Covid-19 Insurance - number of days coverage to buy?

[mpchamp]

Hi Folks,

 

After almost a year being away to my family in Thailand, I now starting to plan my return on mid January. My visa is Non-O (based on marriage), issued March, 2020 and to expire March 2021 (1 year visa). Never been used for obvious reason - I'm stuck in my country. I understand the entry process to Thailand, I just don't know exactly the period of coverage of Covid-19 insurance I need to buy. 30, 60, 90, 180, or 365 days? From this site https://www.tipinsure.com/CovidRegional/step_1 it says that *Insurance must cover the whole duration of stay in Thailand. That's understandable. BUT I'm not really sure if I will stay the 1 whole year, even if I got a 1 year visa. If Thailand relax the entry/exit within the next year, I would probably will do some exits and back again. If I know I will stay full year, I will buy 1 year coverage. But the premium is really expensive, and not worth it if I did not stay the full 1 year. I'm probably fine with 90 days or 180 days.

 

But the problem here is if COE will not get approve the period coverage if embassy will base on 1 year visa? (They can assume I will stay full 1 year). Would like to ask opinion from here if anyone has knew or has experience on it this.

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by mpchamp

[durhamboy]

Your quote seems expensive. I paid THB6,400 for 90 days from a Thai insurer. Go to 

 

I got my COE with this. As I understand it the insurance should cover the period of your visa although yours is a bit different in that you already have one that is mostly expired. I would think that you would need only cover for the remaining period but does your visa still be ok to get your COE? Unsure,

[Peter Denis]

A Non Imm O Visa (even if it is a Multi-Entry 1 year one) only provides a permission to stay of 90 days from date of arrival.  The requirement that the 100.000 US $ covid-19 insurance should cover the length of your intended stay in Thailand, actually means that your policy should cover you for that 90-day permission to stay you will receive on entry.

Also if you are under 70 years of age you could opt for a SafetyWing travel-insurance policy which provides accident/illness coverage up to 250.000 US $ and includes covid-19 treatment.  And the premium of that policy is approx same or LOWER than the TGIA covid-19 only policies.

[mpchamp]

8 minutes ago, durhamboy said:

Your quote seems expensive. I paid THB6,400 for 90 days from a Thai insurer. Go to 

 

I got my COE with this. As I understand it the insurance should cover the period of your visa although yours is a bit different in that you already have one that is mostly expired. I would think that you would need only cover for the remaining period but does your visa still be ok to get your COE? Unsure,

 

That's half of what I am currently looking, can you let me know your Thai Insurer/Agent?

 

I believe my visa still valid to get COE, it's not expired yet and as I understand the count of days of stay will start on your entry not on the expiry days on your visa.

[Peter Denis]

5 minutes ago, mpchamp said:

 

That's half of what I am currently looking, can you let me know your Thai Insurer/Agent?

 

I believe my visa still valid to get COE, it's not expired yet and as I understand the count of days of stay will start on your entry not on the expiry days on your visa.

Durhamboy is most probably from UK.

The TGIA covid-19 only insurance policies do not take your age into consideration, but only your nationality and the period of coverage.   A 25 year old American will pay 3 times more than a 85 year old Australian citizen for the same period of coverage.

[mpchamp]

11 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

A Non Imm O Visa (even if it is a Multi-Entry 1 year one) only provides a permission to stay of 90 days from date of arrival.  The requirement that the 100.000 US $ covid-19 insurance should cover the length of your intended stay in Thailand, actually means that your policy should cover you for that 90-day permission to stay you will receive on entry.

Also if you are under 70 years of age you could opt for a SafetyWing travel-insurance policy which provides accident/illness coverage up to 250.000 US $ and includes covid-19 treatment.  And the premium of that policy is approx same or LOWER than the TGIA covid-19 only policies.

 

Thanks for that info and clarifying that even if I have 1 year multi-entry, I'm only allowed to stay 90 days at a time from the date of arrival. In that case, I can actually buy 90 days of coverage only. But this also open a new problem because that means to say I need to exit Thailand and I can't do that because I need to be quarantined again if I go back to my country and quarantine again when I go back to Thailand. I thought I want to stay in Thailand for maybe 6-9 months or until the situation go back to normal.

 

I'm prepared to apply for 1 year extension based on marriage if my current visa is permitted for it. What could be my options?

 

 

[Salerno]

1 hour ago, mpchamp said:

Never been used for obvious reason

 

Just to clarify, what exactly do you mean by never been used e.g. you had a visa issued in your home country but never travelled or you left Thailand and have a reentry permit?

