Pib

Elite visa agents (officially known as General Sales and Support Agents) which are under contract with the Thailand Privilege Company (TPC) do not give/issue visas. The GSSA only acts as a middleman between the applicant and TPC...like a hand-holder, a guide, question answerer, a salesman, etc. Whenever an applicant is approved by the TPC for a Elite visa the applicant's GSSA earns a 10-15% commission....a slice of the Elite visa fee. Example: a Bt1M Elite visa would earn a GSSA a Bt100K to Bt150K commission. GSSAs also use sub-agents to help round-up Elite visa applicants. This very healthy commission is a key driver in finding many websites and Youtube videos talking very highly of Elite visas as these websites/Youtubers are trying to get a person to apply thru them as a GSSA or sub-agent. When a applicant applies directly with the TPC (which is a very simple process) the TPC does not have to pay any commission as no GSSA was involved. Whether applying directly to TPC or via a TPC GSSA does not change the Elite price paid by the applicant.

It's the Thailand Privilege Card Company Ltd which is a "state enterprise" under the Ministry of Tourism & Sports and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Appears Chinese nationals will have a less stringent background check with the new packages. I'm assuming other nationalities didn't have to have their name routed thru Interpol so maybe the background check for all nationalities will now be the same. https://www.thailandelitevisas.com/thailand-privilege-introduced-new-elite-visa-packages/

Yes, four packages that are massively more expensive than the previous eight packages. See the two websites below for more details versus the govt/NNT news release. https://www.expatden.com/thailand/thailand-privilege-card-review/ https://www.thailandelitevisas.com/thailand-privilege-introduced-new-elite-visa-packages/

When I look at the new packages chart from above weblink I get the impression Thailand Elite now wants to not focus on "quantity" in terms of new memberships but on "quality" in terms of the probable wealth a new member has because in my book these a "HIGH" prices and will significantly reduce the number of new applicants per year regardless of Thailand Elite saying new memberships are selling like hot cakes. While hot cakes may indeed be tasty if the price goes way up many people will just stop buying or switch to/stay with a cheaper alternate.

I wonder how that "by invitation only" will work for the 1% of total members per year (100 quota)? A partial quote from https://www.expatden.com/thailand/thailand-privilege-card-review/ Will some HiSo need to recommend you? Do you have to be a known wealthy person like maybe Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, the Prince of XYZ, etc.? Maybe fill-out a self-nomination form to be considered? Enter an invitation lottery drawing? Maybe only available in a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket invitation chocolate bar?

As of 30 Aug 2023 at 1430hrs Thailand When you go to the official Thailand Elite website at: https://www.thailandelite.com/ the above new membership packages are "not" reflected. In fact, they have now removed a lot of info on the old/current packages. It's a shame this information is first released through other websites/agents versus it first being released on the official website or at least being released at the same time. Seems Thailand Elite is letting its General Sales and Support Agents (GSSA) delivery the news first which in turn probably get potential customers to first contact GSSA entities which in turns earns the GSSA a 15 to 20% commission on each membership sold.

So, from looking at above Thailand Elite Hawryluk Legal Advisors webpage given by K2938, there will four membership packages consisting of the ones listed below. A package like say the previous 20 years at Bt1M package will be history. New Packages: * Reserve Card: By invitation only at THB 5M, it offers a visa validity of 20 years, 120 privilege points annually, and privileges from The Reserve Club to supercar test drives. -- That averages to Bt250K/year or approx Bt21K/month * Diamond Card: Priced at THB 2.5M, with a visa validity of 15 years and 55 annual privilege points, it extends benefits from free domestic flights to wealth advisor services. -- That averages to approx Bt167K/year or approx Bt14K/month * Platinum Card: At THB 1.5M, offers a visa validity of 10 years and 35 annual privilege points, granting members from VIP seating to health & spa treatments. -- That averages to Bt150K/year or Bt12.5K/month * Gold Card: This membership card, at THB 900K, ensures a 5-year visa validity and 20 annual privilege points, ensuring privileges from airport transfers to shopping. -- That averages to Bt180K/year or Bt15K/month

Yea...but now it will come with "privilege points" whatever that turns out to be. Maybe the points is like a Elite wallet amount that is deducted from when using Elite services like limo service in the Bangkok area, a golf outing, a massage. maybe discount coffee at Starbucks, ..... And I love how the slide says "By invitation only" and being briefed by a guy in a "gold" colored coat. Gives it that really "elite" touch.

