Pib

A quote from the requirements docs....income/tax related forms/docs that must be provided. No shortage of paperwork requirements for a PR.

https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=1744 Go to above immigration webpage, click Paragraph 3 Required Documents which will pull up a list of documents required in the situation you talk about....you will see Thailand employment and Thai income tax docs are a requirement. The situation you ask about will be on page 3 of the 4 page doc.

Red, Well, waived is probably not the word I should have used, but more like the Thai language requirement carries little weight in the review process and only a very/low level of understanding is needed....especially when you have a Thai spouse. About a year ago when I did some serious googling on the PR requirements I came across several very creditable websites that gave good details and how when you have a Thai spouse the PR hurdles are lowered in some ways. I guess the Thai authorities don't want to disapprove a PR "just because a person can not speak Thai" when a Thai spouse is involved because the Thai spouse has no problem communicating with the foreigner PR applicant and the PR applicant has basically proven he can fit into Thai society by getting to the point in the PR process where an immigration officer(s) wants to ask a few questions in Thai...and even then if needed immigration would help the applicant to understand what is being asked. Over the coming days I see if I can find those website again. But in the interim, I did find the one below where it talks about the Thai language skills needed. https://attorneysinthailand.com/permanent-residence-in-thailand/

No....it's just most farangs living in Thailand are retirees, don't work or make enough "and pay Thai taxes," are not married to a Thai, and/or don't want to pay the high PR fee. Plus if the stars line-up and you are approved for a PR that process can take a year or more which many people do not have the patience for. PR's' are for a niche group just like the various LTR visas.

I assume you want to drop Medicare Part B which has a standard monthly premium of approx $170. Now Part A is free. As you implied Medicare can not be used outside the U.S. except in certain emergency cases. You can signup for and maintain Medicare Part A and B regardless of your U.S. "or foreign address" although as mentioned using Medicare outside the U.S. is a no-go. Merely changing your address to a non-U.S. address will "not" cancel Medicare Part B. You will need to contact SSA for an interview followed by completion of a SSA form. ENSURE you really want to do this because if you want to signup for Part B again in the future there will be a 10% per year premium penalty for lifetime. Example: if dropping out of Part B for 5 years but then reenroll there will be a 50% Part B premium increase for your lifetime. How to Cancel Medicare Part B https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/sign-up/ready-to-sign-up-for-part-a-part-b/how-to-drop-part-a-part-b https://eligibility.com/medicare/part-b/part-b-how-to-disenroll

Yes...just needs to be a Thai spouse...female or male. I expect most of the time the Thai spouse is the wife. This will also usually result in the wavering of the Thai language requirement. It also cuts the PR certificate approval fee in half from approx Bt191K to Bt96K. ........ What is the Cost of a Thailand Permanent Residence Permit? The Thailand Permanent Residence Permit processing fee is 7,600 Thai Baht. If your application is approved, you have to pay another fee for the Permanent Residence Permit Certificate: 95,700 Thai Baht if you applied for Permanent Residency on the basis of marriage to a Thai citizen. 191,400 Thai Baht if you applied for Permanent Residency on the basis of employment, investment, expert, etc.

https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=1744 Clicking on the link of Paragraph 1 at above Immigration website will download an English language doc detailing the various ways to qualify for a PR like employment, relationship with a Thai, etc., While there are ways to qualify via investment/humanitarian/Thai relationship reasons, generally it's going to require having being currently employed in Thailand for at least 3 consecutive years, employment paying a certain amount, paying Thai taxes, etc. See doc at above link.

You need to study-up on the LTR visa as there is no requirement to have Bt 800k in a Thai bank to qualify for or maintain an LTR visa. And there is no application fee if a person fails to qualify for one of the various LTR visa categories. LTR website https://ltr.boi.go.th

You said 800k is flushed relating to an "LTR" visa? Why is 800k flushed with an LTR visa?

Why is 800k flushed?

Where 1FinickyOne talks "....report every 90 days...." he's not referring to annual visa/extension of stay renewal requirement. Instead he referring to the separate 90 address reporting requirement where a person needs to report his current address to immigration every 90 days when staying in the country continuously for 90 or more days. Now if you exit/reenter Thailand before the 90 day address report is due the 90 date clock is reset to zero and no report is due until 90 days. Or said another way every 90 days address report is a separate issue from the one year annual renewal/extension of a 1 year Non immigrant type visa/extension. Now if you have a LTR or SMART visa the address reporting requirement is just every 365 days vs 90 days.

