Marriage Visa or Thai Elite

[ThaiJohn01]

Would a marriage visa be better or Thai Elite and stay single? What are the pros and cons of each.

[DrJack54]

Also depends on age.

Sounds like not much love involved for marriage option. 

If 50+ you could obtain non O retirement.

[HampiK]

Are you serious?

If you are married, then think which one you want go (Married extension is cheaper but you have to go to immigration always 2 times per year one time including your wife. And of course also a little bit more documents involved). Elite Visa more expensive, but less running arround.

 

But if you not married I would strongly disagree to marry only for the visa purpose. Then better go the Elite way!

Edited August 17, 2021 by HampiK

[ThaiJohn01]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Also depends on age.

Sounds like not much love involved for marriage option. 

If 50+ you could obtain non O retirement.

I'm 56. Its about convenience for me. 1 million baht for 20 years Thai Elite..I can live with that.

When you say non O retirement..that's an O-A ?

Basically looking for advice/thoughts from an outsiders point of view. ( I don't need to be judged thanks, HampiK ???? )

 

[BritManToo]

Just now, ThaiJohn01 said:

When you say non O retirement..that's an O-A ?

No, it's a non O.

[DrJack54]

26 minutes ago, ThaiJohn01 said:

I'm 56. Its about convenience for me. 1 million baht for 20 years Thai Elite..I can live with that.

When you say non O retirement..that's an O-A ?

Basically looking for advice/thoughts from an outsiders point of view. ( I don't need to be judged thanks, HampiK ???? )

 

By Non O (retirement), I was not referring to non O-A. 

In any event at 56 your few years off the non O  option. Edit my. ERROR Non O available at 50+ years

The elite imo is good option the further you are from 60years old.

Your in grey area. The elite option would be good option especially if the cost is not huge hurdle.

If you wish to live ongoing in Thailand from now then PE visa has you covered.

Edited August 17, 2021 by DrJack54

[ThaiJohn01]

Thanks, Dr Jack. Yup I'm looking at a one way ticket..full retirement in Phuket until I go tits up. 

[johng]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

By Non O (retirement)

I thought retirement could be at any time after 50  or was it 55 ???

[rumak]

11 minutes ago, ThaiJohn01 said:

I'm 56. Its about convenience for me. 1 million baht for 20 years Thai Elite..I can live with that.

When you say non O retirement..that's an O-A ?

Basically looking for advice/thoughts from an outsiders point of view. ( I don't need to be judged thanks, HampiK ???? )

 

20 year Elite :     Plusses : 1.  you won't have to deal with visas for a long time 

                                           2.  probably less chance that all the changes regarding long term stayers

                                                would affect you  ( never any guarantees,  but safer than other visas

                                            3.  if you remain unmarried and avoid the relationship pitfalls so many 

                                                farangs encounter here  ...... life can be pretty good

                             Minuses :  only one big one.   If something happens whether physically or

                                              mentally  which causes you to leave early,  you are out the money

 

If i was 56 and knew the changes that were to take place,   and knew that I would still want to stay here 25 years later,   I MIGHT have bought one.    I did not know all that back then  ????

 

edit:  On the other hand,  in almost 30 years i have only paid around 50 thousand baht in extension fees !

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by rumak

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

In any event at 56 your few years off the non O  option. 

A non-o for retirement can applied for at the age of 50. Same for a one year extension of stay.

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, johng said:

I thought retirement could be at any time after 50  or was it 55 ???

To OP, Im sorry re my advice regarding non O and I referring to 60+.

It's 50+

By way of excuse....I'm spending LOT of time in news forums and of interest there is 60+ for vaccine.

 

Back to the OP.

My advice would be to obtain a non O based on retirement.

No need for marriage or PE visa.

Edited August 17, 2021 by DrJack54

[Chelseafan]

24 minutes ago, HampiK said:

Are you serious?

If you are married, then think which one you want go (Married extension is cheaper but you have to go to immigration always 2 times per year one time including your wife.

