Switching from Thai Elite (Privilege Entry) visa to DTV...

[Fiskebolle]

Hello Folks,


Posting for my neighbor, who's son got a Thai Elite (Privilege Entry Visa) and wanted to switch to DTV visa (based on remote employment from foreign company). 

What we were discussing and I couldn't advise him further on was the following question;

 

1. Is it possible to APPLY & MAKE THE SWITCH, while the Thailand Elite (Privilege Entry) is still valid on current passport? If so, it would mean there will be 2 ACTIVE visas in the same passport. How does that work? Does he has to instruct the immigration official upon arrival in the airport to issue an entry stamp based on DTV instead or will this cause confusion and may he risk losing his ThaiElite Status altogether?

 

2. When he decides to end his remote employment with foreign company, would it be possible to switch back to ThaiElite Visa (Privilege Entry) in same passport?

3. I assume some people may have experience on switching to other types of visas from ThaiElite (e.g. Non-Immigrant B for employment). I assume the process will not be very diifferent to that of switching to DTV. If anyone has experience (or valuable opinion on this), please do share here as well.

4. Last but not least... Are there any official immigration channels where visa holders can talk to the immigration official and present their case and ask for information? As we all know Immigration offices (CW, etc) only accept appointments for certain type of services, but nothing mentioned on the website for helpdesk, in case you have specific questions... Can anyone suggest who to contact and where?

 

Again many thanks Folks!

 

Cheers,

 

FB

 

 

[MART]

2. I'm not 100% sure, but I think your friend would have to have their first visa cancelled before being able to apply for the DTV.

 

4. Just talk to a visa agent.

 

 

[JB300]

#1 No it is not possible to have 2 “Active” visas at the same time - to get a DTV he would somehow need to lose his TE Visa (easier said than done, though you can do it if you’re moving to a Non-IMM B visa).

 

But my question would be why would he want to do that? The Elite visa is a far superior visa to the DTV & if his work is truly remote work, then he’s not breaking any Thai employment laws.

 

 

 

 

[rough diamond]

6 hours ago, JB300 said:

No it is not possible to have 2 “Active” visas at the same time

I think you mean extensions, not visas.

[Fiskebolle]

thanks for comments so far. Yes indeed ThaiElite (privilege entry) visa will be superior in some ways to DTV or Non-Immigrant B. But reason why my friend wants to change is that ThaiElite does not allow for work for a remote company abroad. Whilst DTV visa seems to be specifically designed for the purpose of remote working for company abroad... I saw someone above commenting that it doesn't make much of a difference really when it comes to working for company abroad...? 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, Fiskebolle said:

I saw someone above commenting that it doesn't make much of a difference really when it comes to working for company abroad...?

That someone is correct.

Here is old thread discussing working online. 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1231219-work-remotely/

 

DTV would be perfect fit however the person already has a lovely PE Visa.

Do as @JB300 suggested earlier.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1258973-working-online-in-thailand-for-foreign-company/

[JB300]

3 hours ago, rough diamond said:

I think you mean extensions, not visas.

No I do mean Visas… 

 

The OP is asking whether somebody could have an Elite Visa in their passport  & get a DTV visa at the same time. 
 

 

[Briggsy]

1 hour ago, JB300 said:

No I do mean Visas… 

 

The OP is asking whether somebody could have an Elite Visa in their passport  & get a DTV visa at the same time. 
 

 

Do you have a source for that?

 

I applied for a non-imm O from London and received that. 2 weeks later, I changed my mind and applied for a DTV and received that. I had two valid visas. I chose to enter Thailand on the DTV but could have entered on the non-imm O. The Immigration officer said nothing about the unused non-imm O.

[Fiskebolle]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

That someone is correct.

Here is old thread discussing working online. 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1231219-work-remotely/

 

DTV would be perfect fit however the person already has a lovely PE Visa.

