O-A Visa issued Pre 31st October Confusions

[bangkok 2016]

Good Morning All,

                                Our brief background/history. My wife and I, both 60 years old have been coming to Thailand for the last 10 years and stay 5 months ( Mid October to Mid March) maximum, so my wife can escape the winters back in UK as she suffers quite badly from Arthritis . Initially we got by on Tourist visa and the last 3 years we came on METV which served our purpose but last year an IO did question me a lot in regards to whether I was working here or not. After seeing the physical Arthritic condition on my wife's hands he let us in and on that basis we opted to apply for an O-A visa this year but still only wanting to spend 5 months here with the freedom to visit other surrounding countries. 

                                We have been granted an O-A visa on 11/10/19 and valid until 10/10/20, entered Thailand on 23/10 /19 and stamped in for 1 year. We were hoping to get 2 years out of it by Re-entering Thailand before 10/10/20 but considering the present climate this may not be possible. So these are the questions I am hoping to get some advice or answers to.

 

1) We were initially going to go to one of the neighbouring countries for a short break before the 90 day report and thus avoiding the Immigration altogether and the TM30 issue but I guess this is not a good idea as we will need Health Insurance on Re-entry is this correct?.

2) If we do our 1st 90 day report in Bangkok my understanding from other members is that it has to be  done in person the first time and can't be done online or a mobile app. My landlord has done a TM30  and gave us a screenshot of the confirmation which shows our names,passport numbers,TM6       number, condo address and the arrival date. Apart from filling the TM47 do we need to take anything else with us?.

 

                                Also on a final note I guess there is no point in thinking about our Re-entry before 10/10/20 may as well see how all this Health Insurance saga plays out. I suppose the worst case scenario to spend five months and have the freedom of travelling to other countries is to go for an O visa plus a couple of Tourist Visa Exemption or revert back to METV  but we would be concerned if could not get back in on Tourist Visa  as my wife's injections for her condition would be in the fridge in the condo amongst other things.I would appreciate if anyone has other any suggestions.

                                Thanking everyone in advance.

 

          Kind Regards. 

[ubonjoe]

1. Not correct.

    There is no requirement to show insurance when entering the country with a OA visa issued prior to October 31st. There were reports of people incorrectly being given a 30 day visa exempt entry due to not having insurance but that been fixed.

2. Nothing more that a completed TM47 form.

You can still get 2 years of total stay from the OA visas you have.

  

[NancyL]

Would it be helpful for them to re-enter the country through an airport more friendly than BKK?  For example, to my knowledge, there haven't been any reports of anyone with an O-A issued before 31 Oct 2019 being given a 30 day visa exempt stamp instead of a 365 day stamp because they don't have health insurance at the Chiang Mai airport.

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Would it be helpful for them to re-enter the country through an airport more friendly than BKK? 

They are the one that have corrected the error on at least one stamp and the member that got it done was there was told a meeting on the 7th with the conclusion that they were incorrect.

[bangkok 2016]

Thanks for the clarification to my questions Ubonjoe. So that I am not misunderstanding your final point that we can get 2 years out the current visa. Hypothetically if we entered Thailand on 05/10/20 we would be entering on the current visa and we not require a Health Insurance as this visa issued pre 31st October 2019 and would still be stamped in for 1 year again to October 2021 is this correct. Would we then need to buy a Re-entry permit if we visited a neighbouring country to keep that 1 year permission active and if so is it best to get the permit from immigration or the Airport.

Sorry to ask so many questions but I am finding these rules quite confusing. Thanking you in advance for any information.

Kind Regards.   

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, bangkok 2016 said:

is this correct.

Yes it is.

[bangkok 2016]

Once again thank you Ubonjoe but can you please just clarify about the Re-enter Permit. 

[ubonjoe]

12 hours ago, bangkok 2016 said:

Once again thank you Ubonjoe but can you please just clarify about the Re-enter Permit. 

You would need the re-entry permit to keep your last one year entry valid when you enter the country after your visa expires.

You can apply for a single (1000 baht) or multiple (3800 baht) permit at a immigration and some airports.

The re-entry permit will valid to the date your permit to stay from the last entry ends and you would be stamped into the country to that day.

