Thailand Elite - 2 Months Wait For Approval

[DrAwesomee]

Just now, Ctkong said:

My myanmar girlfriend applied in late July and got approval within a week....

did she apply directly on the website or through an agent?

[Ctkong]

10 minutes ago, DrAwesomee said:

did she apply directly on the website or through an agent?

She came in with visa exempt entry and I brought her to the TE sathon  office to apply directly in person. They took her photo to apply and the same  photo is also fixed at the back of the TE card later on. 

[toolpush]

15 hours ago, kekalot said:

1 year visa, 90 days reports. can be extended for 1900 baht up to 5 years or if you got the 20 years option you get 4x 5 years visa

going out of country at any point will give you back one year on arrival

 

not 100% sure if its easy to get the one year at ANY land borders to be honest but it should be.

I did so at Mae Sai. My passport was passed around the office and a phone call made. After that all smiles and no problem. That was about 18 months ago

[toolpush]

17 hours ago, Ratt Thai said:

I did sent my application 15 august and received approval letter 27 august. just 2 days more then the stated 5 working days. 

Payment made 29 august, and proof of payment sendet at 30 august, received confirmation of payment 30 august with announcement that it takes 5 to 7 working days to finalize the application.
Received my welcome letter 7 september.

 

If i had payed the 27th, then it would have been 13 working days... 

 

I used the salesperson option so i had direct contact and did not loose time with online application.

 

There is a very straight forward application procedure and well explained even before you make the application.

The proclaimed time between receiving a full application and the welcome letter is stated somewhere to be average 20 working ( business ) days

That is average a full month. if there are no hickups in incomplete applications or more documents needed.

Also important is the method of payment. Only if they have the full amount confirmed in their account, thats valid.

 

 

 

Some copy paste from the first e-mail received, with additional requirements and information

"

Required Documents (Soft copy via email is acceptable):

 

- Passport copy *.Jpeg file only*

- Color ID photo *.Jpeg file only* 

- Completed Application Form (6 pages) *Properly scanned copy, with handwritten signature**Please see the attachment*

 

Please submit the documents along with answers to the following questions.

 

-          Do you have more than 3 blank pages in your current passport?

-          What type of Thai visa are you currently holding? And when is the expiry date?

-          How many times have you overstayed in the past 3 years?

 

Please also be sure to study the Application Requirement and Information as attached for all info on the application procedure.

 

*Important Notice* Please read thoroughly;

·         Elite Visa is categorized under Tourist Visa which does not allow the holder to legally apply work permit to work in Thailand.

·         Non-Immigrant Visa must be cancelled before Elite Visa is validated. Members have to take responsibility for the cancellation of Non-Immigrant Visa on their own, and then apply the 7-day stay extension in order to validate Elite Visa.

·         Despite the Approval Letter that has been received in the initial stage of the application procedure, Member who has record of any type of over staying more than once will be rejected at the immigration when affixing the Elite Visa stamp later. 

·         Only members holding Tourist Visa, Visa on Arrival or on 30-Day Exempted Tourist Visa are eligible to validate Elite Visa.

·         All required documents need to be submitted via e-mail, or by visiting us at our office to start the application process.

·         Getting a stay extension, members will be charged THB 1,900 directly at the immigration when apply.

·          Thailand Elite Members are required to do 90-day report at the Immigration Office in case of continuously stay in the country without leaving for over 90 days.

·         According to the immigration regulation, if the length of your current passport is not up to 5-year period, we will issue Elite Visa accordance with the expiration date stated on the passport.

·         If your current passport or passport pages is nearly run out and you need to renew passport, please kindly send Member Contact Center (MCC) the 1^st page of new passport in order for them to update your information and affix new Elite Visa for the remaining period. Furthermore, you should have at least 3 blank passport pages to affix Elite Visa.

·         For your information, Terms of visa shall be granted in accordance with the validity of membership.

·         Elite Visa validity length will be subject to the membership validity.

 

"

Application Requirement & Information (Edited) (2).pdf

They no longer require a police clearance letter?

[Ratt Thai]

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The only problem that can occur is if you are from a country that does not qualify for a visa exempt entry or a visa on arrival you would have to get a tourist or transit visa to board your flight to here.

They toppled that with the welcome letter, membership card. Once you receive your letter/membership card, you can book a flight and use those as proof to your flight company.

[Cletus]

Two months already, I think you won't get it.

[DrAwesomee]

48 minutes ago, Cletus said:

Two months already, I think you won't get it.

