Application

DTV visa application: how to apply, step by step

The 6 steps on the official e-Visa portal, thaievisa.go.th, in the order the portal runs them, with what each one asks of you. In the portal's and the embassies' own words where it matters.

Checked against official sources on 5 October 2026By Martin Ferret

Before you start

Four things decide whether you can apply at all

Check these before you create an account. The portal enforces some of them; the posts enforce the rest.

Where you are: Outside Thailand; “You CANNOT apply for a Thai e-Visa while you are physically in Thailand.”
Which post: Yours; Since 31 August 2026, the post covering your country of nationality or of permanent residence. Where to apply from.
When: ≤ 3 months; The portal will not take an application more than 3 months before your arrival date.
Drafts: 14 days; Incomplete, unpaid and ready-to-submit applications are removed automatically after 14 days.

Stay in the country until the decision

Several posts want you in their country for the whole process. Kuala Lumpur: “Applications submitted while the applicant is located in Thailand or any country outside of Malaysia will not be considered and will be rejected”. Berlin asks you to be in Germany to submit and pay, and to stay until the decision; Dubai rejects applications submitted from outside the UAE.

Some passports cannot apply online

The portal lists nationalities that “have to apply in person only”, among them Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Nigeria and Pakistan. If yours is on that list, contact your post before anything else.

Have the documents ready first

The form is quick; the documents are not. The criminal record certificate comes from your own authorities and can take weeks. The full checklist.

The six steps

The DTV application on thaievisa.go.th, step by step

The portal's own manual names 6 steps. Here they are in order, with what each one asks of you.

1. Create your account
The manual's words “Create an account”
- Sign up with your first name, family name, nationality and phone number in English, then an email address and a password of at least 8 characters, with one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter and one number.
- The activation link arrives by email within 30 minutes. If it does not, check your spam folder, then sign in and ask for it again.
- One account can hold a whole family's applications, but each person needs their own. Washington: “a visa application is for each individual, please make sure that you complete the application for every traveler”.
- Use your own account and your own email address. Nobody else should hold the login.
2. Fill in the form
The manual's words “Fill in an application form”
- The first screen, “Check your eligibility”, asks for your passport country, where you are now, the post (“Apply at”), then the visa type and the purpose of your visit. Choose the Destination Thailand Visa and your category.
- That first screen is locked once you move on. The manual: “The first step cannot be edited because it may affect the next step information.” A wrong post or category means a new draft.
- Upload the passport biodata page: the portal reads the machine-readable zone and fills in your details. Check every field; the portal warns that the capture “does not guarantee the correctness of information”.
- Everything in English: “Please provide all responses in English.” Your name and passport number must “exactly match” your passport.
- Then your travel information: arrival and departure dates, port of entry, flight, accommodation in Thailand.
3. Upload the documents
The manual's words “Upload supporting documents”
- The list on this screen is built from your purpose, your post and your nationality, so it can differ from someone else's. The portal adds: “Please check the relevant embassy/consulate's website for specifically required documents.”
- Each file has to meet the portal's format and size rules, set out in the next section.
- What the list contains, line by line: DTV visa requirements.
4. Pay, which submits the application
The manual's words “Pay visa fee”
- There is no separate submit button. The “Ready to Submit” tab holds complete applications awaiting payment: tick yours, then Proceed to Payment.
- Until you pay, you can still view, edit or delete the draft, except the first screen. After you pay, nothing can change.
- Several applications to the same post can be paid in one payment.
5. Wait, and watch the portal
The manual's words “Wait for the visa to be processed”
- Follow the application under Check Status. Embassies do not answer status questions: Washington writes that it “can not check status for each individuals”.
- The post may ask for more documents or call you to an interview. Both arrive through the portal and by email.
6. Receive the e-Visa by email
The manual's words “e-Visa confirmation document sent by email”
- “After the e-Visa application has been approved, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to applicants, which must be printed out for presenting to airlines and Thai Immigration Officials when traveling to Thailand.”
- It is also in the Download section of your account. Nothing goes in your passport and nothing is posted.

