No hope for Non O based on retirement.

[NoshowJones]

27 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

They are now applying income as well as insurance requirements to NonOA! Again the Insurance companies are dictating immigration policy insisting on their pound of flesh as the price of entry. Not sure how many NonO retirement holders are outside Thailand but a very large sum of premiums must be at large.

I would not trust any of the insurance companies any more than I would trust the unelected "PM" and his soldiers.

Just like "PM" Cha Cha, the insurance companies as you say will always insist on their pound of flesh.

[Peter Denis]

2 hours ago, mlkik said:

You dont need hope if you have a O-A you just apply for your COE and book your flight and ASQ ,get your insurance , have your covid test and go to Thailand.

It seems the cheapo way is the way to go  555

The problem you are faced with is twofold.

1 - Your current Non Imm O Visa based extension and permission to stay is based on retirement and not on  being married to a Thai national;

2 - The Re-Entry Permit which keeps your permission to stay from that Non Imm O retirement extension alive, is actually blocking you from applying for the Non Imm O-A Visa.

When your permission to stay expires you will be able to apply for either

- a 90-day SingleEntry Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage (if you are married to a Thai national) OR

- a 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa

Note: The London Embassy might provide leniency to apply already BEFORE your current permission to stay has expired (the Re-Entry Permit being your stumbling block), when your flight to Thailand is after that permission to stay date.

[Peter Denis]

6 hours ago, OJAS said:

...

Otherwise your best bet IMHO would be to apply for a single-entry tourist visa in due course, which you could subsequently convert to a non-O visa at your local immigration office back in Thailand before hitting the annual retirement extension of stay trail once again.

You should definitely avoid a fresh non-OA visa like the plague in view of the ridiculously nonsensical health insurance requirement which has now been imposed on all those using this particular visa type to enter Thailand.

I strongly disagree with that advice.

Meeting the mandatory health-insurance requirement when applying for the Non Imm O-A Visa in your home-country is not difficult nor expensive (if you know how).

I would actually RECOMMEND that Visa to anyone over 50 years of age, as it will provide you with almost 2 years of IO hassle-free stay in Thailand.

>> PM me if you need info on how to meet that Non Imm O-A mandatory health-insurance requirement.

 

Note: You should not confuse this Non Imm O-A health-insurance with the additional covid-19 insurance that is now mandatory for everyone entering Thailand.

To meet the covid-19 insurance requirement it is recommended to check out the options, as the Thai insurance options are - as usual - ridiculous low value compared with e.g. the covid-19 inclusive travel-insurance package that SafetyWings offers.

[Pedrogaz]

I have been here for 12 years on a Non O visa with annual extensions.

I decided to sit the virus out here in Thailand.

I surmised a few months ago that if I left the country I would never get back in. Does anyone know of there will be a problem getting another extension next year under current rules?

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Does anyone know of there will be a problem getting another extension next year under current rules?

I can see not reason for it to be a problem next year.

[from the home of CC]

19 hours ago, Pottinger said:

If you didn't know it already, this makes pretty clear just what present Thai authorities think of their responsibilities towards retirees with 'Non-O' visas and extensions, bought in good faith.

responsibilities? I believe the primary one is to protect their own people, no?

[connda]

19 hours ago, Pottinger said:

If you didn't know it already, this makes pretty clear just what present Thai authorities think of their responsibilities towards retirees with 'Non-O' visas and extensions, bought in good faith.

How many guys got locked out with retirement funds and assets like condos, houses, cars, etc still in Thailand?  And now can't reenter.  If I was retired and not married I'd be looking elsewhere.  Retirees are at the bottom of the barrel.  And those guys like myself married to a Thai are just one step above.

[Jim P]

17 hours ago, EricTh said:

Why the discrimination against O retirement visa holders? Why is one group of retiree allowed but not the other group of retiree?

 

I think almost everyone who was on O-A have changed to O visa last year. Now they want us to change back?

And why the discrimination against Non O-A visas needing insurance and Non O not needing it? Maybe after this crisis it will now become a requirement for both visas.

[stouricks]

18 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I can see not reason for it to be a problem next year.

