O-A extension with health insurance at Chaengwattana today

[lothda]

To put an end to questions about the insurance starting date: my health insurance started at 0:01 a.m. today. My insurance certificate was accepted without questions. I was told that my new extension period would be until 25 August 2021 - that's all. (It would normally have ended in early September but I wanted to do the extension a few days in advance.) Below the extension stamp is an extra line in Thai, stating the extension has been granted for the insurance period.

Everything else was recently covered in this excellent post:

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1178531-2020-bkk-cw-retirement-extension-trip-report/

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by lothda
Correction.

[KhunBENQ]

3 hours ago, lothda said:

To put an end to questions about the insurance starting date

 

3 hours ago, lothda said:

It would normally have ended in early September

Thanks for the report.

Even if it's not 100% sure that other offices will handle it identical:

I have taken another route (Khon Kaen).

Extension ends on Oct 8, policy starts at Oct 8.

Sometime before that I will visit the office and ask how they handle it.

(maybe even ready with bank letter, copy, copy, copy..)

Can I apply earlier (as in previous years) and get extension until Oct 8, 2021?

Or do I have to go exactly on Oct 8?

I hate the second option but if they insist...

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[Brayka]

Same in Hua Hin, the visa aloud you to stay for the time your health insurance is valued!

[JimGant]

15 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Can I apply earlier (as in previous years) and get extension until Oct 8, 2021?

Or do I have to go exactly on Oct 8?

I hate the second option but if they insist...

When I got my LMG insurance in Aug, I had them post date the policy to begin on my historic extension begin date, 13 Sept. Thus, when I renewed my extension at CM on 19 Aug, my new extension is good through 12 Sept 2021.

 

See post #199 in the following link. It covers this, plus some other facts about extension periods when insurance is involved.

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1141826-chiang-mai-immigration-q-a-info-and-reports-2020/page/14/#comments

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

6 minutes ago, JimGant said:

When I got my LMG insurance in Aug, I had them post date the policy to begin on my historic extension begin date, 13 Sept. Thus, when I renewed my extension at CM on 19 Aug, my new extension is good through 12 Sept 2021.

 

See post #199 in the following link. It covers this, plus some other facts about extension periods when insurance is involved.

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1141826-chiang-mai-immigration-q-a-info-and-reports-2020/page/14/#comments

 

Thanks for the report Jim.

 

This is good news, I will visit my IO ( Ayutthaya) today to determine their requirements for my OA extension which is due September 25th.

Hopefully they will be accommodating and allow me to do my extension sooner rather than later with a LMG insurance policy start date of September 24th .

[Andrew Dwyer]

Just got back from my IO, they had no problems with the insurance starting on the day of extension ( I , of ,course will request insurance starts at midnight ).

They did request a 12 month bank statement ( money in bank method ) and a quick visit to the bank tells me that they need 1 week to “prepare” this.

 

No problemo !!

Luckily the IO is near ( 10 minutes drive ) and the bank a couple of hundred metres away .

[lothda]

4 hours ago, JimGant said:

When I got my LMG insurance in Aug, I had them post date the policy to begin on my historic extension begin date, 13 Sept. Thus, when I renewed my extension at CM on 19 Aug, my new extension is good through 12 Sept 2021.

 

 

 

I wouldn't try this at Chaengwattana.

Edited August 26, 2020 by lothda

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, lothda said:

I wouldn't try this at Chaengwattana.

IMHO they should definitely be regarded as a rogue office in the case of retirement extensions based on original OA visas and the mandatory health insurance requirement.

 

[JimGant]

1 hour ago, lothda said:

I wouldn't try this at Chaengwattana.

Why? And why didn't you ask your insurance company to coincide policy dates with your historic renewal date?

[JimGant]

3 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

and a quick visit to the bank tells me that they need 1 week to “prepare” this.

