Thailand elite visa - Advice needed

[humbug]

2 minutes ago, pontious said:

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.

its been 12 pages of the OP not wanting to take responsibility of this. As elvijero has stated anyone in this situation has to deal quickly with it because if not and your caught its more than just a ban.

 

One way would be if you dont have any legal counsel to help is to find one.

 

If it was me i would seek legal council as well as going physically to the Elite office near Chong Nonsi, ask them politely to accompany me to Chaeng watthana(pay for this chaparoning) be taken to N-Section which is where the elite extensions are handled and see if immigration will solve the problem, pay 20,000 and have some way of letting the io at the airport know you are coming to exit and enter to clear it up. If thats a big no, then a call back to the legal counsel to try and see what other solution without being arrested can be. 

 

Its Tuesday, i am sure with motivation and drive and determination by the OP this can be started tomorrow and finshed before immigration closes on the weekend

 

 

[wordchild]

I have been a TE member from the very early days , (one of the very first members, so I am told) and I know them pretty well now. I also have a good friend who is a member and had some issues with immigration a couple of years ago. In his particular case the Elite staff worked smoothly and efficiently to resolve his issues and ,as others have pointed out, they seem to have excellent relationships with Thai Immigration : what could have been a big problem , for him, was resolved very quickly, without further issues. 

From what I have seen   it is not their practice to abandon their members in the way the OP is suggesting happened to him . Also the language and tone of their alleged emails does not ring true, and is certainly not like anything I have seen from them, in the past. In my opinion his story does not pass my basic smell test of being a true , full , and accurate account , and I have serious doubts about it’s veracity. Sorry, but that is my opinion.

[vipsvvvv]

 

5 minutes ago, wordchild said:

I have been a TE member from the very early days , (one of the very first members, so I am told) and I know them pretty well now. I also have a good friend who is a member and had some issues with immigration a couple of years ago. In his particular case the Elite staff worked smoothly and efficiently to resolve his issues and ,as others have pointed out, they seem to have excellent relationships with Thai Immigration : what could have been a big problem , for him, was resolved very quickly, without further issues. 

From what I have seen   it is not their practice to abandon their members in the way the OP is suggesting happened to him . Also the language and tone of their alleged emails does not ring true, and is certainly not like anything I have seen from them, in the past. In my opinion his story does not pass my basic smell test of being a true , full , and accurate account , and I have serious doubts about it’s veracity. Sorry, but that is my opinion.

alleged emails ? really ? i just copy and paste here the emails i ve received and the first email i received from them after i gave them my passport for the 90 days report was  leave the country and get one year ban  , your basic smell test of being true its not correct this time 

[wordchild]

If what the OP says is true, then his best bet would seem to be to escalate this issue within the TE structure. That is certainly what I would do in the same situation. 

[vipsvvvv]

there is no point to post here anymore and argue with anyone that believes i made up this story and posted falsify emails

 

good luck to everyone

[jenny2017]

On 6/21/2018 at 5:00 PM, possum1931 said:

I was always against the Elite visa, and I did not know you had to leave the country every year, but this being Thailand, nothing surprises me.

It's quite annoying to receive such an e-mail. I really feel sorry for the OP and truly hope that they can help him to prevent a one year ban.

 

     As already mentioned, it's all about the money, there's no eliteness for foreigners anywhere. 

 

  OP, best of luck, time to knock on their door, and let them handle it. They clearly made a mistake to issue two new TM 47 forms. 

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, jenny2017 said:

They clearly made a mistake to issue two new TM 47 forms. 

Not really. Reporting your address every 90 days has nothing to do with your permission to stay. That’s why there’s a warning stamped on the receipt. I am surprised no one picked rhe overstay up, but understand why it wasn’t at Chaengwattana as the reporting desk only processes reports.

