mlkik

My non o extension and re entry permit expire Jan 15th. I ave waited and waited for our turn to go back to Thailand and it has been very stressfull.

Non O-A visa holders can now obtain a COE and I hsve decided to apply for one of these visas as it takes me out of this state of limbo.

I have had my medical examination and had my certificate signed by my local GP. I have had my CRB check done and am just waiting for my insurance to be approved and then will apply.

The choice is to do this and go home and be with my partner again and start enjoying life again or wait and wait in the hope of returning on my non o extension.

How can I pay for the LMG policy ? I am in the UK and need to pay by card.

56 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Some local surgeries will do it, my GP signed the form in 2016 after looking back over my medical history, and a quick turn with the stethoscope - I was charged the standard £15 NHS fee for such letters or documents.

 

Having said that, he looked at the form with some bafflement and seemed to be on the fence about signing it for a moment - I'm not confident other GPs in the surgery would have agreed to sign it. 

I have an appointment next Monday at my local surgery and the cost is 40 quid for the examination and form filled out.

Contact the Embassy .

7 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

I don't think the way the insurance is paid for matter, as long as it's valid and fulfills the requirements. That's my personal view. 

The policy seems a monthly policy and not a yearly policy.So in essence you would only be insured for 1 month as opposed to the whole year that the visa application requires.

I am not sure and do not want to make a mistake.

22 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

SafetyWing < https://safetywing.com/nomad-insurance > provides on-the-fly travel-insurance which includes covid-19 as part of their 250.000 US$ accident/illness coverage.  At age 53 you would pay approx 103 US $ per 4-week period and the policy can be cancelled anytime.

Combined with the cheap 'throw-away' non Imm O-A compliant LMG Insurance Plan-1 policy (6.000 THB in your age-category, with no medical required), it would be difficult to find a better deal to return to Thailand on a Non Imm O-A Visa when you are not already covered by your existing foreign/international insurance.

22 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

SafetyWing < https://safetywing.com/nomad-insurance > provides on-the-fly travel-insurance which includes covid-19 as part of their 250.000 US$ accident/illness coverage.  At age 53 you would pay approx 103 US $ per 4-week period and the policy can be cancelled anytime.

Combined with the cheap 'throw-away' non Imm O-A compliant LMG Insurance Plan-1 policy (6.000 THB in your age-category, with no medical required), it would be difficult to find a better deal to return to Thailand on a Non Imm O-A Visa when you are not already covered by your existing foreign/international insurance.

I am just concened that the Embassy would not accept this as it is monthly and not annual.

23 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

You should give a try to LMG insurance

usualy they are the cheapest 

Even if you are not in Thailand yet

i think you can use AA insurance brokers

they perfectly know the OA requirments

 

I see that I can get insurance for 6000 baht for the year but would also need covid insurance for a COE.

22 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You also have the option to buy insurance that meets the OA insurance requirement and a separate policy for covid 19 insurance.

TGIA officers a police for corvid 19. See: https://covid19.tgia.org/

To apply for this there is a drop down box and as someone applying for a Non Immigrant O-A visa I am not sure which box to select .

25 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

You should give a try to LMG insurance

usualy they are the cheapest 

Even if you are not in Thailand yet

i think you can use AA insurance brokers

they perfectly know the OA requirments

 

April Health is run by LMG.

14 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Pacific cross offers a policy that meets both requirements for 53k baht and you can reduce that by 50% with a 300k baht deductible.

See: https://www.pacificcrosshealth.com/en/visa-friendly/

Unfortunately Pacific Cross have a 15 day wait period for covid and they have told me I would not be covered if I tested positive in quarantene as the wait period begins on entry to Thailand.

April Health do not have a wait period.

I am trying to get insurance for a Non Immigrant O-A visa that covers covid and the outpatient requirement. I have only found April health that does not have a wait period .However it is very expensive at 76 000 baht for age 53. 

15 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

 

Note: If they refuse your application for reason that your current Non Imm O permission to stay has not expired yet, you could consider applying for a new passport first and then re-apply with 'your tracks covered'.

I have a new passport that I had to get from Trendy building last year and as I have waited since March to return I do not mind waiting a couple more months now to return.

I never used ti go along with people who complained about Thailand qll the yime and how we expats were badly treated.

However I have now seen the light as it were ! Maybe it is time to re evaluate whether retiring and living in Thailand was a good idea.

Yes I have a relationship ,new car and a home but if I can not even return then what is the point !

Maybe I will buy myself a property in the UK again and visit Thailand as a tourist as and when covid settles down.

2 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Your understanding is not fully correct on a couple of points:

0 - You can ONLY apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa in a Thai Embassy/Consulate in your home-country (Canada).

1 - The Non Imm O-A Visa is multiple-entry during its 1-year validity.  Every time you exit and re-enter Thailand during that 1-year validity period you will be stamped in by border-immigration for a full year permission to stay.  Hence by exiting and re-entering Thailand just before the 1-year validity period expires, you will have almost 2 years of IO hassle-free stay in Thailand.

