O/A visa and insurance experience today

[Max69xl]

24 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

When when I did my O/A using the online application in the uk I uploaded my data page from my passport and it was accepted 

If your staying outside the UK and have no permanent address in the UK, no bank account, but still have a passport, do you really think your passport is a "proof of residency"? No way. 

[farangchuma]

Pasport of most countries don't have any proof of residence. For US passport, they advise you to write down the address on the third page with personal data and address using a pencil in case you need to change it in the future.

[brianj1964]

24 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

If your staying outside the UK and have no permanent address in the UK, no bank account, but still have a passport, do you really think your passport is a "proof of residency"? No way. 

I was talking about the initial application for an O/A based on retirement from London, they ask you to upload certain documents in the final page

1. Medical certificate 

2. Police clearance certificate

3. Certified bank statement showing the equivalent of 800,000 TB

4. Signed declaration 

5. Proof of residency, they asked for the data page of my passport 

the application was accepted in 48 hours, that's what the original person asked.

to answer your question about no permanent address or bank account then I don't know, it's what the Embassy in the UK asked for. Isn't that what they class as citizenship?

[brianj1964]

3 hours ago, lkv said:

It says certificate of retirement from Embassy, if you read further (Chrome Translate). Paragraph 5 in the second half of the page. This is non O for over 50 at Savannakhet.

 

Original text: 

 

หนังสือรับรองการเกษียณอายุจากสถานเอกอัครราชทูตของบุคคลที่มีสัญชาตินั้น

 

 

They are probably referring to Pension Statements from the Pension provider, I get them sent annually sortly after my birthday , it shows fund values on the first page

[scubascuba3]

7 hours ago, Max69xl said:

And that cost you how much? 

For the initial 3 months non imm O and 12 month extension it's 21k, the subsequent yearly extensions are 12.5k. The cost is fine if you have better things to do with 800k or don't want to play their monthly transfer game

[saengd]

13 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

For the initial 3 months non imm O and 12 month extension it's 21k, the subsequent yearly extensions are 12.5k. The cost is fine if you have better things to do with 800k or don't want to play their monthly transfer game

That's expensive, I've been quoted 8,500 Baht for the start to finish process by a large agent in the North.

[GeorgeCross]

Being reported on the 'Thai Visa Advise' facebook page that Udon Thani Immigration is now handing out the following document to retirees:

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by GeorgeCross

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, saengd said:

That's expensive, I've been quoted 8,500 Baht for the start to finish process by a large agent in the North.

And that is cheap. Ensure you get an extension that is for the region you live in. 

(And that they do not add in the IO charges as  separate items).

[Olmate]

18 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

And that is cheap. Ensure you get an extension that is for the region you live in. 

(And that they do not add in the IO charges as  separate items).

And supply the 800k? Doubt that!

[Olmate]

44 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

Being reported on the 'Thai Visa Advise' facebook page that Udon Thani Immigration is now handing out the following document to retirees:

 

The terminated is a bit of a worry!

Edited November 27, 2019 by Olmate

[Momofarang]

I am having Australian and French passports, currently using the French for Thai visas and extensions. Are there places, where I could use and agent to do a Non O for marriage without me being physically present? So I could mail my Australian passport with all the paperwork and use my new Non O for reentry at the next trip abroad?

[Peter Denis]

1 hour ago, GeorgeCross said:

Being reported on the 'Thai Visa Advise' facebook page that Udon Thani Immigration is now handing out the following document to retirees:

 

On first glance it looks like a copy of page 8 of the PoliceOrder.

However, apart from some minor changes in the text, there is a real difference.

In the original Police Order it was stated that the OA Visa extension applicant (when meeting all other requirements) will be permitted to stay for the period of insurance coverage.

This has been omitted now, and is replaced by the text that The Health insurance must cover the entire duration of the applicant's stay in Thailand.

Looks like a case of a local IO changing the original Police Order to make it easier for themselves to implement the requirement by aligning the 1 year permission to stay with the period of insurance coverage.

 

[GeorgeCross]

46 minutes ago, Olmate said:

The terminated is a bit of a worry!

 

i assume they mean the permission of stay and not the 'temporary alien'!

 

on a side note.. it doesn't make me feel welcome at all to be classed as an 'alien' with a 'temporary stay' - know your place farang.

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by GeorgeCross

[Momofarang]

8 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

On first glance it looks like a copy of page 8 of the PoliceOrder.

However, apart from some minor changes in the text, there is a real difference.

In the original Police Order it was stated that the OA Visa extension applicant (when meeting all other requirements) will be permitted to stay for the period of insurance coverage.

