Is it possible to pay for the elite visa in payments / monthly? Are there agencies that can provide that service?

[HandsomeTallFarang]

I want to get a 5 year visa but I don’t want to front the 15k USD all at once. Do they let you pay monthly? If not, do services exist that cover the cost and then you pay them monthly?

[Phillip9]

No

[RubbaJohnny]

18 minutes ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

do services exist that cover the cost and then you pay them monthly?

Unless you have a sugardaddy they are called banks and credit cards.

[Nout]

Good question. The agents should address this problem perhaps in tandem with a bank loan scheme.

[Airalee]

It would actually be $16,020 USD at current exchange rates.  If it was possible, you can probably expect the max credit card interest rate, and it would look something like this...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Airalee
Updated figures to reflect current exchange rate thb/usd

[richard_smith237]

You mean so people at the age of 48 encountering visa difficulties can pay 8334 baht per month to stay in Thailand, then when they turn 50 and having paid a total of 200,000 baht of the agreed 500,000 baht they stop paying and then apply for a retirement visa ?????

 

 

 

BTW:  A long term Tourist Visa has just been approved by the cabinet (9 months I think). 

Though I suspect one can only apply for this from outside of the country - it seems to be aimed at brining in tourists. 

 

Note: If you are ‘in country’ I’m not sure you can switch from ‘whatever visa’ you are on to a Thai Elite Visa. 

 

I am holding a Thai Elite Visa, but under the Emergency Decree could not enter on this and had to enter on a Non-Imm Type O visa which will expire in a month. I am unable to revert back to the Thai Elite Visa without leaving the country (obviously not an option) and thus will have to apply for the 12 month extension). 

 

For whatever reasons - switching visa types within country cannot be done between ’some visas’ while for non-Immigrant visas it can. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by richard_smith237

[HandsomeTallFarang]

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

You mean so people at the age of 48 encountering visa difficulties can pay 8334 baht per month to stay in Thailand, then when they turn 50 and having paid a total of 200,000 baht of the agreed 500,000 baht they stop paying and then apply for a retirement visa ?????

 

 

 

BTW:  A long term Tourist Visa has just been approved by the cabinet (9 months I think). 

Though I suspect one can only apply for this from outside of the country - it seems to be aimed at brining in tourists. 

 

Note: If you are ‘in country’ I’m not sure you can switch from ‘whatever visa’ you are on to a Thai Elite Visa. 

 

I am holding a Thai Elite Visa, but under the Emergency Decree could not enter on this and had to enter on a Non-Imm Type O visa which will expire in a month. I am unable to revert back to the Thai Elite Visa without leaving the country (obviously not an option) and thus will have to apply for the 12 month extension). 

 

For whatever reasons - switching visa types within country cannot be done between ’some visas’ while for non-Immigrant visas it can. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you tell me more about this? If I’m already here, what can I do to receive such a visa? Is this only for tourists out of the country?

[HandsomeTallFarang]

Also, can I get an education visa without leaving the country? I will attend a language school no problem, not trying to cheat it at all.

Edited September 15, 2020 by HandsomeTallFarang

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

Can you tell me more about this? If I’m already here, what can I do to receive such a visa? Is this only for tourists out of the country?

Announcements made today - information is a little vague at the moment - a google search may bring up more information.

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

Also, can I get an education visa without leaving the country? I will attend a language school no problem, not trying to cheat it at all.

You may need to get an agent involved. 

A lot of people seem to be doing this at the moment. 

 

Someone on this forum should be able to recommend an agent to you. 

(I can’t because I’ve never used one).

[Phillip9]

22 minutes ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

Also, can I get an education visa without leaving the country? I will attend a language school no problem, not trying to cheat it at all.

You are too late to get an ed visa.  That process takes at least 3 weeks.  The deadline for most schools was late august.

[Selatan]

30 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

BTW:  A long term Tourist Visa has just been approved by the cabinet (9 months I think). 

Though I suspect one can only apply for this from outside of the country - it seems to be aimed at brining in tourists. 

I wonder what's the cost like for this new visa. Malaysia and Thailand have a visa fee waiver arrangement, and I hope the fee for this new visa would also be exempted for Malaysians like me.