[owenm]

#bangkok 2016

 

The OP queried about his wife's injections she is bringing for her RA.. I am 61 and take Humira injections here also for my chronic RA.. Back in Oz I required it fortnightly, but over the past 4 yrs here have found with the warmer climate I only need it monthly.. Keep at 2-6C and don't allow to freeze.. I hope you have sorted storage issues from your long UK flight to keep within temp..

 

I need to replenish my supplies every 8 mths on my return to Oz.. From the time I leave house in Melb, then 3 hr check-in, 9 hr flight, 2 hrs clearing Imm in BKK to my place here = 16hrs, to maintain correct temp. storage 2-6C, and longer from LHR I'm sure.. I can offer further advice if you PM me if your require it.. 

[Snow Leopard]

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

1. Not correct.

    There is no requirement to show insurance when entering the country with a OA visa issued prior to October 31st. There were reports of people incorrectly being given a 30 day visa exempt entry due to not having insurance but that been fixed.

2. Nothing more that a completed TM47 form.

You can still get 2 years of total stay from the OA visas you have.

  

Joe i was questioned and asked for insurance last week on entering at BKK. My visa was issued on the 30th of July 2019, A bit of a song and dance really but they eventually let me in. The stupid thing was that i do have insurance but the card and policy was in my checked luggage with some other papers. 

 

I need to renew my insurance before the 1st of January 2020. Will Thai Immigration allow a 12 month travel insurance policy issued in my home country with a multi-entry OA visa?

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

Joe i was questioned and asked for insurance last week on entering at BKK. My visa was issued on the 30th of July 2019, A bit of a song and dance really but they eventually let me in.

Probably a officer that was not aware of the rules. Nothing to worry about as you can see since you  got a new one year entry.

 

10 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

I need to renew my insurance before the 1st of January 2020. Will Thai Immigration allow a 12 month travel insurance policy issued in my home country with a multi-entry OA visa?

Not unless it meets the requirements and travel insurance would probably not be accepted if it did.

[bangkok 2016]

Once again thank you for the clarification on the matter of Re-entry permit Ubonjoe as always your input is much appreciated by myself and other members of the forum. 

Owenm I will personally message you later today in regards to the storage of the Humira injections. 

Kind Regards. 

[Peter Denis]

On 11/18/2019 at 5:58 AM, ubonjoe said:

1. Not correct.

    There is no requirement to show insurance when entering the country with a OA visa issued prior to October 31st. There were reports of people incorrectly being given a 30 day visa exempt entry due to not having insurance but that been fixed.

2. Nothing more that a completed TM47 form.

You can still get 2 years of total stay from the OA visas you have.

As always, UbonJoe is fully correct in all his responses.

But just wanted to make one small remark re 2.

> On advice of UbonJoe I did my very first 90-day report in person.  And will from now on file the 90-day reports on-line as the Sisaket provincial IO is 7o km from where I live.

That first 90-day report was a piece of cake.  But the very friendly Immigration official that handled my 90-day report - to my surprise, as it is not needed for 90-day reports - did ask whether I had filed a TM30.  I had done it just the night before and showed him the screenshot of the entry in the IO TM30 website.

Maybe he queried me about TM30 because it was my very first 90-day report, because normally it is not needed and it is not even foreseen when doing 90-day reports on-line.

But in order not to be taken by surprise better also bring the TM30 screenshot along with that very first TM47 90-day report you will be doing.

 

[Peter Denis]

3 hours ago, Snow Leopard said:

Joe i was questioned and asked for insurance last week on entering at BKK. My visa was issued on the 30th of July 2019, A bit of a song and dance really but they eventually let me in. The stupid thing was that i do have insurance but the card and policy was in my checked luggage with some other papers. 

 

I need to renew my insurance before the 1st of January 2020. Will Thai Immigration allow a 12 month travel insurance policy issued in my home country with a multi-entry OA visa?

HI Snow Leopard,

When your OA Visa was issued July 30, 2019 that implies it is valid till July 29, 2020.

When you entered last week you were stamped in for a full year till mid November 2020.

When you leave Thailand and re-enter just before your OA Visa validity expires, you can squeeze out almost 2 years from that original OA Visa, i.e. till end July 2021.

