if you are over 50?

Top of my head it seems like DTV wins in
ease
Cost. (Like 29,000 for first time retirement, 5000 for additional bank account 3400 for multi entry pass and 12,500 per year after. (Roughly 40,000 your first Retirement visa). 
vs only  10,000 plus 1,900 each ext 

less overall requirements
WHERE your money can be banked at is better (leave money in home country bank)

and Validity length

Only thing retirement wins on is Proven Track Record that holders don't get messed with and it's been around for years?

Or am I missing anything that makes RETIREMENT a better option?

If this has been done in the 44 pages here  or somewhere else I'd appreciate the link :)

On 9/13/2024 at 7:10 PM, pres.yota41 said:

Hey everyone! 👋
 

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all the members here who contributed to this thread! Your input was incredibly helpful and guided me through the DTV-visa process. I’d like to share my experience too, I hope it might help someone else.
 

After reading through the thread, I decided to apply for my DTV visa in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam because (1) the requirements were clearly outlined earlier in this thread and (2) I had heard from a few buddies of mine who successfully obtained their DTV visas there. Here’s a quick overview of my situation:

• I'm a non-EU, non-American citizen working remotely for a large western IT company.
• Entered Thailand on a 60-day visa exemption a month ago and stayed until I traveled to Vietnam.
• I was aiming at the 'Workcation' type of the visa.

 

So I booked an appointment online through the Consulate website and prepared the following documents:

1. Visa Application Form
   Special for Ho Chi Minh Thai consulate, downloadable here, with a 4x6 cm photo glued in.
2. Certification of Work Letter
   Issued a week before the appointment date, mentioning my position, salary, and confirmation that I’m allowed to work remotely from Thailand.
3. Contract
   Quite standard and general, outlining parties' terms with the official signature and stamp.
4. Bank Statement
   A 6-month statement from my Wise account showing a balance over 15,500 USD, issued a week before the appointment date.
5. Proof of Bank Account
   Standard evidence doc from Wise proving I am the owner of the account.
6. Rental Agreement
   A 1-year lease for my house in Thailand, expiring in 10 months. I made right after I arrived to Thailand.
7. 340 USD in Cash
   The visa application fee. I exchanged the currency at one of the Vietnamese authorized currency exchange counters (see here).

 

Upon arrival at the Consulate at the appointed time I showed the email on my phone confirming my appointment to the guard, who let me in. At the counter, I informed them that I wanted a DTV visa. They first asked for my passport and then the documents. Although they didn’t specify exactly which documents they needed, so I went ahead and gave them one by one as if it were up to me. The staff member carefully checked that my first name, last name, and passport number matched across all documents—that was essentially the entire verification process.
 

Then I handed over $340, but there was a small issue. The staff thoroughly examined the banknotes and discovered some tiny pencil marks (which I hadn’t noticed when I received them from the exchange counter). The staff member said they only accept clean banknotes and returned them to me. Concerned because I didn’t have any other USD cash, I examined the notes and found the marks. I asked if they had an eraser, and they provided one. So I erased the marks, returned the banknotes and  they accepted then. Finally, I received a receipt with a date to collect my passport (in 2 working days). The entire process took about 5 minutes. Two days later, I came back and got my passport with the visa!

 

 

The strange thing though is the government sticker that was stamped right over the expiration year. I only noticed this after leaving the consulate, so it was too late to ask. I flew back to Thailand the next day and had absolutely no issues at the border. They simply asked if it was my first DTV visa (which seemed like a random question). I answered yes, and they stamped a 180-day stay permission in my passport. That was it.

 

was that $340 above and beyond the 10,000 baht? or total?

8 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

I am becoming increasingly convinced that transgender and female prostitutes alike think that they can get away with targeting Indian, middle-Eastern and other non-white tourists for mistreatment (drugging, rip-offs, price gouging, non-performance, thefts, pickpocketing, verbal abuse, and physical assaults, etc.).

 

I'm not saying there are never any cultural differences which might explain underlying tensions, but I strongly suspect that racial and ethnic prejudices towards these groups voiced by Caucasian bar owners and Caucasian sex tourists that these racial minority groups are less desirable and oftentimes made to feel unwelcome have filtered down to the local population. and may go a long way towards explaining this recurring pattern.

