Elite visa problems

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Sergach said:

Just got off the phone with thailandelite.com. They said having elite visa does not guarantee entry. Said "approval depends on the government". 

I don't think that is correct. Those with a Thai Elite and anybody else for that matter still have to through the 14 day quarantine.

Maybe they meant that they do not arrange the ASQ hotel for them.

This from a embassy website.

"4.4 If granted entry, the traveler must go through 14 days of Alternative State Quarantine

*** The applicant must arrange their own 14-day Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) at their own expenses. More information, including a list of permitted hotels (in Thai), can be found here at http://hsscovid.com/ or Royal Thai Embassy’s website .***"

Source: https://thaiembdc.org/2020/09/02/visa-and-certificate-of-entry-for-non-thai-nationals-who-holds-a-thailand-elite-card-thailand-privilege-card/

[cerox]

My Elite visa got approved but I will not pay it, reason is this part of the e-mail:

*Please kindly be informed that Thailand Elite visa holders are not firmly guaranteed to enter Thailand at this moment, entry into the Kingdom of non-Thai nationals permission will be under the consideration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

What a joke.

 

And here another quote:

Remark: Effective from January 1st, 2021 onwards the membership fee of the Elite Easy Access program will be increased from 500,000THB to 600,000THB

 

That is a really good deal. 20% more for no clarity whether or not we can enter the country.

[KC 71]

15 hours ago, Trujillo said:

 

 

It could be the RTE was on interstitial side of the ASQ of the TPC, which can often be confused with the PTC. Of course the COE comes from a source that needs to have the RTE checked unless the copy was from a list of 30 and not from the 5 you may have chosen from. EMAIL sounds like the best way to ASQ the COE if the PTC is TEMQ or, if you are in a pinch, for the 30 WORKING days. As long as the TPC was not issued before the TEMQ's ASQ you should be good to go. 

So i guess it"s TTFN then

[thaiclan]

2 hours ago, cerox said:

My Elite visa got approved but I will not pay it, reason is this part of the e-mail:

*Please kindly be informed that Thailand Elite visa holders are not firmly guaranteed to enter Thailand at this moment, entry into the Kingdom of non-Thai nationals permission will be under the consideration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

What a joke.

 

And here another quote:

Remark: Effective from January 1st, 2021 onwards the membership fee of the Elite Easy Access program will be increased from 500,000THB to 600,000THB

 

That is a really good deal. 20% more for no clarity whether or not we can enter the country.

I received an email on Sept 29th stating the Elite visa packages and there is no increase for the Elite Easy Access programme.

Cost is 500k (same as before, VAT included)

Plus 6 months free

Plus choose to activate it when you want (as you can buy now and activate it later)

 

Not sure why there would be a difference in the information you were sent, but your post here prompted me to take a look for myself even though my Elite isn't up for renewal for a couple more years yet.

[NCC1701A]

i guess everybody saw this:

 

https://temq.net/

[KoreaElte]

10 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

i guess everybody saw this:

 

https://temq.net/

Wow there is a PDF that shows a presentation where they say only 3 people got a certificate of entry 3 weeks into the process and there are 259 waiting in the first batch.

[NCC1701A]

 

[thaiclan]

12 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

i guess everybody saw this:

 

https://temq.net/

What a terribly written plea.  I mean I know this is an awful situation for so many (my family included), but this document is just too long and persuades nobody.
It's a plea to MFA but then lists things such as Elite supposed to be offering so many benefits of residency.  What about those poor farang on retirement visas? They too were promised to be able to retire here and they still can't return - 7 week wait or not!

 

To get a person or dept on your side you have to persuade, not whine/complain.  I just found this document very complaining without any persuasion or clarity for compassion. Plus it is far far too long to hold interest.

Thus I conclude I don't think its gonna do much!  That said, I would say even an excellently written piece may very well not do much either....so nothing lost I guess!

The good thing is that it lays everything out for other Elite Visa holders as to the situation to date.