No shortage of different answers coming from BoI regarding address reporting. Maybe BoI has very recently changed their policy due to feedback they are getting, maybe a case of different BoI employees being on different pages, etc. Maybe time to ask BoI again to see if this weeks answer is different from previous weeks.

You can renew up to 45 days early at CW. You do not lose any time off your extension by renewing early. I did 14 retirement and marriage extensions at CW thru 2022....I typically applied for renewal 40 to 45 days before as I like to get things done and out of the way....plus, it would give me plenty of time to resolve any unexpected event.

Paperwork-wise and not having to get the wife involved a retirement extension is easier....not to imply paperwork required for a marriage extension is hard (as it's not) especially if married in Thailand. If your marriage occurred outside Thailand then you'll need to go thru the process to get it registered in Thailand then it will be easy for ensuing years. If the annual income requirement is a major factor, the marriage extension income requirements are a lot less than a retirement extension. Each person's situation and opinion will be different regarding whether a retirement or marriage extension best suits them. Kinda like buying a car where budget, options, design, annual upkeep, etc., all come into play and people's choice will vary.

Typically it would occur during the approx 30 days under consideration period. But regarding visits immigration can do them anytime they want....even for a "retirement" extension which a "few" AN posters have posted about over the last few months. Now I don't think any of these were CW visits but done by other immigration offices and may have been random in nature. Personally...just my opinion....but I think whether a marriage extension visit occurs or not is based on your application....like maybe how many years you have been married (i..e, recently or long time married), whether its your first marriage extension or not, just your whole record of applications, etc. As mentioned earlier I had a marriage extension in 2020, 21, and 22 on top of 11 retirement extensions....I've never had a home visit by CW.

At CW just the husband needs to go for the 2nd visit; wife not needed. They typically have you sign a form or two, the IO does one last quick review of your application, and then the IO stamps the 12 month approval into your passport. Typically takes 30 to 60 minutes with 90% of that being queue time. This is done at the L32 counter if I remember right....it's a cubicle with one immigration officer with one or two helpers at the end of the main L section. IMO at CW they just let your package pretty lay around for 30 days after the "under consideration" stamp is issued or maybe certain packages they might run some extra checks on or do a home visit before you come back on approx 30 days for the final stamp. As mentioned earlier I did three marriage extensions at CW in 2020, 2021, and 2022....no home visits for any of them. One year this 2nd visit L32 counter immigration officer noticed my photo on the application was the same as I used the previous year and made me go downstairs to get a new photo....brought the new photo back....about 15 minutes I had my marriage extension 12 month stamp.

Pay in THB!!!! Because paying in USD incurs a charge from the local Thai bank the hospital uses to interface with the card network. Typically that charge is approx 5.9%. And if your card-issuing bank/company normally applies a foreign transaction fee of say 1 to 3% (or more) you might still be charged that fee also simply because the transaction occurred in a foreign country and not because of any currency conversion. Like when you you pay at many Thai stores with a card unless you tell them to "charge in Thai Baht" they may accomplish the transaction in USD (or whatever currency you home country card uses). HomePro is bad about defaulting to charging USD vs THB. Have you noticed at many stores like Lotus, Big C, whatever, etc., although these stores do not default to charging USD you may notice they tear often off a small slip and discard it and give you the rest of the receipt. That small receipt they discarded (or maybe they give it to you also...some do with me), that small slip reflects the currency exchange fee which right now in Thailand is typically 5.9% if they charge you in USD/your home country currency. Or said another way it costing you 5.9% more after all the currency exchange/fee dust settles when paying in USD vs THB. Summary: Pay in THB!!!

