Tony M

The processing delays are totally unreasonable. There must be lots of applicants hoping to go to the UK for Christmas, see family, etc, and I agree that "demand" is a totally unreasonable excuse for the delays. But, I think you are wrong to cite demand from Thailand only, and the four flights a week, etc. Visa applications for Thailand are processed in New Delhi, India, but that Centre is not only dealing with Thailand applications. New Delhi deals with Visit, Short Term Student and Other Non-Settlement applications from India, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Vietnam and Thailand. Pre-covid they were dealing with more than 200,000 applications a year (I think) so they could be a little busy, I guess.

Consular Section, as you can see, the situation is still very unclear : https://aseannow.com/topic/1241090-required-length-of-insurance/?tab=comments#comment-17012510

They should be easy to locate. The wonderful TM30 system surely means that they will have (if non-Thai, of course) reported their whereabouts to Immigration within 24 hours or, if returning to their previous address in Thailand, can be located from the TM30/90-day report records ? Surely the TM30 system is as foolproof as the wonderful 90-day reporting system ?

Are they holding up their insurance policies ?

Consular Section, is there any update on this yet ? I am still unaware of any definitive information on the "new" insurance requirement for entry to Thailand. If there has been an update, then I aplogise as I must have missed it. Many of us are reluctant to travel outside of Thailand as we are not sure what is needed to return.

That would be Thai Visa Express, actually the best (IMHO) agent in Pattaya for British passport renewals and visa applications of all kinds.

You might be right. Hopefully, the MFA will clarify it when the British Embassy meets with the MFA this week. However, I don't think immigration make (official) policy, even though they do whatever they want to do.

That's the question we want answered, I think. According to the British Embassy, it is a question for the MFA to answer. If it does turn out to be that insurance is required for the period of your stay/visa, then how would that affect Elite 5-year and 10-year visa holders (not that I am one ) ?

I asked a similar question in the British Embassy Consular Section forum. It kind of gives an update, but no actual clarification. Maybe you want to add your concerns to the post, so that the British Embassy are more aware of our concerns. https://aseannow.com/topic/1238086-the-new-requirement-for-insurance-coverage-of-at-least-50000-to-enter-thailand/

Thank you for following up on this, and for bringing the concerns up with the MPH. With respect, the lack of detail from the meeting with the MPH looks very much like you were told that this is a Thai matter that it is none of the British Embassy’s business. That said, if this is so, then at least the MPH is now aware of our concerns. There have been some developments since my original post. We still have no definitive requirement from the Thai government. We have the original new requirement that all non-Thai “visitors” require insurance coverage of 50,000 US$ for the duration of their visa/stay. Now we also have Richard Barrow’s posted details of his meeting with the director general of the Department of Consular Affairs at the MFA. The DG said (apparently) : “ For a start, it doesn’t seem to be written down anywhere that you need to have special insurance to cover you for the time you will be in Thailand if you are on a long-term visa. It was just implied by some embassies. I asked the director general about this, and he said a 30-day policy would be plenty. After all, if you test positive, you will only need to do 10 days in a hospital and a possible 14 day quarantine afterwards. So, a 30-day policy would cover you. “ See Richard Barrow’s publsihed info here : https://www.getrevue.co/profile/richardbarrow/issues/latest-updates-about-the-thailand-pass-849676 The problem is, of course, that there is no official confirmation of the DG’s statements to Richard Barrow. If, indeed, returning expats only need 30 days coverage to re-enter Thailand, then can the MFA confirm this ? I, for one, would be happy to take out a policy that covers any Covid problem during the first month of return to Thailand, and to then rely on my current, long-held, insurance policy. If you are able to raise the matter with the MFA, then please consider asking them for a definitive “requirement” on the re-entry concerns for elderly expats. And, as I mentioned in my earlier post, please consider reciprocal requirements for Thai nationals visiting the UK, as they (along with many other nationalities, of course) also use, and sometime abuse. the NHS. Let’s require them to also be insured before arrival in the UK.

I asked for an insurance quote from one of the advertisers on Aseannow. This is the quote (attached) for me, 71 years old. Yes, it includes dental, etc and there are deductibles that can reduce the premium. You might be forgiven for thinking that the premiums shown are annual, but they are monthly. The cheapest option, if I have worked it out correctly is a mere 10,000 GBP a year. Yes, ten thousand Pounds a year ! The top option (of the three options) is pushing 20,000 GBP a year !

Don't worry, the Foreign Secretary is here this week. I'm sure she will bring this up with the Thai government, and all will be resolved.