Currently, Malaysians are only allowed to leave the country if they have foreign long term passes.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Selatan

[Selatan]

8 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

You are too late to get an ed visa.  That process takes at least 3 weeks.  The deadline for most schools was late august.

Just curious - is it legally wrong to attend classes, for a whole year or more, on visa exempts or tourist visas?

[HandsomeTallFarang]

1 hour ago, Phillip9 said:

You are too late to get an ed visa.  That process takes at least 3 weeks.  The deadline for most schools was late august.

Ok fine, but can I still get one? I can 30 days extensions for a long time until I get my education visa 

[Phillip9]

9 minutes ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

Ok fine, but can I still get one? I can 30 days extensions for a long time until I get my education visa 

I don't know.  I don't think anyone here will know the answer to that yet.  You would need to contact a language school and ask them that question.  

[ubonjoe]

5 hours ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

Can you tell me more about this? If I’m already here, what can I do to receive such a visa? Is this only for tourists out of the country?

The special tourist visa can only be applied for at a embassy or official consulate after you approved to get a certificate of entry.

The fee for the visa will be 2000 baht and will allow you one 90 day entry that can be extended twice for 90 days.

It has only been approved in principle and may not available for months.

[FlyingThai]

1) Thailand Elite expects full payment of the 500,000 before they have that visa affixed at immigration. Never heard of a sales agent offering financing.

 

2) Not sure what country you're originally from but you can pay Thailand Elite by credit card (either in full or in part) so that might help you. Many banks offer interest free cards for the first 12/24 months but that depends on the card type/promotion. Obviously you'd need to be eligible for credit and have a local address in the country where you apply.

 

3) You can't get a Thailand Elite visa "last minute" in respect to the Sep 26th Amnesty. TE requires a background check and processing by immigration/MFA and this takes ~ 6 weeks. Your current visa/stay permit under which you are in the country needs to be valid on the day the visa is changed to TE.

 

4) As mentioned by others the Special Tourist Visa 90x3 was announced yesterday but this only affects people outside the country

 

5) Education visas take a lot of time and require paperwork from MOE. Schools and agents have stopped taking customers for charade-ED Visas and legitimate universities just started their academic year so likely no more intake and visa processing possible. Maybe some agents can still make a volunteer visa work but I'd inquire about this rather today than tomorrow and have the 55-60k cash in hand, ready to pay. IF they even take you at this point.

 

Hope it helps!

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

12 hours ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

I want to get a 5 year visa

It is not a 5-year visa. It is a 1-year visa extendable for 5-years. And you still have to go to an IO every year and pay 1,900 baht for the extension. This on top of the 500,000 baht fee for the Elite Visa.

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

13 hours ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

I want to get a 5 year visa

It is not a 5-year visa. It is a 1-year visa extendable for 5-years. And you still have to go to an IO every year and pay 1,900 baht for the extension. This on top of the 500,000 baht fee for the Elite Visa.

Semantics - it's effectively a guarantee of 5 years stay in Thailand. 

 

 

[DrTuner]

The point of it being payable in one go is to keep people that don't have the funds from getting one. 

[DrJack54]

12 hours ago, HandsomeTallFarang said:

Can you tell me more about this? If I’m already here, what can I do to receive such a visa? Is this only for tourists out of the country?

You can read details in Thai News forum.

First up it's a proposal.

Secondly it's a clap trap nonsense.

The requirements are ridiculous.

There is cap of 1200/month.

You could not obtain it inside Thailand.

It's someone's wet dream.

Edited September 16, 2020 by DrJack54

[FlyingThai]

40 minutes ago, ThaiVisaCentreGrace said:

EDIT: Also to answer the original question, I have not heard of any agents offering such a thing. And the interest on such an arrangement would make very little sense ????.

It would make a lot of sense if the interest rate for the 500,000 Baht is high enough and the agency would have some form of collateral. But this means a visa agency would in the end become a pawn shop/loan agency/financier and that's highly regulated by Thai law.

[steven100]

Elite Visa is a visa paid in full up front. Never heard of any repayment system. 