 

Did you somehow find a way to blame 50 nationalities NOT in the fight instead of the 3 that DID fight?!

Are you a politician? 😂 

1 hour ago, Rob Browder said:

Yes.  You only pay more if you want to do annual "extensions" instead of border-runs.  "Extensions" are 1900 Baht, possible once per-DTV-entry, are valid for 6 months additional permitted-stay - then one must border-bounce.  Additional scrutiny / paperwork may happen when/if applying for an extension.

 

Some have reported the reason for their DTV was listed.

 

If one is over 50, I do not see the advantage of the DTV.  Even if one is paying an agent for their retirement-extensions, by the time the border-bounces are factored in, little if any money is saved.  One would also be wise to assume that agent-payments for "no hassle" entry on this visa's border-bounces could be necessary - likely varying by entry-point.

 

As you say - so far, there are not any hassles reported when entering on a retirement-extension w/ re-entry permit. 

yeah I'm just now becoming eligible for retirement visa...I have to either renew one more time my ED visa and then get retirement...or just do DTV immediately.

At first glance the DTV now looks the better option (on paper) with 10k fee for all 5 years and one extension done each year and one border vacation.

But I can see how new leaders come in and start hating on that Visa and giving issues about "not for living here" after 2 years.  

And yeah, agents haven't really figured out a way to monetize this for themselves yet.  

Although I have had 2 agencies say "if you have problem....we can do you in Laos" for 85,000 plus you cover all airline and hotel and visa fee and such still.  My assumption is this basically is a bank statement help.

4 hours ago, gtrinbkk said:

no additional fees, just the 10k, visa collected 2 days after application... submit monday receive visa wednesday etc

Thank you for all that.

Last items you may be less likely to have any idea about:

Do you know.... is This is a one time 10,000 fee per 5 years? or annually 10k (both are cheap), but curious.  To me I read it as 10k one time and then 1900 for any re-entry (which is required at least once a year at minimum).

I'm also wondering if I choose medical now if being more nomadic in nature next year will be problematic.

On your visa... does it label you as 'nomad, concert goer, class taker, medical or such? 

or is it once you get it you are simply a "DTV visa holder" and there are no more labels than that?

This sounds better than retirement visa, but we know how they flip flop on these things in 6 months to a year and worry they give you problems in a year for a border run. VS retirement they seem to just leave you alone once you get it.

3 hours ago, gtrinbkk said:

Hope this report helps others applying for the DTV in Vientiane, specifically freelancers.

 

Applied Sep 6th, 2024. The officer was courteous and professional for the most part.

 

I do remote work, creating instructional video courses and selling them on my website, but most customers opt to subscribe to my membership giving them access to all courses, and pay monthly or annually for the service, and this kind of business model seemed to confuse the officer a bit.

 

For evidence of my business I wrote a letter detailing the nature of the remote work with links to my website, on my company letterhead and signed by me. I also printed out several pages from my website showing my online portfolio of courses/membership. 

 

For the financials I printed out a screenshot of my US bank account showing funds well in excess of the required 500k, this also clearly showed my name and date, same as application day.

 

For what it listed on the embassy requirements this seemed to check all boxes. 

 

But the officer wanted to see specifically who my customers are. I kinda anticipated this so I printed out a report of my sales over the last 30 days. This showed amounts, dates and email addresses but NOT names of customers. This created a little headache for him I guess as he kept asking to see customer names.  So if you are a freelancer selling products/services online I suggest you have customer names in whatever document you use as proof.

 

Fortunately I had a backup...

 

I also create courses remotely for the biggest name in my industry. I asked them to write me a letter listing all the work I have done for them and that this work is ongoing. I also printed out a screenshot showing the bank deposits from them for this work.  It appears this satisfied the officer more than my own website's proof, even though the sales income from my own website far exceed the income from the other company. 

 

So if you are asked to provide income amounts it doesn't appear there is a threshold that needs to be met.

 

It seems the most important thing for freelancers is to show clearly who your customers are, and it appears they may prefer to see work for a known company over your own website etc.

 

The only other additional documents requested were the last 3 months bank statements. So he allowed me to go out and get those printed. Brought them back, paid the 10k and was on my way. 