What do you mean I won't get it, are you talking from personal experience?? I visited their office, they were really nice and said sometimes immigration needs extra time to do the checks etc depending on nationality and other factors, I should get clearance after 2 months cause I have never overstyed nor I have any criminal history anywhere. 

[ukrules]

26 minutes ago, DrAwesomee said:

What do you mean I won't get it, are you talking from personal experience?? I visited their office, they were really nice and said sometimes immigration needs extra time to do the checks etc depending on nationality and other factors, I should get clearance after 2 months cause I have never overstyed nor I have any criminal history anywhere. 

What can they check that takes two months, this sounds very strange to me. I'm pretty sure they can only check their own records which should not take long.

 

I doubt the foreign government back home will share any information with a private company (Thailand Elite) in a different country. Normally when applying for visas around the world you need to get your own reports like police clearance certificates to prove you haven't been convicted of some serious crime along with medical certificates, proof of qualifications, etc.

 

I'm wondering exactly what they can be checking, if anything. Please keep up updated on this.

[DrAwesomee]

27 minutes ago, ukrules said:

What can they check that takes two months, this sounds very strange to me. I'm pretty sure they can only check their own records which should not take long.

 

I doubt the foreign government back home will share any information with a private company (Thailand Elite) in a different country. Normally when applying for visas around the world you need to get your own reports like police clearance certificates to prove you haven't been convicted of some serious crime along with medical certificates, proof of qualifications, etc.

 

I'm wondering exactly what they can be checking, if anything. Please keep up updated on this.

sure I will update if I know anything , but I guess I just have to wait at this point , this was supposed to be a  rather quick and easy process but no choice other than waiting for clearance now.

[Cletus]

2 hours ago, DrAwesomee said:

What do you mean I won't get it, are you talking from personal experience?? I visited their office, they were really nice and said sometimes immigration needs extra time to do the checks etc depending on nationality and other factors, I should get clearance after 2 months cause I have never overstyed nor I have any criminal history anywhere. 

Your title is misleading, I thought you applied 2 months ago! Good luck anyway.

[scorecard]

On 9/9/2018 at 6:48 PM, ubonjoe said:

Not really. Putting restrictions on visa issuance for those from certain countries is not really being racist. Many countries do the same for various reasons.

Various reasons, and sometimes for good reasons.

[Briggsy]

Sounds like this has been kicked over to another agency/ministry who are just sitting on it and doing nothing and not issuing approval. You need to ask Thai Elite which agency/ministry is holding this up and then approach that agency/ministry directly.

[JackThompson]

If the hold-up is based on national-origin, I would guess that a national-security background-check is part of the process.   Researching an applicant's background may take more time depending on the level of cooperation and/or availability of collected-info in the country of origin.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

When an applicant applies to the Thailand Elite bureau do Royal Thai Immigration actually contact the country of origin? I applaud that I think anyone with an arrest for serious crimes at home should be barred from the Kingdom, permanently.

 

American and was approved in “a few days”. I think I applied on a Monday and Friday was getting visa affixed at Suwwavarnaphumi

 

[ubonjoe]

26 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

When an applicant applies to the Thailand Elite bureau do Royal Thai Immigration actually contact the country of origin?

I doubt they are able to that since most countries do not freely give out that sort of information.

I think they may check with interpol for wants and warrants. They could also check for any offenses here.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

Really? An American with a drunk driving conviction cannot enter Canada.

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Really? An American with a drunk driving conviction cannot enter Canada.

That is due to a agreement between 2 countries that share a common border. It also works the same for Canadians entering the US.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

That is due to a agreement between 2 countries that share a common border. It also works the same for Canadians entering the US.

I see . I got the ttp card to enter Japan via the electronic gates. I had to send an affadavit to allow Japan Immigration to access my US GLOBAL ENTRY account. It is a free program.

I think Thailand could do a much better job to prevent entry of undesirables by such liaisons

[DrAwesomee]

Forgot to share that I was cleared by immigration, 4 weeks after initial application and now I have received the final welcome letter, I will be back to Thailand soon and get visa affixed at swarnabhumi airport. 

 

Now they have even changed the official website it says it can take from 4 weeks upto 3 months to get the Thailand elite visa, and from what I heard from the agent now its getting harder and harder to get elite. 

[ukrules]

20 minutes ago, DrAwesomee said:

Forgot to share that I was cleared by immigration, 4 weeks after initial application and now I have received the final welcome letter, I will be back to Thailand soon and get visa affixed at swarnabhumi airport. 

 

Now they have even changed the official website it says it can take from 4 weeks upto 3 months to get the Thailand elite visa, and from what I heard from the agent now its getting harder and harder to get elite. 

That's pretty slow considering it used to take about a week.