Thailand elite visa - Advice needed

[bkk6060]

7 hours ago, darrendsd said:

 

 

The Overstay fine is 20k, how much do you think it will cost to "sue them" not as though he would have a hope in hell of actually winning anyway

Ha.  I believe one would be actually suing the Thai government as I see this program is sponsored by them.

Good luck with that!...

[BEVUP]

16 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The 5 year PE visa would be valid to use for entry after the one year ban ends.

Ubon I'm not doubting you, but I was just thinking that if one was to breach a Visa (lets say of any sought ), wouldn't they impose the penalty / wipe your Visa ( since you violated it ) / & deport 

 

PS: It would also be good if OP gets back to comment 

Edited June 26, 2018 by BEVUP

[Briggsy]

The OP should take this story to the press. There is negative publicity in this that Thailand Privilege Card Co. might not like and it might cause a reverse in Immigration's decision. But the clock is pretty much already out of time.

 

p.s. I personally don't believe that the staff at Thai Elite tried very hard to prevent any overstay ban. Did they get the board members involved. Senior Immigration staff are not going to take a lot of notice of low level staff from an offshoot of the TAT. They would take notice of the TAT governor though.

 

(TAT owns Thailand Privilege Card Co. which in turn runs the Thai Elite scheme)

[humbug]

the OP has to take it on the chin on this one

 

Immigration are also at fault for allowing a 90 day report without a valid extension.

 

But Elite are not the only ones to have passports taken to 90 day reporting,agencies do it and hospitals do it. Bumrangrads 90 day report service was 500 baht last time i saw the notice at their business centre.

 

With the latest overstay arrests then its no wonder this is a mess but its the OP's passport and that is the OP's responsibility

[Briggsy]

1 minute ago, humbug said:

the OP has to take it on the chin on this one

Maybe yes, maybe no. Get the TAT governor involved. The situation may change quickly.

[wolf81]

18 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

The only difference that I can see is that you have to extend the retirement visa every year so why would anyone want to pay 500,000 for a TE?  Having to do the extension may be a bit of a pain but I'd be prepared to do a hell of a lot of extensions for 500,000.

 

Or am I missing something?

For me the reasons of getting a TE visa:

- I am not over 50 years yet.

- I don't want to get married (yet).

- Education visa can be quite of a hassle (I had ED visa for 1 year in the past).

- This visa allows for easy leave and re-entry which I believe is not true for ED visa since it's a single entry visa. So for ED visa, if you need to leave in a hurry, you have to first get a re-entry permit. If my grandfather would die in the coming years or some emergency would happen with my brothers or sister, I can easily leave the country and come back - not dealing with immigration.

- The additional provided services might be convenient (help getting drivers license, opening a bank account, perhaps some other things).

- I should be able to do the 90-day reporting online. Not sure if this is possible with other visas as well. Since I'm living in a small village 2-3 hours drive from Chiang Mai, this saves me a lot of traveling time.

- I figured paying on average 100.000 Baht a year is still much much cheaper than the taxes I pay in my home country. And I can now avoid to pay those taxes. I will report my taxes in Thailand, but will make use of the ruling that you don't pay taxes over money earned in a previous year. 

Edited June 26, 2018 by wolf81

[humbug]

why would the TAT governor be involved on a visa issue that is the fault of the OP and the immigration.

 

or

 

I am starting to feel the OP didnt tell the WHOLE story of whether he actually had 90 dsy extensions on an invalid visa extension

 

Maybe the OP is looking to blame every one but himself on this

 

My experience is that 90 day reporting will not allow to process until the valid extension is in passport.

 

So something doesnt feel right in the story that two 90 day reports were allowed without a valid extension.

 

The OP should pay the 20,000 baht fine and wait to come back to Thailand and learn to check his own passport

[jackdd]

11 minutes ago, wolf81 said:

- The additional provided services might be convenient (help getting drivers license, opening a bank account, perhaps some other things).

This is only free one single time (so if you get a drivers license through them, getting a bank account won't be free anymore), every additional time they charge you 2000 THB for a maximum of 3 hours.

For this money you could also find another agent who does it for you

Edited June 26, 2018 by jackdd

[humbug]

when the British embassy messed up something on my visa both Elite and Immigration went out of their way to solve the issue.

 

I had two groups of immigration officials helping me and it was solved because it was an issue created by the embassy not myself.

 

This is why i do not believe the whole story from the OP because i have seen the Elite staff with the immigration and they are super friendly and helpful with each other.

