Elite Visa

[MarkT63]

Hi Guys

 

I am looking in to the Elite Visa programme and wanted to know if anyone hs any experiance or comments?

 

Thanks

[ubonjoe]

You can find many topics on this forum about Thai Elite.

Also here on the official website. https://www.thailandelite.com/?locate=en

[JoeMc]

Having viewed the website it is anything but clear !!

[jackdd]

Just put this into Google:

site:thaivisa.com thailand elite visa

Without more specific questions this thread here doesn't make much sense

[Peter Denis]

My take on this > the Elite Visa is an expensive option to stay long-term in Thailand. 

I would only consider an Elite Visa:

- when 500.000, 1 million or 2 million THB, are 'peanuts' for you

- when you are not married to a thai national and under 50 years of age (so not eligible for a Non Imm O type Visa), and have reached the 'end of the line' using Visa Exempt, Tourist Visa or Ed Visa entries.

[ubonjoe]

47 minutes ago, JoeMc said:

Having viewed the website it is anything but clear !!

I guess it depends upon what you are looking for.

The home page shows all of the memberships available. Click on them and you can find the details for each one.

[Metapod]

I just got the 20 year Elite Visa this month.

 

I'm fairly young, not married, and not working in Thailand, so it really was the only visa that made sense for me.

 

Looking forward to hassle free living

[lockyv7]

if i had the coin i would have one, and after 20 years i wouldn't have a clue where i was or who i was. 

[MarkT63]

6 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

My take on this > the Elite Visa is an expensive option to stay long-term in Thailand. 

I would only consider an Elite Visa:

- when 500.000, 1 million or 2 million THB, are 'peanuts' for you

- when you are not married to a thai national and under 50 years of age (so not eligible for a Non Imm O type Visa), and have reached the 'end of the line' using Visa Exempt, Tourist Visa or Ed Visa entries.

Thanks Peter

Am 56 on my first retirement visa and my English wife who is on an O because she is too young for a retirement visa.

Had first bad experiance coming back in to Thailand last month where female officer just looked at my passport, said NO, and gave it back to me.

Ten minutes of hassle with a senior guy getting involved before I got let through.

Asking myself if I want to live with that hassle and uncertainty for the next five years, especially if they change the rules in that period

Just want to stay here another 5 years hassle free

800,000 bahts not peanuts but not a show stopper.

[Peter Denis]

1 hour ago, MarkT63 said:

Am 56 on my first retirement visa and my English wife who is on an O because she is too young for a retirement visa.

Had first bad experiance coming back in to Thailand last month where female officer just looked at my passport, said NO, and gave it back to me.

Ten minutes of hassle with a senior guy getting involved before I got let through.

...

Hi MarkT63,

If you arrived on a still valid Non Imm O - retirement Visa or on an extension of stay of such Visa with the 1-year permission to stay kept alive by a Re-Entry permit, you should have had ZERO issues re-entering.

I can only assume that the female border-immigration officer had a bad-hair day and the fact that she 'lost' the argument with her superior proves that point.

Occasionally you run into such a rogue officer - whose faulty decisions will be quickly over-ruled by his/her superior - but in 99% of cases you will have NO issues at all when entering on a valid Non Imm O - retirement Visa or extension. 

You are of course free to 'waste' 500K bath on the Elite Visa when you are staying here on a totally legit Visa, but if you find it worth for peace-of-mind when dealing with border-Immigration that's your choice.

Note: For dealing with in-country immigration you can make use of an agent.  Also often expensive and not necessary for straight-forward extensions of stay, but at least not a whopping 500K.

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by Peter Denis

[Peter Denis]

1 hour ago, MarkT63 said:

Am 56 on my first retirement visa and my English wife who is on an O because she is too young for a retirement visa.

Must be a mistake in the statement above.  How can your non-thai wife be on an O (I presume that's short-hand for a Non Imm O Visa) when she is too young for a retirement visa? 

To be eligible for a Non Imm O - retirement Visa (often referred to as a 'retirement' Visa) you do not actually need to be retired, you only need to be +50 years of age.

Edited February 26, 2020 by Peter Denis

[toolpush]

The Elite Visa is a glorified tourist visa. Secondly, if you wish to renew your Thai Driver's license to a 5 year version, it is officially not possible.

[Fairynuff]

21 minutes ago, toolpush said:

The Elite Visa is a glorified tourist visa. Secondly, if you wish to renew your Thai Driver's license to a 5 year version, it is officially not possible.

That's your best attempt at trashing the Elite visa?????????

[Fairynuff]

2 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

You are of course free to 'waste' 500K bath

Your opinion of course but have you ever found anyone with an Elite Visa who agrees with you?