Upload rules

How the portal wants your files

Requests for more documents often come from files the officer cannot use. These are the rules the portal and the posts state.

Formats and size

Documents in JPG, JPEG or PDF, each under 3 MB. The portal's error message reads “File must be JPG/JPEG/PDF and size must not exceed 3MB.”

Photo and passport page

JPG or JPEG only, under 3 MB. The photograph must be taken within the last 6 months; the portal offers an example. Keep the whole machine-readable zone in the frame, and the image sharp.

One file per item

Each document line takes a single file, so merge a multi-page document, such as three months of bank statements, into one PDF under 3 MB. Paris asks for exactly that.

No screenshots

Washington, Los Angeles and London: a screenshot or an unclear file brings “a request for more documents which will delay the Visa processing time”. Berlin does not accept screenshots of bank statements.

The portal: “Failure to attach the required file in an appropriate manner will risk their e-Visa being rejected.”

Payment

Paying the fee submits the application

The moment the payment goes through, the application is with the post. From then on it cannot change, and the fee is not refunded.

“Attention: Please confirm that all information is true and correct. There will be no refunds and no alterations after this point.”

Payment screen, thaievisa.go.th

In the post's currency: The portal charges the fee of the post you chose, in its currency, on your own card. Fees post by post: DTV visa cost.
Which card: The portal states no rule; some posts do. Washington: “It is recommended to use a Visa or a Mastercard for the payment, not an Amex or American Express Card.” Sydney also excludes Amex, the posts in Japan take Visa or Mastercard only, Ho Chi Minh City debit or credit cards only.
If the card is declined: Washington suggests another card or a call to your bank, “as this is an international transaction and the bank may detect it as fraudulent activity”.
The receipt: A confirmation email with an e-receipt should follow in about 15 minutes. You can also download it from your account.
Still pending: If the status still reads Pending Payment after 20 minutes, contact the post. Check the status again before you pay a second time.

After submission

What happens after you pay

The application is now the post's. You follow it on the portal, and you answer when it asks.

The statuses you will see

In the portal's words, as they appear on screen:

Pending Payment
Processing
Pending Document Check
Request Document
Request Interview
Approved
Rejected
Delivered Visa by Email

If the post asks for more documents

Open the notification, then Request Document.
Find the application shown in red and click View.
Open the Reference No. tab for the list, and read the officer's remarks in red.
Attach the files, click Submit, then Accept & Confirm.
The status changes to Pending Document Check.

You get one go: “You will not be able to attach additional documents after you choose to accept and confirm.”

How long you have to answer: It depends on the post. Sydney cancels an application when the documents have not arrived within 45 days of submission, fee not refunded. Bucharest wrote 7 days on a page dated before 31 August 2026. We found no central deadline.
Interview: Any post may call you in. Kuala Lumpur, for the DTV: “the applicant may be requested to submit additional documents through the system or attend an interview in person at the embassy.”
The e-Visa itself: Print the confirmation email and carry it for the airline and Thai immigration. If the status reads Delivered Visa by Email but the email is missing, sign in and download it from your account.
Validity is not your stay: Washington: the validity is “the period that travelers must use that visa to enter Thailand. This is not the permitted period of stay in Thailand which will be determined by the Immigration Officer at the port of entry.”

Processing time

DTV processing time, post by post

There is no central processing time. Each post states its own, and several state none. The clock runs on a complete file: Washington says the process “starts when you upload all of the required documents into the system with complete payment”.