Is this with Bangkok Bank? That's my bank and, yes, I needed a week's lead time to get the 12- month statement. But some other threads have reported that only Bangkok Bank is the slow poke, and other banks can accommodate with a same day wait awhile.... Just curious.

[Andrew Dwyer]

26 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Is this with Bangkok Bank? That's my bank and, yes, I needed a week's lead time to get the 12- month statement. But some other threads have reported that only Bangkok Bank is the slow poke, and other banks can accommodate with a same day wait awhile.... Just curious.

Yes, Bangkok Bank .

[Peter Denis]

20 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Yes, Bangkok Bank .

Hi Andy,

Tip for next year > Ask your local BKK branch to provide you quarterly or half-yearly with 3-month or 6-month reports, these are free of charge and can be provided on the spot.  As long as there is no 'gap' between these 3 or 6-monthly reports, they will be an alternative for the 12-month report that your local branch cannot produce and needs HQ involvement (up to 5 days waiting and service fee charged).

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, Peter Denis said:

Tip for next year > Ask your local BKK branch to provide you quarterly or half-yearly with 3-month or 6-month reports, these are free of charge and can be provided on the spot.  As long as there is no 'gap' between these 3 or 6-monthly reports, they will be an alternative for the 12-month report that your local branch cannot produce and needs HQ involvement (up to 5 days waiting and service fee charged).

But would immigration accept them. They can ask for ones that have been recently issued.

I considered getting 6 months ones but decided it would be best to wait and get a one year statement. Not worth the risk to save 200 baht IMO.

[Yellowtail]

I have a marriage visa and at Chiang Wattana  and just update my book (fixed account) in the book update machine at the bank there. I always make a deposit using the online app before I update it. 

[Peter Denis]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

But would immigration accept them. They can ask for ones that have been recently issued.

I considered getting 6 months ones but decided it would be best to wait and get a one year statement. Not worth the risk to save 200 baht IMO.

Hi UJ,

The only reason IOs are now requesting the 12-month statement is to have an overview of ALL transactions done on your bank-account during the 12 months preceding your application so that they can check that you never went under the 800K-400K tress-holds during that period.

And they now want this evidence because some banks consolidate the transactions you made during the previous period when you don't regularly update your passbook.

So it's not so much a single 12-month statement they want to see, but rather evidence of ALL your transactions over the past 12 months.  So with overlapping 3- or 6-months statements the very same evidence will be provided. 

But I do agree that some immigration officers might be adamant on a single 12-month statement because they don't understand that the actual purpose is just to check the 800K-400K tress-hold compliance.  So might be prudent to enquire beforehand at the local IO whether they would accept shorter-period bank statements that are either overlapping or do not have any gaps between them.

[dave s]

On 8/26/2020 at 9:58 PM, Peter Denis said:

Hi UJ,

The only reason IOs are now requesting the 12-month statement is to have an overview of ALL transactions done on your bank-account during the 12 months preceding your application so that they can check that you never went under the 800K-400K tress-holds during that period.

And they now want this evidence because some banks consolidate the transactions you made during the previous period when you don't regularly update your passbook.

So it's not so much a single 12-month statement they want to see, but rather evidence of ALL your transactions over the past 12 months.  So with overlapping 3- or 6-months statements the very same evidence will be provided.

 

The problem here seems to be one of printing: your savings passbook may have consolidated transactions, but the bank statement always has all the details. Surely the bank database has all the detailed transactions. The extension requirements are in terms of minimum balances. Suppose the bank letter you need to get contained the following sentences:

    This account had a minimum balance from 360 days ago to 330 days ago of X baht.

    This account had a minimum balance from 330 days ago to 60 days ago of Y baht.

    This account had a minimum balance from 60 days ago until now of Z baht.

Or if you are using the income method:

    The total foreign transfers into this account 12 months ago was X baht.

    The total foreign transfers into this account 11 months ago was Y baht.

    ...

    The total foreign transfers into this account last month was Z baht.