That is until the 'current rules' are changed.

[ubonjoe]

31 minutes ago, stouricks said:

That is until the 'current rules' are changed.

I don't think the current rules will change.

[Pattaya46]

50 minutes ago, stouricks said:

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I can see not reason for it to be a problem next year.

That is until the 'current rules' are changed.

Non-O Extension rules for Retirement nearly not changed in last 15-20 years.

Only change I remember was last year for the duration of the 800k seasoning.

 

Edit: And of course they added the new "monthly income" method the year before, for countries whose embassy stopped to provide income letters.

[stouricks]

2 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Non-O Extension rules for Retirement nearly not changed in last 15-20 years.

Only change I remember was last year for the duration of the 800k seasoning.

But it WAS a change. Next one will be...................

[Nichada Nick]

I have a valid Retirement extension based upon marriage to a Thai, and a valid reentry permit, but have been locked down in Lagos, Nigeria since March, and just received my COE from the Royal Thai Embassy in Abuja last week. I am flying  home to Bangkok, and to my family next week on Emirates via Dubai, and look forward to reuniting with them after my two weeks quarantine vacation at a Bangkok Riverside Hotel. If I can assist any other guys with retirement extensions based on marriage who are still locked out, please get in touch, I will be happy to provide whatever information I have. Big shout out to the Royal Thai Embassy and Consular team in Abuja who provided me with a truly amazing service, many thanks.  

[ExpatOilWorker]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

I strongly disagree with that advice.

Meeting the mandatory health-insurance requirement when applying for the Non Imm O-A Visa in your home-country is not difficult nor expensive (if you know how).

I would actually RECOMMEND that Visa to anyone over 50 years of age, as it will provide you with almost 2 years of IO hassle-free stay in Thailand.

>> PM me if you need info on how to meet that Non Imm O-A mandatory health-insurance requirement.

 

Note: You should not confuse this Non Imm O-A health-insurance with the additional covid-19 insurance that is now mandatory for everyone entering Thailand.

To meet the covid-19 insurance requirement it is recommended to check out the options, as the Thai insurance options are - as usual - ridiculous low value compared with e.g. the covid-19 inclusive travel-insurance package that SafetyWings offers.

Is it possible for a 75+ years old to obtain the O-A and/or Covid health insurance?

[Peter Denis]

2 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Is it possible for a 75+ years old to obtain the O-A and/or Covid health insurance?

Re the Non Imm O-A mandatory insurance > Afaik none of the TGIA-associated insurers will provide you with a Non Imm O-A compliant policy when you are OVER 75 years of age.

But if you have foreign/international insurance that meets the 400K/40K in/out-patient coverage and your insurer is willing to sign the FIC-document, that would be an option

 

Re the covid-19 insurance > There is no age limit for the specific covid-19 insurance policies offered by TGIA.  But the much better value SafetyWings travel-insurance policy is only available for up to 69 years of age.

[Sheryl]

5 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

The insurance requirement is impossible for anyone older than 75 years, or is there a work around?

 

I assume you mean for an O-A visa? As the COVID insurance requirement is no problem age wise, easy to get at any age.

 

The only work around for the insurance requirement fo O-A if you are past the age at which Thai companies will insure (and yes, that is 75) is that you can use an international policy for the initial issuance of the visa. However you will nto be able to use it for in-country extension so will run straight into the same problem unless you are able to return to your home country and get another O-A visa.

[Sheryl]

16 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Is it possible for a 75+ years old to obtain the O-A and/or Covid health insurance?

Yes but to meet the O-A insurance requirement (which is a separate thing from the COVID insurance requirement, though in some cases the same insurance policy may serve both purposes) you will have to get an internationally issued policy as the Thai based ones don't newly enroll past age 75.

 

You will not be able to use the international policy for an in-country extension, though. So would have to plan on returning to your country every 2 years (approximately) for a new O-A visa.

 

 

[OJAS]

7 hours ago, Sheryl said:

His problem is not getting a visa (sounds like he already has one or a valid re-entry permit, and visa type is already O).

