Destination Thailand Visa Gains Popularity Among Expats

[webfact]

FILE photo for reference only. Courtesy of: Jakarta Post

 

The new Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) has rapidly become a popular choice among expat communities both in Thailand and abroad. Designed to cater to remote workers, individuals seeking skills-based education or medical treatment, and families, the innovative visa option is attracting significant interest.

 

While exact statistics are still unavailable, estimates from Thai embassies in neighbouring countries suggest that over 1,000 applications have been submitted worldwide in just under two months. Most of these applications appear to come from digital nomads looking to take advantage of the visa's flexible terms, writes Barry Kenyon for Pattaya Mail.

 

The DTV offers several key advantages over traditional visas. It provides a long validity period of five years with multiple entries, a substantial improvement over the typical one-year extensions for retirement or marriage visas.

 

The initial enrolment fee is 10,000 baht (approximately $300 USD) for an initial period of 180 days, with the option to extend for another 180 days for a fee of 1,900 baht. However, applicants must leave and re-enter Thailand to reset their visa status for another cycle.

One notable feature of the DTV is its financial guarantee requirement of 500,000 baht (around $16,000 USD), which is more affordable than the sums required for traditional visas or the five-year Elite visa, the latter of which necessitates a non-returnable fee of 900,000 baht (approximately $26,000 USD).

 

This has prompted many retirees to consider the DTV as a cost-effective alternative, especially since they only need to justify their application. Some agencies in Thailand are already partnering with Muay Thai academies or cookery schools to help applicants meet the visa's enrollment requirements.

 

Despite the ease of online application, DTV requests are referred to respective Thai embassies for consideration and cannot be submitted from within Thailand. Some ambiguities remain, such as differing financial guarantee requirements between embassies.

 

For instance, the Thai embassy in Washington DC requires a checking or savings account in the applicant's name, while the embassy in Laos accepts payslips or other financial guarantees and does not impose an additional service charge beyond the 10,000 baht fee. In contrast, Washington DC charges a service fee of $400 USD (approximately 13,600 baht).

 

As the DTV continues to gain traction, it is poised to become a viable long-term solution for expats looking to live and work in Thailand under flexible and financially feasible conditions.

 

-- 2024-09-07

 

 

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[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The new Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) has rapidly become a popular choice among expat communities both in Thailand and abroad. Designed to cater to remote workers, individuals seeking skills-based education or medical treatment, and families, the innovative visa option is attracting significant interest.

So not expats then.. reallly?

[motdaeng]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Some agencies in Thailand are already partnering with Muay Thai academies or cookery schools to help applicants meet the visa's enrollment requirements.

 

it's getting better and better... thailand, here we come for cooking (no more temples as an excuse) ...

[ChasingTheSun]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

FILE photo for reference only. Courtesy of: Jakarta Post

 

The new Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) has rapidly become a popular choice among expat communities both in Thailand and abroad. Designed to cater to remote workers, individuals seeking skills-based education or medical treatment, and families, the innovative visa option is attracting significant interest.

 

While exact statistics are still unavailable, estimates from Thai embassies in neighbouring countries suggest that over 1,000 applications have been submitted worldwide in just under two months. Most of these applications appear to come from digital nomads looking to take advantage of the visa's flexible terms, writes Barry Kenyon for Pattaya Mail.

 

The DTV offers several key advantages over traditional visas. It provides a long validity period of five years with multiple entries, a substantial improvement over the typical one-year extensions for retirement or marriage visas.

 

The initial enrolment fee is 10,000 baht (approximately $300 USD) for an initial period of 180 days, with the option to extend for another 180 days for a fee of 1,900 baht. However, applicants must leave and re-enter Thailand to reset their visa status for another cycle.

One notable feature of the DTV is its financial guarantee requirement of 500,000 baht (around $16,000 USD), which is more affordable than the sums required for traditional visas or the five-year Elite visa, the latter of which necessitates a non-returnable fee of 900,000 baht (approximately $26,000 USD).

 

This has prompted many retirees to consider the DTV as a cost-effective alternative, especially since they only need to justify their application. Some agencies in Thailand are already partnering with Muay Thai academies or cookery schools to help applicants meet the visa's enrollment requirements.

 

Despite the ease of online application, DTV requests are referred to respective Thai embassies for consideration and cannot be submitted from within Thailand. Some ambiguities remain, such as differing financial guarantee requirements between embassies.