Yes there are alternatives available for a fraction of the cost, some people just want to take the easy route. Those people don’t consider it a waste.

[Peter Denis]

12 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

Your opinion of course but have you ever found anyone with an Elite Visa who agrees with you?

Yes there are alternatives available for a fraction of the cost, some people just want to take the easy route. Those people don’t consider it a waste.

Of course Elite Visa members don't agree with my opinion, no problem with that.  Everybody is free to choose the option that best meets his needs.  Just like I am free to give my opinion.

 

[DrJack54]

17 minutes ago, rhyddid said:

Had elite since long.

Trouble free life.

I have to agree. I'm on extensions based on retirement. The requirements have changed over the years. I now have a 1 mill FD account to keep things simple. 

Previously I needed stuff all. 800k in Thai bank 3 month prior then I just lived off that. Last about 6-7 month. Easy days.

If I was 50 I would buy the 20 year EV option.

Not a brag just good option is you have the dosh.

[Metapod]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

I have to agree. I'm on extensions based on retirement. The requirements have changed over the years. I now have a 1 mill FD account to keep things simple. 

Previously I needed stuff all. 800k in Thai bank 3 month prior then I just lived off that. Last about 6-7 month. Easy days.

If I was 50 I would buy the 20 year EV option.

Not a brag just good option is you have the dosh.

Elite is even a better deal for us younger guys.

 

If i was 50, I'd probably just get a Non-O, but we don't have other options. 

[unsubscribe]

1 hour ago, Metapod said:

Elite is even a better deal for us younger guys.

 

If i was 50, I'd probably just get a Non-O, but we don't have other options. 

Agreed, I just wish I was around when they were offering the life long visa. 

[BritTim]

8 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Must be a mistake in the statement above.  How can your non-thai wife be on an O (I presume that's short-hand for a Non Imm O Visa) when she is too young for a retirement visa? 

To be eligible for a Non Imm O - retirement Visa (often referred to as a 'retirement' Visa) you do not actually need to be retired, you only need to be +50 years of age.

You can have a Non O visa (and extension of stay) as the dependant spouse of someone on a long term stay (such as entry on a Non O-A visa or one-year extension for retirement or one year extension based on working).

[lamyai3]

15 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

Thanks Peter

Am 56 on my first retirement visa and my English wife who is on an O because she is too young for a retirement visa.

Had first bad experiance coming back in to Thailand last month where female officer just looked at my passport, said NO, and gave it back to me.

Ten minutes of hassle with a senior guy getting involved before I got let through.

Asking myself if I want to live with that hassle and uncertainty for the next five years, especially if they change the rules in that period

Just want to stay here another 5 years hassle free

800,000 bahts not peanuts but not a show stopper.

800,000thb isn't the price for an elite visa, it's the amount you need to transfer to a bank here in order to get an extension on a non o or non o/a. You can transfer it back out when you leave and may even profit from currency fluctuations.

 

You don't specify which visa you're on, but if it is a non o/a, you may have had a problem with the immigration officer in relation to the new mandatory insurance rules. In that case you're better getting switching to a non o instead. Extensions (agent assisted or otherwise) should be simple enough with the 800k deposited. 

 

An elite visa has it's place in certain situations, but buying one to fix what seems to be a fairly straightforward problem is like using a £12000 sledgehammer to crack a nut. 

[Mike Teavee]

16 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

Thanks Peter

Am 56 on my first retirement visa and my English wife who is on an O because she is too young for a retirement visa.

Had first bad experiance coming back in to Thailand last month where female officer just looked at my passport, said NO, and gave it back to me.

Ten minutes of hassle with a senior guy getting involved before I got let through.

Asking myself if I want to live with that hassle and uncertainty for the next five years, especially if they change the rules in that period

Just want to stay here another 5 years hassle free

800,000 bahts not peanuts but not a show stopper.

Reading between the lines a little here but by your statement, the "800,000 bahts not peanuts but not a show stopper", I'm going to assume you're on a Non-O/A (No money in the Bank) and your wife is on a Non-O dependant (800K in the Bank) as if you were on a Non-O I believe you would need 1.6Million (800K each) in the Bank. 

 

Did you get the Visa in the UK? & Did you get it before October last year?

 

Did the IO mention Medical Insurance or give any indications as to why she wanted to refuse entry? Normally if they have a problem with you they will take you to a desk at the side where an officer will do a more in depth interview, did that reveal any clues?

 

Also, did your Wife have any problems with the IO (I think most guys let their Wives/GFs go 1st, was she already through when you stepped up)? 

