Elite Visa Questions

[HerewardtheWake]

 I applied for the Elite visa and the application has been approved, according to a communication I have received last week. I am excerpting from the letter from the Thai Privilege Card (TPC) below the solid line .

 

To the degree that I follow their letter:

 

1.After I pay the fee, I inform the [email protected]

2. I will then get a Welcome Letter and a Membership ID number.

3. I then approach the Thai consulate for a visa stamp in my passport.

4. I can then apply to Thailand Elite Member Quarantine (TEMQ).

5. I will then get a COE letter from the Consulate.

 

Could anybody kindly advise whether I got it all right.

 

The kicker, however, is the sentence Please be kindly informed thatThailand Elite visa holders are not firmly guaranteed to Enter Thailand, etc.

 

Does this mean that newly approved Elite visa holders are at present are allowed in?It is a lot of money up front without even an  indication of possible entry times. What is ones recourse if nothing happens after the payment?

 

I'd appreciate any relevant information.

 

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

 

Bolding and underlinings below are mine:

Deposit the amount into the Thailand Privilege Card bank account as stated in the Approval Letter - This payment method takes only 1 business day to process and to confirm the transaction.
- Online Payment* Please visit the link at www.thailandelite.com/payment/transfer

Important Note: Once you have completed the payment, please submit proof of payment (Payment Slip, Pay in Slip, MT103, etc.) to our inbox [email protected].
Please ensure that the total amount reaches the TPC account. Therefore, kindly take care of other additional bank charges that may occur on your side.

There are 3 options for you to Affix our Elite Visa:
• (Currently unavailable) Upon Arrival at Suvarnabhumi and Phuket International Airport (Direct International Arrival Flight Only) *24/7 availability (Tourist visa is required for some nationality)
• (Currently unavailable) Upon arrival at Chiang Mai Airport (Direct International Arrival Flight Only) *24/7 availability without Elite Personal Assistant (EPA) (Tourist visa is required for some nationality)
• (Available) While staying in Thailand: you can request to obtain Elite Visa at Chaengwattana Immigration Office in Bangkok *Business days only. Depend on the availability of Elite Personal Liaison (EPL)
this option necessary to have the TM.30 Form (for the Residence Notification as the responsibility of the house/building owner where you stayed with).

Conditions for getting your visa affixed:

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 at 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.

***According to the announcement from the Royal Thai government allowing existing Thailand Elite members with an Elite visa affixed on the passport may apply for the Certificate of Entry (COE) through the Thailand Elite Members Quarantine program (TEM-Q) in order to visit Thailand presently.***

1. (Recommended) for members holding a Tourist Visa, Visa on Arrival, or are on a 30-Day Exempted Tourist Visa are eligible to change/ switch to Thailand Elite Visa.
2. A tourist visa is required for some nationality who would like to obtain Elite Visa upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi, Phuket Chaingmai Airport.
3. Non-Immigrant Visas must be canceled before changing to Thailand Elite Visa. Members are responsible for the cancellation of their Non-Immigrant Visa depends on the condition as below;
⦁ for members who are currently staying in Bangkok and holding Non-Imm ED, B, or O visa - Members who are currently staying in Bangkok on a Non-Immigrant Visa, is to visit the Chaengwattana office to complete the cancellation procedure and request to get the Thailand Elite Visa affixed
in the same day (cancel in the morning period and get Thailand Elite Visa in the afternoon).
⦁ For members who are staying in provinces outside of Bangkok and holding Non-Imm ED, B, or O visa, the person must first cancel their Non-immigrant visa at the place the visa was issued location/province. In the case, members are holding any type of Non-Immigrant Visa
and have been registered as a ‘Thailand Elite Member’, it is crucial that an appointment for the visa affix service is made before canceling their Non-Immigrant Visa or during the 7-day Stay Extension period (THB 1,900 fee must be paid to the immigration office for this extension).
Members may only request to obtain the Elite Visa at the Chaengwattana immigration office in Bangkok.
4. It is compulsory for the members who intend to obtain The Thailand Elite Visa at Chaengwattana Immigration Office to register and obtain the TM 30 form presented on the date (the Residence Notification as the responsibility of the house/building owner where you stayed with).

