Hey,

I'm in the process of getting the TE 5 year visa. I have had multiple over-stays in the past, but usually not longer than 1-2 days and in the past 2 years only 1 time for 1 day. I have also been denied entry on ED visa before. I was on a 5 day vacation with a re-entry permit from Suvurnabhumi and IO rejected me because I did not carry 20k THB. I thought, given that I had the re-entry permit from a few days prior, I would not need to show anything so I didn't carry much cash. I'm being told now that it depends on IO whether or not I will get Elite on entry and my contact at Elite is telling me that noone under him has been denied yet. So I was wondering if any of you have heard of Elite Visa denials based on overstays or other things on entry?

If you have a valid Thai Elite PE visa the chances of being denied entry are about zero.

Sorry, I mean getting denied while affixing the visa.

2 minutes ago, Tsm12345 said:

Sorry, I mean getting denied while affixing the visa.

If your application has been approved the chance of it not been issued is very small.

I have seen no reports on this forum of one not being done after approval.

Have you handed over the cash?

Not yet, no. You will make payment after receiving the confirmation letter, which will take 1-3 months. Yet confirmation letter does not guarantee the affixing of the visa by IO at airport or Chaeng Watthana.

I am also told there is a refund policy as long as I apply within 30 days after receiving the confirmation letter.

OP - you might consider rewording your title.  i think most readers will just pass over your post after seeing the title saying to themselves 'no chance of denial'.  but in reality your real question relates to obtaining the TE visa with a history of overstays.  as i recall, there was a recent thread that suggested more than one overstay was a problem for obtaining the TE visa.  and the period of overstay didn't matter much.  with a revised title, maybe one of the folks active in the other thread on the topic of TE visa/overstay will come on board here and assist.

 

i definitely remember reading the fee had to be paid before you knew if you actually got the TE visa affixed into the passport.  again, if memory serves, the OP was concerned that he/she would pay and then get rejected based on overstay history.

53 minutes ago, buick said:

OP - you might consider rewording your title.  i think most readers will just pass over your post after seeing the title saying to themselves 'no chance of denial'.  but in reality your real question relates to obtaining the TE visa with a history of overstays.  as i recall, there was a recent thread that suggested more than one overstay was a problem for obtaining the TE visa.  and the period of overstay didn't matter much.  with a revised title, maybe one of the folks active in the other thread on the topic of TE visa/overstay will come on board here and assist.

 

i definitely remember reading the fee had to be paid before you knew if you actually got the TE visa affixed into the passport.  again, if memory serves, the OP was concerned that he/she would pay and then get rejected based on overstay history.

Thanks for the heads-up. Do you mind pointing me to where I can edit the title?

 

Regarding payment: So the way it works is that you fill out the application for and I believe you make yourself liable to pay within 7 days of receiving the confirmation letter from TE (after they send it over to immigration for 1-3 months background check). You pay the money upon receiving the letter and then have a 30 day window to go through the process of affixing the actual visa in your passport. This is the point where IO may deny affixing the visa and reject your TE application. It's really annoying that they can not just sort this out when doing the 2 month background check. Note that, as long as you do not miss the 30-day window I'm told you will be getting a full refund if rejected. It's obviously still a huge gamble and commitment to be in limbo for up to 3 months and then be at the mercy of an IO despite background checks and 500k upfront.

Edited May 24, 20197 yr by Tsm12345

1 hour ago, Tsm12345 said:

Thanks for the heads-up. Do you mind pointing me to where I can edit the title?

 

Press the report flag on your original post and ask for a change of title. Please let us know exactly what the new title should be.

17 hours ago, Tsm12345 said:

Thanks for the heads-up. Do you mind pointing me to where I can edit the title?

 

Regarding payment: So the way it works is that you fill out the application for and I believe you make yourself liable to pay within 7 days of receiving the confirmation letter from TE (after they send it over to immigration for 1-3 months background check). You pay the money upon receiving the letter and then have a 30 day window to go through the process of affixing the actual visa in your passport. This is the point where IO may deny affixing the visa and reject your TE application. It's really annoying that they can not just sort this out when doing the 2 month background check. Note that, as long as you do not miss the 30-day window I'm told you will be getting a full refund if rejected. It's obviously still a huge gamble and commitment to be in limbo for up to 3 months and then be at the mercy of an IO despite background checks and 500k upfront.

strange as the first thing they do, is the BACKGROUND check

which takes 4 weeks

 

than you send your papers

 

than you wait for approval

 

than you pay

 

than you leave the country and wth re-entry, you have to say the date & time of arrival

 

you will get your elite sticker

 

 

Unless you have been charged with a serious crime somewhere, cannot see how anyone with the required cash would be rejected.  That would be very very bad for business, as you are now a very valuable immigration customer. 