 

It really is the OP who has created this overstay situation

 

 

 

[humbug]

2 minutes ago, jackdd said:

This is only free one single time (so if you get a drivers license through them, getting a bank account won't be free anymore), every additional time they charge you 2000 THB for a maximum of 3 hours.

For this money you could also pay any other agent.

Some services like bank accounts or foreign currency accounts just need an appointment phone call and you go yourself. No need for someone to hold your hand for 2000 baht(Elite or an agency) . 

 

 

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, humbug said:

why would the TAT governor be involved on a visa issue that is the fault of the OP and the immigration.

I am not saying it is clear that he would. However, if doing so prevents bad publicity for the Thailand Elite program, he well might.

[humbug]

19 minutes ago, BritTim said:

I am not saying it is clear that he would. However, if doing so prevents bad publicity for the Thailand Elite program, he well might.

it was a poster called brigsy that mentioned TAT

 

i strongly believe now its the OP who has totally messed up and is not telling the whole story.

 

the fact this topic is now 12 pages and that includes me is that there are some who look to revel in any publicity of the Elite card

 

My own experience with immigration at the n-section and other sections is that they are very friendly with the Elite staff and look to solve problems with the staff and visa holders.They also help the school agents and international school agents in that same section. So its just not about helping one sort of visa holder. They will help in my own experience even without someone from Elite or others with agents

 

This is why the OP is not telling the truth. There is no way they would not try to find a solution unless the person just freaks out and blames every one but himself for his own overstay problem

Edited June 26, 2018 by humbug

[Andrew65]

13 hours ago, ukrules said:

That's exactly how it works.

 

One year entry each time you arrive, you do the 90 day reports and an extension of stay at the end of every year if you don't leave the country for the entire year.

 

I haven't left Thailand since I got my 5 year visa back in 2014 so I'm on the last year now, one year extensions for 900 Baht every year. It works perfectly and never fails.

 

For someone to not know that you have to do a yearly extension on this visa is kind of surprising to me.

 

I do partially blame immigration for this situation progressing to the point of getting blacklisted because to be 150 days into an overstay assuming all 90 day reports were done suggests that at least one 90 day report was issued when it shouldn't have been. They should have caught this way before this time, rejected the 90 day report and sent a letter or some kind of notification letting him know. I guess someone somewhere didn't bother to do their job properly.

 

 

As I've said in previous comments, I got my TEV in March 2016, and just did postal 90 day reports until June 2017. On that last 90 day report I got a phone call from Immigration asking me to re-send some scanned docs by email. I didn't get any kind of overstay stamp & didn't pay anything.

 

I left Thailand around 23rd June 2017 & they just stamped me out.

 

I'm leaving Thailand tomorrow, maybe forever, living-wise anyway.

 

I'm just relating what my true experience has been.

[KhaoYai]

13 hours ago, darrendsd said:

The Overstay fine is 20k, how much do you think it will cost to "sue them" not as though he would have a hope in hell of actually winning anyway

I'm very reliably informed that a certain lawyer took Thai Immigration to court and won. The circumstances were almost certainly different but don't automatically assume that there is no chance of winning a case.

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

I'm very reliably informed that a certain lawyer took Thai Immigration to court and won. The circumstances were almost certainly different but don't automatically assume that there is no chance of winning a case.

The OP received information from TE with his visa about the 1 year stay permit, a stamp in his passport from immigration confirming the date he’s admitted until, and when he did the 90 day report he received a receipt highlighting the fact that it wasn’t an extension of stay.

 

It would take some lawyer to prove anyone other than the OP was a fault for his overstay.

 

 

[KhaoYai]

3 minutes ago, elviajero said:

It would take some lawyer to prove anyone other than the OP was a fault for his overstay.

I agree in this case, I was talking generally.

Edited June 26, 2018 by KhaoYai

[Wake Up]

13 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

I agree in this case, I was talking generally.

Judges rule on law and/or equity.  If I was the Judge in this case then I would not ban the OP based on equity principles.  Sometimes the law does not do the public service it was designed to do and equity allows a judge to right a potential injustice. IMO a Judge would look favorably on the OP especially comparing the OP to the some regular overstayers that can not afford a life in Thailand. He paid 500,000 for elite service and a visa and banning him serves no benefit for Thailand. Judicial discretion and equity IMO support the OP and would benefit the OP and Thailand. Banning in this case is the enforcement of a literal law that is detrimental to Thai people and Thailand and the OP. 