 

His problem is being allowed to enter Thailand under COVID restrictions. Currently O visa holders (inc those on re-entry permit for an extension of stay issued based on an original O visa) cannot get the necessary certification to enter Thailand unless married to  Thai.

As stated in his OP he has a current "non-O extension" (not visa as such) plus re-entry permit. IMHO the practicalities of what would happen if the extension and re-entry permit were to expire before he was in a position to obtain the necessary certification to re-enter Thailand should be his primary concern.

 

2 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

I strongly disagree with that advice.

Meeting the mandatory health-insurance requirement when applying for the Non Imm O-A Visa in your home-country is not difficult nor expensive (if you know how).

I would actually RECOMMEND that Visa to anyone over 50 years of age, as it will provide you with almost 2 years of IO hassle-free stay in Thailand.

Well good luck then with finding a suitable insurer in your home country who was prepared to sign a foreign insurance certificate confirming that their policy accorded with a Thai Cabinet Resolution dated 2 April 2019, which they would almost certainly have never heard of!

 

https://longstay.tgia.org/document/overseas_insurance_certificate.pdf

 

And if you were to apply directly to an approved TGIA insurer in Thailand, you would then, as I see things, be faced with a classic Catch-22 situation. A standard condition for the relevant TGIA-approved policies is, I gather, that the policyholder should currently be resident in Thailand for at least 180 days a year. And in order to comply with this residency requirement you would, of course, need to have already obtained a - guess what - non-OA visa!

 

[Sheryl]

5 hours ago, JusticeGB said:

Thailand is not permitting people from high risk covid19 countries coming to Thailand even if they are covid19 free. 

 

Not true.It is only for the new Special Tourist Visa that there is any difference based on country.

 

People in the other categories allowed in (married to a Thia, O-A/O-X retirement visa, medical tourist etc) can come from any country.

[The Theory]

I came back by one of the last flights, LAX-TAIPEI-BKK. I was asked by the airline check in if I had any recent international travel. If I had, they would not let me to check in. My sister was wondering why I was rushing to go back. She understands now why I had a bad feeling about it. 
now, I don't have to go through too much mentally and emotionally more than financially.  Perhaps some of those guys while they were out of Thailand needed to think of situation of this type before it was already late. 

[The Theory]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

People in the other categories allowed in (married to a Thia, O-A/O-X retirement visa, medical tourist etc) can come from any country.

Is health insurance already required by immigration law for all those type of visas ? 
 

[Sheryl]

6 minutes ago, The Theory said:

Is health insurance already required by immigration law for those type of visas ? 
because non-O is not. I assume this could be the reason that non-o is not allowed to enter at least for now.

It is required for O-A and O-X but I very, very much doubt that has anything to do with no provision for O to enter. Especially since people with O visas who are married to Thais can enter, and anyway there is a blanket COVID insurance requirement for everyone.

[Sheryl]

12 minutes ago, The Theory said:

I came back by one of the last flights, LAX-TAIPEI-BKK. I was asked by the airline check in if I had any recent international travel. If I had, they would not let me to check in. My sister was wondering why I was rushing to go back. She understands now why I had a bad feeling about it. 
now, I don't have to go through too much mentally and emotionally more than financially.  Perhaps some of those guys while they were out of Thailand needed to think of situation of this type before it was already late. 

 

Like you, I was out of the country and like you I rushed back, forfeiting over a  months rent on a serviced apartment to do so and making it across the border 48 hours before it slammed shut. This after several days of nail-biting tension and constantly monitoring the news. Thank goodness I did, I never imagined then that the borders would stay closed as long as they have.

 

But some people simply didn't pay close enough attention in time, or perhaps could not mobilize quickly enough. The situation did turn within the space of a week if I recall and it is not so easy to change one's flight etc on a short notice.

 

in addition some have had to make trips out since due to family emergencies and the like.

 

However it happened, some people got stuck.

[IAMHERE]

I think Thailand owes me the cost of my retirement extension and the multi-reentry stamp. I did get to use one month of the extension so 11/12th of that cost is enough.

