Another UK based query - insurance, visa, vaccine

[Seagull Sam]

Well here I am again, hasn't life become complicated?

 

I am now the proud owner of a beautiful OA visa dated 18th February, 40,000B / 4,000B policy noted in visa as starting 14th March.

              How long can I leave this before entering Thailand?

              How long once I arrive do I get before it expires? 

 

I have some serious medical conditions requiring specialist insurance way beyond the scope of the worthless policy necessary for the visa. Given the UK's supposed travel ban my brokers won't cover me. Is there an insurance broker or company in Thailand with a proven track record of covering of 60+ yo men with neurological or other serious problems? I had a major claim a little over a year ago to add to the fun.

 

I have my first Covid jab on Thursday with the second lined up for mid-May. We may still have an overseas travel ban so it looks like I'm snookered until June or July at the earliest.

 

Words of wisdom, advice or other useful info welcome.

[upu2]

You can use it upto the expiry date but that means entering Thailand not in transit to Thailand. The visa itself is I believe 90 days in country

[Seagull Sam]

Thanks. So if I enter the country for example one month before expiry do I still get a year to stay? (I think the 90 days was a condition of the old Non-Imm O visa).

 

As soon as I get the chance I will go directly from HRW btw. 

[Tim16]

7 hours ago, Seagull Sam said:

Well here I am again, hasn't life become complicated?

 

I am now the proud owner of a beautiful OA visa dated 18th February, 40,000B / 4,000B policy noted in visa as starting 14th March.

              How long can I leave this before entering Thailand?

              How long once I arrive do I get before it expires? 

 

I have some serious medical conditions requiring specialist insurance way beyond the scope of the worthless policy necessary for the visa. Given the UK's supposed travel ban my brokers won't cover me. Is there an insurance broker or company in Thailand with a proven track record of covering of 60+ yo men with neurological or other serious problems? I had a major claim a little over a year ago to add to the fun.

 

I have my first Covid jab on Thursday with the second lined up for mid-May. We may still have an overseas travel ban so it looks like I'm snookered until June or July at the earliest.

 

Words of wisdom, advice or other useful info welcome.

On my OA visa it showed Health Insurance End date not the start date. 

It seems strange that they have issued a visa with the insurance not valid until 14th March.

When I arrived in Thailand I was stamped in until Health Insurance End date not one year.

[theoldgit]

As you're specifically asking about travel to Thailand, rather than travel from Thailand, I'll move your post to the correct forum, where you're more likely to get a full answer to your question. 

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, upu2 said:

You can use it upto the expiry date but that means entering Thailand not in transit to Thailand. The visa itself is I believe 90 days in country

A OA visa is valid for one year from the date of issues and allows unlimited one year entries up to the day it expires.

[upu2]

20 hours ago, Seagull Sam said:

Thanks. So if I enter the country for example one month before expiry do I still get a year to stay? (I think the 90 days was a condition of the old Non-Imm O visa).

 

As soon as I get the chance I will go directly from HRW btw. 

You will get whatever the visa allows for

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, upu2 said:

You will get whatever the visa allows for

What sort of reply is that?

The OP, clearly stated that he has a non O-A.

He will be given 12 permission of stay upon entry prior to it's expiry.

[DrJack54]

23 hours ago, upu2 said:

You can use it upto the expiry date but that means entering Thailand not in transit to Thailand. The visa itself is I believe 90 days in country

He has a non O-A. He will be stamped in with permission of stay for 12 months prior to the non O-A expiry.

Edited February 24, 2021 by DrJack54

[upu2]

25 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

What sort of reply is that?

The OP, clearly stated that he has a non O-A.

He will be given 12 permission of stay upon entry prior to it's expiry.

So why the question? Contry to common belief I am not a visa issuing officer. There many types of visa and each has its own limitations. So why you think I would automatically know what an O-A visa allows is beyond me

Edited February 24, 2021 by upu2

[Tanoshi]

5 hours ago, upu2 said:

So why the question? Contry to common belief I am not a visa issuing officer. There many types of visa and each has its own limitations. So why you think I would automatically know what an O-A visa allows is beyond me

If you don't know, why answer, it just causes confusion.

 

 

[Tanoshi]

On 2/24/2021 at 12:34 AM, Seagull Sam said:

I am now the proud owner of a beautiful OA visa dated 18th February, 40,000B / 4,000B policy noted in visa as starting 14th March.

              How long can I leave this before entering Thailand?

              How long once I arrive do I get before it expires? 

 

UJ gave you the correct advise.

Your Visa is valid to enter Thailand up until 17th Feb 2022.

On entry you'd usually be given permission of stay for 12 months, but that is restricted to the expiry date of the compulsory Health Insurance requirement, so if you entered in June you'll only receive permission of stay until March 13th 2022, that being the expiry date of your Insurance.

[sqwakvfr]

I came in on a new Non Imm OA two weeks ago.  I got stamped in until the last day of my health insurance  policy.  

[DrJack54]

27 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

I came in on a new Non Imm OA two weeks ago.  I got stamped in until the last day of my health insurance  policy.  

That is normal. With a non O-A and subsequent extensions it's important to time your insurance policy to maximize your permission of stay. 

[Seagull Sam]

3 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

I came in on a new Non Imm OA two weeks ago.  I got stamped in until the last day of my health insurance  policy.  