 

On top of 90 day reporting ??

 

[Anythingleft?]

I have the elite for two reasons, not old enough for retirement option and travel a lot in and out of Thailand.

If I did not travel and was eligible I would have the retirement option without hesitation.

Still have to do 90 day reports both elite and retirement and once a year at minimal cost renew the retirement option (maybe half a day to complete all told)

Unless you travel a lot I really do not see the advantage to the elite visa. Having had the marriage visa twice I will never, ever go that route again unless the process is simplified and changed...

 

Basically anything that reduces any interaction with the immigration is a bonus. The service has been excellent all told from elite although pretty much everything has been stopped for the moment due to pandemic restrictions.....

[DrJack54]

OP, just added note. I'm over 50 and opted for the extensions based on retirement. Using money in bank method and keeping 800k+ in bank all year round makes extension process simple and bullet proof. 

[Eibot]

Lol, are you serious? How should we know if you should marry or stay single. Do you love the girl?

 

In regards to visa's, marriage is easy and doesn't cost much. Elite is even easier but you'll have to pay more. 

[ThaiJohn01]

5 minutes ago, Eibot said:

Lol, are you serious? How should we know if you should marry or stay single. Do you love the girl?

 

In regards to visa's, marriage is easy and doesn't cost much. Elite is even easier but you'll have to pay more. 

Read my question again. Where did I ask should I stay single or should I marry? I asked about visas and easier ways of doing it.

[Eibot]

3 minutes ago, ThaiJohn01 said:

Read my question again. Where did I ask should I stay single or should I marry? I asked about visas and easier ways of doing it.

Would a marriage visa be better or Thai Elite and stay single?

[ThaiJohn01]

9 minutes ago, Eibot said:

Would a marriage visa be better or Thai Elite and stay single?

That's correct. Its all about the ease of staying in Thailand permanently. I am seeking opinions.

[BKKTRAVELER]

Honestly, with current travel restrictions (which may last longer than we hope), the 5 years Elite visa at 600k is not really worth it. the 1MB 20 years without limo may be more appropriate and worth the money.

 

Since you are over 50, like many said before, you may be better off applying for a retirement visa. If you don't want any hassle, use a reputable visa agency. They can do 90 day reports for you as well. If you have Elite, they can also do these reports for you but the cost will be higher. 

 

It's all about you in the end, do you want to spend the large chunk of money now for Elite or keep it if ever needed and apply for much cheaper extensions? Both Elite and retirement can be done relatively easily.

[GroveHillWanderer]

2 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

 

On top of 90 day reporting ??

 

You don't have to go to immigration for 90 day reports. There are a number of alternatives.

 

I happen to do the reports in person because it's convenient for me (less than 5 minutes drive) but you don't have to.

[HampiK]

2 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

 

On top of 90 day reporting ??

 

This depends, on some places you can do the 90 day reporting online without any problems or use the mail in.

 

And even with the elite visa you have to do the 90 day (if you stay BKK the Elite person will do it for you) but you also can hire an agent to do it for you if online is not working and you not want go in person. So the 90 not factor in difference for this 2 options.

[ukrules]

There is one inconvenience with Elite which I find annoying.

 

The visas themselves are 5 years long, that's quite normal, they expire on the day your passport expires so they could be years shorter than 5 years depending on how long you have left on your current passport.

 

To get another visa when it expires during your 5, 10 or 20 year membership you need to go to Bangkok, even during the pandemic they insist that you go from a place that's relatively COVID free into the outbreak epicenter to get a small piece of paper inserted into your passport.

They absolutely don't care that you might need to travel vast distances across the country and enter a disease danger zone for this piece of paper which takes a couple of minutes to put into your passport when you finally arrive after your cross country journey.

The priority here appears to be the convenience of the man wielding the rubber stamp and inserting the visas.

 

If you live in Bangkok I guess this is reasonably convenient, if you don't live in Bangkok then it's not really acceptable but that's what they demand right now.