With respect to previous posters, there is a fair amount of wrong infomation so far. The OP does not have to be divorced if he can evidence that he and his partner have been living together (as stated by theoldgit) in a relationship akin to a marriage for two years. This is termed as an "unmarried partner". The evidence required to establish the unmarried partner relationship for at least two years must be provided, as the UKVI is aware of how easy it would be for people just to be able to say that they have been living together for two years. The OP doesn't have to adopt his partner's daughter. But, the onus will be on the child's mother to evidence that she has had "sole responsibility" for her daughter,and that can be another tricky area in this category of applicaton. The UK does recognise Thailand Hague Convention adoptions, but such adoptions can be complicated and lengthy. If the OP, his partner and her daughter have been living together for 11 years (etc, etc, for establishing sole responsibility), then there is no reason to even consider adoption at the initial entry clearance stage as the child is applying as a depensdant of her mother. If they wish (as bigyin did) to adopt later, in the UK, then they can. Regarding chickenlegs post, there are also de facto adoptions, which are recognised by the UK, but not strictly applicable in this instance.

And this thread also shows the complexity of this issue : https://aseannow.com/topic/1238210-elderly-expats-dazed-and-confused-over-insurance-‘retirement-visas’-and-covid/

Some interesting thoughts and comments, on the subject, in this thread -

Thank you for recognising the problem. Hopefully, some pressure can be put on the Thai government to alleviate our concerns.

Customers applying to remain on a temporary basis including as spouses, workers, Tier 1 general and entrepreneurs, students and organisations seeking to sponsor a worker - 8 weeks (5 working day priority or the end of the next working day super priority services - please check your application type for available priority services) https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about-our-services#service-standards

Good stuff. Let's inform the Embassy of our concerns.

You are hopefully aware of the new requirement for all "visitors" to hold at least $50,000 insurance coveragein order to enter Thailand, even those of us who are on annual extensions of stay. I have no problem with requiring visitors to hold medical insurance for the period of their visit, and I do have health insurance already. However, this new requirement means that those of us who live in Thailand on annual extensions of stay, and who already need to hold bank balances of up to 800,000 THB, must now purchase mandatory insurance for up to, possibly, 12 months even if we only leave Thaioland for one day and then return. You are, presuambly, aware of the cost of insurance coverage for elderly "visitors", and many of us are elderly. It looks like the newly required insurance coverage could mean a policy cost of up to 1,000 GBP (for 12 months coverage) just for having left Thailand for a day or two, or a week or two. Ways around this requiremnt have been suggested. For instance, don't obtain a re-entry permit/visa and abandon your annual extension of stay, apply for a new non-imm o visa outside of Thailand, re-enter Thailand and start the whole extension process again. Really ? There will be discussion on this subject, for sure. At least one thread is open in this visa forum (https://aseannow.com/topic/1238067-pattaya-retirees-feel-%E2%80%9Ctrapped%E2%80%9D-in-thailand-because-of-insurance/). It is headed "pattay retirees", but applies equally to many "visitors" to Thailand. My request to you is for the British Embassy to lobby the Thai government on this matter. As stated above, I'm not against requiring visitors to hold insurance. It's something we should do in the UK too. But, many of us don't consider ourselves to be "visitors" to Thailand despite the Thai governments position on this. We are not visitors. We live here, own property, have businesses, etc. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the 800,000 THB held in the bank was to cover such things as medical emergencies ? It's time that Thailand recognised that many of us are not visitors to Thailand, and made some concessions to long-term "residents". In the alternative, perhaps the UK should consider reciprocity and require Thai visitors to the UK to purchase compulsory medical insurance or hold up to 20,000 GBP in their bank account while in the UK ? I do, of course, realise that the Embassy's hands are somewhat tied, but surely the concerns of British visitors (and other nationalities too) should be brought to the Thai governments attention ? I am asking you to do this on our behalf.

Jomtien Beach was certainly busier than usual over the weekend, and this has continued over the past couple of days. Many people on the beaches, despite the rain. It got me wondering how the "online learning" is going for the kids, as it seems to be mostly families on the beach at the moment. I suspect that many children have not actually done much learning over the past year or so.

Pattaya is advertising two music festivals in Pattaya in November - 5th and 6th at Pattaya Beach, and 12 and 13 at Jomtien Beach and Koh Larn (!) (and two more weekend music festivals in December). In addition, they are advertising Loy Krathong festivities on 19th November. Are they really expecting less than 500 people or "allowing" less than 500 people at such events, ?

So there's no curfew in November ?

Wow, that's a lot of information (and most of it beyond me!). Many thanks for your time and help..

That's a great post. Many thanks. I've never heard of RTSP (not surprising really !), and the post is very informative. I will look into into it now that I have a better understanding. I'm sure that your post will be helpful to a few others too. Thanks again.

Thanks for the clarification. Basically, I want motion activated cameras, and for the short (?) video or stills to be uploaded to the cloud. I would prefer that to be immediate upload, so that the record is immediately protected. So that probably means streaming from the camera (SD Card?) or moving files to cloud storage from the DVR ? I guess I'm trying to find out which method is possible without being tied into expensive proprietary cloud storage, and which is (for me) simple. I don't think I want/need continuous streaming to the cloud, but I'm happy to receive advice on the best way to do this.