[vipsvvvv]

4 hours ago, humbug said:

why would the TAT governor be involved on a visa issue that is the fault of the OP and the immigration.

 

or

 

I am starting to feel the OP didnt tell the WHOLE story of whether he actually had 90 dsy extensions on an invalid visa extension

 

Maybe the OP is looking to blame every one but himself on this

 

My experience is that 90 day reporting will not allow to process until the valid extension is in passport.

 

So something doesnt feel right in the story that two 90 day reports were allowed without a valid extension.

 

The OP should pay the 20,000 baht fine and wait to come back to Thailand and learn to check his own passport

really ? u believe that i had nothing better to do with my time and come here to start lying and make up stories? well let me tell you something my age is 38 years old  i came to this country to enjoy myself and i had no intention to brake any  laws , in 12 months i spend 150.000 euro  ,i bought a ducati,  my condo is paid 6 months in advance always , i build my personal pc station with 6 monitors i bought a projector for my condo and so many other things for the room knowing that i be here for at least 5 years more , not to mention that i already send another 60 thousand euro in last few months i never intended to work here or make any money investing the opposite actually i came here to spend money

 

and yes it might be my fault to not be well informed about the one year entry stamp  but i expected more from a service that i paid 500.000 k at least as soon i was overstayed to let me know and not keep giving me 90 days report stamp like nothing is wrong,  time went so fast for me from the time i arrive and the passport visa thing was not in my watch list of priorities after i got the elite visa

 

ur experience its wrong because i got 90 days report at the same time been overstayed if they would had done their job properly both the immigration officer and the thai elite staff and inform me about it earlier i would gladly pay any fine and move on,  i even told them that im willing to fly out of the country pay the fine at the airport of 20.000 and come back and the only thing i needed is to assure me i wont get a 1 year ban

 

as you can see from the image my next 90 days report its due on 26th of june

 

for the moment im angry and disappointed not to mention that i feel like a criminal and afraid to not be arrested in the meantime i have to figure out what i would do with all my stuff and where to go after i leave thailand the whole thing created a big mess for me

 

3 hours ago, humbug said:

it was a poster called brigsy that mentioned TAT

 

i strongly believe now its the OP who has totally messed up and is not telling the whole story.

 

the fact this topic is now 12 pages and that includes me is that there are some who look to revel in any publicity of the Elite card

 

My own experience with immigration at the n-section and other sections is that they are very friendly with the Elite staff and look to solve problems with the staff and visa holders.They also help the school agents and international school agents in that same section. So its just not about helping one sort of visa holder. They will help in my own experience even without someone from Elite or others with agents

 

This is why the OP is not telling the truth. There is no way they would not try to find a solution unless the person just freaks out and blames every one but himself for his own overstay problem

and again MR " i never misunderstood anything in my life" i did tell the truth as it happened and didnt post here to give a bad look at the elite visa as i dont really care to tell you the truth i just reported my situation and the mess i am for the moment hoping that i will get an advice from someone that went through the same thing with me and had a positive outcome with the overstayed situation

[wordchild]

3 hours ago, humbug said:

it was a poster called brigsy that mentioned TAT

 

i strongly believe now its the OP who has totally messed up and is not telling the whole story.

 

the fact this topic is now 12 pages and that includes me is that there are some who look to revel in any publicity of the Elite card

 

My own experience with immigration at the n-section and other sections is that they are very friendly with the Elite staff and look to solve problems with the staff and visa holders.They also help the school agents and international school agents in that same section. So its just not about helping one sort of visa holder. They will help in my own experience even without someone from Elite or others with agents

 

This is why the OP is not telling the truth. There is no way they would not try to find a solution unless the person just freaks out and blames every one but himself for his own overstay problem

yes i agree with this. The OP has not told the FULL story here.

[vipsvvvv]

2 minutes ago, wordchild said:

yes i agree with this. The OP has not told the FULL story here.

really what else u want me to say to convince you that this is what exactly happened to me ?

[elviajero]

5 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

Judges rule on law and/or equity.  If I was the Judge in this case then I would not ban the OP based on equity principles.  Sometimes the law does not do the public service it was designed to do and equity allows a judge to right a potential injustice. IMO a Judge would look favorably on the OP especially comparing the OP to the some regular overstayers that can not afford a life in Thailand. He paid 500,000 for elite service and a visa and banning him serves no benefit for Thailand. Judicial discretion and equity IMO support the OP and would benefit the OP and Thailand. Banning in this case is the enforcement of a literal law that is detrimental to Thai people and Thailand and the OP. 

