Absolute latest from Immigration on Insurance...

[ChouDoufu]

4 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

The difference is your wife is your medical Insurance Policy.

If nothing else, a good Thai wife will take extremely good care of you wellbeing.

 

If, and pure speculation that the medical Insurance requirement was extended to extensions based on retirement to those who entered on a Non O class Visa, then I believe Thailand would see the biggest exodus of retirees ever.

Some wouldn't qualify for the Insurance based on age, current health status or affordability.

Many would just refuse to be exploited to an overpriced policy offering minimum cover.

It would signal the appropriate time to vote with your feet.

not being tied to thailand by owning a business or a wife, i have other options.  some are better, some are worse.  all have good and bad points.  thailand is convenient and interesting and fun.  for now.  but that is changing.

 

it seems she's becoming the clingy, complaining slightly over-the-hill girlfriend/mistress who demands i give up my custom harley and all my riding buddies, and buy a 2nd-hand base model yugo to drive her and her friends to the shopping mall every weekend.  right.  i likes ya, honey, but not that much.

[Martyp]

7 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

How I see it, 29 pages on this thread alone but no real information. It is supposed to be OA visas on or after Oct 31 2019. Otherwise just a lot of empty talk for people who don't know. I'll simply wait until it shakes out and we know more.  

More pages to come . . .

[Andrew Dwyer]

How I see it, 29 pages on this thread alone but no real information. It is supposed to be OA visas on or after Oct 31 2019. Otherwise just a lot of empty talk for people who don't know. I'll simply wait until it shakes out and we know more.  

I see it as :

Officially: Need health insurance if you apply for an OA visa after Oct 31 2019.

Semi official: Need health insurance if you currently on an existing OA visa straddling the Oct 31 2019 date.

Unofficial: Need health insurance if you’re on an extension from an OA visa irrespective of the date when your OA expired and how many extensions you have made.

Only a visit to your local IO will determine which of the above 3 options are being actioned.

We can read the police orders/various TVF threads and argue the points any way we like until we are blue in the face but only a visit to your IO will determine your fate.

Good luck to all !!

[Aforek]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Not needed since everything else states insurance is only needed for OA visas applied for on/or after the 31st and when entering the country.

it's your interpretation; read message 427

me I understand people who were granted OA  visa, no reference of date of entrance, so everybody, that's why I want more precision

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, Aforek said:

it's your interpretation; read message 427

me I understand people who were granted OA  visa, no reference of date of entrance, so everybody, that's why I want more precision

From the memo on the last page of the info for it. Note the effective date and that it mention remarks on the visa in number one.

A entry from a visa issued before the 31st would not have the remarks on it.

 

[patinchis]

I’m worried , as I mentioned earlier in a thread, I entered on my OA issued in london in August,I was chopped in for a year as usual, I intend going away for Xmas out if Thailand and returning in early Jan.....will I be asked for insurance, who knows and what happens if they ask me at entry point for insurance ?......I guess they wouid give me a VE worse case scenario ...but what a waste of time getting the OA in August., I might as well have got a Non O and gone traditional route...jeez!


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[lkv]

13 minutes ago, patinchis said:

guess they wouid give me a VE worse case scenario

I don't think people with a valid visa would qualify for a visa exempt entry / permission of stay.

 

Denial of entry is the worst case (and likely) scenario. Unless one purchases insurance on the spot for the intended duration of stay.

 

Not joking.

Edited October 19, 2019 by lkv

[CharlieH]

14 minutes ago, patinchis said:

I’m worried , as I mentioned earlier in a thread, I entered on my OA issued in london in August,I was chopped in for a year as usual, I intend going away for Xmas out if Thailand and returning in early Jan.....will I be asked for insurance, who knows and what happens if they ask me at entry point for insurance ?......I guess they wouid give me a VE worse case scenario ...but what a waste of time getting the OA in August., I might as well have got a Non O and gone traditional route...jeez!


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

So renewed/extended in August ? which is before the introduction of insurance and issued on that basis, unlikely is my opinion as its a past event.

[JTXR]

I have nothing to add to the discussion on various interpretations of the recent police order about OA visas and health insurance.  I'll wait and see how TI interprets it in practice.

 

I will say this, though, speaking only for myself:  I had a Non-Imm OA visa, but I don't now.  It expired a while ago.  I now have an extension of permission to stay, renewed yearly.  A future requirement by TI that I purchase overpriced, poor quality health cover either to enter Thailand or to renew my extension of permission to stay will be a deal breaker.  I already show TI that I have the financial resources to live well and meet my financial obligations.  Unnecessary, over-priced and sub-standard mandatory health cover is a bridge too far.

