My Elite Visa Application (Day 1 until the End)

[LASportsNut]

1 hour ago, taylor1975 said:

I've been waiting about 6 weeks now for my background check with thai immigration. The folks at elite said it can take 1-3 months. 

Did you guys experience anything similar?

Mine took 23 days.

They have been in and out of the office due to covid on and off for months. They could just be behind on some of their applications.

[taylor1975]

2 hours ago, Thomaz73 said:

Took three weeks in my case (2020, though.) Did you get an initial confirmation email about the process? Mine said approval process would be 1-2 months. 

Yes it did say 1-3 months in the email. I emailed them after 1 month, just to check and they said still with immigration. 

Must be taking a bit longer - i hope it doesn't take 3 months or i may need to leave country and re-enter. As even after payment ...another delay is needed.

[Tingtong4Thai]

3 hours ago, taylor1975 said:

I've been waiting about 6 weeks now for my background check with thai immigration. The folks at elite said it can take 1-3 months. 

Did you guys experience anything similar?

My initial approval took 29 days.   Once I paid (through Wise), it took 13 days to get the welcome letter in my e-mail.   They also designated the day the welcome letter was sent as the start of my 5 year Visa.   I have yet to get the sticker affixed in my passport.

Six weeks sounds long but the Elite agent I went through said there are a lot of applications in the pipeline now.

[Ohyesuare]

22 hours ago, Thomaz73 said:

He's talking about the initial approval. After which comes the payment phase. And, finally, another approval. Then time to get a sticker and stamp. 

I understood what he was talking about. To clarify, the immigration background check took me about a month. After payment and confirmation of receipt of it, the next date available to get my sticker and stamp with the EPL in Bangkok was the date I would have otherwise had to leave according to my previous stamp as I had no other options to stay because I was previously on a Non-ED.

[Love_to_eat_Thai]

I'm at 6 weeks waiting so far, haven't bothered to hassle them as I'm sure they are quite busy.

Very tempting to pop over to Vietnam for a few months while waiting for it to come through.

[taylor1975]

35 minutes ago, Love_to_eat_Thai said:

I'm at 6 weeks waiting so far, haven't bothered to hassle them as I'm sure they are quite busy.

Very tempting to pop over to Vietnam for a few months while waiting for it to come through.

We are on similar time-paths, so if you get a response please update and i will do the same. 

[Love_to_eat_Thai]

1 hour ago, taylor1975 said:

We are on similar time-paths, so if you get a response please update and i will do the same. 

Yes of course!  Oh and last one to Pattaya buys the first round 🥳

[taylor1975]

5 minutes ago, Love_to_eat_Thai said:

Yes of course!  Oh and last one to Pattaya buys the first round 🥳

That'll be you ....cus i'm already here 😆

[Love_to_eat_Thai]

3 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

That'll be you ....cus i'm already here 😆

Haha ok, you win this time!

[taylor1975]

19 hours ago, Love_to_eat_Thai said:

Haha ok, you win this time!

Approval letter just arrived! ...it says its valid for 30 days and then suggests you have to re-apply. But to immigration again??? ...that bit is not clear. 

Luckily, yesterday i set up my bangkok bank account. Now how to pay? ...i want to use the antiquated pay in slip at a branch method.

Elite use krung thai bank - so assume i go their and fill out my bangkok bank details on a krungsi pay in slip ...or is it the other way around 555

This old school paper stuff! Any of you guys used this method?? (I'm worried about a failing electronic transfer due a limit or fraud alert and the fact the account is so new)

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by taylor1975

[Thomaz73]

5 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

Approval letter just arrived

Excellent. So, you're now in the payment phase. 

I went to Bangkok Bank and had them help me make the transfers to Elite (max of 100k pr transfer.) Which reminds me, I needed the "juristic number" for Thai Elite. It was 0105546103468. And not easy to find. 

They'll confirm your payments. And then there's a final approval phase after which you set up some way to get your sticker and stamp. Mine was in Chaengwattana. But it could also be on arrival in Swampy. Not sure about other immigration offices.

[taylor1975]

18 minutes ago, Thomaz73 said:

Excellent. So, you're now in the payment phase. 

I went to Bangkok Bank and had them help me make the transfers to Elite (max of 100k pr transfer.) Which reminds me, I needed the "juristic number" for Thai Elite. It was 0105546103468. And not easy to find. 

They'll confirm your payments. And then there's a final approval phase after which you set up some way to get your sticker and stamp. Mine was in Chaengwattana. But it could also be on arrival in Swampy. Not sure about other immigration offices.

Thanks for that number! - so you did 6 x 100k transfers at a bangkok bank branch? Elite email says payment has to be done in 1 payment for anti-money laundering reasons.

It sounds like you did bank transfer rather than this payslip method.

[Thomaz73]

1 minute ago, taylor1975 said:

Thanks for that number! - so you did 6 x 100k transfers at a bangkok bank branch? Elite email says payment has to be done in 1 payment for anti-money laundering reasons.

It sounds like you did bank transfer rather than this payslip method.

It was 5 100k bank transfers at the time. Not sure what the "payslip" method is. Don't remember seeing it had to be one payment. No idea how I could've done that. Perhaps talk with your bank and contact elite as well. 

Btw, the delayed approval talked about above I think is more about immigration rather then Elite being particularly busy at this time. 

[taylor1975]

2 minutes ago, Thomaz73 said:

It was 5 100k bank transfers at the time. Not sure what the "payslip" method is. Don't remember seeing it had to be one payment. No idea how I could've done that. Perhaps talk with your bank and contact elite as well. 