Edited June 26, 2018 by elviajero

[BEVUP]

5 hours ago, elviajero said:

I am surprised no one picked rhe overstay up, but understand why it wasn’t at Chaengwattana as the reporting desk only processes reports

Agree with that, & I think it just comes down to the daily grind of another report ect ect

 

So lets say OP recieved the PE along with the relevant package of info (may not of read it all ) & thought great I'm here for 5yrs trouble free, no funds crap only need to do 90's since I have a five yr Visa

 

This is where Thai Elite in my opinion is not responsible, he went in & purchased & may of been told some basics & given the booklet to read. So as for the yearly & 90's it is still upto the individual unless you seek the help of Thai elite / Agent.

Thai elite would not of even opened the Passport, would of just took it down with the form & added it to the IO pile.

So how would Thai Elite know he was on over stay !

Same goes for the daily churning of the Thai Immi, just thinking that he wants a 90 & not checking history. 

As mention it's just an address report, that's probably why no one checked

 

As far as Thai Elite goes they would not of given the Yearly report a thought as he was there dealing with 90's & didn't seek any service from them concerning the Yearly. 

[wordchild]

8 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

It's quite annoying to receive such an e-mail. I really feel sorry for the OP and truly hope that they can help him to prevent a one year ban.

 

     As already mentioned, it's all about the money, there's no eliteness for foreigners anywhere. 

 

  OP, best of luck, time to knock on their door, and let them handle it. They clearly made a mistake to issue two new TM 47 forms. 

You do not need to leave the country every year with a TE visa. but what you do need to do is follow the correct procedure ie apply for an extension of stay in country.

[Caldera]

7 hours ago, elviajero said:

I am surprised no one picked rhe overstay up, but understand why it wasn’t at Chaengwattana as the reporting desk only processes reports.

It's still surprising that their computer system even allows them to process a 90-day report for someone who is on overstay. Is there any scenario where that actually makes sense? I cannot think of any myself, so I tend to think the IO should at the very least see a warning in such a case.

 

Seriously, how dumb is that? An overstayer reports to immigration and they don't even realize it. Those overstayers who come to immigration (for any reason) would be the easiest ones to catch!

[Mattd]

46 minutes ago, Caldera said:

An overstayer reports to immigration and they don't even realize it

This has happened a lot in the past, one guy I know on a retirement extension had just renewed the extension, 2 days went to the UK for a week but did not get a reentry permit prior to departure, arrived back, stamped in for 30 days, didn't notice, carried on doing 90 day reports, went to extend again the following year and was on 356 odd days overstay, luckily no bans imposed in those days and for a fee immigration let him go to a border and return overstay free.

In the OP's instance, it is one example where online reporting would have been better, had he been doing this, then I think the system would have knocked it back based on arrival date, plus he would have physically had to enter the permitted to date, which might (should) have set his alarm bells going.

[Wake Up]

15 hours 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.

You sound like a man that knows how to read and judge others and believ you are an  intelligent being.  All you are lacking is real life knowledge of the issues.  To say that the OP is the only one affected by this type of banning treatment ignores reality and perception and all the other issues nations and businesses have to consider when making decisions.  You would make a good CW immigration officer because you can read but thank goodness you would have a boss and other higher ups that can fully understand situations and issues even though they can “read.”  Too bad the right higher ups did not hear of this situation as IMO they would have not banned the OP.  But for that you need to get past the clerical Eagles like yourself who are good checklist enforcers but terrible upper managers. 

[humbug]

11 hours ago, wordchild said:

I have been a TE member from the very early days , (one of the very first members, so I am told) and I know them pretty well now. I also have a good friend who is a member and had some issues with immigration a couple of years ago. In his particular case the Elite staff worked smoothly and efficiently to resolve his issues and ,as others have pointed out, they seem to have excellent relationships with Thai Immigration : what could have been a big problem , for him, was resolved very quickly, without further issues. 

From what I have seen   it is not their practice to abandon their members in the way the OP is suggesting happened to him . Also the language and tone of their alleged emails does not ring true, and is certainly not like anything I have seen from them, in the past. In my opinion his story does not pass my basic smell test of being a true , full , and accurate account , and I have serious doubts about it’s veracity. Sorry, but that is my opinion.

i too really have doubts about the whole story from never blaming himself it too just smells rotten

 

i had an issue caused by my embassy few years ago. TE were vey helpful made sure i had immigration officers aware of the situation. Made an appointment to go to see an officer at their desk. When i was there at chaeng watthana i had 8 immigrations officials all working together from 3 different sections to solve the problem. Eventually it was solved at N-section. 