Do as @JB300 suggested earlier.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1258973-working-online-in-thailand-for-foreign-company/

Thanks DrJack as usual ! 🙂

[lamyai3]

On 4/6/2025 at 10:12 AM, Fiskebolle said:

Are there any official immigration channels where visa holders can talk to the immigration official and present their case and ask for information? As we all know Immigration offices (CW, etc) only accept appointments for certain type of services, but nothing mentioned on the website for helpdesk, in case you have specific questions... Can anyone suggest who to contact and where?

 

For the specific questions brought up here I'd suggest contacting the Thailand Elite office (TPC). As I understand there should be no problem with any of what you've outlined but they would be able to explain the mechanics of it. TPC is a membership that includes a visa (rather than a visa per se), and that membership doesn't expire if it's temporarily interrupted by switching to another visa class that allows for employment, rather it's just put on hold for a time. Not sure whether this would also apply to the other privileges such as airport fast track, limos etc. 

[sikishrory]

22 hours ago, Fiskebolle said:

thanks for comments so far. Yes indeed ThaiElite (privilege entry) visa will be superior in some ways to DTV or Non-Immigrant B. But reason why my friend wants to change is that ThaiElite does not allow for work for a remote company abroad. Whilst DTV visa seems to be specifically designed for the purpose of remote working for company abroad... I saw someone above commenting that it doesn't make much of a difference really when it comes to working for company abroad...? 

Coffee shops of full of ppl working online since before DTV. He would have to put up a sign saying "please arrest me im working online" then maybe he might get some attention. Maybe.

Keep in mind the DTV sounds rosey but applying through the online work category is less straight forward than muay thai or soft power. It's an unpredictable can of worms that doesn't need to be opened. Give it a crack though if you want to.

[Donga]

I work remotely managing my active portfolio (super fund), plus fixed securities and a rental property - hoping that will get me across the line. Anyone have any experience with this?

[DrJack54]

 

 

23 minutes ago, Donga said:

I work remotely managing my active portfolio (super fund), plus fixed securities and a rental property - hoping that will get me across the line.

So you're referring to DTV , Workcation category? 

I would hardly call what you outlined as working as "digital nomad" 

 

[Donga]

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

 

 

So you're referring to DTV , Workcation category? 

I would hardly call what you outlined as working as "digital nomad" 

 

Will try freelance, manage my trades and other investments digitally wherever I go. Live 6 months of the year out of Thailand, and travel fairly extensively inside and out.  So I'm a digital grey nomad 😅

[JB300]

On 4/7/2025 at 7:33 AM, Briggsy said:

Do you have a source for that?

 

I applied for a non-imm O from London and received that. 2 weeks later, I changed my mind and applied for a DTV and received that. I had two valid visas. I chose to enter Thailand on the DTV but could have entered on the non-imm O. The Immigration officer said nothing about the unused non-imm O.

That’s a different scenario, whilst you had a valid Non-IMM O visa you hadn’t used it so are free to apply for whatever Visa you want to use instead, the Visa is only “Active” when it’s been used. 

 

If you’d have had a Non-IMM O Multi-Entry Visa & used it to enter Thailand then you would have had to cancel it before getting the DTV. 
 

The OP is asking about an Elite Visa (presumably already used to enter Thailand so is “Live”) & looking to get an DTV in addition to it which isn’t possible. 

[Briggsy]

35 minutes ago, JB300 said:

That’s a different scenario, whilst you had a valid Non-IMM O visa you hadn’t used it so are free to apply for whatever Visa you want to use instead, the Visa is only “Active” when it’s been used. 

 

If you’d have had a Non-IMM O Multi-Entry Visa & used it to enter Thailand then you would have had to cancel it before getting the DTV. 
 

The OP is asking about an Elite Visa (presumably already used to enter Thailand so is “Live”) & looking to get an DTV in addition to it which isn’t possible. 

You appear now to be stating that you can have two valid visas but not if at least one of them is multi-entry and has been used previously to enter the country.

