Northwest87

Oops! The BOI lady clearly stated in the interview, talking about tax forms, that for the WP category, most income is acceptable **except** "wages and salary" because (she said a bit later) "we want to make sure you're already retired, so wages, salary, tips cannot be counted". This is all news to me; certainly not there in the requirements as disseminated previously... When I submitted my pay stub as a test by email a few weeks ago, they said they were acceptable, and the requirement for WP is "80K income in the past year", which for me is salary and a few other items as I retire at the end of the year. Anyhow, I'll file the paperwork and find out...

Good deal! At my end, with an uncertain outcome, I'll put in my LTR application in the first or second week of Nov. I plan for around 5 or 6 weeks or processing, by which time either the BOI accepts my insurance as good enough, or my policy will have automatically been renewed (post-12 Dec end of "open season") and I can ping the insurer again to see if it is more amenable to issuing a firm date.

I had exactly the same thinking at one point because I'm in the same situation, except that for me renewal is one year at a time so I already know the expiry date. However, while asking for a letter of coverage recently, I got the distinct impression that the carrier would be loath to put a firm "at least...expiry date" on paper even after January first; they would only certify "continuing", which from what we have seen from other posters may not be good enough for the BOI. I don't know what country your insurance comes from, but if it's the US, run it by your insurance carrier first, simply because waiting may not be worth it if the carrier will not certify a firm expiry date anyway. As others have pointed out, you can always come up with additional docs later if required. NW

This is good thinking. I can show from pay stubs that Uncle Sam pays the bulk of the premium on my health policy, and I pay the smaller portion of it; standard so-called "FEHB" fed employee benefit, and I take it into retirement, at which time my premium comes out of my Feds annuity. It's worth running an explanation by the BOI and see what comes out of it. I don't think it will slow down my application much, from what I have read in this thread, even if I have to come back with the 100K docs. My prognostic is not optimistic; not because I doubt BOI employees ability to figure things out, but simply because as civil servants they are constrained by the "expiry date" thingy case that needs a check mark into it. I too work for the government ????

My understanding is that choosing the 100K requirement in place of proof of medical insurance is not a self-insure situation in which you are compelled to purchase an alternative to what you already have: the 100K is purported to fulfill that need. Once your visa is issued, you don't have to prove continuing medical insurance that fits the BOI definition. I asked the BOI that question and as I mentioned in a previous post, the answer was: However, there is also an option of providing a deposit balance of at least USD 100,000 in a bank account in Thailand or abroad retained for at least 12 months as of the date of application. 2. When you report to immigration bureau annually, you don't need to provide an evidence of your qualification at the moment such as health insurance but if at year 5, we will need to review your qualification again, it will be similar to when you are applying in online form so please prepare all the necessary documents by then. NW

I'm not exactly in a time crunch, and I suppose that if needed I could produce the 100K data as additional info if the need arises. I do not believe however that for the self-insure they ask you to maintain 100K for the duration of the visa: this is not like maintaining 800K THB for the traditional retirement visa (at least that's how I interpret it); only that at the time of the application you had maintained that amount in cash for at least a year. However, at the 5-years check, I suppose you would have to present that info again. NW

Hi all. I'm at the paperwork-gathering stage, and I requested a letter from my Health insurance carrier this week (AFPSA-Aetna). They were very nice and have promptly issued me a very good certificate that under other circumstances would probably do its job (say, with a medical provider or hospital). It includes the date my coverage started a few years back, that it is "continuing", and makes clear mentions of what is covered, that it is covered abroad, and that there is "no dollar limit" on it. As expected, the carrier would not budge on putting an actual expiration or "good 'til" date on it, and for good reasons; they invoked legal of course, and because I'm not locked into the carrier more than a year at a time and have the option to change at the end of each year, I see their point. I have therefore nothing to complain about here, but from reading this thread, and since the BOI paperwork seems to firmly require a start and expiry date, I'm not too optimistic about the insurance policy thingy and I'm thinking about filing both the insurance certificate and the 100K paperwork and be done with it (hopefully). NW

Hey, not too bad. I would have thought much further than that, but it all depends on what you get for this price. I don't know the neighborhood but I worked in Minburi for a while, so I have a general idea.

And thanks here too, much appreciated.

Thanks, much appreciated.

From the docs I have seen, including the initial application pdf (if it's still what we're using), a tax form is one of the allowable docs, but it's not a mandatory one. From a question and test documents I exchanged with BOI last month, pay stubs and official documents stating your annual salary or income are also acceptable. My stubs include my annual salary so that works. The BOI is looking for gross income.