See even the Thai Embassy didn't recommend a Non OA visa. Avoid an OA visa due to the medical insurance requirements. It use to be a good visa up until Oct 2019 when the Thai Immigration started requiring medical insurance for OA visa/extensions. Since that change expats have been rapidly jumping off the Non OA boat onto the Non O boat. LOTS and LOTS of posts on AseanNow over the last few years regarding switching from a Non OA to Non O. Don't get me wrong....nothing wrong with having medical insurance; it's just the Non OA medical insurance requirements make it VERY hard to use anything other that some select "Thai" insurance companies/policies which are expensive with weak coverage in order to initially get a Non OA visa and then do annual OA extensions of stay. Summary: Go with a Non O; avoid the Non OA boat (Titanic).

Amen Brother!!!....especially the first sentence.

Yes there were some changes effective 1 Oct 2022....OA insurance changes which still made it VERY hard to allow the use of foreign insurance (thanks to the Thai insurance mafia) or allowing self-insuring if a person is denied/rejected insurance coverage. And of course various notarizations/certifications by the gods also required if not buying/being rejected from obtaining an acceptable insurance policy. The OA visa/extension medical coverage changes are still pretty much like asking a 75 year old in a wheel chair to run a military basic training obstacle course. See full details in below immigration police order. OA Visa Extension Requirements - 406244182_RTP-Order-No.654-2564-1RevisingClause2.22oforder327-2014 (7).pdf Partial quote from above Immigration Police Order regarding the medical coverage requirement.

As mentioned earlier avoid a Non "OA" visa due to the medical insurance requirement. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad thing to have medical insurance....it's just Thai immigration basically requires a person with a Non OA visa to have very specific medical insurance from a select group of "Thai" insurance companies....the insurance is expensive and the coverage is weak....full of exclusions. Thailand makes it pretty much impossible to use a foreign insurance policy to initially get or extend a Non OA visa. Even though you may have outstanding home country medical insurance that provides worldwide coverage it would not be accepted for annual extensions of your Non OA visa. Up until 2019 the Non OA visa was VERY popular...had been for many years....but the medical insurance requirement that began in 2019 turned it into a visa to avoid. If going with a 1 year type visa go with the Non O visa...no medical insurance required to get the visa or annual extensions. Annual extensions will cost Bt1,900. See the Thai Embassy in Paris webpage at the bottom of this post for details. And if you meet the requirements and want to avoid 1 year extensions consider a 10 year Long Term Resident (LTR) visa....probably the LTR Pensioner visa if you meet the requirements. This LTR visa is really a 5 year plus 5 year visa totaling 10 years...although issued for 10 years you only initially get a 5 year permitted to stay and just before that 5 years is up you apply for an LTR extension to get the remaining 5 years of the 10 year visa. Cost of a 10 year LTR is Bt50K (averages out to Bt5K/year)....no fee for the 2nd 5 year extension. Full details at the BoI LTR website and also the Thai Embassy Paris website. Thai Embassy Paris....Non O over 50 visa http://www.thaiembassy.fr/fr/visa-rdv/les-types-de-visa-et-les-documents-necessaires/visa-non-immigrant-o/ Non-immigrant visa O Non-immigrant visa O

Spot on! During the peak burning period of around Dec-Apr pollution goes way up across most of Thailand....and cities like Chiang Mai and Bangkok really suffer. But there are those in the govt in trying to cover up the true reason that try to blame the big increase during the Dec-Apr on vehicles. Then I ask myself is it because millions of additional vehicles suddenly started running from Dec-Apr and then stop running for the rest of the year OR is it the burning of the fields/forest? And the correct answer is the latter.

