I’ve seen the problems some are having with immigration trying to return. In the last 12 months I’ve had 1 x 60 day visa + 30, 1 x 30 + 30 and 2 x 60 + 30’s in my passport.

Next time I enter I will be applying for the Non-O based on retirement but don’t want to risk entering on a 60 day again, just in case. So I looked up the requirements to apply for the 90 day Non-O.

Am I missing something because I’ve seen what is needed to apply for the same visa in Thailand and the online application didn’t ask for that much. It asked for normal stuff like passport details, proof of UK address, flight details, Thailand address, current photo and proof of funds, showing I had the equivalent of 800k baht in my UK bank. That’s it!

So when I arrive and apply for the extension, do I 100% not have to show 800k in my Thai account? If not, what happens the next year when it’s time to renew? I’m guessing I’ll need the 800k 2 months before application or 12 x 65k pm transfers right?

RE: Entering Thailand as a tourist and being denied entry

We're getting more and more reports of people either being questioned extensively at the time of entry, or directly being denied entry to Thailand.

Ever since visa exempt entries were changed from 30 days to 60 days, things seem to have been getting stricter in regards to entries. As always, your entry will be at the discretion of the immigration officer you are standing in front of.

One of the key things that seems to be a point against you will be if you applied for an extension to your 60-day entry previously. If you came to Thailand as a tourist (visa exempt or tourist visa) and then applied for a 30-day extension, and then leave and return, this is what seems to be causing issues. Maybe the immigration officers believe 90 days is enough time for you to have been a tourist?

How long you need to be out of Thailand after doing these 90 days varies, and will likely be dependent upon your history in Thailand. We've seen people who returned after 3 months and still have issues. Of course some people leave and return in the same day and encounter no issues, but there's no way for you to know how it will go for you.

If you are coming to Thailand as a tourist and have already been in Thailand within the last 6 months as a tourist, there are a few things you can do to increase your odds:

Have the 3 "proofs" that can be asked for, but usually are not. If the immigration officer wants to deny you entry, these are the 3 easiest reasons for them to do it.

1) Proof of funds (20,000 baht or equivalent in another major currency, IN CASH ONLY)

2) Proof of onward travel (a ticket out of Thailand within 60 days)

3) Proof of lodging (a hotel reservation, or proof of where you will be staying in Thailand for at least the first few days. A lease agreement is not going to be in your favor when you're trying to argue that you are just a tourist and not living in Thailand)

(The single biggest item in your favor will be if you can show them a plane ticket out of Thailand within 60 days, especially if it's back to your home country)

If you have just spent your 90 days in Thailand and want to get a new stamp, then you are recommended to use a land border bounce agency to drive you to the border and make sure you get out and back in without any issues. These typically leave very early in the morning so they can get you back home before the end of the day. For example in Bangkok, they tend to leave around 4AM. Normal costs anywhere from 4-5k baht. More and more land borders are also requiring 1 or 2 nights out of Thailand if you want to do a border bounce, and using an agent will bypass that requirement as well.

You also have the option of using a "safe entry" agent at the airport if you want to fly out and back to get a fresh stamp. These typically cost around 4-5k baht as well but the price will go up if you've been spending a lot of time in Thailand. This is not the same as Fast Track which just gets you into a faster line.

Getting a tourist visa is an option, but nowhere near a guarantee. There's not really any difference between a tourist visa and visa exempt anymore as they both give you 60 days in Thailand. The immigration officers know they are one in the same and if they think you have spent too much time in Thailand as a tourist, a tourist visa isn't likely to help.

There will be many people who want to say "I entered 14 times without any problems" or "I have NEVER been asked to show money in my 800 years of entering Thailand" but it's not relevant. Unless that person has the exact same travel history as you, and was stamped in by the exact same immigration officer that you are standing in front of, their experience is irrelevant. We are talking about trends here, and the trends show that they are getting more strict across every method of entry into Thailand.

This post won't apply to 99% of people who are coming to Thailand as actual tourists for a few weeks and then going home. But there are a lot of people trying to spend a lot of time in Thailand without a long-term visa, and they are the ones in the crosshairs currently.

Good morning.

