Insurance requirements for A-O retirement visa (Companies)

[golf1here]

I found a list of companies that provide insurance for the  A-O visa requirements but do I need to use one of these companies or can I use any company that provides the required coverage? Does anyone have a recommendation for a good company? I am 70 yo  and am currently covered by AIA but there is some question as to whether immigration will accept them. Thank you you for any assistance you can offer.

[ubonjoe]

If you are applying for a extension of a entry from a OA visa at immigration it will have to be one the listed companies since they can go online to verify your insurance.

If applying for a new OA visa at a embassy or official consulate it can be any insurance that meets the requirements.

[LivinLOS]

4 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

If you are applying for a extension of a entry from a OA visa at immigration it will have to be one the listed companies since they can go online to verify your insurance.

If applying for a new OA visa at a embassy or official consulate it can be any insurance that meets the requirements.

Theres a grey area after year 1 where your supposed to have a local company to provide the insurance but if you travel annually, then your interactions with immigration are only border controls (for the first 5 years) so I hear that if you are not getting an extension incountry you can use any insurance ? 

I am quite curious how these work in practice as I am now about 18 months from geezer visa territory.. 

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Theres a grey area after year 1 where your supposed to have a local company to provide the insurance but if you travel annually, then your interactions with immigration are only border controls (for the first 5 years) so I hear that if you are not getting an extension incountry you can use any insurance ? 

A Non-OA visa is only valid for one year and it allows unlimited 1 year entries up to the day it expires.

There is the Non-OX visa that is valid for 10 years and allows one year entries.

A Thai Elite visa is valid for 5 years or more if you want one. it allows unlimited one year entries to the day it expires.

[LivinLOS]

Sorry had a brain fade I thought that was OX in the OP.. Possibly as I assume the OA MUST use a local company for extension.. 

 

Its the OX visa and its insurance I am interested in and for a frequent traveller like myself (pre covid but to restart again this year) the appeal of a 5 year visa (2x) and nearly no local interaction is v high. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by LivinLOS

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Possibly as I assume the OA MUST use a local company for extension.. 

You can extend a entry from a OA visa yourself. Not need to hire an agent.

 

13 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Its the OX visa and its insurance I am interested in and for a frequent traveller like myself (pre covid but to restart again this year) the appeal of a 5 year visa (2x) and nearly no local interaction is v high. 

I don't think many people have applied for a Non-OX visa at the Thai Embassy or official consulate in their home country.

I have not seen many posts by people that have one.

[Raphael54]

Just contact your AIA and tell them to put you in the Immigration database.
They maintain a database and as long as your name, passport etc. is in the database you should be ok.

 

[suzannegoh]

Is it still not allowed to use a foreign insurer whose policy would otherwise meet the coverage requirements?

[howerde]

4 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

Sorry had a brain fade I thought that was OX in the OP.. Possibly as I assume the OA MUST use a local company for extension.. 

 

Its the OX visa and its insurance I am interested in and for a frequent traveller like myself (pre covid but to restart again this year) the appeal of a 5 year visa (2x) and nearly no local interaction is v high. 

I have on 0-X visa, like you i was a frequent traveler only in my mid 50s, spend about 8 years doing visa exempt entries, until about 3 years ago, when they started questioning my visits would come 5 or 6 times a year,  the only downside was reporting yearly to immigration, however at CW they told me no need to report just come back when passport expires or 5 years is up.  the insurance required from tgia does not have as many companies as the O-A visa, but as i was only mid 50s the insurance was fairly cheap. and if you are never here for 90 days in a row then no 90 day reports,  it is a great option for some.

[LivinLOS]

On 2/15/2022 at 3:07 PM, ubonjoe said:

You can extend a entry from a OA visa yourself. No need to hire an agent.

 

I meant local insurance company.. Incountry extension needs to be in the data base.. 

OX can keep travelling each year, so your supposed to be in the data base but airports don seem to check ?? and you can continue with a non local insurer ?? 

[LivinLOS]

On 2/15/2022 at 12:22 PM, howerde said:

I have on 0-X visa, like you i was a frequent traveler only in my mid 50s, spend about 8 years doing visa exempt entries, until about 3 years ago, when they started questioning my visits would come 5 or 6 times a year,  the only downside was reporting yearly to immigration, however at CW they told me no need to report just come back when passport expires or 5 years is up.  the insurance required from tgia does not have as many companies as the O-A visa, but as i was only mid 50s the insurance was fairly cheap. and if you are never here for 90 days in a row then no 90 day reports,  it is a great option for some.

Yeah I have access to a married extension and of course once I turn 50 I can do retirement options.. I have a few ways I can go. 

I just like the get the visa, come and go frequently for 5 years, one visit, keep doing it out to 10 years.. That sounds pretty low effort if you travel a bit. 

Did they tell you to come back and show you still had the 1.8 (or 1.5 or whatever) in the account a year later.. And how did you time that if you were in out of the country ?? 2 OX folks I asked didnt do this, and didnt even know they were supposed to do this. I have no idea if that will make problems at the 5 year mark. They thought the obligation was just 3m at issue and visit again at 5 years. 

[Sheryl]

On 2/15/2022 at 6:03 PM, suzannegoh said:

Is it still not allowed to use a foreign insurer whose policy would otherwise meet the coverage requirements?

You can use a foreign company to get the visa (if yo ucan get them to sign the "Foreign Insurance Certificate", wording of which is problematic).

 

You cannot use it for in-country extension based on an O-A visa, at least not at the present time.

 

So if wanting to use foreign insurance you would need to plan on getting a new visa every 1-2 years. This is workable for some people, and not for others. Depends on whether you regularly return to your home country each year.

 

Note that this discussion refers specifically to O-A visa requirements and not to the insurance requirements for Thailand Pass.

 

 

[howerde]

3 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

Yeah I have access to a married extension and of course once I turn 50 I can do retirement options.. I have a few ways I can go. 

I just like the get the visa, come and go frequently for 5 years, one visit, keep doing it out to 10 years.. That sounds pretty low effort if you travel a bit. 

Did they tell you to come back and show you still had the 1.8 (or 1.5 or whatever) in the account a year later.. And how did you time that if you were in out of the country ?? 2 OX folks I asked didnt do this, and didnt even know they were supposed to do this. I have no idea if that will make problems at the 5 year mark. They thought the obligation was just 3m at issue and visit again at 5 years. 

Immigration at CW just said come back when your passport expires to have stamp transferred, no mention was made of the money or insurance. i made a point of going to different officers, and they all said the same thing,  one thing an immigration officer said when i mentioned what an embassy website said about report yearly to immigration for health/money check, they said ask them why they put that there it is not our rules, with reference to the money, as you can reduce the 3m to 1.5m after a year i am not sure what they would look for i can not see them going through 1.5m of receipts (a suitcase of them) to see if the money was spent in Thailand.  i did phone immigration on 1178 and ask them they gave the same answer go when passport expires or 5 years is up, i also sent emails in Thai and english but they were never answered.