Well, what I meant was being in country before the extension expires as you can renew up to 30 to 45 days early depending on the immigration. office.

It can have an impact especially during the approx 30 days "under consideration" period where at the end of that approx 30 days you are to go back to immigration to get the final approval stamp that gives the 1 year extension. Heck, even if you are on a retirement extension you need to be in county 30 to 45 days before it expires to submit for renewal. Yes, whether a retirement or marriage extension there are time frames you need to be in country...and those times are say plus or minus 30-45 days of the annual renewal. But a marriage extension has much lower income requirements....only Bt400K two months before the application date and it should stay at Bt400K until you get the final approval which means maintaining Bt400K for around 3 months....outside of those 3 months you can take the balance to zero if desired. That's sure a lot less than a retirement extension Bt800K for 5 months (2 before and 3 months after the approval and then if desired dropping to no less than Bt400K of 7 months...but being sure to top back up to Bt800K 2 months before applying for renewal. Seems most people just leave it at Bt800K or above to avoid messing up on the deposit timing. And if using the monthly income method it's Bt40K/month vs the Bt65K/month for a retirement extension. And let's not forget a marriage extension does not require medical insurance even if your underlying visa is a OA visa...that can be a biggie for many people who have a OA visa especially when the Thai insurance cost "A LOT" due to age and actually provides little coverage due to high deductible and uncovered preconditions. Yeap, there are times you need to be in-country each year to allow for extension processing time.

All depends on your foreign credit card. If it charges a foreign transaction of say 1 to 3% which is typical then you might be better off paying with cash. Keep in mind that foreign transaction fee is "not" levied by hospital but by your "card-issuing" bank/company and they determine what foreign transaction fee (if any) they will apply. Even the typical 1% Visa/Mastercard fee is absorbed by my card-issuing banks/companies. Actually that Visa/Mastercard 1% fee is passed to your bans versus you directly; but it's up to your bank if they absorb or pass that fee along to you. Most of my credit card banks/companies absorb that fee and do not charge any additional fee....therefore, I have no foreign transaction fee cards. So, I get to leave most of my money in the U.S., greatly reduces my need to transfer money to Thailand which costs money to transfers, and I earn cash back on my card purchases. Personally, I use my no foreign transaction fee U.S. credit cards that pay 1.5% to2% cash back to pay all my hospital bills, groceries I buy at Lotus/Big C, fuel for the SUV, just any where I can pay with my credit card. Just like lunch today....I grabbed some fast food at Burger King...paid that approx Bt200 bill with one of above mentioned credit cards....no foreign transaction fee and I'll get 2% cash back. And I use my no foreign transaction fee U.S. debit cards (no cash back) to do period counter withdrawals at Thai banks. The full Visa/Mastercard exchange rate with no fees slightly beats even a Wise transfer since Wise charges fees for transfer although their exchange rate might be a tad higher. A person needs to look at exchange rate "and" associated fees versus just exchange rate only. Yea, for about 15 years now I've been using my no foreign transaction fee U.S. credit and debit cards. Whether a person should use their credit/debit cards depends greatly on what foreign transaction fee the cards may charge, any cash back earned, etc.

Yes...you need to be available if at all possible. Typically they don't give much advance notice based on posts I've read. If not available when they call then I guess you need to negotiate a different day if they absolutely want to see you and/or the wife at your home and maybe talk to a few neighbors to confirm you really live there. Immigration realizes people work and may be far away when (if) immigration wants to do a home visit.

You have a defacto partnership and not a registered marriage. You would need to register your foriegn marriage with the local amphur office which requires legalization via your home country Embassy and Thai Ministry of foriegn affairs. But without a marriage certificate you can do none of that.

