BritTim

1 hour ago, AlfHuy said:

News.

 

The friendly lady from Thai Elite Visa who promised me yesterday to call me back, didn't call (what a surprise).

I send a few emails requesting  full refund of the money I paid, no feedback.

At 4.30, I called her and she told she had no news. I asked about refund. Sorry sir, have to talk to boss.

I asked to speak to her manager. Sorry sir, manager busy. Asked to speak to someone superior. Sorry sir, nobody.

So, You and your boss are the only ones working there. No sir, no speaking English. OK

 

At 6pm, a manager called me back.

 

I explained the full story again and telling that I got a permission to stay until, given at the airport when I came back to Thailand, shortly before my 1 year visa expired. He did not get it.

Sorry sir, I have to follow procedures, you should have known. I can not promise you a refund and if we refund, when it will happen. Wowww.

I asked him: follow which procedure? I send you all informations when I applied and got approved after 2 weeks. From there, 3 months to make the payment. After payment verified, they make an appointment at immigration office. In the morning, they handle the cancellation of existing visa and afternoon, new visa affixed.

Yes sir, that's right but your case is different. Now, you need proof of 800k

Me: Why nobody informed me about this if you knew it already 1 month ago.

Sorry sir, my colleague informed you.

Bull..... I did send Tuesday an email to them, confirming that payment was made. Only after this, they came up with the story that now 800k must be shown.

 

I am not having this rubbish. I gave him 1 week....

Time to start using a lawyer, perhaps. That will overcome the language barrier, and an immigration lawyer ought to understand the differences between "visa", "permission to stay" and "extension of permission to stay".

A possible area of concern (not related to anything that has gone before): the small print on health insurance for those here on Non O-A visas suggests that your entry can be retrospectively cancelled if you were here after 31 October 2019 without the required health insurance. While this has not yet been raised, if you are in the middle of a power struggle between Immigration and Thai Elite, I would not be surprised to see this emerge. It would be incredibly unfair but, depending on the interpretation of the announcement, you could have a genuine problem.

It is all speculation. My own view is that close relatives of Thai nationals, along with permanent residents and essential workers are likely to receive priority when limited entry of foreigners is allowed again. That might, perhaps, be in August. No one can say what the conditions for entry might be at that time.

Right now, if your Thai family member is a personal friend of the Prime Minister, you would have a chance of a special exception being made to permit your return. A mere Ambassador would have no power to authorise your return.

22 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

"Take care! [...] You then probably need to use the agent for 90-day reports".

 Why?  How is that a negative if you've already had your extension processed via the agent?

It can mean giving the agent your passport (for the 90-day report) and then not seeing the passport again for days as the agent arranges for the 90-day report to be processed by a friend in the immigration office at Nakorn Nowhere. Some people will not care, but others feel very uncomfortable being without their passports.

1 hour ago, AlfHuy said:

It's even not an agent. I applied directly with,

https://www.thailandelite.com/

If they don't know what they are doing, then I don't know. 

Sorry for the confusion. I meant "agent" in its meaning of a customer service representative.

21 minutes ago, Ken said:

Does the first extension based on marriage using the income method need to be for 1 year or 2 months?

 

The 60-day extension does not require financial proof. Only the one-year extension has financial requirements.

Try sending the Embassy an email. The Embassy, no doubt, has several numbers. While the consular section is the most appropriate for this kind of enquiry, calling another number and asking them to transfer you is another option. You need to be persistent, trying at different times of day. If there is still no joy, the MFA in Bangkok probably has people who know.

It is likely that there is, at least, an occasional flight on which Thai nationals can be repatriated. However, without finding a way to contact the Embassy to be given clearance to take a repatriation flight, the existence of such flights will be of no use to you.

23 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

Today I made the payment and send an email to ThailandElite to make a booking for the new visa at immigration.

They told me, that I have to bring in a proof that I paid the 500k and AND AND a letter from my bank and proof of 800k in order to cancel the existing visa.

