Should I buy Elite visa ?

[3STTW]

I have a ten year TE visa and now view it as a colossal waste of money. You don't get a ten year visa at all; you get a one year visa which you have to renew annually at your own cost. This is not made apparent to you and, as many people on this forum have discovered, you can end up with a massive overstay fine and exclusion from the Kingdom if you miss it.

 

None of the services they provide are free - you literally have to pay for almost everything they do for you. You still have to do 90-day reporting, TE will do it for you - but for a fee. And don't get me started on passport renewal; my wife had to renew hers last year and our costs, including TE's charges, were well over Bht 8000.00.

 

When I got my visa, none of the above was made apparent and, as far as I can tell, there is still no fixed tariff of service charges. Even worse, their telephone support is (and I need to be careful here) 'sub-optimal'. Granted, their staff have bee WFH for a long time, but still.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the only 'privilege' I will get is fast track at immigration; i.e. the choice between waiting for an hour at immigration or waiting an our at the baggage claim.

 

Retrospectively, I would have gone for retirement visa. I'm still kicking myself.

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, 3STTW said:

Retrospectively, I would have gone for retirement visa. I'm still kicking myself.

Think I would be kicking myself for not looking into it prior to purchase.

Seems you purchased on a whim.

[wolf81]

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Why not.

Sounds like nice deal to me..

Yeah it's a good deal, so I will very likely do it. Feeling another 15-16 year secure here would be nice.

[wolf81]

2 hours ago, 3STTW said:

I have a ten year TE visa and now view it as a colossal waste of money. You don't get a ten year visa at all; you get a one year visa which you have to renew annually at your own cost. This is not made apparent to you and, as many people on this forum have discovered, you can end up with a massive overstay fine and exclusion from the Kingdom if you miss it.

 

None of the services they provide are free - you literally have to pay for almost everything they do for you. You still have to do 90-day reporting, TE will do it for you - but for a fee. And don't get me started on passport renewal; my wife had to renew hers last year and our costs, including TE's charges, were well over Bht 8000.00.

 

When I got my visa, none of the above was made apparent and, as far as I can tell, there is still no fixed tariff of service charges. Even worse, their telephone support is (and I need to be careful here) 'sub-optimal'. Granted, their staff have bee WFH for a long time, but still.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the only 'privilege' I will get is fast track at immigration; i.e. the choice between waiting for an hour at immigration or waiting an our at the baggage claim.

 

Retrospectively, I would have gone for retirement visa. I'm still kicking myself.

As someone who's only 40 years old (and have been using the Elite visa a couple of year now), for me it's a great deal. But I understand your situation is different. As a matter of fact I will probably extend my Elite visa from 5 years to 20 years, which means when I am about 55 years old I can switch to retirement visa.

 

However, Elite visa still has a few nice features above other visa like marriage or retirement. You don't have to lock up money in a bank. And with marriage visa you'd be dependent on the wife, with Elite visa you only depend on yourself. 

 

The main features I appreciate of the Thai Elite visa are:

- Airport taxi service

- Airport lounge on departure

- Quickly get past immigration in airport

- Immigration will probably give you an easier time wherever you stay in Thailand

 

All the other stuff I don't really use and are of little value to me. 90 days reporting can be done easily enough by myself. Online doesn't always work, but in the immigration office in the nearby amphur it's always a very smooth and speedy process - just a couple of minutes. The only thing that might take a bit of work is the yearly extension (I'd have to travel by car or motorcycle 3 hours to Chiang Mai). However, if you leave and re-enter Thailand once a year by airplane than this would be of little concern, as you will get the stamp at the airport by then.

[3STTW]

6 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Think I would be kicking myself for not looking into it prior to purchase.

Seems you purchased on a whim.

Of course I didn't purchase on a whim. That's my point.

 

 

 

[DrJack54]

23 minutes ago, 3STTW said:

Of course I didn't purchase on a whim. That's my point.

 

 

 

You made this statement....

 

"You don't get a ten year visa at all; you get a one year visa which you have to renew annually at your own cost. This is not made apparent to you and, as many people on this forum have discovered, you can end up with a massive overstay fine and exclusion from the Kingdom if you miss it".

 

Yes there was ONE (not "many") report of this not long ago.

 

So you also purchased a PE and didn't look into requirements, such as attending immigration every year.

 

Seems rather lack of research to me..

Know the rules prior to purchase. 

Edited March 21, 2022 by DrJack54

[Klonko]

There is no fee for 90 day reporting by Elite respectively the agencies mandated by Elite. However, this service is limited to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya.

 

The Elite awards you a 5, 10 or 20 year membership. Based thereon, you get a 5 year (or until passport expiration date) visa affixed in the passport at Suvarnabhumi or Chaengwattana.

 

Upon each entry, you get a one year stamp without fee. If you don't leave Thailand, you have to get a new stamp from local immigration and need to affix new 5 year visa in Chaengwattana AFAIK.

 

I purchased a 20 year membership at the age of 64 for the peace of mind. Because I leave Thailand 1-2 times per year and can renew my passport in my home country, I do one 90 day reporting through Elite's agency per year. My only additional immigration reporting requirement, hopefully online, is TM30 if a new 5 year visa is affixed. 

 

THB 50k per year and I do not need to keep idle money in my bank account, worry about changing visa or ad hoc rules by immigration officers and queuing at Suvarnabhumi and other immigration offices.

 

Hopefully, I can extend my Elite membership by another 20 years after 10 years ???? 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Klonko