6 minutes ago, Pib said:

Each year when you been going to immigration to renew your extension of stay you have been doing it based on retirement.....that is, getting a retirement extension of stay.   You've been doing the same thing as me...I entered on an O-A Visa 11 years ago and each year since I have been renewing my extension of stay based on retirement.  Although I have a Thai wife I've just been going the retirement extension of stay route due to simplicity although the income requirements are higher.

 

Now if I wanted to, I could renew my annual extension of stay "based on marriage" instead of retirement if I desired.  Whether the original visa was a Non-OA or Non-O makes no difference....you can do a marriage extension of stay on either.

 

However for the purposes of "is insurance required or not" it could turn out that even with marriage extension of stay if your visa of Christmas past is an OA then insurance could be required because the underpinning old OA visa may be the factor that solely determines the insurance requirement.   I say that because it seems numerous people have been told that when they contact their local immigration office that if you have a OA visa from Christmas past that you two options that are get a non-O or say goodbye to Thailand.   

 

Now it does "not" mention OA visa in the current marriage extension of stay police order area and I'm hoping it stays that way.   

 

 

I think for this point to hold any water... it'd have to be based on NON O and its sub class... not all other long stay extensions of other classes, just wanted to make that distinction.

2 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

is that for people applying after October 31st? or entering after 31st? i got my O/A today but havent booked a flight yet, I was planning to fly next Tuesday but have not booked tickets yet

Opinions on this vary and the order gets interpreted differently... but for you it doesn't look like it matters does it? Both the visa and your entry on the visa will be before the oct 31st deadline.

5 minutes ago, Elzear said:

Thanks, I see your point. Yet this is what was suggested to me ! I’ll get on to the TE service and check it out. I read about that TM30.. another confusing subject. Cheers

If you're up in the sticks in issan, then you wont be able to get TE to do your 90 day reporting either.

I'd start asking you immigration office if you can do it online and/or via post.

If you're going to pay 1 million thb though (and you cant use the limo/spa/golf rubbish) .. then you can get the 20 yr package for the same price of 1 million... it makes no sense to pay the same for have half the validity if you cannot use the transfers/golf packages/ spas etc...

4 minutes ago, Elzear said:

Yes, there is a 10yr 800k visa. The 1m includes a yearly free medical check up and a bunch of limo transfers. None apply to places in Isaan. The 800k doesn’t include the medical not the limo transfers.

They didn’t mention any TM30. Whazzat anyway ? 

No there is not... you're talking about the elite family alternative membership.... this is for "attaching" a family member to a CORE member... the core member being a fully paid "full" package membership holder... it is not for the individual.

The cheapest 10 year package is the one I quoted above @ 1 million THB.

I suggest you contact TE customer service to explain your options so you have the information you need.

I'm not getting into the TM30... this forum has hundreds of post on it.

1 minute ago, Elzear said:

Thanks all for the response. What I wanted was some sort of feed back from users of that Elite visa before getting one. Although I’ve made up my mind and going for the 10 year option at 800k Thb. I’d still like to read about it from holders of such. I’m told you still have to report every 90 days to say you haven’t left the country. It’s not an issue, but what else ? 

Was not aware of any 10 yr elite visa for 800k... the Privilege Access membership (10 yr) is 1 million.

The services offered for each membership type is on their website... they can do 90 day reporting for you (you must include a valid TM30 for them to do it)

15 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Comparing a NON-OX visa to a OA is about like comparing apples to oranges.

The OX visa allow two 5 year multiple entry visas that allows unlimited 1 year entries.

I suspect the insurance was put in to satisfy those doing the approval do it. There was no discussion at time for insurance for any other visa at that time.

Aware of that.. was pointing out that its not a given that:

"The O retirements got from in country are obviously exempt because of the requirement of 800k in a Thai bank"

Its not "obvious" at all.

1 hour ago, pookondee said:

The O retirements got from in country are obviously exempt because of the

requirement of 800k in a Thai bank

(a benefit to Thailand..again)

and again.. the argument that the financial reqs for an in country extension negate the need for insurance falls apart when you consider that the OX visa (obtained outside the kingdom) requires 3 million in a thai bank with the balance not to drop bellow 1.4 mil AND requires health insurance to the same value as the OA

1 hour ago, Pedrogaz said:

 

It now makes sense....if you are here on marriage or retirement, you need money in the bank or an income. If you are on a non-OA visa from abroad you need nothing in a Thai bank, and so need insurance.

I've said this so many times... the argument that the financial reqs for an in country extension negate the need for insurance falls apart when you consider that the OX visa (obtained outside the kingdom) requires 3 million in a thai bank with the balance not to drop bellow 1.4 mil AND requires health insurance to the same value as the OA

11 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

No the kid supposedly needs airfare and the 20,000 baht immigration overstay fee. So what is that in English money, about 1400?

a little over 800 GBP ... which is what was originally suggested

There are many many people with Elite Visas... you should open another topic with a more relevant heading ... "Thai Immigration Visa" doesn't really explain what your post is about.

3 minutes ago, lupin said:

I am completely lost here... the multi teired pricing, is for government hospitals yes? , I thought this was already being applied (at least in Phucket it is) where foreigners at certain visa classes/levels will pay more than thais... you're saying this is in fact a price drop from what foreigners usually pay at those same government hosptials?

4 minutes ago, lupin said:

Yes. Totally unrelated.

And what you refer to is a MoPH price listing which even at the highest tier is well below what both Thais and foreigners currently pay at government hospitals and have for years. It would actually be a price drop if this were to be applied but it won't be.

or is it that the rates being charged were always higher and that this acts as a "cap" on charges with the highest rate still lower than what they previously "could" have charged?