During that full 2-year period you do NOT need to have thai-approved health-insurance, and can freely exit/re-enter the country (but you would need a re-entry permit when re-entering after July 29, 2020 in order to keep your granted permission to stay alive).

Once you apply for an extension of stay (early July 2021 when you timed it optimal) you MIGHT be required to have thai-approved health-insurance.  The situation is not clear at the moment, whether it is needed for extension of stay based on an original OA Visa issued before Oct 31, 2019 or whether holders of such Visa will be grandfathered.

But that's 1.5 year from now, so by then the situation will hopefully have been clarified ????

 

Re the foreign issued travel-insurance you have, and which expires Jan 1, 2020.

It is up to you whether you think it useful to renew, change or even cancel. 

Obviously, it is a good idea to have insurance while in Thailand  in case something happens.

But it is as good as certain that your travel-insurance will NOT qualify as thai-approved health-insurance once you apply for an extension of stay in 1.5 years.

 

[Snow Leopard]

12 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

HI Snow Leopard,

When your OA Visa was issued July 30, 2019 that implies it is valid till July 29, 2020.

When you entered last week you were stamped in for a full year till mid November 2020.

When you leave Thailand and re-enter just before your OA Visa validity expires, you can squeeze out almost 2 years from that original OA Visa, i.e. till end July 2021.

During that full 2-year period you do NOT need to have thai-approved health-insurance, and can freely exit/re-enter the country (but you would need a re-entry permit when re-entering after July 29, 2020 in order to keep your granted permission to stay alive).

Once you apply for an extension of stay (early July 2021 when you timed it optimal) you MIGHT be required to have thai-approved health-insurance.  The situation is not clear at the moment, whether it is needed for extension of stay based on an original OA Visa issued before Oct 31, 2019 or whether holders of such Visa will be grandfathered.

But that's 1.5 year from now, so by then the situation will hopefully have been clarified ????

 

Re the foreign issued travel-insurance you have, and which expires Jan 1, 2020.

It is up to you whether you think it useful to renew, change or even cancel. 

Obviously, it is a good idea to have insurance while in Thailand  in case something happens.

But it is as good as certain that your travel-insurance will NOT qualify as thai-approved health-insurance once you apply for an extension of stay in 1.5 years.

 

Thanks Peter. I have had a look at the various health insurance plans for non O&A. To be on the safe side i will probably go ahead and get a policy anyway. The cheapest one i can see for my age bracket is around 35K THB. I will need some kind of medical insurance anyway. May as well get one that's approved.

[Peter Denis]

17 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

Thanks Peter. I have had a look at the various health insurance plans for non O&A. To be on the safe side i will probably go ahead and get a policy anyway. The cheapest one i can see for my age bracket is around 35K THB. I will need some kind of medical insurance anyway. May as well get one that's approved.

Yes, in case you are not covered sufficiently by your foreign insurance, and are therefore considering also taking a policy in Thailand it would be wise to go for a thai-approved health insurance policy that issues the CERTIFICATE which is needed for your extension of stay based on an OA Visa.

In another thread @Sherylhas posted a cheat-sheet which is regularly updated and covers all thai-approved insurance policies that issue the needed certificate.

[Peter Denis]

57 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

Thanks Peter. I have had a look at the various health insurance plans for non O&A. To be on the safe side i will probably go ahead and get a policy anyway. The cheapest one i can see for my age bracket is around 35K THB. I will need some kind of medical insurance anyway. May as well get one that's approved.

It's recommended to have health-insurance, even though it's not needed before you have to extend your permission of stay from the OA Visa (in your case in 1.5 year when timed right).

And of course if you do want to supplement your present insurance with thai insurance, then it makes much sense to look for a policy that provides you with the CERTIFICATE required by IO when it is extension-time of your OA Visa.  Other policies simply don't qualify for IO approval.

Unfortunately, at least at this moment, the choice is rather limited and the specifically created policies to meet the OA Visa requirement are ridiculously expensive for the coverage they offer.  There are only a couple that are worth considering, so if you want to go that road do check the thread with the cheat-sheet of all thai-approved policies which is being updated regularly by @Sheryl

[Sheryl]

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1129628-oam-visa-insurance-options/