[Lammbock]

The Elite Visa is just a tourist visa and not a NON-IMMI visa. You can play Golf all day but not legally work. 

You can't even get a 5 year thai driver license. (only temporary 2 year to be extended every 2 year)

lol 

[KoreaElte]

4 minutes ago, thaiclan said:

What a terribly written plea.  I mean I know this is an awful situation for so many (my family included), but this document is just too long and persuades nobody.
It's a plea to MFA but then lists things such as Elite supposed to be offering so many benefits of residency.  What about those poor farang on retirement visas? They too were promised to be able to retire here and they still can't return - 7 week wait or not!

 

There is a timeline tab that seems structured. https://temq.net/timeline/

[KoreaElte]

1 minute ago, Lammbock said:

The Elite Visa is just a tourist visa and not a NON-IMMI visa. You can play Golf all day but not legally work. 

You can't even get a 5 year thai driver license. (only temporary 2 year to be extended every 2 year)

lol 

That has been fixed when they restructured. The new visa class they have since they restructured seems to get 5 year licenses and 1 year entry stamps. But none of those guys seem to get a certificate of entry.

[cerox]

2 hours ago, thaiclan said:

I received an email on Sept 29th stating the Elite visa packages and there is no increase for the Elite Easy Access programme.

Cost is 500k (same as before, VAT included)

Plus 6 months free

Plus choose to activate it when you want (as you can buy now and activate it later)

 

Not sure why there would be a difference in the information you were sent, but your post here prompted me to take a look for myself even though my Elite isn't up for renewal for a couple more years yet.

I just quoted what they wrote me.

You are free to call them and ask about the January 2021 fees and whether they increase or not. Maybe you get a different price ????

It is just a marketing move to get you to buy it this year. More sales.

[scoupeo]

2 hours ago, thaiclan said:

I received an email on Sept 29th stating the Elite visa packages and there is no increase for the Elite Easy Access programme.

Cost is 500k (same as before, VAT included)

Plus 6 months free

Plus choose to activate it when you want (as you can buy now and activate it later)

 

Not sure why there would be a difference in the information you were sent, but your post here prompted me to take a look for myself even though my Elite isn't up for renewal for a couple more years yet.

 

The real Thailand ! They know nothing, do nothing correctly, but still charge more ! So happy to cheat the country visa for so many years !

 

[KoreaElte]

12 minutes ago, cerox said:

I just quoted what they wrote me.

You are free to call them and ask about the January 2021 fees and whether they increase or not. Maybe you get a different price ????

It is just a marketing move to get you to buy it this year. More sales.

Could it be a discrepancy where one person talked to TPC directly and some who got a different story were talking to an agent who is not yet up to date. Or the other way around ?!

 

The official TPC website is thailandelite.com .com without any hyphen. They also sell directly.

 

There are a myriad of other similar looking websites that are sales agents. The discrepancies about upcoming pricing changes may well be innocent. Just a matter of them all getting the memo.

[cerox]

11 minutes ago, KoreaElte said:

Could it be a discrepancy where one person talked to TPC directly and some who got a different story were talking to an agent who is not yet up to date. Or the other way around ?!

 

The official TPC website is thailandelite.com .com without any hyphen. They also sell directly.

 

There are a myriad of other similar looking websites that are sales agents. The discrepancies about upcoming pricing changes may well be innocent. Just a matter of them all getting the memo.

E-mail (approval Immigration) by Sales Team thailandelite.com sent me that. So I am not sure whether the agents get e-mail addresses with that domain or not. I applied via the official website. Like I said, please call them and ask about the price for next year. Then we know whether it is official or they tell different stories to different people.

I am not interested in paying 500k so I cannot enter the country.

The money is dormant on my Thai bank account, because I prepared it two months ago, foolishly assuming I could go back home.

I am grateful the approval took them so long - otherwise I might have bought it in a rush like others.

[cerox]

Here is the mail, please feel free to delete it if not allowed:

 

Greetings from Thailand Elite ….