[mpchamp]

6 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

Just to clarify, what exactly do you mean by never been used e.g. you had a visa issued in your home country but never travelled or you left Thailand and have a reentry permit?

Yes, that's correct. When I got my visa in March 2020, the Travel ban started so I wasn't able to fly to Thailand. It's a brand new visa. I'm using Non-B in the past. I left Thailand in Dec 2019.

Edited December 9, 2020 by mpchamp

[Peter Denis]

6 minutes ago, mpchamp said:

 

Thanks for that info and clarifying that even if I have 1 year multi-entry, I'm only allowed to stay 90 days at a time from the date of arrival. In that case, I can actually buy 90 days of coverage only. But this also open a new problem because that means to say I need to exit Thailand and I can't do that because I need to be quarantined again if I go back to my country and quarantine again when I go back to Thailand. I thought I want to stay in Thailand for maybe 6-9 months or until the situation go back to normal.

 

I'm prepared to apply for 1 year extension based on marriage if my current visa is permitted for it. What could be my options?

When the borders are still closed when your 90-day permission to stay almost expires, you can of course apply for the 1-year extension of stay based on your Non Imm O Visa at your local IO.

However, you would need to provide evidence of +800K seasoned for at least 2 months on your personal Thai bank-account at the moment of application when applying for the 1-year extension for reason of retirement (you only need +400K when applying for reason of marriage).

The above means you do not have much time (approx 1 week) to open such a personal Thai bank-account after you come out of quarantaine and ensure that the required funds are transferred to that account at least two months before the moment of application for the 1-year extension.  Although you can apply till last day of your permission to stay, it is best to do it a couple of days earlier in case the documentation for your application is not complete.

[Salerno]

1 minute ago, mpchamp said:

Yes, that's correct. When I got my visa in March 2020, the Travel ban started.

 

Then I don't believe you have a valid visa. You have to enter within 3 months of issue don't you?

[Peter Denis]

3 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

Then I don't believe you have a valid visa. You have to enter within 3 months of issue don't you?

No, you can enter on a Visa as long as its validity has not expired, in his case that is March 2021.

[Salerno]

6 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

No, you can enter on a Visa as long as its validity has not expired, in his case that is March 2021.

 

Not as I understand it or am I mistaking the type of visa:

 

 

http://www.thaiconsulatemelbourne.com/visa-information

Edited December 9, 2020 by Salerno
Added link

[mpchamp]

3 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

When the borders are still closed when your 90-day permission to stay almost expires, you can of course apply for the 1-year extension of stay based on your Non Imm O Visa at your local IO.

However, you would need to provide evidence of +800K seasoned for at least 2 months on your personal Thai bank-account at the moment of application when applying for the 1-year extension for reason of retirement (you only need +400K when applying for reason of marriage).

The above means you do not have much time (approx 1 week) to open such a personal Thai bank-account after you come out of quarantaine and ensure that the required funds are transferred to that account at least two months before the moment of application for the 1-year extension.  Although you can apply till last day of your permission to stay, it is best to do it a couple of days earlier in case the documentation for your application is not complete.

Okay, I think I can do that. I'm aware of struggles of first-timers applicants of extension based on marriage but I think I can do it. I have enough savings in my Thai bank account seasoned for more than a year already. I've been working in Thailand in 2017 - December 2019 and my bank account still active and I keep sending money there for family support.

I just realized now that I was wrong getting a 1 year multiple entry visa, where in fact I can only stay 90days at a time. I thought that could be use for a full year without needing to exit.

 

[mpchamp]

16 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

Not as I understand it or am I mistaking the type of visa:

 

 

http://www.thaiconsulatemelbourne.com/visa-information

Yeah, it didn't show from the picture if multiple entry on SPOUSE. If Single entry, then it's right that will only be valid 3 months from the date of issue.

[Salerno]

7 minutes ago, mpchamp said:

Yeah, it didn't show from the picture if multiple entry on SPOUSE. If Single entry, then it's right that will only be valid 3 months from the date of issue.

 

As far as I'm aware there isn't a multiple entry spouse visa so I'm still not sure what visa you where issued. All visa's have an "enter by" date and other than the multi entry tourist visa (9 months) they are valid for 3 months from issue.

 

While in Thailand you convert the Non-O to a "marriage visa" i.e. extension to stay based on marriage which gives you the 12 months without having to do border runs.

[mpchamp]

2 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

As far as I'm aware there isn't a multiple entry spouse visa so I'm still not sure what visa you where issued. All visa's have an "enter by" date and other than the multi entry tourist visa (9 months) they are valid for 3 months from issue.