 

 

[humbug]

2 hours ago, Caldera said:

It's still surprising that their computer system even allows them to process a 90-day report for someone who is on overstay. Is there any scenario where that actually makes sense? I cannot think of any myself, so I tend to think the IO should at the very least see a warning in such a case.

 

Seriously, how dumb is that? An overstayer reports to immigration and they don't even realize it. Those overstayers who come to immigration (for any reason) would be the easiest ones to catch!

its alarming bordering on i dont believe the op story fully

 

2 extensions ago i went to chaeng watthana. Decided to do the 90 day reporting first then extension, thinking i would save time as there were trucks loads of international school kids at N-section. After i got the different order number tickets. Got to the window of 90 day report as they were checking on the computer, said No you need to extend the visa first then come back for the 90 day report. Which is exactly what i did

 

I can understand errors or just not focusing on the job and processing a 90 day report without a valid extension. But the fact immigration flagged it and told the OP that he has no valid extension on the visa to report with and now overstay is ringing alarm bells on the whole story and thread. Something doesnt ring true

 

Especially in this era of overstay catching  with harsher penalties. How the OP is just sitting feeling sorry and blaming everyone but himself is not the reality. Most of us would take the responsibility and deal with it as quickly as possible hoping for the best outcome

[ukrules]

7 hours ago, humbug said:

 

I can understand errors or just not focusing on the job and processing a 90 day report without a valid extension. But the fact immigration flagged it and told the OP that he has no valid extension on the visa to report with and now overstay is ringing alarm bells on the whole story and thread. Something doesnt ring true

I suspect the problem happened becase the OP didn't go to immigration to do the 90 day report himself.

 

He used the service provided by TE I think, so he wasn't there in person.

 

If he had gone to immigration himself they would probably have pointed this problem out to him.

 

It's a breakdown in communication between Immigration, Thailand Elite and the OP. Somewhere along the line the 'you're on overstay' message got lost and he didn't hear about it.

 

[IsaanFam]

On 6/25/2018 at 5:47 PM, KhaoYai said:

Well I'm totally confused after reading all this.  I remember looking at TE a while ago and thought "why would I want to pay that and still be required to report etc".

 

What I find really confusing is the guy who posted earlier that he had applied for a TE visa having stayed to that point on a retirement visa (he stated that his retirement visa was cancelled when he received the TE visa).  Maybe I'm missing something but a TE Visa costs 500,000 for 5 years right - that's the cost, once you've paid it, its gone right? For a retirement extension if you don't have foreign income of 65,000 per month you need to have 800,000 in the bank but that money remains yours. Provided you meet all the requirements there is no limit on retirement visa extensions right? So you can easily stay longer than the 5 year duration of the TE and the only cost is the yearly extension, correct?

 

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?

 

You missing people who are not 50 years, no married and don't have kids and don't want to haggle from Edu fake visa to tourism back and forth while leaving the country every 60-90 days.

Edited June 27, 2018 by IsaanFam

[humbug]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

I suspect the problem happened becase the OP didn't go to immigration to do the 90 day report himself.

 

He used the service provided by TE I think, so he wasn't there in person.

 

If he had gone to immigration himself they would probably have pointed this problem out to him.

 

It's a breakdown in communication between Immigration, Thailand Elite and the OP. Somewhere along the line the 'you're on overstay' message got lost and he didn't hear about it.

 

many do the same at the 90 day report and not go in person and have someone go for them. It's still the same they will not process a 90 day report without a valid extension visa date to match the new 90 day reporting.It just doesnt happen. There is no valid dates of extension to validate a 90 day report.

 

Too many people are taking the OP at his word. I am not. This whole story is part fabrication part true. 

