Mike Teavee

2 minutes ago, lapamita said:

No O-A  need heallthinsurance hmmm

 

and NON O extension dont need hmmmm

 

THE next thing will be the cancelation of all NON O  and NON O MULTI  Visas

 

and this followed byan ADD ON ..for grandaftherd Visas ( i had a nice add on in 2003)

 

..than everybody must apply with o-a , and everybody need special thai nonsens insurance ( 400k for hosiptal haahha 2 days could cost ou this already and a more stupid OPD w 40k)

 

welcome to thailand.........

 

 

 

Why cancel Non-Os when you can just change the order so Non-O holders also have to get insurance

13 hours ago, SEtonal said:

from PHUKET Immigration Volunteers:

 

Medical Insurance:

If the retirement extension is based on a original Non-OA visa (Issued at the Thai Embassy in your home country) then a medical insurance has to be shown and included in the extension based on retirement.
Please use the following link https://longstay.tgia.org  to get more information about the required health insurance and the accepted health insurance companies.

If the retirement extension is based on a (single entry) Non-O visa or from a conversion from Non-B or a extension based on marriage etc then the health insurance is NOT required for the extension based retirement application.

http://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/retirement/

Great even more confusion... so what if you have a Multi-Entry Non-O Visa (based on being over 50) - Is it counted the same as a Single Entry Non-O or a Multi Entry Non-OA ????

[Yes it is a Non-O, got it in Penang & yes it is Multi Entry, came in & out on it approx 20 times]...

3 hours ago, saengd said:

The possibility of contagion is really important, the fact that only O-X and O-A visa holders are affected at present doesn't mean O visa holders won't be affected later. For a person who is say 70 year old currently, the choice is whether to gamble that O visa's will never be included and to not enrol for health insurance now. If they make the wrong call and O visa's are included later, it may not be possible to enrol for health insurance or if they can, only at a cost that is so high as to be prohibitive. It's kinda scary for many, I'm 70 in four months time and I'm planning on moving to an O visa based on marriage. But what if in three years time they close the net to include everyone, that leaves some of us with only a single choice of a very pricey Pacific Cross policy and precious few options.

 

 

As you're female & considering a Non-O based on marriage, I'm going to assume that you're married to a Thai guy, aren't there other (easier) options for you to stay in Thailand, isn't PR a lot easier for you to get then you'd have none of these Visa concerns?

If you're not married to a Thai guy, is a NON-O based on marriage available to you? I always thought this was only available to spouses of Thai citizens.

Being male & not married, I'm not up on these things, but understand that it easier for a foreign woman married to a Thai guy, than it is for a foreign man married to a Thai lady.

4 minutes ago, saengd said:

I have been told by a large trusted agent that a transfer from an O-A based on retirement, to an O based on marriage, is dooable without leaving the country, exactly why it a transfer based on marriage is not, escapes me.

I think you can only do that where your extension is due (i.e. when your Non-OA Visa/Extension is up you can change the reason for the extension to be on the basis of being married, obviously as long as you meet the criteria ???? ), I don't believe you can transfer mid-year.

1 hour ago, brianj1964 said:

I planned to leave at a land crossing in a year, move to an O visa and I saw no reason why they would ask to see the insurance at the exit point however 2 or 3 people have stated section 4 where they could revoke the original date and replace it with the new date

I think you're getting confused (not difficult given how many threads/posts there are about this).

On leaving Thailand, the IO will not do anything to your original OA Visa / Extension dates, if (s)he's friendly. (s)he may warn you that you need insurance when/if you come back on an OA, but that's it.

Different kettle of fish if your original NON-OA Visa is still valid (I don't know how you would cancel it to get a new Non-O) or if you have a Re-Entry permit (You should have no problems coming back on the terms of that), but if your leaving without a Re-Entry permit and your original Visa is passed it's "Enter By Date" then your permission to stay effectively cancelled on exit and your free to come back on any visa option open to you.

Good Luck, do let us know how you get on.

42 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Consider buying a Thai qualifying insurance that has a large deductible on it. Apparently they are out there now. An insurance broker like AA might help. The deductible will bring the cost down. Your USA insurance would be your defacto one, the Thai one, simply to enable the retirement extension. You may find a policy where the two can work together too.

Thanks for useful feedback. 

In another thread a couple of BMs & @Sheryl have said that Insurance brokers have told them that you cannot have a policy with deductibles, not sure whether this is no deductibles at all or none that would mean your cover would be less than 400k/40K

However, it might be worth talking to your current insurance company to see if you can take deductibles on that & use the savings from that to pay for the Thai one (as you suggest, ideal if the 2 policies will work together & the Thai one would cover the deductibles from the US one). 

I'm sure it will all come out in the wash over the next few months which I know doesn't help the OP & others like him that need to process their extensions soon... 

Good Luck OP, hope you get it sorted with the minimal hassle/cost (TBH given the choice between paying for a) Useless insurance, b) Using an Agent or C) heading to Laos to get a Non-O - I think my preference would go CBA.