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

 

 

Well good luck then with finding a suitable insurer in your home country who was prepared to sign a foreign insurance certificate confirming that their policy accorded with a Thai Cabinet Resolution dated 2 April 2019, which they would almost certainly have never heard of!

 

https://longstay.tgia.org/document/overseas_insurance_certificate.pdf

 

And if you were to apply directly to an approved TGIA insurer in Thailand, you would then, as I see things, be faced with a classic Catch-22 situation. A standard condition for the relevant TGIA-approved policies is, I gather, that the policyholder should currently be resident in Thailand for at least 180 days a year. And in order to comply with this residency requirement you would, of course, need to have already obtained a - guess what - non-OA visa!

 

 

Some Embassies/consulates are accepting copies of policies in lieu of this certificate. And a number of people have been able to get the certificate signed as well.

 

Plenty of people have been able to purchase tgia  insurance, online, without yet having the OA or having arrived in Thailand. You do not have to have lived in Thailand for 6 months prior to getting the policy, you just need to live in Thailand at least 6 out of 12 months during the time the policy is in effect.

 

Now where there is a real problem is for those with major pre-existing conditions that preclude getting a policy.

[Alotoftravel]

I still do not get it why the Thailand immigration allows o-a visa to enter but not one with o-a extension with multiple entries . Both went through the process requirements .I.e 800k /bank , 40/400k insurance coverage , etc,

you need to have your existing extension with multiple entries lapse and the reapply for the o-a visa , I do not understand Can someone please  enlighten me please . 

[jacko45k]

16 hours ago, Guderian said:

Even if you applied for a Non-OA you'd still have little prospect of getting back unless you have Thai family here. An article earlier on said that so far, only 50 people in total with the expensive Thai Elite visa have been allowed in, so what hope for a cheapo Non-OA?

Perhaps for different reasons, the MFA are only issuing limited clearances for the Eliite so quite a queue has developed. So I do not feel it is related to how expensive your Visa class is. Many are getting back on a Non-Imm-O, married to a Thai or having Thai dependents. Just the limited numbers being accepted and perhaps those getting priority, along with Thais. .

[ExpatOilWorker]

12 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Re the Non Imm O-A mandatory insurance > Afaik none of the TGIA-associated insurers will provide you with a Non Imm O-A compliant policy when you are OVER 75 years of age.

But if you have foreign/international insurance that meets the 400K/40K in/out-patient coverage and your insurer is willing to sign the FIC-document, that would be an option

 

Re the covid-19 insurance > There is no age limit for the specific covid-19 insurance policies offered by TGIA.  But the much better value SafetyWings travel-insurance policy is only available for up to 69 years of age.

Good information, but the stumbling block is that is has to be the DIRECTOR that signs the FIC document,  which is very unlikely to happen for a major insurance company.

With the current requirements, I doubt we will see many 75+ years foreigners in Thailand. 

[Peter Denis]

39 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Good information, but the stumbling block is that is has to be the DIRECTOR that signs the FIC document,  which is very unlikely to happen for a major insurance company.

With the current requirements, I doubt we will see many 75+ years foreigners in Thailand. 

The 3 required 'Director' signatures would make it as good as impossible to get the Foreign Insurance Certificate signed.  But it is - as usual - a bad Thai translation for an insurance representative (acting on behalf of the company).  Having the FIC signed by your insurance contact person, an insurer sales rep and an insurer customer service rep will suffice.

[Peter Denis]

11 hours ago, Alotoftravel said:

I still do not get it why the Thailand immigration allows o-a visa to enter but not one with o-a extension with multiple entries . Both went through the process requirements .I.e 800k /bank , 40/400k insurance coverage , etc,

you need to have your existing extension with multiple entries lapse and the reapply for the o-a visa , I do not understand Can someone please  enlighten me please . 

Thai Immigration is notorious for the confusing and incorrect terminology they use.  Typically they call every document that provides a permission to stay a Visa, even when they are referring to an Extension of stay based on your original Visa.

A permission to stay protected by a still valid Re-Entry Permit, from the 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa should be OK to apply for the COE.

Note: And actually that still valid permission to stay (protected by the Re-Entry Permit) will block you from applying for a new Visa.