 

In order to obtain Thailand Elite Visa at this moment:

 

The Thailand Elite visa will be issued only at Cheangwattana Immigration Bureau in Bangkok. For those who are currently oversea, you are able to request for the visa affixation at the Royal Thai Embassy or the Royal Thai Consulate-General. In some specific areas/countries members are require to recheck with particular Royal Thai Embassy or the Royal Thai Consulate-General in your area about visa affix service due to the Ministry of Foreign Affair policy.

 

After receiving the Welcome Letter with the membership ID number, the member may request the visa affixation service 15 working days in advance prior to the appointment date. Once you have the Thailand Elite Visa on your passport, you may process your application for the Thailand Elite Member Quarantine program (TEM-Q program).

 

From there, your application will be submitted for the endorsement from the Ministry of Foreigners Affairs and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), prior to receiving the Certificate of Entry (COE) at the Royal Thai Embassy in your country, to visit Thailand.

 

*Please kindly be informed that Thailand Elite visa holders are not firmly guaranteed to enter Thailand at this moment, entry into the Kingdom of non-Thai nationals permission will be under the consideration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

        We would like to inform you that we have acquired an approval letter from Thai Immigration Office as attached herewith together with the Banking/Payment details.

The approval letter will be valid 3 months from the date listed on the approval form. Please kindly complete the payment for your membership before the end of validity date.

 

Membership Fee of Elite Easy Access

   

Remittance in THB: THB 500,000 (exclusive of any bank charges)

*Non-refundable in any case

 

Remark: Effective from January 1st, 2021 onwards the membership fee of the Elite Easy Access program will be increased from 500,000THB to 600,000THB

 

*The applicants who have received the approval letter and submit the membership fee before December 31th, 2020 will receive 3 months extension to their membership period.

[cerox]

From the Elite website, which I also used to apply, I still see them offering 6 months extra until the end of the year - so the offer was extended instead of running out end of September.

 

Whatever the reason is, they write I would only get 3 months on top, it is a joke to increase the price by 20% next year urging people to quickly order something they cannot even use now.

 

I really feel sorry for the people who already paid.

[CANSIAM]

9 hours ago, Sergach said:

Just got off the phone with thailandelite.com. They said having elite visa does not guarantee entry. Said "approval depends on the government". 

Almost Criminal......

[CANSIAM]

1 hour ago, cerox said:

From the Elite website, which I also used to apply, I still see them offering 6 months extra until the end of the year - so the offer was extended instead of running out end of September.

 

Whatever the reason is, they write I would only get 3 months on top, it is a joke to increase the price by 20% next year urging people to quickly order something they cannot even use now.

 

I really feel sorry for the people who already paid.

I've had Elite Visa application forms filled out and tucked away for a few weeks, I just ripped them up..........

[Pib]

Price going from Bt500K to Bt600K during a pandemic?!  That's self-flagellation or they must think they are going to get a lot of desperate customers from Hong Kong so now is the time to raise the price. 

[Sergach]

14 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think that is correct. Those with a Thai Elite and anybody else for that matter still have to through the 14 day quarantine.

Maybe they meant that they do not arrange the ASQ hotel for them.

This from a embassy website.

"4.4 If granted entry, the traveler must go through 14 days of Alternative State Quarantine

*** The applicant must arrange their own 14-day Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) at their own expenses. More information, including a list of permitted hotels (in Thai), can be found here at http://hsscovid.com/ or Royal Thai Embassy’s website .***"

Source: https://thaiembdc.org/2020/09/02/visa-and-certificate-of-entry-for-non-thai-nationals-who-holds-a-thailand-elite-card-thailand-privilege-card/

Pretty sure she meant it literally hence the reference to the government. 

[freddel08]

On 10/6/2020 at 1:28 PM, thaiclan said:

MFA are currently not approving any Elite visas from the UK or other 'unsafe' countries.  So it could be months until he could return from the UK!

Feak news!

