Consulates have a meteorology of their own: fronts arrive without a forecast, and a route that was calm in May can be in a storm by July. So we’re launching the Barometer — a monthly weather report on every consulate accepting DTV applications. All year round we track decisions, document requests and shifting requirements at each of them; once a month we publish the essentials. The detailed observation data stays inside the workshop — it’s what we use to decide where and how to file each particular profile.
The weather on the board
- Calm zone: Ankara — everything online, interview included; Vientiane, Manila, Astana, Hanoi.
- Watching: Ho Chi Minh City — May’s tightening is holding.
- Risk: Kuala Lumpur — thin flow, unpredictable timings.
- Crisis and stop: Jakarta, Colombo, Phnom Penh.
The month in brief
Ho Chi Minh City issues decisions in batches. The main flow of our base goes through it, and it works in bursts: once or twice a week a batch of decisions comes out, with pauses of up to two weeks in between. The real waiting time is around three weeks. May’s tightening hasn’t gone anywhere: the consulate looks at where income originates and asks for two years of statements. Status — “watching.”
Vientiane — a conveyor belt that has slowed down. Laos took on part of the flow that used to go to Vietnam and Cambodia, and timings have grown from one and a half or two weeks to two and a half or three. Approvals, though, keep coming in a steady run: slower, but with no surprises.
Moscow — the 2-NDFL filter is holding. The barrier cuts off sole traders and the self-employed entirely: applications without the income certificate are not accepted. Details — in our breakdown of DTV filing via Moscow.
Hanoi has been rehabilitated — by the data. A blind review of a large sample of cases disproved the “50/50 lottery” myth: the outcome is decided by the document package. Applications carrying several types of income proof go through noticeably more often than those with a single balance statement. Details — on the consulate page.
Jakarta and Colombo — no signs of life. Both crisis consulates spent the month on the floor: no new DTV approvals in our chronicle. The story of Colombo’s collapse is in this piece.
How to read the Barometer
A status is weather, not a guarantee: the outcome of any given application depends on the profile and the document package far more than on the choice of consulate. Where the filing window has moved this month for you specifically becomes clear the first time we look at your documents: message Mira and she’ll send the document list and filing order based on your details.
The next issue of the Barometer comes out in August.