He didn’t pay 500K for an ‘elite service’, he paid 500K for membership of a scheme offering a 5 year visa with rules attached. The fact that he didn’t understand the rules is no one else’s fault, and paying 500K should not protect him against the law/rules and regulations. Banning him affects no one except the OP who has broken the law.

[vipsvvvv]

10 minutes ago, elviajero said:

He didn’t pay 500K for an ‘elite service’, he paid 500K for membership of a scheme offering a 5 year visa with rules attached. The fact that he didn’t understand the rules is no one else’s fault, and paying 500K should not protect him against the law/rules and regulations. Banning him affects no one except the OP who has broken the law.

 

the fact is that if the immigration officer did hes job properly and inform me  before he gave me 90 days report the last time which i was already overstayed i wouldnt be in that mess now  so its not entirely my fault

 

we can agree that we can share the blame ?

Edited June 26, 2018 by vipsvvvv

[Briggsy]

@vipsvvvv

 

Please ignore the haters and trolls. They come out on every topic.

 

Since you still appear to be here, don't give up quite yet. Try TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) or the most senior staff of Thailand Privilege Card Co. Don't use email. Try to see them in person. You will have to get past lower level staff. Remember seniority is everything in Thailand. You need to get to senior people. Anything can be undone in this country if you get to the sufficiently senior level. That is the key. Be firm but polite.

[vipsvvvv]

thanks for your kind reply , but i already gave up as i dont have the feeling of staying here anymore i need a fresh start somewhere else,  the whole 1 year ban doesnt sit well with me i cannot accept to come back here after i leave and spend more money and time  to a country that ban me

[bkk6060]

2 minutes ago, vipsvvvv said:

thanks for your kind reply , but i already gave up as i dont have the feeling of staying here anymore i need a fresh start somewhere else,  the whole 1 year ban doesnt sit well with me i cannot accept to come back here after i leave and spend more money and time  to a country that ban me

Ok.  I guess no need to talk any more about this.

Good luck to you and your life.

[elviajero]

46 minutes ago, vipsvvvv said:

 

the fact is that if the immigration officer did hes job properly and inform me  before he gave me 90 days report the last time which i was already overstayed i wouldnt be in that mess now  so its not entirely my fault

 

we can agree that we can share the blame ?

It wasn’t the IO’s job to tell you that you’ve overstayed, it was their job to arrest, detain, prosecute, deport and ban you for overstaying. You only get an automatic pass on the ban if you surrender at the border within 90 days.

 

I have every sympathy for your situation, but you really cannot blame anyone else.

 

If you haven’t already left you should take my earlier advice and get a lawyer involved to help negotiate the ban. Bans are at the discretion of immigration so there is still a chance you will get away with it.

[ukrules]

33 minutes ago, elviajero said:

It wasn’t the IO’s job to tell you that you’ve overstayed

It sure is.

[elviajero]

8 minutes ago, ukrules said:

It sure is.

Try reading and quoting the whole sentence!

 

Had the person processing the 90 day report noticed the overstay it would be their job to have the person arrested etc, not warn them.

 

Potentially, if the IO had done their job properly the OP would be in a worse situation than he is and with a longer ban.

Edited June 26, 2018 by elviajero

[humbug]

2 hours ago, Briggsy said:

@vipsvvvv

 

Please ignore the haters and trolls. They come out on every topic.

 

Since you still appear to be here, don't give up quite yet. Try TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) or the most senior staff of Thailand Privilege Card Co. Don't use email. Try to see them in person. You will have to get past lower level staff. Remember seniority is everything in Thailand. You need to get to senior people. Anything can be undone in this country if you get to the sufficiently senior level. That is the key. Be firm but polite.

you right there are many wum's who love a good moan about the Elite card but i am also a TE member.The OP is  clearly not telling the whole story as the picture he showed of a 90 day report is a computer print out which would state he has a valid extension to report for the next 90 days. 

 

Either the story provided is not the truth= pay 20,000

 

or 

 

the immigration official overlooked the invalid extensions dates= pay 20,000

 

either way its the OP's passport and responsibility 

 

its now between the OP to deal

with it as best he can with immigration

 

My experience with N-Section at chaeng watthana is they do deal with it as best they can

 

in the end the buck stops with the OP

 

 

Edited June 26, 2018 by humbug

[pontious]

I said in a earlier post you cannot have a hue and cry over someone who pays a sack full of money and breaks the rules and someone who pays 1900 Baht and breaks the rules when there are shouts of get rid etc.