Thai Elite Visa where to apply and what do you need?

[Dani7777]

Hi, guys. 

 

I am new here :). Sorry if this thread has been made before. I have read a bit about it and can anyone just verify for me and send me the Link where one applies for this visa and also would be helpful if you know what documents one might need. 

Many thanks. 

Dani. 

[ubonjoe]

You can apply on their official website. https://www.thailandelite.com/?locate=en

 

[Dani7777]

32 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You can apply on their official website. https://www.thailandelite.com/?locate=en

 

thank you so much ???? 

 

[3STTW]

What you need is a squeaky clean immigration record, if you have any previous overstays you're pretty much excluded. Also a valid visa, but this depends on where you are now...

1. From within TH: any current visa with valid extensions as necessary. Having said that, me and the Mrs just got waived through because our work visas were cancelled during Covid and we couldn't get new ones.

2. From outside TH: once you have been approved for TE and paid your fees, you can get a tourist VOA and TE will get you 'upgraded' with their visa once you're in country.

 

It's best to pay the fees from a Thai bank account otherwise you may incur delays because the 'money police' need to check the source of the funds.

 

Our contact at Thailand Elite told me to expect "long delay" due to the 26th Sept amnesty deadline. I have heard there are 200k+ applications in the system at the moment, not sure if that's true but people are experiencing delays beyond the 1-2 month expectation.

 

Another piece of advice; check your emails carefully (including your spam), TE use some kind of weird email server. We got our approval letters back in July but never knew it - the emails hadn't show up on either of our accounts. It was only when we badgered them that they sent a MIME copy then suddenly all the mails  appeared in our accounts. Weird.

 

Finally, don't use an agent, go straight through TE at the address shown in the earlier responses.

[cjinchiangrai]

2 hours ago, 3STTW said:

What you need is a squeaky clean immigration record, if you have any previous overstays you're pretty much excluded. Also a valid visa, but this depends on where you are now...

1. From within TH: any current visa with valid extensions as necessary. Having said that, me and the Mrs just got waived through because our work visas were cancelled during Covid and we couldn't get new ones.

2. From outside TH: once you have been approved for TE and paid your fees, you can get a tourist VOA and TE will get you 'upgraded' with their visa once you're in country.

 

It's best to pay the fees from a Thai bank account otherwise you may incur delays because the 'money police' need to check the source of the funds.

 

Our contact at Thailand Elite told me to expect "long delay" due to the 26th Sept amnesty deadline. I have heard there are 200k+ applications in the system at the moment, not sure if that's true but people are experiencing delays beyond the 1-2 month expectation.

 

Another piece of advice; check your emails carefully (including your spam), TE use some kind of weird email server. We got our approval letters back in July but never knew it - the emails hadn't show up on either of our accounts. It was only when we badgered them that they sent a MIME copy then suddenly all the mails  appeared in our accounts. Weird.

 

Finally, don't use an agent, go straight through TE at the address shown in the earlier responses.

Is it only the approval letter that got marked as spam? I have been back and forth on a few emails getting the papers in. Is the approval from a different domain?

 

Someone from the US on the addicts board just got their approval after about four weeks.

Edited September 9, 2020 by cjinchiangrai
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[FlyingThai]

2 hours ago, 3STTW said:

What you need is a squeaky clean immigration record, if you have any previous overstays you're pretty much excluded. Also a valid visa, but this depends on where you are now...

1. From within TH: any current visa with valid extensions as necessary. Having said that, me and the Mrs just got waived through because our work visas were cancelled during Covid and we couldn't get new ones.

2. From outside TH: once you have been approved for TE and paid your fees, you can get a tourist VOA and TE will get you 'upgraded' with their visa once you're in country.

 

It's best to pay the fees from a Thai bank account otherwise you may incur delays because the 'money police' need to check the source of the funds.

 

Our contact at Thailand Elite told me to expect "long delay" due to the 26th Sept amnesty deadline. I have heard there are 200k+ applications in the system at the moment, not sure if that's true but people are experiencing delays beyond the 1-2 month expectation.

 

Another piece of advice; check your emails carefully (including your spam), TE use some kind of weird email server. We got our approval letters back in July but never knew it - the emails hadn't show up on either of our accounts. It was only when we badgered them that they sent a MIME copy then suddenly all the mails  appeared in our accounts. Weird.

 

Finally, don't use an agent, go straight through TE at the address shown in the earlier responses.