Another question: did the application process change from early September? If I remember correctly, the "APPLICATION FOR QUALIFICATION ENDORSEMENT FOR WEALTHY PENSIONER" fillable PDF file had to be downloaded, filled out, and uploaded with justificative documents in an email. I have the PDF, and I see I have to register an account to apply but I'm not ready yet. Some here have mentioned uploaded documents on a page on the BOI web site. I could use a bit of clarification, as I'll have quite a load of docs to upload and an email format could be useful to supply explanation or a documents breakdown. So, are we still doing the email thing? Also, if it is known, will they take a merged PDF with all docs included? Thanks in advance for the info, NW

True. But when you're standing on that rear platform on the open highway for 25mns, hoping for no brutal braking or large pothole, it sure feels like it... ????

Yes, but if your open enrollment for 2023 is now and you lock it in, Blue Cross might be willing to issue a document. I'm in a similar situation with nov12-dec12 open season. As I understand it, as long as you get your BOI letter of endorsement and you move fast to get your visa issued before the end of February (count 3 weeks to be conservative with the issuance), you can squeak by. The fly on the ointment is to first get the official insurance letter with an expiration date on it.

This is not my main concern. Based on my professional and personal experience in the US however, I have very good reasons to be paranoid with my data, and you should too. It comes down to the principle of giving it sparingly and only when you really need to give it.

Same for me; it renews automatically unless I elect to switch carrier; regardless of whether I switch or not, I remain insured. The problem is, my current carrier does not know until after open season if I will be insured with them or not in 2023. I suspect that they will be unwilling to issue any type of letter until open season is over in the middle of December, when they can be assured I am locked in for the coming year. Those successful with the visa have said on this thread that once issued, the visa's validity is its actual date of renewal 5 years hence and there is no "entry to validate the visa" step. If this is correct this could help those like you who have to deal with the 2-months window while planning to enter the country much later in the year. This is not my case as even if the LTR had only a 3-month validity, it would fit my plans just fine. NW

I received yesterday an answer to a question I emailed near the end of September. They apologized for being extremely busy, which of course we had figured out already, but it is comforting to see that the organization is making a point of taking care of business no matter what. The 5-years renewal question that I had was answered as: When you report to immigration bureau annually, you don't need to provide an evidence of your qualification at the moment such as health insurance but if at year 5, we will need to review your qualification again, it will be similar to when you are applying in online form so please prepare all the necessary documents by then. And regarding medical insurance, The health insurance will need to cover medical expenses in Thailand of at least USD 50,000 with a remaining coverage period of at least 10 months as of the date of the letter of qualification endorsement issuance; or evidence of social security benefits insuring medical expenses in Thailand and yes, the visa can only be approved once all the documents are submitted, that includes the health insurance. Key words are "as of the date of the letter of qualification endorsement issuance". Working for Uncle Sam, I cannot officially renew my insurance coverage for 2023 until the "open season" starting nov 12th, so I assume that my best move would be to apply for the LTR WP early November since the BOI is probably processing slower than planned; then try to get an official letter from my insurance carrier asap (gotta have a $$ amount and a date specified obviously) and hope that things can get wrapped up prior to the end of February, when the Cinderella option ends and everything turns into a pumpkin. I can do the 100K thingy if push comes to shove, but I have data security concerns and I don't like that option. NW

An easy-to-find 3-bedroom bungalow at that price-range in Bangkok, that means you must be in the boondocks of the city.

I'm in the same boat with an AFSPA government-sponsored plan. I wouldn't count on the BOI to count a US-style plan as social security, even with government sponsorship, but I would love to be proven wrong. I have also asked the question to the BOI, but they stopped answering emails, at least for general questions. Please keep us posted if you hear something back. I'll do the same. NW

The LTR social security option is simple: one, you could have a Thai SS account if you ever worked there and maintained it after leaving the job. Two, you come from a country like France where universal medical coverage is provided AND it works abroad; the latter is not a given (e.g. Medicare in the US). If you are covered under one of these two options, you're golden insurance-wise as far as the BOI is concerned. NW

Good idea, I'll check with them. In my case, a validity of 3 months would be sufficient to cover all bases.

No, if your current setup works fine for you. I don't even know why you mention it, unless you are double-checking for arguments in favor of switching.

Hi, did you get any indication of how long the visa is valid, once issued by the consulate; that is, how long you have to enter Thailand with it to "activate" it before it expires? I assume it works like that. NW

If all that is needed at the yearly check-in is an address update, then yabadabadoo! The question of exiting/re-entering the country and thus resetting the yearly checking was asked and positively answered during the BOI seminar, if memory serves.

Thanks for the precisions. It's good news that some of the categories of the visa are popular (I have no doubt that the WFTP is not and cannot, as currently designed), so they will hopefully assign more staff to process applications. NW