 

For instance, the Thai embassy in Washington DC requires a checking or savings account in the applicant's name, while the embassy in Laos accepts payslips or other financial guarantees and does not impose an additional service charge beyond the 10,000 baht fee. In contrast, Washington DC charges a service fee of $400 USD (approximately 13,600 baht).

 

As the DTV continues to gain traction, it is poised to become a viable long-term solution for expats looking to live and work in Thailand under flexible and financially feasible conditions.

 

-- 2024-09-07

 

 

Get the ASEAN NOW daily NEWSLETTER - Click HERE to subscribe

All these folks living in thailand for more than 183 days paying tax on their foreign earnings?

[renaissanc]

Please improve the Marriage Visa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been doing the one year extensions with all the forms, photos, and piles of documents for nearly 40 years now.

 

[Lanny Wilkinson]

Sounds like a great plan.  Does the 500,000 Baht have to be in a Thai Bank or can proof come from a bank from another country? What documentation is required of the 500,000 Baht? 

[AlaskaDave]

13 minutes ago, Lanny Wilkinson said:

Sounds like a great plan.  Does the 500,000 Baht have to be in a Thai Bank or can proof come from a bank from another country? What documentation is required of the 500,000 Baht? 

 

I saw a YouTube video a few weeks ago, an interview of an Interior Ministry official, that said the funds did not have to be in a Thai bank. I'm here on a Marriage Visa and would love to be able to use the DVT instead because it would make my life here so much easier. This recent report is encouraging but I'm not planning to apply for one until the details settle. By the way, the Interior Ministry official was positively exuberant about the DVT but it's the Immigration department that controls visas so it would be wise to keep your enthusiasm in check.

 

 

 

 

[ryandb]

35 minutes ago, Lanny Wilkinson said:

Sounds like a great plan.  Does the 500,000 Baht have to be in a Thai Bank or can proof come from a bank from another country? What documentation is required of the 500,000 Baht? 

 

Nope, just in your own name. I'm looking at it for my December renewal right now. I just spoke to someone who went and did it in Malaysia and had no issues. This was for the freelancer type as he's in his 30s like me, not the retirement one.

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, ryandb said:

 

Nope, just in your own name. I'm looking at it for my December renewal right now. I just spoke to someone who went and did it in Malaysia and had no issues. This was for the freelancer type as he's in his 30s like me, not the retirement one.

Do you know what documentation ? Is it a bank statement from home country, a statement from the country you apply in .

If its anything like an OA retire visa, you cant apply in one country and show savings in another.

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, renaissanc said:

Please improve the Marriage Visa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been doing the one year extensions with all the forms, photos, and piles of documents for nearly 40 years now.

 

and they make you report your location every 90 days like a criminal and notify them within 24 hours if stay in another province and then return home. It's like you're on house arrest and were granted a temporary release. You could literally be married to the same person 40 years and in the same house and you'll have to repeat this process until you die.

[cardinalblue]

What are you getting for $300 vs 1900 baht? Still too much control every year/6 months…

 

make it one time fee for 5 years w/o timelines and other fees

[NorthernRyland]

44 minutes ago, AlaskaDave said:

I saw a YouTube video a few weeks ago, an interview of an Interior Ministry official, that said the funds did not have to be in a Thai bank. I'm here on a Marriage Visa and would love to be able to use the DVT instead because it would make my life here so much easier. This recent report is encouraging but I'm not planning to apply for one until the details settle. By the way, the Interior Ministry official was positively exuberant about the DVT but it's the Immigration department that controls visas so it would be wise to keep your enthusiasm in check.

 

You'd have to travel out of the country every 6 months though which could be annoying. I'd rather file the papers for the marriage extension than do a car trip to some land border or fly out and come back the next day. All most effort and time than papers at immigration.

[Mike Teavee]

49 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Do you know what documentation ? Is it a bank statement from home country, a statement from the country you apply in .

If its anything like an OA retire visa, you cant apply in one country and show savings in another.

Lots of reports of guys getting DTVs from places like Laos, Vietnam etc... showing money in the bank in their home country

[brianthainess]

46 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

and notify them within 24 hours if stay in another province and then return home.

That is not true IME.

[itsari]

1 hour ago, renaissanc said:

Please improve the Marriage Visa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been doing the one year extensions with all the forms, photos, and piles of documents for nearly 40 years now.

 

You have to blame the scam marriages for all your extra documentation , however the new Destination Thailand  Visa may help to make the piles of documents lower for you.