 

He is just trying it on by blaming, hoping someone will come to his rescue for his own fault without him having to lift a finger. Thats a big 'if' the story is even remotely true

 

[Wake Up]

5 minutes ago, humbug said:

many do the same at the 90 day report and not go in person and have someone go for them. It's still the same they will not process a 90 day report without a valid extension visa date to match the new 90 day reporting.It just doesnt happen. There is no valid dates of extension to validate a 90 day report.

 

Too many people are taking the OP at his word. I am not. This whole story is part fabrication part true. 

 

He is just trying it on by blaming, hoping someone will come to his rescue for his own fault without him having to lift a finger. Thats a big 'if' the story is even remotely true

 

You saying the OP faked the elite visa emails he produced. That would be a lot of work and fraud on his part so I think his story is true. I like Thailand but what happened to the OP is IMO 100 percent wrong and would have been easily fixed by a higher ranked immigration officer and is a poor reflection on the elite visa program and Thailand immigration. 

[humbug]

13 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

You saying the OP faked the elite visa emails he produced. That would be a lot of work and fraud on his part so I think his story is true. I like Thailand but what happened to the OP is IMO 100 percent wrong and would have been easily fixed by a higher ranked immigration officer and is a poor reflection on the elite visa program and Thailand immigration. 

He is on overstay so why would an email warning him be fake?

 

No it has nothing to do with poor reflection on anyone except the OP.

 

Elite dont do the 90 day reporting, immigration do

 

and without a valid extension of stay you wont get a 90 day report. This much i thought we covered already in this thread.

 

Funny how the OP knew his 90 day reporting days were due but nothing else in his passport eh!!

 

 

[Wake Up]

1 minute ago, humbug said:

He is on overstay so why would an email warning him be fake?

 

No it has nothing to do with poor reflection on anyone except the OP.

 

Elite dont do the 90 day reporting, immigration do

 

and without a valid extension of stay you wont get a 90 day report. This much i thought we covered already in this thread.

 

Funny how the OP knew his 90 day reporting days were due but nothing else in his passport eh!!

 

 

We disagree so good luck to you. Many people disagree with you and my advice to my under 50 friends that have money is to stay away from the elite visa so yes it does affect more than the OP eh!!!

[humbug]

8 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

We disagree so good luck to you. Many people disagree with you and my advice to my under 50 friends that have money is to stay away from the elite visa so yes it does affect more than the OP eh!!!

there we go one of the elite moaners. No mention of any excuse against the 90 day reporting etc just the same olde tactic potrayed by some on here for many years.

 

 

 

 

[Wake Up]

2 minutes ago, humbug said:

there we go one of the elite moaners. No mention of any excuse against the 90 day reporting etc just the same olde tactic potrayed by some on here for many years.

 

 

 

 

Wrong again. Read the posts. I was an elite fan but not after what happened in this case to this OP. Now I am an anti elite person. A moaner is something a girl does when I kiss her special areas. 

[humbug]

16 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

We disagree so good luck to you. Many people disagree with you and my advice to my under 50 friends that have money is to stay away from the elite visa so yes it does affect more than the OP eh!!!

are you really offering anything to the discusion now on this thread?

 

Elite is a visa programme not a football club you support or cheer.

 

You choose your own path on believing the OP. I have my own experience and thats why i dont believe too much what the OP is saying,

[KhaoYai]

1 hour ago, IsaanFam said:

 

You missing people who are not 50 years, no married and don't have kids and don't want to haggle from Edu fake visa to tourism back and forth while leaving the country every 60-90 days.

No, I hadn't missed that.  As I said, I was confused as to why someone previously on a retirement visa would want to swap on to a TE visa. 

Edited June 27, 2018 by KhaoYai

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

Immigration in BKK can make mistakes
The emails “Greetings from Thailand Elite Contact Center” are identical in tone and slight English imperfection as ones I get from them. Yes, Many people have problems understanding visa terminology. Soon I expect all members to see warning emails about extensions as we previously received on importance of TM30 submission and 90 day reports.