Btw, the delayed approval talked about above I think is more about immigration rather then Elite being particularly busy at this time. 

The payment pdf that they sent me was updated in Jan 2022 so the single transfer thing may not have been in force. Point number 3 in screenshot below. Appreciate the help!

 

 

 

[Ohyesuare]

10 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

The payment pdf that they sent me was updated in Jan 2022 so the single transfer thing may not have been in force. Point number 3 in screenshot below. Appreciate the help!

 

 

 

I paid 600k from my Bangkok Bank mobile app in one transfer. It went through no problem. It's possible like you said that they might hold the transfer because your account is new but I believe they are aware that the account belongs to Thai Elite so large transfers to there are not abnormal and also you will get a text with a number to call where you can tell them the transfer is legitimate. I always get one anyway, telling me that if it wasn't me that made the transfer, to call them immediately but they have never put a hold or delayed any of my transfers.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Ohyesuare

[Thomaz73]

8 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

The payment pdf that they sent me was updated in Jan 2022 so the single transfer thing may not have been in force. Point number 3 in screenshot below.

Yeah, managed to dig up my approval letter. No such mention and I'm experiencing a sort of projected panic

Please let us know how you get on. But, again, reach out to bank(s) and Elite. 

[Thomaz73]

1 minute ago, Ohyesuare said:

I paid 600k from my Bangkok Bank mobile app in one transfer

Oh, good to know. That settles my projected panic lol. Maybe it was just the particular branch I went to being idiots and/or assholes. Seems reasonable for the world of banking. 

[Ohyesuare]

4 minutes ago, Thomaz73 said:

Oh, good to know. That settles my projected panic lol. Maybe it was just the particular branch I went to being idiots and/or assholes. Seems reasonable for the world of banking. 

These Anti Money Laundering laws are fairly new or fairly new to being enforced so it's possible they weren't in place when you did yours. The same Anti Money Laundering rules also don't allow you to transfer more than 50k baht in one go to certain banks in Thailand but thankfully Bangkok Bank is not one of those so one can fund their Bangkok Bank account with a Wise transfer for whatever amount they want. Also the reason why they stopped me from being able to use True Wallet and why anyone without a Thai ID card won't be able to use PayPal with a Thai bank account/address later this year.

[w1lly]

Apologies for not reading all the pages. But two questions:

#1 do you have to file the 90 day reports, or do elite take care of that for you?

#2 is it really a multiple entry visa, or do you have to get a reentry permit every time you leave Thailand ?

[Just Browsing]

4 hours ago, w1lly said:

Apologies for not reading all the pages. But two questions:

#1 do you have to file the 90 day reports, or do elite take care of that for you?

#2 is it really a multiple entry visa, or do you have to get a reentry permit every time you leave Thailand ?

#1 It's your responsibility to file a 90 day report but Elite can help you with this in certain towns (TBH The online system works really well nowadays so after the very 1st report it takes a few minutes to do yourself). 

#2 Yes it really is multi-entry so every time you come back to Thailand you will be stamped in for 1 year (Caveat, once the Visa has expired it's no longer multi-entry so if it were to expire 1st August 2022 & you came back today, you'll probably be given a permission to stay until 22nd July 2023 but if you leave after 1st August you will need a re-entry permit)

   

[Love_to_eat_Thai]

Just received the approved notification email from Elite and a follow-up from the agent I'm using with details on how to pay.  One million baht is a pretty scary amount to transfer into the ether, although I've bought cars worth more than that before sight unseen.

I can almost taste that first sangsom soda and pad see ew.

[cregwillis]

Hello there. Australian citizen, at the moment in Thailand. I would like to catch up with my friends for a couple of days in Vietnam and just realized i need a visa. How complicated in the whole process and where do you guys apply for it? So far i found only this source https://vietnamvisa-au.com/australia.html. Is it legit? How long do you usually wait for a digital visa?

[taylor1975]

22 hours ago, Love_to_eat_Thai said:

Just received the approved notification email from Elite and a follow-up from the agent I'm using with details on how to pay.  One million baht is a pretty scary amount to transfer into the ether, although I've bought cars worth more than that before sight unseen.

I can almost taste that first sangsom soda and pad see ew.

Good news! Why don't you just do 600k first?

[Love_to_eat_Thai]

3 hours ago, taylor1975 said:

Good news! Why don't you just do 600k first?

Honestly I expect the price would go up soon with inflation since it seems to have been the same for many years, it's also one less hassle to deal with in retirement.  Actually it's pretty much the same reason I went with Elite instead of the retirement visa option, much less ongoing 'approval' paperwork.  

Commit to Thailand for long-long time and remove as much stress from life as possible.

[Just Browsing]

17 hours ago, cregwillis said:

Hello there. Australian citizen, at the moment in Thailand. I would like to catch up with my friends for a couple of days in Vietnam and just realized i need a visa. How complicated in the whole process and where do you guys apply for it? So far i found only this source https://vietnamvisa-au.com/australia.html. Is it legit? How long do you usually wait for a digital visa?

IIRC you can now visit Vietnam for up to 14 days without needing to get anything in advance but if I'm wrong then you will need a Visa Or an "Invitation Letter" .

The "Invitation Letter" can be got online... e,g, https://www.vietnam-visa.com/vietnam-visa-approval-letter/ - Cost is $21 and you need to pay a fee on entry (sorry, can't remember how much that is).