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by steven100

[rickthailand]

1 hour ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

It is not a 5-year visa. It is a 1-year visa extendable for 5-years. And you still have to go to an IO every year and pay 1,900 baht for the extension. This on top of the 500,000 baht fee for the Elite Visa.

its 6 years if you reenter before it expires and no need to go to io every year just do border cross

 

rick

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Semantics - it's effectively a guarantee of 5 years stay in Thailand. 

 

 

The point is you have to go to an IO every year and pay 1,900 baht to extend the Elite Visa for 1-year.

 

I would he interested in the Elite Visa if they did everything for 5-years without me having to go to an IO (I'm lazy). 

But I checked with Elite Visa and they made it crystal clear I must extend the visa every year myself by attending the IO.

 

So no advantage to me whatsoever, over extending my Non Imm "O" Visa for 1-year based on retirement.

I use the Prority Channel at the airport for the over 70s to zip through Immigration.

 

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

38 minutes ago, rickthailand said:

its 6 years if you reenter before it expires and no need to go to io every year just do border cross

 

rick

Yes, but at my age I don't want to do a visa run every year.

[FlyingThai]

19 minutes ago, ThaiVisaCentreGrace said:

Elite Visa is designed for those who have the money to spare, it is not around so people can go into debt.

It would make little sense to loan someone 500,000 THB, and have them disappear to their home country because they couldn't foot the bill.

However if they must make a poor financial decision they could possibly put it on their credit card, and pay fees ranging from 10-22% a year.

 

There are plenty of ways to do financing at very low rates when using a proper loan or low interest credit card.

 

It won't make sense for any company or bank to borrow money to a customer without guarantees which is one of the reasons why it's pretty difficult to get a credit card in Thailand for foreigners.

 

In the end it doesn't matter at all what the Elite Visa is "designed for" - as long as the applicant can come up with the money they don't care where it came from, be it savings or borrowed from the bank. Someone could have 500,001 Banht in the bank and would be pretty much broke after paying for the TE. He's still gonna get the visa.

[FlyingThai]

29 minutes ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

The point is you have to go to an IO every year and pay 1,900 baht to extend the Elite Visa for 1-year.

 

I would he interested in the Elite Visa if they did everything for 5-years without me having to go to an IO (I'm lazy). 

But I checked with Elite Visa and they made it crystal clear I must extend the visa every year myself by attending the IO.

 

So no advantage to me whatsoever, over extending my Non Imm "O" Visa for 1-year based on retirement.

I use the Prority Channel at the airport for the over 70s to zip through Immigration.

 

Here we go again. As mentioned in the other thread, It's not about you so not sure why you always try to make TE applicable to your specific case of a 70+ year old person. The validity of the Elite Visa will likely outlive you.

 

Plus you're talking about international travel. As long as you travel internationally at least once a year you will NEVER set foot to any immigration office because you get a nice new 1 year stamp with each entry.

[Seik]

13 hours ago, Selatan said:

Just curious - is it legally wrong to attend classes, for a whole year or more, on visa exempts or tourist visas?

You don't need a visa to study. It is perfectly legal to study on any visa.

[FlyingThai]

7 minutes ago, ThaiVisaCentreGrace said:

Will they really be able to secure a loan for this type of purchase?

What percent is a "low interest" credit card?

I guess this would differ quite a bit depending on what country it is from.

I was merely saying that it is a bad idea to take a loan out to pay for a Elite Visa.

I can only speak for the countries I've lived in but it was always possible to get a personal/all purpose loan without providing any particular reasons what I need it for. The interest on a proper bank loan is usually ~8%. Credit card could have a 0% APR for new purchases between 12-24 months.

 

Totally agree with you, I don't like buying anything except a home on credit except a bad situation forces you to do so. But in limited circumstances I could see how financing especially the 20 year no frills Thailand Elite Visa for 1 Mio would be worth it IF you have a way of paying it off. The 5 year visa isn't a great deal although still much cheaper than doing a monthly visa run, let alone state quarantine.

 

IMHO It would have been better having approached a visa agent at the proper time (1-2 weeks ago) and look at a more cost sensitive visa solution for 40/60k per year.