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

When issuing a re-entry permit the IO cannot know (unless you tell him) when you plan to return.

So your Visa could still be valid on the day of requesting a re-entry permit, because you plan to come back after it expired.  And for that reason you would want to buy a re-entry permit which keeps your granted permission to stay 'alive'.

The above is not hypothetical, there must be many cases of Visa holders leaving just before the expiry date of their Visa and wanting to keep their permission to stay alive.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I got a multi re-entry permit while my existing Multi Entry Non-O (Retirement) still had 1 month validity but I put the date down I was returning to Thailand as being after the Non-O ME had expired and deliberately did not return before then.

For anybody who's interested in why I did this, I wanted to time my extension to not interfere with a trip to the UK & as I only normally spending 5 days (twice per month) in Thailand I had to juggle it a little so I entered, got the Multi Re-Entry permit, left 5 days later then came back the day after the original ME had expired, left 5 days later then came back a few weeks later when there was 30 days to go on my Re-Entry Permit and extended that permission to stay (IIRC I did my extension on 19th August & my Extension runs to something like 18th September 2020).

1 minute ago, sometimewoodworker said:

I wasn’t suggesting that it was a good strategy or even one that would work. I pointed out the claim of not being able to get a reentry permit while there is a valid multi entry Visa was not correct.

 

There have been reports in the past of people being refused a new visa because there was already an active visa. So do you know how one CAN cancel or void a visa?

I stand corrected, I actually know you can get a multi re-entry permit whilst your current multi re-entry visa is still valid as I did it with my 12 month Multi Non-O (got a re-entry permit to keep my 90 day entry "Live" 1 month before the enter before date) so am living proof that I was wrong ???? 

However, I did ask the question what would happen if I came back before the enter before date, would the IO stamp me in for 90 days from that date (i.e. ignore the Multi Re-entry permit) or stamp me in to the date on the Multi Re-entry permit (i.e. ignore the still valid visa), & the answer was it was at the discretion of the IO, as I wanted the latter, I stayed out of Thailand until the enter before date on my Visa as passed.

So once again, I admit that I was wrong in saying you cannot get a multi re-entry permit while your visa is still "Live"

53 minutes ago, marekm1 said:

Just entered Thailand on my Non – Immigrant Visa "O-A" issued in June this year. Used it before with no problem. I only got 30 days this time. Was told to get insurance, leave Thailand and re-enter again. Now I have two stamps in my passport, one valid to June next year and one 30 days stamp till next month.  I go to emigration office today to register and see what they say.  

Your original permission to stay until June 2020 will have been voided by you leaving the country without a re-entry permit (which you do not need & cannot get as you have a multi-entry visa with the enter before date still in the future).

So effectively you're in-country on a 30 day visa exempt stamp until you can sort it out, keep a close eye on the permission to stay until date as you will be on overstay if you don't sort it out or leave the country before that passes.

I think eventually everybody who's given a 1 year permission to stay & is over 50 will need to have it (Non-OA, Non-O Retirement, Non-O Marriage & even Elite Visas).

Those using 90 day entries will need to prove they have insurance when applying for new VIsas at the embassy

1 minute ago, LivinLOS said:

I cant read it that way.. 

 

Effective from this date.... The following conditions must be met... 

Yep, that's how i read it... Effective 31st October anybody entering on/extending a Non-OA has to have insurance 

On 11/4/2019 at 6:58 PM, IvorLott said:

 

I dislike this kind of topic as it brings out the worst in this forum, usually exposing the users as far more heinous. bitter, losers than the subject matter. In this case, certainly seems to be the case. I'm surprised no one has yet called for his instant deportation, after ten years in prison.

 

I actually feel a little sorry for the bloke. He's really at that sort of 'crossroads' age, possibly spent his earlier years scraping around for a niche in life, only to finally find one in Thailand at totally the wrong time. He's young enough to see out his 3 year ban (?) and hopefully use the time to get qualified, to use what he's learned and then come back and be of some benefit.

For a 7 month overstay, if he'd have turned himself in he would have "Only" got a 1 year ban but as he was apprehended & arrested by Immigration he'll get a 5 year ban...

• Overstayed more than 90 days – 1 year ban from Thailand
• Overstayed more than 1 year – 3 year ban from Thailand
• Overstayed more than 3 years – 5 year ban from Thailand
• Overstayed more than 5 years – 10 year ban from Thailand
• Overstayed less than 1 year but apprehended and arrested – 5 year ban from Thailand
• Overstayed more than one year but apprehended and arrested – 10 year ban from Thailand

If transferring via Transferwise make sure to use "Funds for long term stay in Thailand" (IIRC it's the last option) as the "Reason' for the transfer & it should show up as an international Transfer.

At 53, I'm 75 months from my final salary pension kicking in (though I could take it at 55) so funds to live in Thailand will come from a combination of renting my UK house out, dividend income from my share portfolio & savings that I have in the bank.