 

I'm due to pick it up tomorrow, assuming all will be fine but you never know until you get it in your hand.

 

 

 

 

sounds like medical treatment is best choice, no matter what you here for based on reading thru a few pages of what people did.

Any additional fees at teh embassy you went to?

And it sounds like a 7 day turn around time approximately?

 

ok.  So you had to spend a week out of thailand then.  I'm just trying to account for the full cost and PITA time requirement to do this.

Obviously not as easy as go inside thailand for retirement visa.  While 10,000 is much cheaper, got to account for the required hotel and airline tickets and like you mentioned $400 usd  additional where you got it.

if you don't mind sharing...what were airline tix costing where you went vs MCMC?  I know it changes daily for when I'd really need to search myself.  Just trying to get some broad estimation in my head.

Thanks for sharing everything you did as well!

On 9/7/2024 at 9:44 AM, Tim K said:

Got DTV 4 Sep in Phnom Penh, based on dental appointment,
525k in Kasikorn, no pay slips.
more details in my post

I read your post.

Couple questions:  

1 So you went sept 4 and got the visa sept 4...same day?

2 You mention $400.  So Phnom Penh requires $400 usd fee over and above the 10,000 baht?

2B. if so...why didn't you choose an embassy that had no additional fee?

3. Do the 500k funds in the bank accounts need seasoned at all?  or can I transfer them in this month and be fine?

Thanks for any help you can provide in helping me choose this or a retirement visa



 

On 9/7/2024 at 9:18 AM, AdamRich said:

Just woke up to mine being approved after so many hoops. I started the process 5 August. US price was $400.

it takes a month to get the visa??

is this always the case? or if I went to like Malaysia or Laos is it a single day process?

**And how many months does teh 500,000 need to be seasoned in my bank account? 

Going back and forth on this and a retirement visa.  

I’m surprised there is only one testimonial recommendation here for this service

A quick Google of Fred show she’s been testing new angles every week for something little stick and keep himself in the headlines.

I get the distinct feeling uncle refused to do some business deals with nephew in the past

Olympic boxer can just change pronouns and win...then why can’t Pattaya lol

8 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

If they opt for more regulation and licensing, will it be only large corporations owned by favoured families who will be able to afford and be granted the licences?

 

This is what happens in the alcoholic beverages industry.

most likely this is what they did in the US too.  Basically made a cartel or only amount of Uber Rich can sell And grow plants for a profit

3 hours ago, cnx101 said:

Yes exactly I just got an email off the agency saying I can renew the retirement visa two months in advance and price drop of 5000 baht, no thanks I won’t be renewing it.

if you like the hassle of losing a day to get these, sure.  But worth my savings of time to not have to do that.

On 7/15/2024 at 4:37 PM, BangkokReady said:

 

Not just that, people are picking the most toxic sides from each culture.  Thai people seem to want the rights of Western culture with the benefits of Thai culture.  "Give me this, give me that, I don't have to listen to you, but still talk nicely to me and don't criticise me or I'll lose my sh*t."

I'm not too familiar here with all that as I'm pretty isolated.  But yes many like to cherry pick benefits but not take on the responsibilities that would would have had to be completed to get such respect before actually getting it.

I follow you.

On 7/13/2024 at 3:44 PM, BangkokBernie said:

Good analysis of how foreigners in Thailand no longer seem exotic to the locals. But that doesn't necessarily change the lifestyle of a foreigner in Thailand. I also don't think that the foreign men living in Thailand will struggle to find a local partner if they want one simply because of dating apps and the digital revolution.
 

Anyway, my questions were more about what draws foreigners to the lifestyle in Thailand rather than how the locals may now feel about foreigners. 
 

Also, the friends of mine who finally left, didn't leave for any of those reasons. They mainly missed the natural and clean environments of where they came from. They missed hiking, the seasons, the outdoors, the better air quality, etc and they seemed to have gotten a bit tired of all the adventure when living in a developing country. 

Yeah, no deep analysis by me just throwing out some possibilities.

I personally miss sept thru Dec 31 in USA.  it's the change of seasons from hot summer to winter and it's all the extended family holidays.  NOt to mention our favorite sports season for both the pro's and college.  Man, I really miss attending college game days.

And of course family and some close friends.