 

While in Thailand you convert the Non-O to a "marriage visa" i.e. extension to stay based on marriage which gives you the 12 months without having to do border runs.

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do next. I'll apply for extension 1 month before my non-o visa expire. I can promise you though I have Non-O multiple entry ????

 

 

 

But the very helpful answer I got here is that I just learned that I can only stay max 90 days even if I have 1-yr multiple entry visa. Going back to my question, that means I should get a 90 days coverage of Covid-19 Insurance which could lower my cost to 12K THB.

 

[paddyfield7]

I agree that the definition *Insurance must cover the whole duration of stay in Thailand* is unclear, in particular for those re-entering on an annual extension of stay. I just asked the Royal Thai Embassy in Switzerland about that, and they replied two days ago

 

quote

 

 

- We recommend that your insurance for COVID-19 should be at least for 3 months from your departure date from Switzerland.

 

unquote

[superal]

18 hours ago, mpchamp said:

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do next. I'll apply for extension 1 month before my non-o visa expire. I can promise you though I have Non-O multiple entry ????

 

 

 

But the very helpful answer I got here is that I just learned that I can only stay max 90 days even if I have 1-yr multiple entry visa. Going back to my question, that means I should get a 90 days coverage of Covid-19 Insurance which could lower my cost to 12K THB.

 

but what happens when you re enter after your 90 day stay / border run , your going to have new covid insurance again ? which will have to  cover you every time you re enter Thailand , so all in all 1 years covid insurance  ?

[ronaldo0]

I had a work permit and visa based on this and visa expires this month and I am in the uk. I am looking to return in January via non o visa based on Thai wife . I am applying for single entry non o based on this and from what I gather I must have 90 days Covid insurance . On the Thai government website the quote I got was 6800bht or something which is almost the same as I was quoted by Axa broker in Thailand when I contacted them. I will be using the government insurer on the basis I would think it would make getting COE easier and if any dispute over anything I can say well your own government sold me it ! Once my visa is near finished I will be applying for a yearly non o based on marriage to Thai while I am in the country .

[Stevemercer]

My friend in Australia is going through all this to return to Thailand to live with his wife. Yes, you just need the 90 day coverage for your visa. Once in Thailand you can go through the normal requirements to extend your stay. At the moment, there is no requirement for medical (Covid or otherwise) for marriage extensions.

 

No doubt once vaccinations are available, proof of vaccination will be needed even for extensions issued in Thailand (probably starting around June 2021).

[mpchamp]

3 hours ago, paddyfield7 said:

I agree that the definition *Insurance must cover the whole duration of stay in Thailand* is unclear, in particular for those re-entering on an annual extension of stay. I just asked the Royal Thai Embassy in Switzerland about that, and they replied two days ago

 

quote

 

 

- We recommend that your insurance for COVID-19 should be at least for 3 months from your departure date from Switzerland.

 

unquote

Also just to make sure, I emailed Thai embassy. Here's their response ????. Not concise compared to your embassy, but I'm already fine with it. Will buy 90 days coverage.

Quote

For the health insurance coverage it should be at least 3 months or the length of your stay in Thailand. 

 

[mpchamp]

3 hours ago, superal said:

but what happens when you re enter after your 90 day stay / border run , your going to have new covid insurance again ? which will have to  cover you every time you re enter Thailand , so all in all 1 years covid insurance  ?

If you do border run I think yes you need another insurance. But in my case I will apply for 1 year extension or 60 days extension if I still need to stay in Thailand. I will not do border run.

[kiwikeith]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:38 PM, superal said:

but what happens when you re enter after your 90 day stay / border run , your going to have new covid insurance again ? which will have to  cover you every time you re enter Thailand , so all in all 1 years covid insurance  ?

I don't think border runs are possible, maybe you can get an extension at your local immigration office. 

[Peter Denis]

5 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

I don't think border runs are possible, maybe you can get an extension at your local immigration office. 

You can still do a 'border run'.  But of course the quick hop over the border and coming back is not possible at the moment.  Land-borders are still closed at this moment, so a 'border hop' would involve a flight out of the country, and then being confronted with both the covid entry-measures to the country you flew to (in many cases mandatory quarantine), as well as the CoE requirements when wanting to come back to Thailand (15 days quarantaine in an ASQ hotel as well as meeting all other requirements).

So before leaving Thailand you currently have to take into account the difficulties of entering the destination country as well as the difficulties of re-entering Thailand.  Instead of a 'quick' same-day border-run, it will now be a costly process taking a couple of weeks before you are once again 'free' in Thailand.

Therefore all those that previously made use of the border-run option to extend their stay in Thailand, are now confined to applying for extensions at their local IO.