OP knows enough about Thai visas to understand he can benefit from the Thailand Elite program. He understands 90 day reporting. Now he faces a bit of trouble with Immigration a small fine, (ONE TWENTIFIFTH the price of the visa) and a 1 year ban. The end of ban he is free to return. He can easily blow a year “spending money” in Vietnam/ Cambodia, elsewhere and still have 2.5 years left on his PE visa which he can extend to 3.5 years by entering near the last day.

Although he loves Thailand enough to stump up 500,000 baht for a five year visa now he will never again return to Thailand for life?

[humbug]

2 hours ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Immigration in BKK can make mistakes
The emails “Greetings from Thailand Elite Contact Center” are identical in tone and slight English imperfection as ones I get from them. Yes, Many people have problems understanding visa terminology. Soon I expect all members to see warning emails about extensions as we previously received on importance of TM30 submission and 90 day reports.



OP knows enough about Thai visas to understand he can benefit from the Thailand Elite program. He understands 90 day reporting. Now he faces a bit of trouble with Immigration a small fine, (ONE TWENTIFIFTH the price of the visa) and a 1 year ban. The end of ban he is free to return. He can easily blow a year “spending money” in Vietnam/ Cambodia, elsewhere and still have 2.5 years left on his PE visa which he can extend to 3.5 years by entering near the last day.

Although he loves Thailand enough to stump up 500,000 baht for a five year visa now he will never again return to Thailand for life?

in the Thai states mind overstay is a criminal action so if anyone forgets when their extensions dates are due then you risking being caught and regarded as a criminal.

 

i suspect the OP forgot the extension date. The story about  2 or 1 90 day report without a valid extension date from the OP is nonsense. Elite and immigration when handed the passport for 90 day saw that it cant be processed and he is on overstay. Thats exactly what they 'Communicated' to op in the email. The 'other' picture of reporting date is just trying to save face etc from someone elses report cards

 

lesson learned for the guy and all of us on every visa. Check always and be ahead of the game. If you happen to be on overstay for what ever reason move heaven and earth to solve the problem as best you can before any chance of arrest

[MartinBKK]

If the story is accurate, as a TE member myself i find the one year ban very disappointing. Surely the sensible outcome would have been for the OP to pay the 20k fine and be able to remain in the country. I don't believe that this could not have been "arranged". The ban is very embarrassing for TE and no doubt will impact future sales if more people become aware of it. Obviously mistakes have been made by all parties (the OP, TE and immigration themselves). 

[mstevens]

2 hours ago, MartinBKK said:

If the story is accurate, as a TE member myself i find the one year ban very disappointing. Surely the sensible outcome would have been for the OP to pay the 20k fine and be able to remain in the country. I don't believe that this could not have been "arranged". The ban is very embarrassing for TE and no doubt will impact future sales if more people become aware of it. Obviously mistakes have been made by all parties (the OP, TE and immigration themselves). 

The point you make is fair, but never forget that this is Thailand and the concept of "sensible" is not common, at least in my experience.

[jerry921]

4 minutes ago, mstevens said:

The point you make is fair, but never forget that this is Thailand and the concept of "sensible" is not common, at least in my experience.

It's not that Thai common sense is uncommon, it's just that Thai common sense doesn't have much overlap with Western common sense.

[elviajero]

3 hours ago, MartinBKK said:

If the story is accurate, as a TE member myself i find the one year ban very disappointing. Surely the sensible outcome would have been for the OP to pay the 20k fine and be able to remain in the country. I don't believe that this could not have been "arranged". The ban is very embarrassing for TE and no doubt will impact future sales if more people become aware of it. Obviously mistakes have been made by all parties (the OP, TE and immigration themselves). 

I am surprised that immigration won’t play ball, but I’m not really surprised that TE don’t have much clout. 

 

It isn't down to TE to ensure all their members stay legal, and as they provide all the information to members regarding the visa, I don’t see what they’ve done wrong.

 

The only mistake made seems to be by the OP who for some reason didn’t understand the terms of their visa. Lots of people misunderstand their visa/permit to stay, but paying 500K shouldn’t exempt TE members from punishment per se.

 

The only reasons I believe immigration should help this TE member is because they qualify for a 1 year extension with time remaining and have a valid long term visa.