Should be enough (I don't need that much) but always have the option of taking up 3-6 month consulting jobs if I need to top it up.

Formally quit my job today, so it had better be enough!!! 

25 minutes ago, BB1958 said:

Used to love Batam in the 90's It is a pretty good retirement option for many.

 

https://www.expat.or.id/info/batam.html

Batam is not a nice place anymore, plus Indonesia isn't the easiest country to get a long term visa for. 

31 minutes ago, rabas said:

4.   In case the permission of stay in the Kingdom exceeds the coverage period of health insurance, an immigration officer shall apply mutatin mutandid to Order of the Immigration Bureau no. 115/2553 dated June 29, 2919 concerning the Amendment of an immigration stamp in a passport and the Order of the Immigration Bureau no. 79/2557 dated April 1, 2014 concerning the Guideline in case of an alien's granted permission of stay in the Kingdom is not meet a visa class or visa exemption.

I take it this section means that Non-OAs will no longer be automatically given a 1-year stamp but will be stamped in for the remainder of their Insurance Policy, e.g. 

1. Arrive in Thailand on 1st November with a Non-OA & an Insurance Policy that starts on 1st November - Get stamped in for 1 year
2. Leave Thailand & re-enter on 1st May with same Non-OA/Insurance - Get stamped in for 6 months

3 minutes ago, nycjoe said:

They have list on what reason you want to transfer your money, recently they added a category that says long term stay in thailand, since using this option I have had no trouble seeing it with the international transfer symbol.

Yes, I used that reason when I transferred s$10,000 SGD on Tuesday and it shows as "International Transfer" on my Bangkok Bank account, all of my previous (4-5) transactions since June/July where I didn't use that reason have showed up as "Interbank Transfer via SMART"

12 minutes ago, PatchinExPat said:

I try very hard from my first visit to Thailand to be polite and respectful of all

the Thai people, I really like them.

 

Actually, I don't know exactly what kind of visa I am on. It says Retirement, so I think that is a type O-A. I don't speak Thai, I have tried. I depend on my wife and her sister to explain things to me, most of the time.

My first Retirement visa was through the help of a lawyer in Bangkok, he handled the paper work for me. So I would go back to him each yr and his staff would get me registered for another yr. He is David Lamb a US/Thai person.

 

I have kept my USA insurance for any long term chronic conditions. And paid out of pocket here. My USA insurance does not cover me out of the country.

My extension based on my original Non-Imm O is also stamped "Retirement" so don't go off that...

I would say that if you got your 1st Visa in Thailand then it is going to be a Non-Imm O as you can only get a Non-OA in your home country or a country where you have citizenship/permanent residency

19 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Personally I would check first whether your office, Prachinburi, is one that interprets the new insurance requirement as being applicable to retirement extensions. Also when is your extension due?

I still feel the court is out on the requirement, but leaning towards guilty (yes). 

At 70 I expect insurance to cost you around 40,000 baht  to 60,000 p.a. but don't jump the gun. There is always the option of leaving Thailand, returning Exempt, and converting to a Non-Imm-O Entry.

I know it's been discussed in many other threads & is pure speculation but I personally cannot see how they won't implement mandatory Health insurance for Non-O (Retirement) extensions as well as the Non-OAs so feel a strategy of converting to one is short lived at best, quite possibly a complete waste of time.

IMHO It's better to get Insurance as early as you can as the cost will only get higher the older you get, in the OP's case it seems that he's already paying for insurance in the US so could put whatever he's saving by ditching that towards getting insurance in Thailand (Seems his preference is to remain in Thailand anyway so another good reason to get insured in-country).

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

I often book my flights to the UK 8 months to a year in advance. I prefer direct so the last few years have used BA to London and then on to Manchester, not the best of airlines but a long way from being the worst. I got offloaded in Qatar a few years back that turned into a nightmare.

They don't really have tickets anymore, at check-in they just enter your passport details and bring up the booking. I put a copy of the reservation from the airline on my phone just in case there is ever a query, but never been necessary.

At the airport just go to a desk, the staff may try and tell you to use the machine but there is little point as you will still need to go to a desk to get the visa checked. Same with the boarding cards, may as well let the desk do it. Good luck.

Don't Eva fly MAN-BKK direct? 

Personally BA via London would be almost (if not) at the back of my list, much prefer:-

• Qatar via Doha
• Emirates via Dubai
• Finnair via Helsinki
• KLM Via Amsterdam
• Turkish AIr via Istanbul 
• Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Munich 

Maybe Air France via CDG would be slightly worse than BA via Heathrow... Nah, I think I'd even prefer to do that

7 minutes ago, transam said:

There's a bloke on here who purports to use 250,000bht a month....????

 

Must have one very posh bird eh...

Lol, there was a survey on here & somebody claimed to be spending > 750,000 per month, I'm sure there are people who spend that sort of money but I don't know how!!!