2 - You cannot have 2 valid long-stay visas.  When your Visa validity has not expired yet, you cannot apply for a new Visa.  Also when the permission to stay as stamped in your passport has not expired you are not able to apply for a new Visa.  But when you exit Thailand without a re-entry permit (which protects the validity of your permission to stay), the permission to stay will be voided and then you will be able to apply for a new Visa.

3 - I understand that you currently have a 1-year extension of stay based on an original Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.  The permission to stay of that 1-year Non Imm O extension expires January 31, 2021.  When wanting to stay in Thailand you can not switch to a different Visa type/category, you can only EXTEND that current Non Imm O permission to stay.

When applying for the 1-year extension of stay, you can do this during the last month of your current permission to stay up till last day (31 January 2021).  And you would need to meet the financial requirements when applying for the 1-year extension of stay. 

When applying for reason of RETIREMENT and using the funds-in-bank method, you would need to provide evidence of 800K being seasoned for at least 2 months on a personal Thai bank-account at the moment of application.

So you would need to have those 800K there in course of coming 2 weeks otherwise you would not be able to meet the 2-month seasoning requirement of the funds.

Note: When applying for reason of MARRIAGE or THAI DEPENDENT CHILDREN, the financial requirements are lower (400K and when applying for reason of Thai dependent children there is no 2 month seasoning requiremeents).

Also as Canadian citizen, you might make use of the Embassy issued income-letter to meet the financial requirements, when you can prove that you have foreign income (e.g. from pension or rental income) in excess of +65K monthly.   

I have a current Non O extension for retirement and multi re-entry permit valid until 15/01/21 and the London Thai Embassy sent me an email advising me to apply for a Non Immigrant O-A if I wanted to enter Thailand.

I have only yesterday emailed them for confirmation that I can be issued this visa as I have a Non O extension and re-entry permit that have not expired.

49 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

 

You can get that O-A visa, but it doesn't give you the right to travel to Thailand now.

 

Yes it does as holders of ghis can obtain a COE.

14 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

None of us knows why the latest list of people allowed in includes retirees on O-A or O-X but not O.

 

It could be as simple as an oversight.  These decisions are made by a committee, not Imm. They may have simply decided to let in retirees, asked someone (perhaps at MFA) what type of visa that is and been told O-A/O-X. Which are indeed the only type of new retirement visas many Embassies will issue.

 

There is no point in speculation about reasons and the problem with doing  so is that the speculations  tend to become enshrined as fact, there are a lot of expat myths that began like that.

I wish youur post was the only reply and then the topic closed as you have given the perfect response.

Heres to hoping us with Non O  extensions can return soon!

3 hours ago, rickudon said:

I wonder how long the medical certificate for the OA visa is valid for. Currently there is a backlog of people in the UK for the COE, so you could be waiting for months (see post number 2). Bottleneck is how many places in ASQ.

The medical certificate is valid for 3 months and the Embassy will process the visa within 2 weeks.

Where do you get the information regarding a backlog for COE? The Thai Embassy are not even organising repatriation flights now as 12 airlines are allowed to fly London to Bangkok.

I have had replies from 18 hotels that have rooms available for ASQ so no bottleneck.

Well at least new catagories are being added and maybe there is hope for us Non O extension holders soon !

2 hours ago, CANSIAM said:

 

Just been updated by embassy in BC Canada, Non O retirement cannot apply for COE at this time same as UK.  Need to apply for O-A.  As she suggested I'll wait more, Thai government could change things at anytime, as my Non O retirement expires Jan. 31, 2021.  Anybody know if anyone has arrived in Thailand on a O-A or O-X ??  Bloody nightmare continues...... 

Mine expires 15th Jan and I am now starting the process of applying for the O-A. I have waited and waited and can do so no longer .

As you say it is a nightmare and I am going to do something positive about it and hopefully soon will be able to return.

When I am back I can then think about future option whether to keep a O- A or change back to O.

Just now, Mavideol said:

any mention that quarantine is or is not required

No mention of quarantene because it is well known quarantene is required !

16 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Assuming this was "just seen" on the Royal Thai Embassy London's website, they are EVA Air, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Austrian Airlines, Air France and Cathay Pacific.

It was sent to me by my partner in Thailand. It was a screen grab fom a facebook anouncement. Just looked at it again and it is from the Royal Thai Embassy facebook site.

Just seen that 12 Airlines now have permission to fly London to Bangkok.

I am filling out the application on the London Embassy website and it will only display multiple entry and not single entry . Is it normal for this visa to be multi entry?

4 hours ago, Adelphi said:

I think that there might still be a problem for those who have an extant permission based on an O visa as the Embassy may not be willing to issue an AO visa while the original O visa is still in play.  If that's the case it might be ok, if for example, you had "accidently" left your old passport in clothing which was ruined in the washing machine (the passport being ruined not the clothing) and so you had to get a new blank replacement passport.  

Well the Embassy in London know I have a current Non - O and informed me I could not enter on this but I could if I apply for a Non Immigrant O-A.