Gonna head to Laos to do my Thai visa. Can anyone tell me how much the Laos tourist visas are on arrival at Vientiane airport for British people? Thanks in advance.

Does anyone know if you submit the application and its declined for any reason if you have to pay the fee again? ie if pics are not correct or they want another document...thanks

Approved - Sydney, Australia (Royal Thai Consulate General), soft power route.

Applied 7 Feb, approved 19 Feb.

Hi all, just wanted to share my experience and say thanks for all the tips in this group which assisted me when it came time to apply for my DTV.

I applied for the DTV in Sydney, with documentation from Discover Thai Nature. I knew at least one person had been approved in Sydney with these seminars, but I had been a bit anxious as I’d seen several people had been rejected with them in Cambodia and HCMC in recent weeks.

For my application I included:

- Recent passport photo and biodata page of passport

- Proof of current location: a recent phone bill and energy bill with my current address

- Financial evidence: I have two Australian bank accounts which each have more than the required 500,000 Baht. I attached six months of bank statements and proof of current balance reports dated the day of my application (felt like overkill as this came to 45 pages, but wanted to ensure they had everything on hand and didn’t need to request further proof. I merged the PDFs together and also attached a cover letter outlining my financial position)

- Proof of activity: I attached the registration and enrollment confirmation documents provided by Discover Thai Nature (which were emailed to me within minutes of booking with them).

I attached a cover letter to the beginning of those documents outlining my intention to attend the Discover Thai Nature seminars, why the seminars are of interest to me (they genuinely are, and I intend to attend in person as much as possible), why I am eager to spend time in Thailand (I’ve travelled there several times over 20 years so was able to specify what I love about the country), said I would not be seeking any form of local employment during my time there, and that I’m committed to adhering to local laws and cultural expectations.

There was no requirement to upload flight or accommodation bookings, but there is a section where they ask you to provide a flight number and address of your accommodation (I have these so provided the details).

For each section I merged PDF files and wasn’t required to compress them/reduce the size (which was somewhat surprising considering the length of my financial documents 😂).

Thanks again for the support of this group, I think the tip to include a cover letter is a good one and helps you to explain/give context to the documents provided, and enables you to personalise the application re: why you want to spend time in Thailand and why the activity in question is of interest.

Wishing everyone else all the best with your applications! If you’re applying in Sydney and have any questions, feel free to reach out.

I should also mention that I emailed the consulate a couple of months ago to ask if Thai language courses would qualify for soft power. The Sydney Consulate said they do.

I initially intended to go down that route and was in touch with a language course provider who was very helpful, but the course spanned over 7.5 months and I’m unsure if I will stay longer than six months this year. So I may do one of their (shorter) private tuition courses instead while I’m there.

TM30 online registration question:

I own a Condo but still only travel with 60day exempt stamp to Thailand for vacation.

Most of those trips do include border crossings and trips to other SEA countries like Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam.

Now I have registered an account and got my condo address approved from the TM30 website but reading instructions I am a bit confused as it mentions I have to provide the TM30 certificate export to an immigration officer: [members only]

I am wondering how many TM30, each entry into Thailand???, I have to get done and really need to provide the certificate to the immigration office?

How are you handling this with real property in Thailand but not living there?

I'm a digital nomad that has been traveling on tourist visas and surviving on less than THB 500k for the last few months. At the end of this month, I will receive a "top-up" that puts me over the 500k requirement for the DTV.

Am I not eligible for DTV until I have 3+ months of bank statements showing that amount in my account?

I read some posts in this group where people mention writing a cover letter of sorts to explain your situation. Perhaps that could improve my chances.

Maybe sponsorship is the better approach. I will be applying at the embassy in Hanoi.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Update:

I previously posted about being rejected by Los Angeles after 17 days pending document check because the system had deleted my middle name before submission.

I re-applied and, after about one week, received the following document requests:

"Other request documents: Business portfolio

Other request documents: Please upload a business registration of the company

Other request documents: Your recent tax return

Other request documents: Guarantee letter from the company implies that you work remotely

Other request documents: Employment contract or employment certificate from company"

—"Business portfolio":

It would sure be helpful if they explained what they mean by that. In my original application, I included links to two of my freelance portfolios where they can see dozens of pieces of work from the last couple of years. Should I print out hundreds of pages of work as the portfolio? My main current job is a large project that is not yet finished for them to see.

—"Business Registration":

Again, it would be helpful if they were a bit more explicit. The main foundation I work for has a prominent website. I Googled their "business registration" and all their information since 2001 is available on Propublica.com. I guess I will print that out and submit that?

—"Recent tax return":

That is clear enough. I didn't file this yet this year, but I will do that today.

—"Guarantee letter from the company implies that you work remotely":

This is funny because I am a literary translator and writer, so of course my work is remote, but my contract doesn't explicitly say that because it's obvious. I will request that from my main employer spelling it out.

—"Employment contract or employment certificate from company":

This is the most troubling because I already submitted a very thorough copy of my contract to them. So I am very confused as to why they are asking for it again.

Overall, it doesn't look very promising. At least they didn't ask me for more financial documentation. I will submit these docs and hope for the best, but I'm pretty discouraged by this opaque system with no recourse. If it fails again, I'll try to go through an agent, which is probably much more reliable.

Can I get some advice please

Jomtien immigration have only given me a non-O Visa for three months, I applied for a 12 month, has this happened to anyone before? 

And do I have to complete the forms and get bank statements again for when I return in 3 months time.

Thanks in advance

So I went to my online Thai Consulate in Chicago to start reviewing my requirements for a Visa application. I think I'm interested in Non-O.

I'm married to a Thai woman and we have raised three boys here. She has been here since she was 13. She is a dual citizen. We want to go back to Thailand for 6 months. We are about eight months out .

Anyway, is there a sample application I could look at? The website lists a lot but there are some generalizations. Easy?

I've got the paperwork to apply for my Visa to Thailand which of these visas listed is for retirement or which is the best one to go with I got all the paperwork except the bank in Thailand I can get my bank statements is it easier to do here in the states or is it easier to do when I get to Thailand and if I do it in Thailand should I have all the paperwork ready when I get there anybody out there give me an honest answer I'd appreciate it thank you

Hi, has anyone applied for a non-o Thai visa in Vientiane recently?

Last I knew you had to make an appointment, no walk-ins allowed. But when I click the link for the website it says the domain has expired.

But if you want to apply for an e-visa I understand you have to be in Laos when you apply and it can take 10-15 days.

I’m just curious what other people have done concerning this?

Also, when applying for a follower visa in Laos has the original marriage/birth certificate been enough or do you need any sort of other paperwork providing proof of relationship?

Thanks in advance for any help!