Hope the teething ends soon...but at best I figure they may end up offering mail-in reporting to Chamchuri Sq. The BoI SMART visa has been around for around 4 years now and 365 address reporting is only allowed at Chamchuri Sq via in-person/designated person or by mail-in. When exiting/reentering Thailand the 365 address reporting date resets just like how 1 year visa 90 day address reporting works.

Probably best to ask BoI using the Contact from/email at the BoI LTR website....over the last few months they have been answering with hours or a day or two. My last couple of Contact/emails got answered within minutes to hours. But from looking at the paper version of the LTR WGC application it would seem your LTD companies could be used as long as you can show clear ownership and whatever docs BoI would require to prove the assets value. From BoI LTR website https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Wealthy-Global-Citizen.pdf

As discussed/posted over the last few days currently it must be done at Bangkok Chamchuri Sq in-person or my a designated person. Review the posts starting from last Thursday/24 Aug like the posts from Ben Zioner and Pib who quoted BoI email responses regarding the reporting requirement. I really, really surprised BoI is not allowing reporting by mail to Chamchuri Sq like they allow for SMART visas. Remember, squeaky wheel gets the oil....contact/ping BoI LTR about the issue...see what they tell you.

My guess is BoI and HQ Immigration have a memorandum of understanding with each other as to how immigration will support BoI type visas. As BoI type visas are typically "complicated and unique" in requirements (a lot different than a type 1 Year non immigrant visa) I expect HQ Immigration feels every local immigration office would not be able (nor want to) to properly participate in the care & feeding of BoI type visas like LTR visas UNLESS the immigration offices received additional manpower which BoI would have to fund. Now I can understand that to a degree. But with the address reporting I just don't see why they couldn't offer "mail-in" reporting to Chamchuri Sq immigration especially since they already allow it for BoI SMART visas. But who knows, maybe Chamchuri Sq immigration is resisting mail-in reporting for LTR visas...playing a game of wanting additional manpower....I don't know.

@Christophe Depoire The 1M$ is for a LTR Global Citizen visa...and yea, it has other big dollar investment requirements. However, there are different types of LTR visas like the LTR Pensioner visa (must be at least 50 years old which you are) that do "not" require 1M$ on assets. It's basically geared towards having annual pension/passive/fixed income (earned income of wages/salary not accepted) of at least $80K....."OR" at least $40K but less than $80K income with a $250K investment in property, Thai govt bonds, or foreign direct investment. The health insurance requirement is $50K (foreign or Thai) "OR" you can self-insure with a $100K equivalent in a bank acct (foreign or Thai) for at least 12 months. And all LTR visas authorize a Work Permit...even the Pensioner visa, whereas, with an OX visa a work permit is not authorized. A key thing to note is you do not have to have any deposits in Thai bank accts (but it's OK if you do) and your insurance policy can be foreign or Thai. Or said another way a person can get a LTR Pensioner visa without having one baht deposited in Thailand and can use a foreign insurance policy; with an OX visa you must have a Bt3M in a Thai bank and must have a Thai insurance policy. Also, with an OX visa if you staying in Thailand over 1 year there is the requirement for annual review at your local Thai immigration office to ensure you are still complying with the OX requirements. Actually the requirement just says the annual review is required at the local office....I'm not sure how it would work if you are not in Thailand. The OX visa seems to be geared towards those who come to live full time in Thailand versus just a few months each year. Now the multi-entry LTR visas are pretty much for a niche group just like the OX visa, but there are ways to qualify without needing on have even one baht deposited in Thailand and you can use a foreign insurance policy or self insurance which you can not do with an OX visa. So, you might want to check to see if you meet LTR Pensioner visa requirements...see below snapshot for the BoI LTR website for a LTR Pensioner visa.....each of the other LTR visa types has different requirements.