Non O-A extension health insurance requirement

[RickNew]

My Non O-A visa was issued in 2014.  My understanding is Non O-A visas issued before 2017 are not required to have health insurance.

 

is this still true?

[mosan]

Only your local Immigrations office can tell you for sure. Unless someone from your particular area had this issue and can tell you how it was resolved... 

[ubonjoe]

There is nothing in the rules that states a grandfathering clause for those with a OA visa issued long ago.

Phuket immigration had a rule that allowed it but not sure about now.

[Tracyb]

Chiang Mai immigration requires it.  My O-A was issued in 2013 and I have to bring proof of insurance every year.

[ClaySmc]

There was a "grandmother" clause where they let you do your second year without insurance, but once you applied for an extension you needed insurance.

[Kopitiam]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is nothing in the rules that states a grandfathering clause for those with a OA visa issued long ago.

Phuket immigration had a rule that allowed it but not sure about now.

Still not required by Phuket Immigration.  They have interpreted the policy correctly.

[Andrew Dwyer]

16 minutes ago, Kopitiam said:

Still not required by Phuket Immigration.  They have interpreted the policy correctly.

Seems like the OP is applying for a retirement extension, off an OA visa, and is in Phuket.

Phuket Immigration was the only IO ( as far as I know ) to not require the health insurance on OA extension previous to 2018.

 

Anyway, the OP also has another parallel thread on the subject:

 

 

[Road Warrior]

does anyone know . ????  that with retirement extension DONT NEED INSUREANCE  if you have 3 million in thai bank ????

[Andrew Dwyer]

37 minutes ago, Road Warrior said:

does anyone know . ????  that with retirement extension DONT NEED INSUREANCE  if you have 3 million in thai bank ????

With a retirement extension from an OA visa you will need mandatory health insurance 40/400k coverage rising to 3 million baht coverage in Sept 2022 irrespective of how much money you have in a Thai bank.

 

Historically Phuket is the only immigration office not to apply that requirement on long term ( pre 2018 ) extensions.

Although that exemption is now in doubt, hence this thread.

[OJAS]

37 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

rising to 3 million baht coverage in Sept 2022

That, of course, has still to be formally confirmed by a new Police Order. However, the Immigration Bureau did, as I recall, dilly-dally before issuing the Police Order sanctioning 65k monthly bank transfers as a result of the discontinuation of American, Australian and British Embassy income confirmation services. In this particular instance, therefore, we can, I think, rest assured that they will pull out all the stops to ensure that the necessary Police Order is issued bang on the dot at 23:59:59 on 31st August! ????

Edited May 11, 2022 by OJAS

[Andrew Dwyer]

9 minutes ago, OJAS said:

That, of course, has still to be formally confirmed by a new Police Order. However, the Immigration Bureau did, as I recall, dilly-dally before issuing the Police Order sanctioning 65k monthly bank transfers as a result of the discontinuation of American, Australian and British Embassy income confirmation services. In this particular instance, therefore, we can, I think, rest assured that they will pull out all the stops to ensure that the necessary Police Order is issued bang on the dot at 23:59:59 on 31st August! ????

The insurance company LMG seem pretty sure it’s going to happen, they released the new table ( for 3m baht coverage ) last year !

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 hour ago, Road Warrior said:

does anyone know . ????  that with retirement extension DONT NEED INSUREANCE  if you have 3 million in thai bank ????

There was some talk that for the over 75’s , where mandatory health insurance was difficult to obtain coverage, some exemptions would be allowed if you have sufficient funds to self insure . 
But that is only hearsay and I don’t believe ever became an actual ruling.

If this is your case , over 75 and not finding any insurance available, only a visit to your local immigration office can answer your question.

[Sheryl]

38 minutes ago, OJAS said:

That, of course, has still to be formally confirmed by a new Police Order. However, the Immigration Bureau did, as I recall, dilly-dally before issuing the Police Order sanctioning 65k monthly bank transfers as a result of the discontinuation of American, Australian and British Embassy income confirmation services. In this particular instance, therefore, we can, I think, rest assured that they will pull out all the stops to ensure that the necessary Police Order is issued bang on the dot at 23:59:59 on 31st August! ????

The problem is that we don nto know how the Police Order will be worded in terms of documentation requirement. And that makes all the difference.

 

In particular, we don't know if foreign policies will be accepted for renewal (and if so, how verified).

 

 

[OJAS]

3 hours ago, Sheryl said:

In particular, we don't know if foreign policies will be accepted for renewal (and if so, how verified).

And a potential complication which occurs to me in that regard is that, whereas the eligibility of foreign policies for non-OA visa applications is determined on the basis of minimum coverage equal to 100k USD, any Police Order will presumably express the minimum coverage requirement in terms of 3m THB. So if the USD were to tank in value against the THB, any non-OA visa holder with a 100k USD-compliant policy might subsequently discover to their horror that it doesn't comply with a 3m THB minimum requirement when applying for their first annual retirement extension of stay!

Edited May 11, 2022 by OJAS

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, OJAS said:

And a potential complication which occurs to me in that regard is that, whereas the eligibility of foreign policies for non-OA visa applications is determined on the basis of minimum coverage equal to 100k USD, any Police Order will presumably express the minimum coverage requirement in terms of 3m THB. So if the USD were to tank in value against the THB, any non-OA visa holder with a 100k USD-compliant policy might subsequently discover to their horror that it doesn't comply with a 3m THB minimum requirement when applying for their first annual retirement extension of stay!

True (if requirement is so worded). But it would be a rare foreign issued policy that was this low. Usually more like USD 500k - 1 million.

 

The big problems to date have been:

 

- badly worded "Foreign Insurance Certificate" that most Western insurers won't sign.

 

- not accepting foreign policies for in-country renewals.

[RickNew]

I have just returned from Phuket Immigration and they have confirmed that I will not need health insurance to extend my OA visa because it was issued before 2017.

 

Thank everyone for their input (especially those who had the correct information).