Good luck on the application. From one of your earlier posts in appears you have a FEHB "AFSPA" medical policy. If so, their FEHB 2023 Medical Plan Brochure can be found here: https://www.afspa.org/fsbp-forms-library/ https://www.afspa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-RI-72-001-FSBP-Brochure_FINAL.pdf I see when quickly scan thru the brochure it provides coverage outside the U.S. and defines in Section 7 how a person can file a reimbursement claim and/or the medical provider to file the claim. And in other places in the brochure it also talks out-of-network coverage which would include an overseas/non U.S. location. I also appears a plan ID card is provided to you....maybe you get a new one each year in the mail...or maybe you get it online...be sure to include such in your LTR applicaiton. Now since the BoI general requirement is policy must have 10 months remaining on it upon LTR application they are flexible when it comes to polices that don't have end dates like a lot of government-sponsored medical plans which effectively have no end date....automatically renew each enrollment year as long as you are paying the monthly premium typically via automatic deduction from your monthly pension payment.....basically the plan continues until death due you part or you disenroll. If, repeat, if your plan does not reflect a specific annual end date be sure to include some kind of documentation explaining the reason for no specific end date like it's on auto enrollment....renewal is on autopilot. And including a "one" page cover memo where you explain your policy just hitting on any key points like it's a U.S. govt sponsored plan which provides unlimited and worldwide coverage, annual automatic renewal, etc. And be sure to define any acronyms you may use. And if BoI appears to reject the policy without giving any specific reason...asking you to upload a policy providing at least $50K coverage and having at least 10 month left on it (can make you think they didn't even read your first upload) then reupload the same policy but with a new one page memo stating you previously uploaded the policy and it still shows in your LTR online acct, explain once again info on the policy end date like if it's auto-reenrollment, has unlimited coverage, provides worldwide coverage, etc. Sometimes basically resubmitting what you have already submitted passes on the 2nd BoI review. Good luck.

As mentioned by others any office will allow the renewal up to 30 days in advance; some 45 days. And definitely don't wait till the last day/30 Oct to renew your extension as "unexpected stuff can happen" which might prevent the office from being open or you not able to go to the office....or the immigration needs additional paperwork you never had to provide before....etc....etc.....etc. Renew at least a few weeks in advance....you do "not" lose any time off your new extension due date by applying early. Trying to keep 1 of 4 annual 90 address reports in sync with your extension due date would rate low priority in my book. And give the online 90 day reporting system a try....it actually works a LOT better than the previous online system. And for those reports where the online system rejects a report then you can do a report in person. Yea, the latest online system definitely works pretty good in most cases.

Excellent explanation and checklist at below Pattaya City Expats Club webpage regarding going from a Visa Exempt to Non O Retirement within Thailand....at the Pattaya Immigration Office. https://pcec.club/Applying-for-Non-Immigrant-O-Retirement

And just to add to my above post regarding social security medical coverage in Thailand. I found an Oct 2022 email from BoI where they were responding to a question I asked of what did they really mean by: "...social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand...?" BoI's response is partially quoted below....as you will see it's focused towards "Thailand" social security.

Province governors are "appointed" by the Interior Department of the government. These "unelected" appointees are basically yes men to the current government....or said another way, one of the PM's yes men.

Earlier in the l.....o.....n......g thread or similar LTR threads there are some posts where people did use such U.S. sponsored group policies like FEHB to qualify. Initially the BoI was not accepting such excellent coverage policies since they looked different from a typical private individual insurance policies. See my response post above to JackGats for more details.