23 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Yes. Totally unrelated.

And what you refer to is a MoPH price listing which even at the highest tier is well below what both Thais and foreigners currently pay at government hospitals and have for years. It would actually be a price drop if this were to be applied but it won't be.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

I am completely lost here... the multi teired pricing, is for government hospitals yes? , I thought this was already being applied (at least in Phucket it is) where foreigners at certain visa classes/levels will pay more than thais... you're saying this is in fact a price drop from what foreigners usually pay at those same government hosptials?

@Sheryl Interesting side note... do we think a multi tiered pricing structure requiring aliens to pay much higher prices when visiting government hospitals, and introduced at the same time as these insurance requirements, is just a monumental coincidence?

4 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

In my cost estimates around both O-A and Elite, on behalf of an 88 year old relative who may need to join me here, for both I include the cost of real health insurance. But for O-A I have to  also include huge cost for a useless overpriced local  insurance as well. TE comes out way cheaper and that is getting it for only 5 years (due to her age). If I were to do it for myself (which I would do only if insurance requirement is later extended to in country extensions under an O visa) then TE comes out even further ahead.

Agree it is a significant saving if taking one of the stripped down 20 yr plans where the extra services are not required. Half the price year on year than the cheapest 5 year plan at 50k / year

5 hours ago, Caldera said:

No. But whenever you arrive on an elite visa, you get stamped in for one year.

 

As with the 1-year permission to stay based on having a Non-OA visa, they COULD enforce the same health insurance requirement when stamping in an elite visa holder in the future - all it takes is another police order. That was my point, there's no guarantee that this won't happen eventually.

I'm almost positive that would take more than a police order since the PE visas are a subcategory of the tourist visa class.... the regulations already exist for NON O, that's why a police order was all that was needed for the OA announcement since the OA is a subcat or the NON O

4 minutes ago, elviajero said:

"Narrative", 555.

 

The OP also said; "The worst part- they keep your 500k baht! And no visa issued."

 

If you apply for a PE visa and have your application accepted by TE that does not guarantee that you will get the visa and not lose your money. Your application is at risk right up to the point immigration stick the visa in your passport, which is done after you pay; IF you have an undisclosed overstay history.

I agree with all you have just said.... and you have made my point for me.

"If you apply for a PE visa and have your application accepted by TE"

" A friend told me that Elite Visa applications can be rejected " and they keep your money

Anything after application approval and after payment... has nothing to do with Thailand Elite.

Lets both agree that not disclosing an overstay history in any application of any visa is a bloody stupid thing to do and if you lose any paid fees as a result, you probably deserve it.

1 minute ago, elviajero said:

The OP is asking if it's possible to pay the 500K and lose it because of an overstay history. The simple answer is yes, and I've explained how.

No, that's not even close to what the OP asked, you're twisting the original question to fit your narrative.

the OP asked if "Thai Visa APPLICATIONS can be rejected" ..... applications.

1 minute ago, elviajero said:

That is true, but immigration can still deny the visa after you've paid if they find an undisclosed overstay.

Of course... that is true of any visa and has nothing to do with Thailand Elite.

Would you expect to get back your visa application fee for say and OA from your Thai Consulate/Embassy if you we denied entry?

4 hours ago, CrossBones said:

The worst part- they keep your 500k baht! And no visa issued.

 

Utter rubbish, you dont even pay until you are approved

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

That may be the case but I also think that proclaiming that the details of this are fully clear known and definite with any other interpretation is not particularly an ethical thing to be broadcasting either. Saying sorry it can be read different ways at this point and like so many other things with Thai immigration (such as enforcement of combo applications without embassy letters) we are just going to have to deal with WAITING perhaps for a very long time before the ACTUAL enforcement specifics become more clear. 

I agree entirely... which is why they should not have made the video at all

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

So you say, but that lawyer at Integrity is still convinced that this has already been decided to include all applicants applying for extensions (O and O-A) effective October 31. The only thing he's not so sure about seems to be the enforcement specifics starting that date. Of course I along with I imagine most everyone else hopes he's wrong, the party line here is that he's wrong, but I just don't understand how anyone can be entirely confident about what the rulings that have already happened actually mean (including him). 

He's making a BIG jump when his only rationale for it was that the OA is a subcat of NON O... therefore all NON O may be subject to the requirement. I think such a claim in a 10 min video when things ARE NOT CLEAR is extremely irresponsible and a hell of a reach.

6 minutes ago, mokwit said:

I'm beginning to suspect that is a decoy to allow the authorities to say they don't want to push out long stay retirees and this 10yr visa we brought in is proof of this. As an aside, have they ever issued one with those [deliberately?] onerous terms, I mean just one?

you've lost me... but if you're asking have they issued any OX visas? Sure, plenty of those floating around.

Just now, Gweiloman said:

Lets say that the stated goal is to ensure that foreigners don’t skip on any hospital bills for lack of funds.
If I’m not mistaken, O-A is applied outside of Thailand which means that the individual involved does not have funds in Thailand. Thus the need for insurance.
For those retired on Non O, there are 3 categories. Those on monthly income, insurance required as they only transfer in 65k per month which they might or might not spend completely.
2nd group, those on 800/400k. No insurance required as they have minimum 400k in a Thai bank account to cover inpatient treatment. If they draw into that, they would have to reapply for a new Non-O. If they have more than the 400k, they can use their surplus funds.
3rd category on combo method, no idea. Maybe that’s why some Imm offices are trying to phase that out.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

yeah...but that argument of sufficient funds in a thai bank falls apart when you consider that the OX visa (obtained outside the kingdom)  requires 3 mil in thai bank and 1.4 million to remain first year  AND health insurance to the same value as the OA