Edited October 19, 2019 by JTXR

[Martyp]

1 hour ago, JTXR said:

I have nothing to add to the discussion on various interpretations of the recent police order about OA visas and health insurance.  I'll wait and see how TI interprets it in practice.

 

I will say this, though, speaking only for myself:  I had a Non-Imm OA visa, but I don't now.  It expired a while ago.  I now have an extension of permission to stay, renewed yearly.  A future requirement by TI that I purchase overpriced, poor quality health cover either to enter Thailand or to renew my extension of permission to stay will be a deal breaker.  I already show TI that I have the financial resources to live well and meet my financial obligations.  Unnecessary, over-priced and sub-standard mandatory health cover is a bridge too far.

I don't think you have to buy the Thai insurance offered on the website. The companies have much better value products that can also qualify. Maybe these still won't satisfy some people but they should talk to these insurance companies to see what is available.

 

I'm in the same boat as you. An O-A that expired and now I'm on my 2nd extension of stay. However, I purchased Pacific Cross insurance for this current year. If it turns out that I (we) require insurance for our next extension of stay then I believe I am already covered with a policy I'm happy with.

[domdom]

Hello

 

I do think it is important to get things clarified urgently and to obtain that not only local insurances are admitted but also the foreign ones offering same or better coverage than they are asking for..

In Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon the pannel announcing the health insurance policy has been removed..

A friend coming back from Australia with a re entry permit had a lot of difficulties to register on this flight to BGK because he did not have a proof of insurance.. Again as for the other subjects, every one will handle the matter his own way leading to problems for a lot of us

Have a nice sunday

[LivinLOS]

22 hours ago, GalaxyMan said:

I was wondering the same. My old passport had a couple of stamps for the visa type, started with Non-O, then went to Non-RE.

What is a non-RE ??

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, domdom said:

In Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon the pannel announcing the health insurance policy has been removed..

A friend coming back from Australia with a re entry permit had a lot of difficulties to register on this flight to BGK because he did not have a proof of insurance..

 

Can you translate what exactly you're talking about above...

 

--what "pannel", where?

 

--who was asking your friend to show proof of insurance, where?

 

[nrasmussen]

What is a non-RE ??

That's a visa class noted on an entry stamp. I believe it stands for "re-entry". However, some posters here think that it means "retirement".

[LivinLOS]

Just now, nrasmussen said:

18 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

What is a non-RE ??

That's a visa class noted on an entry stamp. I believe it stands for "re-entry". However, some posters here think that it means "retirement".

There's no non imm RE class. 

 

There's multiple non imm visas.. there's re entry permits for extensions of stay.. etc etc. 

 

[LivinLOS]

1 minute ago, Bobm57 said:

Domdom is not talking about anything at all it turns out that there never really was any insurance fliers posted at Chiangmai immigration related to health insurance at all and that has been verified I verified that myself on Friday morning. No there was a group of TV members a few days ago that were in the forum under this topic who were deliberately trying to spread false rumors and information by literally posting a falsified immigration flier with CM’s template on it! That happened and they were caught! I think this domdom person was part of that if I remember right. This was just one of the posts that you replied to.

I missed this event, and that's the first clarity I have read as I was guessing from hints as people can't discuss moderation. 

 

However Chiang Mai immigration are on video showing the demand for insurance for non imm OA 'visas'. As this is happening in a Thai immigration office, you have to assume they are discussing permissions of stay generated from those OA visas. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Chiang Mai immigration officers were stating that insurance is required, after Oct 31, for OA class. 

 

Not only that, but an Immigration supervisor at BKK CW told a very reliable member here earlier this week that they will start requiring health insurance documentation for all O-A visa-origin extension of stay applications starting Oct. 31... including for the poster who's been on retirement extensions for the past 10+ years since a prior O-A visa.

 

That policy was questioned and repeated several times in succession in that conversation, so there was no misunderstanding about what Immigration is intending to do. That report, BTW, simply mirrors what any number of other outlying Immigration offices have been telling members here lately.

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

We're definitely in the massive confusion zone on this.

The rules are written contrary to some commentators not nearly CLEARLY enough.

They are indeed open to different readings.

We're getting conflicting reports from different offices.

Sure we'll start to get actual experience reports starting next month but I wouldn't expect things to be fully clear for a lot longer than that.