Your plan is not a social security plan; it's a current/former employer which happens to be U.S. govt agency...see quote below "Social security" is more like U.S. Medicare (not accepted since it only for care within the U.S. except for some very limited emergency care situations when traveling outside the U.S., Thailand social security which any foreigner working in Thailand will probably have, etc. https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/publications-forms/pamphlets/ri75-13.pdf Under FEHB a person has a choice of enrolling with one of dozens upon dozens of different insurance companies under contract with the U.S. govt Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The govt pays part of the monthly premium (the bulk of it) and the beneficiary pays the remaining part....and how much the beneficiary premium is varies depending on what coverage level and coverage area that insurance company provides. Preaching to the choir I know. FEHB has plans which are limited to very specific areas within the U.S., other plans geared to those living outside the U.S., and some plans geared for worldwide coverage. And how each plan handles "out of network" coverage/payment will vary. Probably best to have an FEHB plan that is geared to a person living outside the U.S. like which can be selected at this OPM/FEHB website: https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/compare-plans/ which will even show "in-network" providers within Thailand. If you plan provides worldwide coverage then you are probably good to go. During each annual FEHB open season when a person can change policies/insurance companies a person can receive a standardized brochure which details coverage....the 2nd link below gives an example....it basically like a policy. And each year if the person don't want to change their current plan/insurance company they typically don't have to do anything and they automatically continue enrollment with their current plan, automatic premium payments continue, it's just pretty much on autopilot. Yea, the brochure probably will not talk $50K, $1M, etc., coverage limits like many private insurance policies and that's because they basically have no upper limit...kinda like unlimited coverage....the brochure will just detail a person's deductible, copay, annual catastrophic limit like maybe $3k, etc. Very common for govt sponsored group plans like FEHB which provide excellent coverage. 1. https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/reference-materials/reference/forms-and-brochures/ 2. https://www.carefirst.com/fedhmo/attachments/2023-opm-brochure.pdf Basically what BoI would be looking for in such a policy that does not define upper coverage limits but just defines what the person's copay is were it says it provides coverage in Thailand/worldwide coverage......AND the policy end date has at least 10 months remaining on it OR if the policy does not state a "specific end date" like say 31 Dec 2023 some statement/verbiage in a FEHB/insurance doc that says annual re-enrollment is automatic unless the person disenrolls. There are some posts earlier in this long thread....I think in the Oct to Dec timeframe where applicants with a govt group type policy which didn't define a policy end date that the BoI just required some type of statement/document which said the annual re-enrollment is on autopilot and that's why not end is defined. I think these were posts from U.S. State Dept retirees which had FEHB coverage. Also some who had United Nations group sponsored health insurance. Initially BoI was not accepting such policies but later started accepting them probably after finding out "many" applicants had such policies govt sponsor group policies (outstanding coverage) which can just look different from a typical private individual policy where the focus is on monetary limits per year/disability/incident. BoI is aware of these type of policies BUT you should help BoI by pointing out in the coverage you are indeed currently enrolled via a benefit letter/cover sheet/coverage ID card/etc., annual reenrollment is on autopilot, and it provides coverage for medical treatment in Thailand. Including a one page cover memo where you explain the coverage a little can be very helpful to BoI. And note: a 1 year "Travel" Policy (which FEHB is definitely not) will not hack it as some people have tried using a Travel Policy which don't cover routine type medical care...it's more of a emergency/urgent care treatment policy with lots of fine print/exclusions. I expect FEHB coverage would be fine....others have gotten LTR visas using these types of govt-sponsored group policies. I would think providing the coverage brochure, current enrollment letter/coverage ID card, etc., and a one page memo where you explain the coverage a little, how it's on automatic annual re-enrollment, it provides coverage in Thailand/worldwide, etc., will be acceptable to BoI.

Couldn't say....all I can say is past and current governments have done little to truely attack the big causes of pollution.

The friend would not be able to register for a SSA online account until passing a Login.gov or ID.me identify verification. Login.gov will require a non-expired U.S. drivers license but with ID.me a passport is accepted but I'm not sure if it must be a U.S. passport or any country's passport. And not sure if passing the Login.gov and/or ID.me identity verification test if having a U.S. address is still a requirement to initially create a SSA online acct. A person does "not" need an SSA online acct to apply online. If the person has a non-U.S. address like a Thailand address they can apply without having an SSA online acct. Use this SSA link: https://www.ssa.gov/apply However, the online application would surely be relayed/handed off to the Manila SSA office to initially review and setup a telephone interview "in the case of a non-U.S. citizen in Thailand....and possibly even for a dual Thai-U.S. citizen in Thailand" where Manila is probably going to ask for certain documents like mailing in the original or certified true copies of the person's passport, naturalization certificate, bank direct deposit form, and maybe various other docs. However, if a U.S. citizen by birth and living in Thailand I would just recommend applying online vs via telephone interview with Manila as the application would probably not be referred to Manila for any initial processing/review/contact with the applicant. Each person's application is different and will drive a different level of review/set of documents to be sent to the SSA "especially for a foreign national or dual citizen." And if the person's earnings record does not show at least 40 credits that will be the first thing Manila tells the person after the person inquires about applying for a SSA pension.