To obtain the non-immigrant O retirement visa annual extension using the sum of the bank deposit and pension income, is required a sort of income certificate, but it's not clear to me, I need to find precise and reliable information on which documentation must be shown to demonstrate the requirements (again: the sum of the pension income and financial deposit that reaches a total of 800,000 baht).

In addition to the obvious bank statement, I don't exactly understand what must be shown regarding the pension income and where, a possible document, can be requested.

Thanks for the help, it will be precious as usual. 🙏

A Canadian friend just shared this notice that Canada will stop issuing income letters on 1 April. Fortunately he renewed his non-O visa just recently but will have to figure a new method for next year.

DTV Approved in Hanoi in 5 days. 🎉🇹🇭

- We Submitted Sunday 9th February 7pm.

- Tuesday 11th February changed to Pending Approval.

-Friday 14th February 6pm. My visa Approved.

- Saturday 15th February 6pm. - My partner was approved (Who knew the embassy worked weekends 🤔)

We submitted a 'super pack' that had all the requested documents but I also searched this group for any additional documents others had been asked for and simply included it all in the supporting documents area.

30+pages in total all as one single PDF with a Table of Contents Page indicating where each document was located. We used the website ilovepdf to merge the docs together.

Proof of funds:

6 months bank statements and 6 months corresponding payslips.

We both had the full amount in account for 6 months although I don't believe this is a requirement. I imagine they want to see that the amount is on account when you apply and will remain there. So the longer it's been there the better.

Supporting docs included were:

1. Cover letter (why I want to be in Thailand and why they should give me a visa - if you're stuck for ideas ask everybody's favourite AI agent to write it for you)

2. Letter from employer explicitly stating that I can work remotely and the company doesn't trade in Thailand

3. Employment contract

4. Proof of company registration from HMRC in the UK

5. Resume/CV

6. University Degree

7. Screenshot of my linkedin

8. Screenshot of company website

If I can offer you any advice at all,

1. less is NOT more in this instance. Add as much information up front as possible to save yourself the hassle of having to send in more documents or having an interview.

2. Make your application look professional. The table of contents with page number headings may not have made any difference at all, or it may have made all the difference. It only took me an additional 30minutes to do so was well worth it.

That's it. Good luck

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. 😅

Hello friends,

I have a question regarding the proof of funds for the Soft Power visa.

How did you provide proof of your bank balance? I have kept around USD 15,000 in my account for the past two months.

Is it okay to apply now?

I've heard that some people got approved in one month, while others say you need to show a balance for three months.

Does anyone have detailed information on this?

Thanks in advance!

For the past 6 months, I have had over the required amount in a TFSA (tax free savings account). Would this technically qualify as proof of "bank" statements? It's a TFSA managed under a private wealth and asset management company in Canada. I'm so new to this. Thanks for your input guys.

Can you use a Wise account for proof of 500k thai baht?

(DTV Visa application)

Hello everyone !

Has anyone recently applied for the DTV visa in Vietnam or Cambodia using their crypto account (such as Binance) as proof of 500k Baht ?

Thanks in advance!

DTV Visa Approved From Australia in 10 Days!

Hopefully this can help someone, I will go through my process.

1. 11:00 pm 20th January Applied for Visa directly through the official [members only]/ website and selected the correct thai embassy for my local Australian region.

2. 10am 21st January "document check pending"

- I sent the same photo as my passport which is a few years old.

they asked for a more recent photo taken within the last 6 months.

Took a quick basic photo with my phone with a white backround.

3. 28th January Status moved to "Pending Approval"

4. 29th January Approved

I own my own Australian company and I am the sole owner.

* Provided a 1 page cover letter explaining what I do in my business and screenshots of business payments such as Stripe and affiliate marketing.

* Provided the official ASIC business company extract current and historical. This was $20 from the government website and outlines who owns the company, who are the shareholders etc.

* I asked my accountant to create me a 6 month income statement showing my earnings from this financial year July 01 2024 - December 31 2024.

* Bank statement showing 500,000 bhat equivalent, I transferred the final 400,000 bhat into my account only hours before applying and showed 3 months of official bank statements where basically the balance was always well below 500,000.

* Current Photo