 

Under normal circunstances a trip to Bangkok for a few days is no big deal but under lockdown it's a very big deal and should be something they help you to avoid - but no - it's quite the opposite - they don't care.

 

They might offer this visa insertion service in one or two other places but it's very limited if they do, if like me you live in Hua Hin then you need to go to Bangkok every 5 years or less if your passport expires during your membership.

 

There is no leeway here at all, zero.

 

If you get a 20 year membership then it is 4 separate 5 year visas assuming your passports always has 5 years or more validity remaining when you get it inserted, if you're ever in the situation where say you only have 2 years remaining on your passport then you're going back to Bangkok or leaving the country additional times as the visa always expires either 5 years after insertion, your membership expiration or your passports expiration, whichever is sooner.

 

Zero flexibility, so plan accordingly.

 

When I say zero flexibility I mean they will not allow you to send a lawyer with a power of attorney, nothing will satisfy them - you must go in person or you're not getting the visa inserted.

Previously when I went for a visa insertion they didn't even see me, it was done behind a closed office door and out of view - there is no reason for you to be present at all. I sat in a waiting room while someone from TE did the insertion, they gave me the passport and I left.

Edited August 17, 2021 by ukrules

[BKKTRAVELER]

31 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Previously when I went for a visa insertion they didn't even see me, it was done behind a closed office door and out of view - there is no reason for you to be present at all. I sat in a waiting room while someone from TE did the insertion, they gave me the passport and I left.

They still do that, my friend had to have his Elite sticker transferred into his new passport. They insisted that he was present even if he didn't see anyone for this particular service, he just sat down at CW.

 

The problem with Elite is that only Elite sees you as a privileged customer (and not even always), immigration couldn't care less.

 

At least, you used to be able to skip queue at CW if you had to renew after one year in the country. I don't know nowadays. 

[ukrules]

9 minutes ago, BKKTRAVELER said:

They still do that, my friend had to have his Elite sticker transferred into his new passport. They insisted that he was present even if he didn't see anyone for this particular service, he just sat down at CW.

Yes, it's pathetic. Why can't they just mail a visa out to a provincial immigration office.

 

Do they distrust their own provincial officers that much?

[Chelseafan]

3 hours ago, BKKTRAVELER said:

Honestly, with current travel restrictions (which may last longer than we hope), the 5 years Elite visa at 600k is not really worth it. the 1MB 20 years without limo may be more appropriate and worth the money.

 

Since you are over 50, like many said before, you may be better off applying for a retirement visa. If you don't want any hassle, use a reputable visa agency. They can do 90 day reports for you as well. If you have Elite, they can also do these reports for you but the cost will be higher. 

 

It's all about you in the end, do you want to spend the large chunk of money now for Elite or keep it if ever needed and apply for much cheaper extensions? Both Elite and retirement can be done relatively easily.

 

I suppose the other factor is that you are always at the mercy of the Thai authorities and as unlikely as it may be, paying a huge amount of money upfront means that if you did get chucked out of the country there is no recourse to get your money back.

 

[BKKTRAVELER]

1 hour ago, Chelseafan said:

 

I suppose the other factor is that you are always at the mercy of the Thai authorities and as unlikely as it may be, paying a huge amount of money upfront means that if you did get chucked out of the country there is no recourse to get your money back.

 

True, but again, to get kicked out you must have done something really wrong. If you have a valid visa, there are not many ways for foreigners to be deported and blacklisted. If you live your life and don't engage in criminal/illegal activities, I don't see the risk.

[ThaiJohn01]

Thanks guys for all of your information. Possibly looks better to just go with the retirement Visa at this stage. I believe you can still get 2 years out of a one year O-A visa if you time things right..(correct me if I'm wrong )

[ubonjoe]

31 minutes ago, ThaiJohn01 said:

I believe you can still get 2 years out of a one year O-A visa if you time things right..(correct me if I'm wrong )

It is still possible but at this time but not as easy as before when it was easy to just leave and re-enter the country to get a new one year entry before it expires.