[transam]

7 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Not only that, but an Immigration supervisor at BKK CW told a very reliable member here earlier this week that they will start requiring health insurance documentation for all O-A visa-origin extension of stay applications starting Oct. 31... including for the poster who's been on retirement extensions for the past 10+ years since a prior O-A visa.

 

That policy was questioned and repeated several times in succession in that conversation, so there was no misunderstanding about what Immigration is intending to do. That report, BTW, simply mirrors what any number of other outlying Immigration offices have been telling members here lately.

 

 

 

Perhaps the imm bloke telling a reliable member all that stuff, was just guessing as most gov offices here guess on most stuff, nobody seems to follow what they are told to do by those who control them....

[nrasmussen]

37 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

There's no non imm RE class. 
 
There's multiple non imm visas.. there's re entry permits for extensions of stay.. etc etc. 
 

Sorry, bad wording by me. What I meant to say was that on an entry stamp there is a field "VISACLASS". It is in this field the "Non-RE" is written

 

.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

Perhaps the imm bloke telling a reliable member all that stuff, was just guessing as most gov offices here guess on most stuff, nobody seems to follow what they are told to do by those who control them....

 

Perhaps if you had actually read the post I linked to above, and understood what was said, you would have realized the Immigration supervisor was a woman, not a "bloke."  So obviously, you're not paying very close attention to the details.

 

[Pattaya46]

36 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

There's no non imm RE class.  //

Maybe, but "Non-RE" is clearly what Immigration wrote as "Visa Class" on a stamp on the first page of many new passports, and my understanding is that it means that we got a Non Immigrant visa in the aim of getting retirement extensions.

Edited October 20, 2019 by Pattaya46

[domdom]

Hello

 

To clarify what I said before I was talking about a sheet of paper some members had put on the forum which they said was in Chiang Mai immigration office.. A friend who went friday afternoon told me this sheet of paper was no more there.. But now, reading one comment I come to know finally this sheet of paper had never been there..  which is conforted by this friend who did not see it friday afternoon..

For the flight from NZ, this other friend was coming back with a one way ticket and when he registered they checked his passport due to the one way ticket only and they asked for the insurance.. He also showed his re entry permit.. and after apparently calling one higher rank person they finally registered him on the flight..

Have a nice sunday

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, nrasmussen said:

Sorry, bad wording by me. What I meant to say was that on an entry stamp there is a field "VISACLASS". It is in this field the "Non-RE" is written

It means non immigrant re-entry for a entry from a non immigrant visa or extension of stay using a re-entry permit to keep the permit to stay of it valid.

[transam]

9 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Perhaps if you had actually read the post I linked to above, and understood what was said, you would have realized the Immigration supervisor was a woman, not a "bloke."  So obviously, you're not paying very close attention to the details.

 

Bloke or bird, no difference...Same stuff...

[Martyp]

I recently got a 1 year extension at CW (before the insurance announcement) and I remember that they give you a printed page with the rules to follow (i.e. financial) until your next extension. I recall seeing posts at other offices, earlier in the year, giving out instructions regarding TM30s and coming back to verify that the 800k was still in the bank account 3 months later. The point being that people should start to see these instructions on the document being handed out at CW when you get your instructions. What those instructions say will be a clue as to the policy going forward. We may have to wait until Oct 31 or maybe will start to see them earlier than that.

[nrasmussen]

Maybe, but "Non-RE" is clearly what Immigration wrote as "Visa Class" on a stamp on the first page of many new passports, and my understanding is that it means that we got a Non Immigrant visa in the aim of getting retirement extensions.

I wish that someone on an extension of permission to stay not based on retirement, and that entered with a re-entry permit, would tell us what is written in the VISACLASS field of the entry stamp.

[nrasmussen]

It means non immigrant re-entry for a entry from a non immigrant visa or extension of stay using a re-entry permit to keep the permit to stay of it valid.

Thank you! That has always been my understanding too. We just have some posters here that think it stands for "retirement".

 

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, nrasmussen said:

I wish that someone on an extension of permission to stay not based on retirement, and that entered with a re-entry permit, would tell us what is written in the VISACLASS field of the entry stamp.

Any entry using a re-entry permit that was issued for a non immigrant visa entry or an extension of it will show non-re.

If one for a tourist visa it will have TR-RE

[GalaxyMan]

1 hour ago, LivinLOS said:

What is a non-RE ??

No idea. I've often wondered.