Thanks for the input. I feared this might be the case. Unenforced travel ban notwithstanding I essentially lose the time between the date the insurance policy starts and when I enter. 

I can't travel without specialist medical insurance so does anyone know a broker or company who deals with that please? 

It sounds unlikely I can change the policy start date now. It's quite a game and does nothing to encourage us in to spend our hard earned cash despite TAT's handwringing.

[sqwakvfr]

Because my COE application too longer than expected I arrived two weeks later than planned.  i am essentially losing a month on permission to stay(I got 11 months stamped in).  This is the new reality for those arriving on an OA Visa.  Timing the dates of the insurance policy with getting the ASQ, Flight and COE in line is very difficult.  Bottom most of use will lose time stamped into LOS.  

[Tanoshi]

10 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

Because my COE application too longer than expected I arrived two weeks later than planned.  i am essentially losing a month on permission to stay(I got 11 months stamped in).  This is the new reality for those arriving on an OA Visa.  Timing the dates of the insurance policy with getting the ASQ, Flight and COE in line is very difficult.  Bottom most of use will lose time stamped into LOS.  

And if the borders remain closed, you won't be able to do that quick in/out just before the Visa expires to get another 1 year entry. Quite a few lost out on that option with the O-A when the border closed last year.

[sqwakvfr]

Tanosh, essentially the OA has been reduced to a one year or less Permission to Stay experience.  I left LOS in early January and got an OA and went through the challenges of the COE, ASQ and flight timing issues.  Getting the visa was not difficult(took 10 days though the mail and online application).  The problems started in the COE process.  Once the COE was granted getting the 72 Hour before Covid 19 RT-PCR test done was not too   

difficult(many options in Southern California for this  and the Fit 2 Fly done before departure).  

 

As difficult and challenging the entire COE process was it was a great learning experience.  Also, ASQ has been challenging but has been a great learning experience as well.  But i would not want to repeat the experience of the  last two months.  

 

Based upon what I have  experienced in the last two months I do not believe Quarantine will go away anytime soon and the mandatory insurance will be permanent.  

Edited February 25, 2021 by sqwakvfr

[Tanoshi]

@sqwakvfr Yes, and now the US have also had to adopt the E-Visa application process, the good thing about it is you can now obtain the single entry Non O Visa based on retirement, then apply for 1 year extensions as an alternative to the O-A Visa.

The Health Insurance is not a requirement for extensions based on retirement from a Non O entry, only the long term O-A, O-X entries. I'm sure some US citizens will find this a more suitable and cheaper option.

[DrJack54]

5 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Because my COE application too longer than expected I arrived two weeks later than planned.  i am essentially losing a month on permission to stay(I got 11 months stamped in).  This is the new reality for those arriving on an OA Visa.  Timing the dates of the insurance policy with getting the ASQ, Flight and COE in line is very difficult.  Bottom most of use will lose time stamped into LOS.  

You mentioned that you lost a month. Can't see the big deal.

What I don't understand is why anyone is even obtaining a non O-A currently. The second 'bonus year' most likely won't be an option due to closed borders.

The multi entry for first year also is useless.

The one ZERO bonus with a non O-A is that you have the compulsory nonsense insurance.

[Peter Denis]

14 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You mentioned that you lost a month. Can't see the big deal.

What I don't understand is why anyone is even obtaining a non O-A currently. The second 'bonus year' most likely won't be an option due to closed borders.

The multi entry for first year also is useless.

The one ZERO bonus with a non O-A is that you have the compulsory nonsense insurance.

... and no need to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and subsequent 1-year extension during that first year, combined with the fact that the Non Imm O-A Visa does not require you to park/transfer funds to a personal Thai bank-account.

Plenty of reason to still consider it I would think...

[DrJack54]

15 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

... and no need to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and subsequent 1-year extension during that first year, combined with the fact that the Non Imm O-A Visa does not require you to park/transfer funds to a personal Thai bank-account.

Plenty of reason to still consider it I would think...

Horses for courses. It's under 27k usd.

Hardly sheep stations and with current interest rates smidge above zero in most countries not great deal of loss of opportunity cost. You can always use income method. 65k per month to live off, I would regard as minimal.

Guess it's down to individuals situation.

My last 12 month extension retirement was in out CW one hour using new appointment option.

Edited February 25, 2021 by DrJack54

[Seagull Sam]

On 2/25/2021 at 6:05 AM, sqwakvfr said:

Timing the dates of the insurance policy with getting the ASQ, Flight and COE in line is very difficult.

This seems the most important aspect. I started my OA application before the travel ban and the date I had in mind is now after the ban came into force. The one year appears to start from the date of 400kB in / 40kB out insurance. (Don't bother trying anyone other than LMG, smile and pay - this is Thailand after all). I will be losing two or three months at least

Anecdotally at least it isn't a problem getting into the country. Unfortunately my medical conditions require a more robust policy than the one on offer by LMG. My regular UK company will quote but won't cover until the ban is lifted.  In a country where crossing the road requires divine intervention for survival I'm not travelling uninsured.  

Thanks for advice as ever.

[sqwakvfr]

"You mentioned that you lost a month. Can't see the big deal."

 

I never said it was a big deal.  Just a statement of fact.  The OA allows me to put my money elsewhere.  One can invest wisely and still get good or great returns.