 

Here's the answer from Thailand Elite about your comment:

 

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not mentioned any information about blocking members from any country, as we already submitted United Kingdom members document and none of them received the rejection." ????

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

wow 500 000 bahts and no guarantee entry?

Amazing Thailand

i wonder if they give a refund easily

I bet you don't get a luxury limo from the airport to the ASQ either.

[toolpush]

15 hours ago, KoreaElte said:

That has been fixed when they restructured. The new visa class they have since they restructured seems to get 5 year licenses and 1 year entry stamps. But none of those guys seem to get a certificate of entry.

That is not true. I emailed Elite Visa on that very subject and they replied that a person on an Elite Visa can only get a 2 year DL renewal. They said they were trying to change that, but were not getting anywhere with Transport department.

[scoupeo]

1 hour ago, toolpush said:

That is not true. I emailed Elite Visa on that very subject and they replied that a person on an Elite Visa can only get a 2 year DL renewal. They said they were trying to change that, but were not getting anywhere with Transport department.

 

They are just plain ridiculous and just want money without doing anything for people who pay it !

 

 

[KoreaElte]

3 hours ago, toolpush said:

That is not true. I emailed Elite Visa on that very subject and they replied that a person on an Elite Visa can only get a 2 year DL renewal. They said they were trying to change that, but were not getting anywhere with Transport department.

Yet here I am on my Elite visa and a 5 year license.
To be fair, this time around I did not go with Elite to DLT HQ to renew. I do have a pink ID card and yellow house book and went to the DLT at at Ekkamai and done it myself.
But DLT HQ told me on a previous renewal that the Elite PE visa can go on 5 years, the SE visa cannot because the entry stamp only allows 90 days.
Could be one of those YMMV things we get with immigration and bank account opening all the time.

[MajorTom]

19 hours ago, KoreaElte said:

That has been fixed when they restructured. The new visa class they have since they restructured seems to get 5 year licenses and 1 year entry stamps. But none of those guys seem to get a certificate of entry.

When was this restructure? I inquired about this specifically a couple of years ago as it was a deal breaker for me. They said unfortunately it was not possible to get a 5 year license or IDP with the elite visa.

[KoreaElte]

2 hours ago, MajorTom said:

When was this restructure? I inquired about this specifically a couple of years ago as it was a deal breaker for me. They said unfortunately it was not possible to get a 5 year license or IDP with the elite visa.

2012 or whenever the lifetime memberships with the SE class visa and 90 day entry stamps were phased out and changed to the limited-term memberships that get PE visa class and 1 year entry stamps. Of the life-timers that I know of who got a 5 year license with an SE visa they had other stuff like a pink ID card and it was a YMMV thing. Of the PE visa elite members I know of who got 5 year licenses they walked into Ekkamai with their expired 2 year license, med cert and passport and got the new 5 year license with QR code without fuss. Maybe some DLT offices are interpreting the regs differently ? Instead of HQ with an Elite EPL try going to a suburban branch and DIY.

[ukrules]

3 hours ago, KoreaElte said:

Yet here I am on my Elite visa and a 5 year license.
To be fair, this time around I did not go with Elite to DLT HQ to renew. I do have a pink ID card and yellow house book and went to the DLT at at Ekkamai and done it myself.
But DLT HQ told me on a previous renewal that the Elite PE visa can go on 5 years, the SE visa cannot because the entry stamp only allows 90 days.
Could be one of those YMMV things we get with immigration and bank account opening all the time.

I got a 5 year license on a PE more than 5 years ago, they have changed all sorts of things over the course of time

[KoreaElte]

There seem to be some updates. Apparently the Thailand Elite members who applied late August are getting approvals now.

 

The TEM-Q process seems back on track. Dozens of approvals in one day. If this is a trajectory of sorts it beats the 49 approvals between late August and October 1 and will put things back on track. There seem to be meetings every 2 weeks where they report their numbers. Let's hope October 15 update will show that they have indeed picked up.

 

Ref https://temq.net/

 

and

 

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by KoreaElte