 

However, if both are single entry or one or both are multi-entry but have not been used to enter Thailand, then it is okay to have two valid visas.

 

Have I got that right? And, may I ask where you came by this information?

[JB300]

4 hours ago, Briggsy said:

You appear now to be stating that you can have two valid visas but not if at least one of them is multi-entry and has been used previously to enter the country.

 

However, if both are single entry or one or both are multi-entry but have not been used to enter Thailand, then it is okay to have two valid visas.

 

Have I got that right? And, may I ask where you came by this information?

Yes & no. Technically it is possible to end up with 2 Visas as you’ve shown (though if you’d had a an unused non-IMM O visa in your passport & got a Non-IMM B before using it I’m pretty sure they would have cancelled the Non-IMM O before issuing it - could be different with the DTV as I understand it’s not a “Visa” in the traditional sense of a sticker in your passport) but only 1 of them can be valid & (technically) the last one you got cancelled the 1st.

 

i can’t point you to a definitive link that says you cannot have 2 valid visas but searching for “can i have 2 different valid visas at the same time thailand” will bring you a the AI result that says… 

”No, you cannot hold two different valid visas for Thailand simultaneously; you can only hold one visa at a time”

 

I am curious as to why you decided not to use your Non-IMM O & get a DTV instead, personally I think the Non-IMM O is a much better option if you’re living in Thailand full time & don’t want to worry about doing border runs etc… 

 

OT but does anybody know of anybody who’s managed to get an extension on a DTV yet or is it still too soon for somebody to have tried?

[JB300]

Back to Topic… I “misspoke” when I said the OP’s Elite Visa would be cancelled, it wouldn’t be valid for the duration of the DTV but when that finished they should still be able to use the remaining years on their Elite Visa. 
 

E.g somebody has a 20 year Elite Visa, has used 1 year then gets a 5 year DTV, when the DTV finishes they should still have 14 years left on their Elite Visa. 

[DrJack54]

3 hours ago, JB300 said:

OT but does anybody know of anybody who’s managed to get an extension on a DTV yet or is it still too soon for somebody to have tried?

Yes has been reported with no issue

[Briggsy]

6 hours ago, JB300 said:

though if you’d had a an unused non-IMM O visa in your passport

Non-Imm O visa issued by London have been evisas for a considerable time now.

 

Thanks for your reply and for letting me know the source was AI.

[JB300]

8 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Non-Imm O visa issued by London have been evisas for a considerable time now.

 

Thanks for your reply and for letting me know the source was AI.

Sorry, when you said the IO said nothing about the unused Non-O I assumed you had a sticker in your passport that he’d see (I also assumed that if you were entering on the DTV then you wouldn’t have volunteered the Non-0 eVisa).

 

I honestly believe that when you got your DTV they would have cancelled any existing Visas you had on their system -  I’m basing this on the fact that I was told they would cancel my Non-O if I were to switch to an Elite Visa rather than any official links I can point to.

 

[Briggsy]

2 hours ago, JB300 said:

Sorry, when you said the IO said nothing about the unused Non-O I assumed you had a sticker in your passport that he’d see (I also assumed that if you were entering on the DTV then you wouldn’t have volunteered the Non-0 eVisa).

 

I honestly believe that when you got your DTV they would have cancelled any existing Visas you had on their system -  I’m basing this on the fact that I was told they would cancel my Non-O if I were to switch to an Elite Visa rather than any official links I can point to.

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

It would have been an interesting experiment for me to have proffered the non-imm O at Suwannaphum to see what would have happened, bearing in mind I obtained the non-imm O first and then the DTV from the London Embassy.

 

I suspect (but I have no confirmation at all) that it would have been accepted. I don't think the MFA systems, Immigration systems and most importantly their interface are smart enough to start cancelling visas. It is not even sure that any cancellation would be justified. My Thai evisa account happily stated I had two valid visas to utilise.