This came as a shock. Why to have proof of 800k if I was approved the Elite visa and paid 500k

Any ideas?

It seems that Thailand Elite assume you are on an extension of your permission to stay, not a one year entry on a Non O-A visa. Is this correct? If so, Immigration will want to verify that you satisfied the requirements continuously for the extension from 21 June 2019 until 20 June 2020. This includes having a continuous balance all the year of 400k until the expiry date of the extension. Since you are not planning to request a further extension, 800k is not necessary. If you are, indeed, on a one-year entry from the Non O-A visa, then no financial proof is needed.

Bangkok tends to be less strict about your current place of residence than many other offices. Proving your new abode at some offices can be a tricky process. However, a preparatory step before Bangkok will process a long stay extension, is likely to be transferring your official residence from Hua Hin to Bangkok. If you agree to cancel the work extension yourself (based on the termination letter your employer sends you) then you can do the TM28 (transfer of residence) at Chaengwattana in advance, reducing the load at the end of June when you cancel the work extension and apply for the retirement extension.

It might be worth asking if you are covered for any quarantine costs that might arise as a result of a Covid-19 infection.

8 hours ago, E020 said:

Hi guys,

 

I have a few questions. Excuse me if these are answered already; I couldn't find it. 

 

I am from the Netherlands

I have a METV. Visa was valid till 05/05/2020

Came here 1/12/2019

Stayed 60 days, extended 30 days

Did a border(not a visa run!) run at Cambodia at 28 feb

Stayed 60, extended for 30, now I can stay till 26-05-2020 according to the stamp.

 

Question 1: Can I stay automatically till the end of July?

Question 2: If I come back next year with again a METV, will they make problems at immigration? Is this allowed?

Question 3: Could we stay longer at the end of July (just the same question as the guy here above basically)

 

I understand especially Question 2&3 is confusing because of Corona and everything; I just wonder if someone has already did this. I have been in Thailand 3 times before (1 month 2016, 3 months 2018, 1 week begin 2019)

 

Thank you!

1. Yes.

2. The attitude of immigration in the future to frequent/long stay tourists remains to be seen.

3. Unless the automatic extension is extended again (past the end of July) you will either need to leave or find a legitimate reason for a regular extension of stay.

1 hour ago, audaciousnomad said:

Venture a guess on what are the chances of the usual border bounces being permitted? For 2020, I have only used ONE of my two allowed.

Logic would suggest that it would make more sense to allow people an automatic extension than a border bounce for a visa exempt entry. In the foreseeable future, Thailand (and neighbouring countries) are going to be cautious about allowing a free for all at their borders. Long stay tourists are going to be encouraged to leave (when feasible) and not return until conditions change.

3 hours ago, JackThompson said:

Most definitely just my opinion.  Though I cannot fathom why they don't put those empty rooms to use, and let their countrymen come home tomorrow. 

One of the reasons is that you cannot just lock away people in hotels without providing them with some basic services: room cleaning, meals, delivery services, hotel maintenance. Those need people who not only need the right kind of PPE but also training in how to prevent virus transmission. Safely quarantining people is not as easy as it may seem, especially if people are infected with some of the highly infectious strains that originated in Europe. Experiences from care homes around the world, and people quarantined on cruise ships show this.

1 hour ago, vinny41 said:

June 3rd is European Nationals only

 

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/covid-19-italy-reopen-borders-tourists-early-june-12738836

That is true. However, Italians qualify as European nationals.

1 hour ago, MrKFC said:

Hoping I have this METV related question in the right topic - 

 

Mine expired Apr 25 but I fit into their very generous automatic extension till July 31, all good.

 

But with the Covid scene in the US being what it is, I'm not at all sure I want to return that soon, so I'm starting to ask around and see what my options might be.

 

I've been checking here, and before they made that July 31 extension, my plan was to pay 1900 baht for 30 days, and one guy said he was confident that, if the borders opened, I'd be able to do a run at the end of that extension, May 24 or so, for another 60. 