Processing times published by Thai posts
Post	What it says	Page date
Paris	About 4 weeks. Apply 2 to 3 months before departure.	28 August 2026
Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich	A decision within 15 working days, plus 15 if documents are requested. Apply up to 90 days before arrival.	Undated page
Dubai	Up to 5 to 20 days. Apply 20 to 30 days before departure. No express service.	4 September 2026
Abu Dhabi	3 to 10 working days.	10 May 2025 · Page dated before 31 August 2026
Ho Chi Minh City	5 working days, not counting the day of submission. An incomplete file restarts the count when you send the missing documents. No expedited service, except for medical or family emergencies.	Undated page
Kuala Lumpur	“For a DTV visa, the entire process generally takes 1 month or longer, depending on a case-by-case basis.”	2 September 2026
Singapore	Apply at least 21 working days before you travel.	7 September 2026
Washington	No fixed time. It recommends applying “around one month before your intended travel date”.	1 September 2026
Bucharest	At least 5 to 10 working days after a complete application, for e-Visas in general rather than the DTV.	14 August 2025 · Page dated before 31 August 2026
London, Los Angeles, New York	No DTV processing time published. Ask the post.

The criminal record certificate often takes longer than any of these. Start it first.

If it goes wrong

Mistakes, refusals and renewals

Read this before you pay, not after.

A mistake after payment

It cannot be corrected, even by the embassy. Washington: “if your information is incorrect you must reapply for a new visa and pay again.” Berlin and Dubai say the same.

A refusal

The fee is not refunded. Sydney: “If the application is rejected, the applicants will have to re-submit his/her application and the application fee (visa fee) is non-refundable.” The route is a new application with a new fee.

No appeal we could find

We found no official appeal or review procedure after a refusal, and no source saying whether reasons are given. Do not count on either.

A renewal is a new visa

Washington: “Every visa has an expiration date and it is considered as applying for a new visa, not a renewal.”

Where we come in

The fifteen-minute submission is yours

With The File ($199), we prepare the dossier and hand you a ready-to-submit file with a step-by-step walk-through. You make the submission yourself, on your own portal account, paying the embassy fee on your own card. It takes about fifteen minutes, and we are with you on WhatsApp while you do it.

We never log in for you and never touch the government fee.

See what The File includes

Doing it all yourself? The Review ($99) reads your documents before you pay the embassy.

Questions

DTV visa application: common questions

How do I apply for the DTV visa?

Online, on thaievisa.go.th, in 6 steps: create an account, fill in the form, upload the documents, pay the fee (which submits the application), wait for processing, and receive the e-Visa by email. You must be outside Thailand, and file with the post covering your country of nationality or of permanent residence.

Can I apply for the DTV from inside Thailand?

No. The portal states: “You CANNOT apply for a Thai e-Visa while you are physically in Thailand.” Since 31 August 2026, you file with the post covering your country of nationality or of permanent residence.

How long does a DTV application take?

It depends on the post: about 4 weeks at Paris, a decision within 15 working days at the German posts, 5 working days at Ho Chi Minh City, a month or longer at Kuala Lumpur. London, Los Angeles and New York publish no time. The criminal record certificate often takes longer than the post.

Can I change my DTV application after paying?

No. The payment screen warns there will be no refunds and no alterations after that point. A mistake means a new application and a new fee. Before payment, you can still edit everything except the first screen.

Which file formats does the e-Visa portal accept?

JPG, JPEG or PDF for documents, JPG or JPEG for the photograph and the passport page, each under 3 MB. Each document line takes one file, so merge multi-page documents into one PDF.

Is the DTV fee refunded if I am refused?

No. Posts state that the fee is non-refundable, including after a refusal. The route after a refusal is a new application with a new fee; we found no official appeal procedure.

Can one account apply for my whole family?

Yes. Washington confirms that people travelling together may apply under one account, but each person needs their own application. Spouses and children file under the family category: DTV for spouse and children.

Will I get a visa sticker in my passport?

No. The approved e-Visa arrives by email. Print it and carry it for the airline and Thai immigration.

Sources

Official sources

Every fact on this page comes from these pages. Each shows the date its publisher prints and the date we read it.

Before you open an account

Check you can apply first.

Six questions on your work, money, nationality and residence. We reply yes, no, or what is missing.

Check my eligibility DTV visa requirements