* For all services reservations, please contact the Member Contact Center (MCC) 5 working days in advance at +66 2 352 3000 or [email protected] after receiving a welcome letter including an ID number.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesita

[G Rex]

I am living proof that the Thai Elite Visa does work - currently in Day 4 of ASQ.

There were issues between Thai Elite management and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but that is less of an issue now. 

My story - Visa application late July

                   Approval mid Aug , payment shortly after

                   Welcome letter Sept 1 

                   Visa affixed in PP Sept 25 - they had to make appointment with Embassy (Australia) to make this happen - border closures prevented me from attending in person - I mailed PP to Embassy

                    MFA approval Oct 16 - then applied & was granted CoE - after satisfying all other requirements

                     Arrived Bangkok Oct 25

There may be a cap on Thai Elite entries per month, but I think the situation is improving there also. Thailand wants people to come here - but I am sure they are concerned about what is happening regarding Covid in many other countries. 

The TEM-Q program was almost irrelevant in my case, as I had to organise ASQ etc , all they did was apply to MFA on my behalf - to get me on ‘the list’ - so that my local Embassy could decide whether to approve me or not.

Hope this info helps. 

[HerewardtheWake]

OK, I just spoke with the Sales Group at the Thailand Elite. No good news.  In the steps I outlined in my earlier  message, Item 3 is the crux of the issue:

 

Thailand Elite has no information about whether the Thai Embassy or the Consulate in Los Angeles will affix the Elite visa stamp into the passport. Without the visa being affixed, one cannot apply to TEMQ. AND, the fee paid is non-refundable under ANY circumstances, according to the Sales Group person I spoke with. What a bummer! In this situation, one would be risking B500,000-1,000,000.

[Farma]

They waited until I paid the money before informing me of entry problems a week ago. They did offer to delay activation until 30 December.

[G Rex]

If I was in your situation , I would contact the Embassy direct in LA , and ask them if they would affix Visa there.

If they will not - it is a no go.  No CoE , & you definitely cannot go until Visa is in passport.

In ‘normal’ times the Visa is affixed at Suvarnabhumi when you arrive - with a Tourist Visa, or Visa exempt. 

The situation is ludicrous,  if you want to spend a few hours bitching about bureaucracy and red tape - I am your man!

[HerewardtheWake]

Rex, this sentence: "they had to make appointment with Embassy"

 

Did Elite visa facilitate your dealings with the tThai embassy in Canberra? To what extent or degree does Elite visa go bat for you to facilitate this involved process? Thanks.

 

[HerewardtheWake]

Thanks, Rex. i will call the Los Angeles consulate (hope somebody answers). Sheesh, you'd imagine these guys make it easy to do all this, given the money they can make.

 

[HerewardtheWake]

Farma,

 

Are you able to say what entry problems they informed you of?

[G Rex]

To give them credit, Thai elite did organise the “appointment” with the Embassy. I requested this on Sept 1, and the appt was on Sept 25 - it seemed an interminable wait. I posted my PP to Embassy, and they received it on Sept 21, and the visa was affixed on Sept 22 - go figure!   It was back in my hands on Sept 28.

After this my only holdup was getting MFA approval , which once again was organised by TE. They are at the mercy of the MFA, but I felt they were working for me.  I spoke ’regularly’ to TE, and most of their workers were helpful .

[G Rex]

When I first applied for TE Visa, it was intimated that it was a sure fire means of entry.  This gung-ho attitude was somewhat diluted after my Visa approval, but I was only made aware of the MFA position after I received my Visa.

There was a fair bit of bad press regards TE Visa last month - so that seemed to get the ball rolling a bit more.

Good luck! 

[Farma]

Basically what they told you about the long  process to get approvals