Step back, look at the broader situation, and ask what is actually needed. This is a trivial procedure to add to what the bank clerk can bring up on her screen, and would be a nice addition to what the customer could ask of the bank's electronic app during the year. And you would need to pay for only the bank letter, not waste trees and money printing a huge detailed statement. In other words, an incentive for you to switch banks if your bank doesn't have it, especially if your current bank doesn't track FTTs correctly. Computers are much better at mindless simple arithmetic than people. If the account where you keep your 800K or 400K is also your main bank account, it might have hundreds of transactions over the course of a year, NONE of whose DETAILS are the least bit interesting for extension of stay requirements, and for privacy none of which are any business of the immigration officer to even see. So why should the immigration officer spend a huge amount of time fumbling over them with a calculator -- possibly several times if he keeps making mistakes? 

[Max69xl]

23 hours ago, dave s said:

The problem here seems to be one of printing: your savings passbook may have consolidated transactions, but the bank statement always has all the details. Surely the bank database has all the detailed transactions. The extension requirements are in terms of minimum balances. Suppose the bank letter you need to get contained the following sentences:

    This account had a minimum balance from 360 days ago to 330 days ago of X baht.

    This account had a minimum balance from 330 days ago to 60 days ago of Y baht.

    This account had a minimum balance from 60 days ago until now of Z baht.

Or if you are using the income method:

    The total foreign transfers into this account 12 months ago was X baht.

    The total foreign transfers into this account 11 months ago was Y baht.

    ...

    The total foreign transfers into this account last month was Z baht.

Step back, look at the broader situation, and ask what is actually needed. This is a trivial procedure to add to what the bank clerk can bring up on her screen, and would be a nice addition to what the customer could ask of the bank's electronic app during the year. And you would need to pay for only the bank letter, not waste trees and money printing a huge detailed statement. In other words, an incentive for you to switch banks if your bank doesn't have it, especially if your current bank doesn't track FTTs correctly. Computers are much better at mindless simple arithmetic than people. If the account where you keep your 800K or 400K is also your main bank account, it might have hundreds of transactions over the course of a year, NONE of whose DETAILS are the least bit interesting for extension of stay requirements, and for privacy none of which are any business of the immigration officer to even see. So why should the immigration officer spend a huge amount of time fumbling over them with a calculator -- possibly several times if he keeps making mistakes? 

You'll get a standard 12 months bank statement from your bank. Stamped and signed. There will be no comments from the bank what so ever saying you did not go below the required amounts during the last year. You're overthinking it a bit. So even if it's a lot of transactions, that's what the bank statement will show and what the immigration wants if your bank book isn't updated every month. Some immigration offices might want the bank statement even if the bank book is properly updated, and some are ok with copies of every page for the last 12 months. I did my last extension in May and I used copies of my bank book and it was accepted without a word. The copies cost me 16 baht instead of 400 baht (or even more) the bank wants for a 12 months bank statement.

[lothda]

On 8/26/2020 at 6:24 PM, JimGant said:

Why? And why didn't you ask your insurance company to coincide policy dates with your historic renewal date?

Because several contributors in this forum, including a recent one, stated that they were sent away if they tried to extend before the start of the insurance policy. I could not go on the historic renewal date as it's a Sunday this year. I chose a date that was convenient for me. I didn't mind "losing" a few days.

[Yellowtail]

Would it not be easier to just pay the premiums when they come due such that the insurance doesn't lapse? 

[OJAS]

15 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Would it not be easier to just pay the premiums when they come due such that the insurance doesn't lapse? 

Not sure that even this would guarantee success at rogue offices who are specialists in pedantry like CW, though. I understand than another ridiculous insistence of theirs is that the insurance policy must be viewable on the TGIA website before any retirement extension application based on it can be entertained (with even production of the relevant mandatory certificate cutting no ice). I distinctly recall reports on here of 1 or 2 insurance companies adopting a leisurely attitude towards providing the TGIA with the necessary info for this purpose.

Edited September 2, 2020 by OJAS