This has been omitted now, and is replaced by the text that The Health insurance must cover the entire duration of the applicant's stay in Thailand.

Looks like a case of a local IO changing the original Police Order to make it easier for themselves to implement the requirement by aligning the 1 year permission to stay with the period of insurance coverage.

 

Doesn't say "Thai health insurance"

[OJAS]

16 hours ago, Max69xl said:

You can officially have migrated to Thailand and have no residency what so ever in the UK,but you still have the right to have a UK passport. So,how can that be a proof of residency in the UK? 

The litmus test as far as the London Embassy are concerned is that those of us with British passports have the right of abode in the UK. Whether or not we choose to exercise that right in practice is of absolutely no concern to them whatsoever.

Edited November 27, 2019 by OJAS

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, Momofarang said:

Doesn't say "Thai health insurance"

Yes, I overlooked that one, but of course also quite relevant.

The original Police Order stated that you must buy a Thai health-insurance online, ... , via the website longstay.tgia.org.

The text now simply reads is required to have health-insurance.

And the reference to the website longstay.tgia.org has been pasted randomly on left-page.

Looks like the option for foreign health-insurance (with the Certificate stating that it meets the IO requirements) is not ruled out anymore at the Udon Thani IO.

[jackdd]

35 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

On first glance it looks like a copy of page 8 of the PoliceOrder.

However, apart from some minor changes in the text, there is a real difference.

In the original Police Order it was stated that the OA Visa extension applicant (when meeting all other requirements) will be permitted to stay for the period of insurance coverage.

This has been omitted now, and is replaced by the text that The Health insurance must cover the entire duration of the applicant's stay in Thailand.

Looks like a case of a local IO changing the original Police Order to make it easier for themselves to implement the requirement by aligning the 1 year permission to stay with the period of insurance coverage.

The other translation: https://forum.thaivisa.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=624844

Doesn't say "will be permitted to stay for the period of insurance coverage", it says "which covers the length of stay in the Kingdom", so no change here.

 

The only relevant document is the official police order in Thai (which the Udon office can't just change), the translation doesn't have much relevance. But the other translation was better, we can only speculate why Udon uses their own (worse) translation.

Edited November 27, 2019 by jackdd

[OJAS]

16 hours ago, Hayduke said:

 

"Multiple opposite statements? Confusing the issue? Even when educated?" Where does this nonsense come from? It seems that a desire to be hailed as some sort of expert can be obviously more important to some than having a solid grip on the truth. Making up reasons to vent aggression when certain facts are not hailed as holy, universal divine truth, is not only silly...it's dead wrong!

 

By the way....what are these multiple opposite statements? I made a couple of basic, straightforward and factual posts. Simple facts. No editorializing and no conclusions as to current Immigration policy.

 

My Nov10 post > I entered in 2006 on an O-A and have been doing uninterrupted extensions in Bangkok since then.

I did my most recent retirement extension last week (7 Nov) at CW. No one asked about insurance. The extension was approved for the normal one year.

I then obtained a multiple re-entry permit the same day. Again, no one mentioned insurance.

Both procedures were virtually identical to last year.

Other than the long wait...it was a painless day.

 

But it seems to outrage some people who are not prepared to accept anything that doesn't necessarily meet simplistic and preconceived notions of Thai Immigration procedures.

 

Snide, baseless accusations of me 'trolling' this topic are blatantly ridiculous. Just because I related that I was issued an extension on 7 November on a long series of extensions that began with an O-A visa? An experience that someone may have taken as some some sort of threat to their own self-appointed, loudly announced status as 'resident expert' If someone is so determined to be an expert than it might be advisable to be more careful, more perceptive and more analytical when attempting to identify facts

 

It doesn't make sense to be irrationally outraged and take great exception to the fact that I refused to alter my very simple and very factual experience...even after being offered the "education" that was so grandly offered....as well as to provide the 'verification' so arrogantly 'demanded'. It even came as a surprise that I was not offered 'altitude adjustment. 

 

I'm terribly sorry I missed the appointment of the TV Lord High Verification Authority and Supreme Arbiter of Truth. But it's probable that some others have also not yet received this news.

 

In the meantime, with Immigration policies and procedures in a state of flux...maybe we should do a better job of considering news that doesn't necessarily fit a certain mold.

Well said! Unfortunately assertions based mainly on hearsay will no doubt continue to count for far more, in the eyes of the prophets of doom and gloom in this particular thread, than your first-hand report based on actual personal experience.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, saengd said:

That's expensive, I've been quoted 8,500 Baht for the start to finish process by a large agent in the North.

