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As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thailand Elite Visas. We are going into 2022 here. I thought I would just discuss Thailand Elite briefly. We get correspondence regarding Thailand Elite rather frequently.

A lot of folks I especially found here recently are kind of looking at it more and more especially some of the younger retirees, some of the guys in their kind of middle to late 50s, are looking at Elite with more and more interest than I think times past because it is kind of viewed as a more certain path to a really long-term retirement especially in the case of the 20 year Elite. If you are sitting there at 58 years old, a 20 year Elite Visa can take you out to 78 years old. That is a really long chunk of time and essentially it is not a matter of not having to worry about your status which I will get to in a moment but it is a much smoother place to be. You just kind of roll over your status, maintain it but it is not the same thing as essentially something basically that can only be described as a re-adjudication. You are essentially not being re-adjudicated, you are sort of renewing your status on a yearly basis. Which brings me to the fact that yeah, Thailand Elite, a lot of people have asked me they have said, do I think Thailand Elite will get rid of the 90 day reporting requirement or they will change some things with respect to TM30? I would doubt it or will they get rid of having to extend it? Presently if you are in country on Thailand Elite and you stay up to a year, you have to actively extend it. Now Thailand Elite oftentimes assists folks with this but you have to take some affirmative steps to go ahead and get that extension perfected basically. 

So do I foresee extension being unnecessary or things like 90-day reporting in the future? Unlikely. Remember, Thailand Elite Visa is a Non-immigrant Visa so it is covered under the rules in the Thai Immigration Act of '79 regarding Non-immigrants. Non-immigrants unlike Immigrants for example Permanent Residents, Non-immigrants still have to deal with things like 90-day reporting, TM30 depending on circumstances as well as extensions on a yearly basis. 

So yeah I don't really see this changing much in the year to come or frankly in the foreseeable future. It could, it might. There is talk about making substantial changes especially for so-called VIP travelers to Thailand but I kind of think it is unlikely especially if we don't see a major overhaul of the Immigration Act.