[Nomadic1460]

Getting DTV will be easier in neighbouring countries rather than dealing with local Immigration authorities or greedy agents for O, OA Visas. Finally they are making expats life in Thailand strees free. What do you think?

[brianthainess]

40 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

You'd have to travel out of the country every 6 months though which could be annoying. I'd rather file the papers for the marriage extension than do a car trip to some land border or fly out and come back the next day. All most effort and time than papers at immigration.

I agree one day to do my Marriage extension leave home on Koh Chang, take a 9am ferry, home at 4.30 pm, I do all the paperwork in that time too, even the home visit now, is not too bad no BMW anymore with a gang of officers, just the one guy from the Island's sub-office. 90day easy for me I do it on my way to do shopping on KC. 

[koolkarl]

Never ending supply of suckers who will be paying income taxes in Thailand and get absolutely nothing for the money, no health care and no immigrant status.

[brianthainess]

So do you have to show you are earning money from your 'remote' work or can you just get the visa sit back and do naff all ? apart from a boarder run every 6 months ?

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

While exact statistics are still unavailable, estimates from Thai embassies in neighbouring countries suggest that over 1,000 applications have been submitted worldwide in just under two months. Most of these applications appear to come from digital nomads looking to take advantage of the visa's flexible terms, writes Barry Kenyon for Pattaya Mail.

So 1,000 applications world wide and how many got it ? So nobody knows any stats really. I wonder what countries the majority of these  Nomads are from. 

[NorthernRyland]

9 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I agree one day to do my Marriage extension leave home on Koh Chang, take a 9am ferry, home at 4.30 pm, I do all the paperwork in that time too, even the home visit now, is not too bad no BMW anymore with a gang of officers, just the one guy from the Island's sub-office. 90day easy for me I do it on my way to do shopping on KC. 

that's the worst case scenario even given your location. It takes me about 4 hours to do extension. The closest border to me is Mae Sai and that's a 9 hour round trip in the car not including the time/hassle it takes to walk over the border and back. Even if they allowed you to do that back to back for 5 years it would be worse than the extension at immigration.

[Topah]

2 hours ago, renaissanc said:

Please improve the Marriage Visa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been doing the one year extensions with all the forms, photos, and piles of documents for nearly 40 years now.

 

No.1 bull<deleted> process on the earth.

[NorthernRyland]

11 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

So do you have to show you are earning money from your 'remote' work or can you just get the visa sit back and do naff all ? apart from a boarder run every 6 months ?

I bet they make you show some pay stub or something. This visa feels like they made it for their new tax scheme and they'll have proof of your income when you apply for the visa. 

[sungod]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

So not expats then.. reallly?

 

If they are not living in their own country they are an expat.

 

Or am I missing something?

[Jonathan Swift]

So just like with a tourist visa but legal, you are actually required to do a visa run

[brianthainess]

7 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

that's the worst case scenario even given your location. It takes me about 4 hours to do extension. The closest border to me is Mae Sai and that's a 9 hour round trip in the car not including the time/hassle it takes to walk over the border and back. Even if they allowed you to do that back to back for 5 years it would be worse than the extension at immigration.

Don't forget I spend about 2 hr. just sitting/queuing for ferries, actual time spent in the Immigration office this year was 4 hrs. that's the longest ever, because my new passport reset my application time to January, full of Tourists getting extensions was a pain. Best time to do extensions IME is in the rainy season, June-August for me. Yes I know I could leave and start again, but at 73, I don't want that hassle.

[brianthainess]

15 minutes ago, Topah said:

No.1 bull<deleted> process on the earth.

All brought on by Falangs doing scam marriages, I seem to remember a 24yro was caught out 'Married' to a 84yro woman, just gave her some money.

[NorthernRyland]

14 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

All brought on by Falangs doing scam marriages, I seem to remember a 24yro was caught out 'Married' to a 84yro woman, just gave her some money.

LOL good luck with that. You're required to appear in person together so I think that would fall apart before the documents were presented.

[brianthainess]

15 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

LOL good luck with that. You're required to appear in person together so I think that would fall apart before the documents were presented.

This was before all of that, that is why they have made it harder.......as with the witness and home visits, a friend of mine told me the first time he went he knew nothing of taking a witness along as Trat require, he went outside gave an old lady some money she came into immigration and swore she had known him for years. No home visits in those days about 10yrs ago. It changed between 2012-2014.

[AdamRich]

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