All this is a boatload of complete nonsense.

 

1) You are allowed overstays but not more than 2 in the last two years. Any serious offenses and yes you won't be eligible.

 

2) You don't need any "upgrade" while in country, Thailand Elite affixes the visa label at the airport upon arrival. Under Covid you can't currently enter at all as a newly minted TE member.

 

3) You can pay by credit card or international wire without any problems. There are no complicated checks involved.

 

4) There are NOT 200,000 + new applications in the system!

 

I can just imagine someone from Thailand Elite or the agent fed you these fantasy stories because what I do attest to is that the Thailand Elite team is totally incompetent in terms of the sales and membership team handling. They claimed they "forgot" to send us the consent form for a background check, the application wasted away for 6 weeks and they never contacted us. Then got cocky and defensive on the phone making it the customers fault they f'ed up. I ended up cancelling my brothers application because he was no longer interested of giving these morons any money.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, FlyingThai said:

You are allowed overstays but not more than 2 in the last two years

Thanks for your post to assist others.

Could you clarify this part of your post.

I was always under the impression that any overstay had to be relatively short. Few days. Not just the number of overstays (2 ??). Never heard of 2 in last 2 years.

What if someone had an overstay of 28 days?

 

[FlyingThai]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Thanks for your post to assist others.

Could you clarify this part of your post.

I was always under the impression that any overstay had to be relatively short. Few days. Not just the number of overstays (2 ??). Never heard of 2 in last 2 years.

What if someone had an overstay of 28 days?

 

That wasn't specified in the fine print I received. Only the number of overstays so I'd take the liberty and interpret this as the common "under 90 days, max 20k fine, no ban/consequences" rule of thumb. I could be wrong though.

 

However the info they gave 3STTW is wrong, while a "squeaky clean record" is always desirable you are allowed these minor overstays and only the last two years are considered. Obviously that doesn't cover serious offenses either under Thai Immigration on other laws. I'm sure that would result in a denial of the application by not passing the background check.

[DrJack54]

I'm not looking to obtain a TE.

It's just that I have read OFTEN that an overstay longer than modest eg 5-7 days, it becomes very problematic that it will be granted.

I suggest something like 3-4 weeks would be deal breaker.

[FlyingThai]

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I'm not looking to obtain a TE.

It's just that I have read OFTEN that an overstay longer than modest eg 5-7 days, it becomes very problematic that it will be granted.

I suggest something like 3-4 weeks would be deal breaker.

Very possible based on what they consider "serious". I guess one would have to try and find out. It doesn't help that all their material has so many ambivalent infos.

 

I personally didn't have negative experiences with them in the past but I recommended it to my bro who has been visiting me in since March and they completely messed up his application process. He's never had any overstays and neither did I when I applied. I don't think I'll extend/buy a new one though after their recent attitude they gave us.

Edited September 9, 2020 by FlyingThai

[Farma]

3 hours ago, 3STTW said:

not sure if that's true but people are experiencing delays beyond the 1-2 month expectation.

I submitted 10 August and the application been approved already. Just waiting for the approval letter and payment details now. They say 3 working days from approval.

[Robo23]

I originally intended to apply for a smart visa (investor) but after all the incompetence and stupidity of the so called officials I decided to apply for an elite visa.

But now after reading a lot of negative posts I have decided to put everything on hold until I have investigated other asian destinations. I’m convinced that Thailand is finished for Europeans.

Its a pity because such a beautiful country with friendly inhabitants is being ruined by their so called leaders.

 

 

[FlyingThai]

27 minutes ago, Robo23 said:

I originally intended to apply for a smart visa (investor) but after all the incompetence and stupidity of the so called officials I decided to apply for an elite visa.

But now after reading a lot of negative posts I have decided to put everything on hold until I have investigated other asian destinations. I’m convinced that Thailand is finished for Europeans.

Its a pity because such a beautiful country with friendly inhabitants is being ruined by their so called leaders.

 

 

What's your objective? Living in the country full time? City or Island? It's hard to find any country in Asia other than maybe Bali that has either some relaxing vibe or in case of a city great infrastructure. As much as we all like to complain about LOS it's still a pretty well rounded place to stay.

 

The investor visa that requires a pretty high fixed term deposit in a Thai bank isn't a great idea IMHO. What rights does it confer to you? To place several million baht into an account that isn't investment based sounds crazy to me. Better to indeed buy the Elite Visa and invest the reast of the money, it will quickly pay for itself.