8.5k is probably just to hold your hand and collate your docs. Not the 800k or 90 day reporting, maybe not include initial non imm O

[Exploring Thailand]

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

For the initial 3 months non imm O and 12 month extension it's 21k, the subsequent yearly extensions are 12.5k. The cost is fine if you have better things to do with 800k or don't want to play their monthly transfer game

Which office do you use? I've read some accounts of having to show proof of 400k in the bank at 90-day reports. How is that handled if you use an agent?

[Max69xl]

42 minutes ago, Exploring Thailand said:

Which office do you use? I've read some accounts of having to show proof of 400k in the bank at 90-day reports. How is that handled if you use an agent?

You're not supposed to show any proof of money when doing the 90 days reports. 

[Max69xl]

7 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

For the initial 3 months non imm O and 12 month extension it's 21k, the subsequent yearly extensions are 12.5k. The cost is fine if you have better things to do with 800k or don't want to play their monthly transfer game

I have friends doing the same as you,but they have to do it, they don't meet the financial requirements. I prefer paying 1900 baht/year. 

[Exploring Thailand]

28 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

You're not supposed to show any proof of money when doing the 90 days reports. 

There is a requirement that you keep 400k in your account, but they don't check it all?

[moontang]

3 hours ago, Momofarang said:

Doesn't say "Thai health insurance"

UTH is the best Imm office I have dealt with...but, while I waqs there, I learned NongKhai can be as hard nosed as it gets.

[Canuck50]

My Extension of Stay based on original Non-Imm O-A (from 2012) ends Dec 24. I want to go to Chaengwattana tomorrow (Thursday) to attempt an extension for another year. I already have good insurance bought in Canada so I will not buy the local (inadequate/expensive/unneeded) insurance. Having gone through the many pages here I am not at all clear on how this is really shaking out.

 

1. Is there any consensus and/or recent reports of anyone being either approved or rejected at CW when applying for an extension based on original O-A, without local insurance? 

 

2. Is it a hit and miss thing where it depends on the interpretation and/or mood of the IO you happen to get?

 

3. Is it an evolving policy that is being changed frequently as upper management try to interpret and pass down the policy to the front line IOs?

 

I am trying to get an idea if it is even worth my time and expense to travel there to make the attempt. Any first hand reports welcome. Thanks in advance!

[MeePeeMai]

1.  The consensus is that a an "approved" Thai health insurance policy will be required in your case (for an extension to an O-A entry)

 

2.  No

 

3.  Does'nt seem to be at this point.  It seems pretty consistent at every I.O. so far

 

You might want to consider leaving LOS and applying for a Non-O based on retirement in a neighboring country (lots of info on this in the various threads here).

[GeorgeCross]

4 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

You might want to consider leaving LOS and applying for a Non-O based on retirement in a neighboring country (lots of info on this in the various threads here).

 

May as well try. the worst that can happen is they refuse the extension not invalidate the current one for instance. if it fails can go get the 'O'

 

[kingofthemountain]

49 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

You're not supposed to show any proof of money when doing the 90 days reports. 

In Jomtien you are

 

[Canuck50]

11 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

1.  The consensus is that a an "approved" Thai health insurance policy will be required in your case (for an extension to an O-A entry)

 

2.  No

 

3.  Does'nt seem to be at this point.  It seems pretty consistent at every I.O. so far

 

You might want to consider leaving LOS and applying for a Non-O based on retirement in a neighboring country (lots of info on this in the various threads here).

Yes, I am just surprised that there are not more actual reports of being rejected and one recent report (few days ago) I read where someone was approved with no questions about insurance. I will use the non-O route if I have to but would rather not leave the country during holiday season for that. Do you know if I can leave anytime in advance or do I have to come back in after my existing extension expires on Dec 24?

 

 

[MeePeeMai]

8 minutes ago, Canuck50 said:

Yes, I am just surprised that there are not more actual reports of being rejected and one recent report (few days ago) I read where someone was approved with no questions about insurance. I will use the non-O route if I have to but would rather not leave the country during holiday season for that. Do you know if I can leave anytime in advance or do I have to come back in after my existing extension expires on Dec 24?

 

 

If you don't have a current single or multi re-entry permit then you can leave anytime (at which point your current extension of stay would be terminated).  Otherwise I believe that you would want to go to Immigration (airport?) and ask them to cancel your current re-entry permit (if you have one). 

Edited November 27, 2019 by MeePeeMai