 

Which airport was it BTW? I've been in & out of Swampy (BKK) on a Non-O 2-3x a month for the past 18 months & never had a question from any of the IOs, so you've been really unlucky, unless it was about Medical Insurance for a Non-O/A, in which case you're very lucky to get stamped back in for the Visa/Extension validity & not just 30 days while you sort your insurance out. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Mike Teavee

[CartagenaWarlock]

18 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

Had first bad experiance coming back in to Thailand last month where female officer just looked at my passport, said NO, and gave it back to me.

What was the actual problem? Why did the female office said NO? My friend who has a retirement extension was asked what he is doing in Thailand. He said he retired in Thailand. The officer told him but you don't stay in Thailand. He travels frequently to Japan, Spain, Hawaii, and Singapore (now stopped travelling from the last month and fled to India due to Corona virus fear and waiting his 2-month stay in India. If things don't improve in two months, he plans to flee to Montevideo. He is crazy and paranoid). He said to the Thailand IO it becomes boring for him after a few weeks of stay in Thailand. After a long discussion they let him in. I told him to buy an Elite and he refuses to spend the money and says an agent assisted application is 5% of an elite cost without any hassle. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by CartagenaWarlock

[MarkT63]

4 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Reading between the lines a little here but by your statement, the "800,000 bahts not peanuts but not a show stopper", I'm going to assume you're on a Non-O/A (No money in the Bank) and your wife is on a Non-O dependant (800K in the Bank) as if you were on a Non-O I believe you would need 1.6Million (800K each) in the Bank. 

 

Did you get the Visa in the UK? & Did you get it before October last year?

 

Did the IO mention Medical Insurance or give any indications as to why she wanted to refuse entry? Normally if they have a problem with you they will take you to a desk at the side where an officer will do a more in depth interview, did that reveal any clues?

 

Also, did your Wife have any problems with the IO (I think most guys let their Wives/GFs go 1st, was she already through when you stepped up)? 

 

Which airport was it BTW? I've been in & out of Swampy (BKK) on a Non-O 2-3x a month for the past 18 months & never had a question from any of the IOs, so you've been really unlucky, unless it was about Medical Insurance for a Non-O/A, in which case you're very lucky to get stamped back in for the Visa/Extension validity & not just 30 days while you sort your insurance out.

Hi Mike / All

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

We got our visas in Dubai in June last year before coming to Thailand - is October significant?

We didnt have any funds in Thailand at the time but produced statements from various accounts / offshore and they seemed to be happy.

I am on a non-imm o-a. wife is on non-imm o as my dependant

 

Was at Phuket airport

No idea what the problem was as she just said no. When senior guy came over it was all in Thai (which I am taking lessons for!!) but did not get a word.

No mention of medical insurance - though we do have full cover and had the certificate with me.

Wife went to seperate officer and went straight through

 

Cheers

 

[MarkT63]

5 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

800,000thb isn't the price for an elite visa, it's the amount you need to transfer to a bank here in order to get an extension on a non o or non o/a. You can transfer it back out when you leave and may even profit from currency fluctuations.

Hi Lamyai

 

800,000 is the price quoted for 5 year Elite family to cover both of us.

 

Cheers

[MarkT63]

15 hours ago, rhyddid said:

Had elite since long.

Trouble free life.

Hi Rhyddid

 

Good to hear from someone who has had the visa for a time.

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

Cheers

[MarkT63]

On 2/26/2020 at 11:41 AM, Metapod said:

I just got the 20 year Elite Visa this month.

 

I'm fairly young, not married, and not working in Thailand, so it really was the only visa that made sense for me.

 

Looking forward to hassle free living

Hi Metapod

 

Hope it works out for you!!

 

Cheers

[Stanley78]

The Thailand Elite visa works as advertised so there's not much to say about it.

 

I paid for the 5 year visa (500k baht) when I was 35 years old and then I paid for the 20 year visa (1m baht) last year after the 5 years had passed.

 

No complaints here.

[Mike Teavee]

4 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

Hi Lamyai

 

800,000 is the price quoted for 5 year Elite family to cover both of us.

 

Cheers

I think you’ll find it’s 800k for you +700k for your wife 

 

It does give you 10 years though instead of the 500k for 5 years. 

[roaming2019]

19 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

I have to agree. I'm on extensions based on retirement. The requirements have changed over the years. I now have a 1 mill FD account to keep things simple. 

Previously I needed stuff all. 800k in Thai bank 3 month prior then I just lived off that. Last about 6-7 month. Easy days.

If I was 50 I would buy the 20 year EV option.

Not a brag just good option is you have the dosh.

what type of Visa you are now  if you are not 50.  

[ukrules]

22 hours ago, toolpush said:

The Elite Visa is a glorified tourist visa. Secondly, if you wish to renew your Thai Driver's license to a 5 year version, it is officially not possible.

Nobody cares, the visa works as advertised.