 

So, if that's  accurate - (would have been able to do a run at the end of May) - what I'm wondering is if there's any way to know/anticipate how they'll be dealing with this at the end of July? If there's a border open by then, might I be able to do a run with this METV then and be OK till end of September? 

 

Thanks,

DS

Nobody can tell you for sure when borders will reopen for foreigners or what the conditions will be for foreigners wishing to enter the country. I think you need to wait until the middle of July, and see what the near term prospects look like at that time. My personal gut feel is that just doing a border bounce for a visa exempt entry is unlikely to be possible this year.

5 hours ago, Ketyo said:

If they opened the borders between Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar at first, that would be sensible because there's not much virus going around in them countries now.

 

Keep the border closed with Myanmar because of the threat from Muslim conferences which attract a lot of people at close proximity. And the one with China because they are still having outbreaks and the people travel in huge groups - there could be too many people to control.

The situation in Vietnam is definitely under control right now. Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar (and rural Thailand) are less clear. You are wrong about China. Yes, there have been limited recent outbreaks on the borders with Russia and North Korea, They are small and under control. Other than this, and imported cases by those already quarantined, there have been only a handful of cases in more than a month. Given China's huge population, the number of cases is remarkably low. If China will allow tour groups to leave and return, this would actually be good for Thailand's hospitality industry. In reality, I expect controls either by China or Thailand to defeat any early return of Chinese mass tourism.

Thailand would be crazy to allow tourism from Europe or the US until Covid-19 is under control there. South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand would be good, but they are unlikely to cooperate.

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

If most foreigners are to be banned from entering Thailand until the end of the year (as mentioned in another thread from The Nation) then it must follow that everyone in Thailand who has a visa/permission to stay that has been extended until 31st July will now have that extended further until 2021. After all, border runs will be out of the question as we wouldn't be allowed to return. Unless we are Chinese.

I believe that, once there are reasonable options for people to return to their home countries, those who cannot qualify for long term extensions (marriage, retirement, work) will be expected to leave. There might be a further automatic extension past 31 July, but I will be surprised if it is a long one.

46 minutes ago, JasonSmo said:

oh thank you!

Reviving a thread on a border crossing from March makes about as much sense as reviving one from 20 years ago. The current situation is that the border with Malaysia is closed (probably for an extended period for foreigners in general) and no one can predict the conditions for entry to Malaysia and Thailand once the border reopens.

9 hours ago, garygooner said:

Actually, tourists from countries who have the virus under control could be allowed back sooner ie China, South Korea, Japan. 

Possibly, but would they come when this means they must submit to 14-day quarantine on return to their home countries? China, for example, is going to be very selective in the countries it allows Chinese tour groups to visit, when and if they are allowed at all.

4 hours ago, gamini said:

Thanks for the advice. I will try and go in my wheelchair with  my portable oxygen cylinder mask on. And hope for the best.  I can increase the amount to 800k but it wont have been in my account for long enough for a retirement extension

The senior immigration official has discretion to waive the seasoning requirements (but not the sum itself). Most often, this is taken advantage of only for agent assisted extensions. However, it is not unknown for an immigration office to waive seasoning when convinced you genuinely have the money (not a short term loan). It would not hurt to ask. They might prefer to do this rather than try to get a non standard marriage extension through regional headquarters.

21 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

With proof she cannot be with you to do the application. They may give you the statement she has to sign and bring to them to complete the application.

In the immediate aftermath of a stroke, signing anything might be physically impossible. I hope the immigration office shows empathy and common sense.

If this is a renewed marriage extension (you renewed last year) a sensible immigration official ought to be able to help you. The main issue, most likely, is your local office's fear that regional headquarters will not endorse an application that does not tick all the regular boxes.

Is there any chance you could switch to a retirement extension instead? A big advantage is that this does not require endorsement by regional headquarters.