 

19 hours ago, buick said:

OP - you might consider rewording your title.  i think most readers will just pass over your post after seeing the title saying to themselves 'no chance of denial'.  but in reality your real question relates to obtaining the TE visa with a history of overstays.  as i recall, there was a recent thread that suggested more than one overstay was a problem for obtaining the TE visa.  and the period of overstay didn't matter much.  with a revised title, maybe one of the folks active in the other thread on the topic of TE visa/overstay will come on board here and assist.

 

i definitely remember reading the fee had to be paid before you knew if you actually got the TE visa affixed into the passport.  again, if memory serves, the OP was concerned that he/she would pay and then get rejected based on overstay history.

Correct. i being one of those readers. 

Any reports of Thailand Elite being denied on entry?

I think that would only happen if you had already paid up front, with no return

of the fee.

From what i heard is that those 1 day overstays are usually not in the computer system as they happen very often, i am not sure about 2 days tho.

 

I would say the chance to get denied is minimal but it is definitely there and you should be aware of the risk even if its unlikely to happen.

21 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Have you handed over the cash?

If the OP is rich enough to throw away 500.000 Bt and receive very little back in return, he is

not going to miss that measly 500.000 Bt.  

21 hours ago, Tsm12345 said:

I am also told there is a refund policy as long as I apply within 30 days after receiving the confirmation letter.

A refund policy from Thailand immigration????

1 minute ago, possum1931 said:

A refund policy from Thailand immigration????

From Thai Elite not immigration.

Just send in your application and see if it gets denied or not. I had a one time overstay history (1-2 days) when I applied and it was not an issue.

 

Once approved, I see no reason for you being denied anything.

 

BTW. Can highly recommend the Elite visa. 

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

From Thai Elite not immigration.

I thought they were both the same.

I am 5 Year Thai Elite received within the last 6 months - Immigration approval for me was within 2 weeks.

 

The visa was put in my passport week 4 of my original application.

 

In my opinion, given your overstay history, you will be denied - they are not desperate anymore for applicants, they have plenty now.

 

I remember thinking wow, how busy the Office in Sathorn was when I went there.

 

Good luck anyway,

When you arrive at Swampy there will be a TE rep meeting you at the gate.  They escort you to the express entry lane in Immigration.  It is in a separate area from the main Immigration queues.  When I arrived there was noone else there.  I sat down while the TE rep and the Immigration Officer sorted out the visa and added it to my passport.  I don't think it is very likely to be rejected at that point, it's not like you are at the mercy of the main Immigration queue as to which IO you get and if they are having a bad day.  

15 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I thought they were both the same.

The entity that administers Thai Elite comes under the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

 

I suspect that rivalry or concerns between it and Immigration is causing the long delays in issuing new memberships. I have no direct evidence to support this.

54 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

If the OP is rich enough to throw away 500.000 Bt and receive very little back in return, he is

not going to miss that measly 500.000 Bt.  

Exactly, he should just throw away ฿800,000 like the rest of us. 

9 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

Exactly, he should just throw away ฿800,000 like the rest of us. 

I don't, I can afford to put that money in my Thai bank, but I never will, and

no one should ever need to.

7 hours ago, possum1931 said:

I don't, I can afford to put that money in my Thai bank, but I never will, and

no one should ever need to.

Yep that’ll show ‘em...

11 hours ago, AAArdvark said:

Exactly, he should just throw away ฿800,000 like the rest of us. 

Do you really need to be explained the difference between putting money in a bank, and paying a fee?

There are posts about people being denied the Elite for having an overstay. Also posts about new applicants waiting up to 4 months to get the Elite.

 

Flip a coin.

here is a report that the OP may find helpful.  rules change but it sounds like no overstays in last 3 yrs might be the current rule in order to get the thai elite.

 

 

5 hours ago, buick said:

here is a report that the OP may find helpful.  rules change but it sounds like no overstays in last 3 yrs might be the current rule in order to get the thai elite.

 

 

Yeah, sounds like it but something appears to have changed with the TE visa approval process recently.

 

The wait times have been reduced to just a few days according to some reports on this forum.