1tent42

I think you need some perspective. The future being worse than the past is going to be a tall order. In the last 100 years, the world has endured a world war, The Great Depression, Korean War, the Cold War, near world annihilation from the Cuban Missile crisis, Vietnam War, the energy crisis, ozone hole crisis (remember that one?), the economic implosion of the world’s second largest economy (Japan bubble), the Persian Gulf War, the dot.com crash, Y2K crisis (reading the media made me think we truly were going to be living in caves), The Great Recession, the swine flu, the bird flu, the ebola virus, COVID crisis (the Spanish flu killed off millions!), global warming, and I’m sure I’m miss a bunch of other examples. This doesn’t even list any regional economic, humanitarian and political crisis that regularly occurs even now but barely affects the world but is still painful to regional countries affected e.g: Venezuela; Argentina, Africa etc. There is an ongoing war with Russia! and Ukraine and it looks like the world has barely budged. So given a bird’s eye view, this world has been screwed for centuries and yet here we are afraid of what’s going to happen next when we forget or ignore the many crises that has already happened all around us.

Yes, for a year. It meets minimum coverage for visa purposes. I'll never use this insurance policy. I consider this as a part of the cost of doing business. I have my own insurance that covers me worldwide but isn't accepted by the Thai visa folks.

Thanks for the reply oldcpu. I will miss the income requirement by a few hundred dollars for 2023 tax year (I should have done a Roth rollover). But after having read through the thread, I saw a post with a screenshot where the entry for the income can be specified by dates. I'm assuming that the income can be set for any 12 month period not just for the tax year. I have time since I just got recently issued an OA visa. So I will wait until I have 12 months of pension income and after I have filed my income tax return next year to apply for the LTR WP.

I only submitted the FBI checks.

It was around 6000 baht for the largest deductible. I used AXA and they only had one plan to offer.

Hello folks, I retired early this year so I have not completed one full year retirement yet. If my full year of retirement pension will be in April 2024 (it meets the LTR annual pension requirement), would I be eligible to apply for the LTR WP then? Should I wait until 2025 to apply so the income tax returns would be simpler then? I'm on an OA visa now and is valid until December 2024. But I'd like to get the LTR visa next year to receive the tax exemptions if possible. Thanks!

I suppose Immigration Officers can do what they want and they can probably get away with it. I applied for and was approved for an METV this year. Before I applied for the METV, I have been to Bangkok twice this year on visa exempt, once for 4 days and second for 44 days . In previous years I have been to Thailand a few times for no longer than 1-2 weeks stay. On my first trip on the METV the IO asked me if I was there for tourism and what my plans were on this visit. I replied I am here for tourism and to visit my girlfriend. IO was not happy with my answer but let me in. I stayed for about 50 days before I left Thailand. Two weeks later, on my second visit on the METV, the IO angrily refused me entry stating that I'm intending to stay long term. They referred me to a supervisor who said that I should get an OA visa instead. Mind you, I haven't committed any immigration violation with regards to the METV. I guess the supervisor took pity on me, made me sign a letter stating the purpose of my visit and that I had enough funds and allowed me entry. He said that I needed to get an OA visa on my next visit. I got the OA visa and came back. No issues at immigration.

I just applied for my OA visa last month. My US insurance company would not sign the Foreign Insurance Certificate. They only issue an insurance verification letter. I had to buy a Thai insurance policy to meet the requirement.

Can one just leave Thailand, apply for the marriage visa online and return with the approved e-visa? Wouldn't this be more convenient?