Stretching my Non O-A, Insurance Requirements?

[Lee4Life]

My Non O-A visa from the LA Consulate expires on 06-15-22, my plan is to purchase a re-entry permit, then cross into Laos and return on that day so as to get stamped in for another year. But the health insurance and Covid insurance plans I was required to purchase will expire also. Will I have to purchase new insurance plans for the period of my new entry stamp?

[Mutt Daeng]

12 minutes ago, Lee4Life said:

My Non O-A visa from the LA Consulate expires on 06-15-22, my plan is to purchase a re-entry permit, then cross into Laos and return on that day so as to get stamped in for another year. But the health insurance and Covid insurance plans I was required to purchase will expire also. Will I have to purchase new insurance plans for the period of my new entry stamp?

If, by expires, you mean the "Enter Before Date" of the OA-Visa, then you don't need a re-entry permit to get another year. Just enter Thailand on or before the "Enter Before Date" to get a second year permission to stay.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Mutt Daeng

[ubonjoe]

24 minutes ago, Lee4Life said:

My Non O-A visa from the LA Consulate expires on 06-15-22, my plan is to purchase a re-entry permit, then cross into Laos and return on that day so as to get stamped in for another year.

If your visa is still valid for entry you do not need a re-entry permit. 

If you do not want to deal with the medical insurance requirements you could leave without a re-entry permit needed to keep you current stay valid and then re-enter the country after your visa expires and get a 30 day visa exempt entry. You could then apply for a non-o visa at immigration and then a one year extension based upon retirement.

The $10,000 covid 19 insurance is only needed for entry to the country. You would only need 30 days of coverage if you entered visa exempt.

[Lee4Life]

39 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

If your visa is still valid for entry you do not need a re-entry permit. 

If you do not want to deal with the medical insurance requirements you could leave without a re-entry permit needed to keep you current stay valid and then re-enter the country after your visa expires and get a 30 day visa exempt entry. You could then apply for a non-o visa at immigration and then a one year extension based upon retirement.

The $10,000 covid 19 insurance is only needed for entry to the country. You would only need 30 days of coverage if you entered visa exempt.

If I can get another year out of the visa by leaving and re-entering on the last day it is valid then I don't really have a problem with buying new insurance plans for that year, I just don't want to get caught up in a deal where I am denied entry because I don't have the proper insurance, or I am forced to get a 30-day visa exempt because I don't have the coverage required for the O-A visa.

 

                        Thanks

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, Lee4Life said:

If I can get another year out of the visa by leaving and re-entering on the last day it is valid then I don't really have a problem with buying new insurance plans for that year, I just don't want to get caught up in a deal where I am denied entry because I don't have the proper insurance, or I am forced to get a 30-day visa exempt because I don't have the coverage required for the O-A visa.

If you have a year of of medical insurance that meets the requirements you will not have a problem entering the country.

[TimF]

If you look at your OA Visa it will have a line which says something like "Medical Insurance Expiry" and the date - they will only grant you entry until the insurance expiry date printed on the visa OR you have a new policy which runs beyond that date 

[Searat7]

On 5/25/2022 at 8:54 AM, TimF said:

If you look at your OA Visa it will have a line which says something like "Medical Insurance Expiry" and the date - they will only grant you entry until the insurance expiry date printed on the visa OR you have a new policy which runs beyond that date 

So if I entered on O-A and left after 7 months (with re-entry permit) I would not get the customary 12 months but would get about 5 months only from date of last entry. Getting a Non-O in Bangkok looks more attractive every day. 

[ubonjoe]

36 minutes ago, Searat7 said:

So if I entered on O-A and left after 7 months (with re-entry permit) I would not get the customary 12 months but would get about 5 months only from date of last entry. Getting a Non-O in Bangkok looks more attractive every day. 

If your OA visa was still valid immigration would probably use it instead of a re-entry permit (if immigration would issue it).

[Lee4Life]

On 5/24/2022 at 11:37 AM, ubonjoe said:

If you have a year of of medical insurance that meets the requirements you will not have a problem entering the country.

I have spent countless hours researching the medical insurance requirements we will need to meet on re-entry, I believe we need another year of 100,000$ coverage because we will be re-entering Thailand on the same O-A visa we received from the LA Consulate and their website states that O-A applicants at this time need the 100,000$ insurance coverage , I believe when we applied for our O-A visas last June the requirement was 400,000$ of coverage.

           But my wife swears that a new ordinance has been passed here and we only need 10,000$ coverage. My wife had her Thai niece call the local immigration office and their answer was "we don't know". Then she called the Thailand Pass help hotline, they said it doesn't matter what visa a person has, the requirement is 10,000$ coverage. I worry that if we take their advice then we will be forced to re-enter visa exempt and then the O-A visa we were trying to extend by exiting and then re-entering on the same day will become invalid. 

                          What a mess!

            

          

Edited June 2, 2022 by Lee4Life

[oliverphoenix2]

The $10,000 US figure is the minimum covid coverage requirement for the Thailand Pass which all non Thai's need to enter Thailand. You also need non OA insurance to stretch your visa. I'm not sure whether it's $100,000 US or the old THB 400,000/40,000. I'm stretching my OA soon and bought a Pacific Cross policy with $100,000 US coverage just to be safe (it also covers the covid insurance requirements and worked to get my Thailand Pass).

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, Lee4Life said:

I have spent countless hours researching the medical insurance requirements we will need to meet on re-entry, I believe we need another year of 100,000$ coverage because we will be re-entering Thailand on the same O-A visa we received from the LA Consulate and their website states that O-A applicants at this time need the 100,000$ insurance coverage , I believe when we applied for our O-A visas last June the requirement was 400,000$ of coverage.

If you have a valid existing OA visa you will need the $100,000 insurance coverage that includes covid 19 when entering the country. The requirements were changed in October of last year.

 

10 hours ago, Lee4Life said:

But my wife swears that a new ordinance has been passed here and we only need 10,000$ coverage.

That is requirement to apply for a Thailand Pass. You will not need a separate insurance for it since the required insurance for a OA visa includes it. You will have to show proof of that insurance when you apply for your Thailand Pass.

[Lee4Life]

Follow Up:  

        I followed UJ's advice and bought one year of 100,000$ health insurance coverage. If it's purchased through LMG and the highest deductible plan is chosen it costs 14,500b. It was worth it for me because I worry a lot.

             We crossed over to Laos on the 16th and came back on the 17th, when being stamped back in to Thailand the IO didn't know what to do when he saw that our OA Visas expired on that day. Onec we told him that we had talked to the head of Immigration at the bridge before exiting and they affirmed that we would be stamped back in for one year, he then called them and they reaffirmed what we had told him. He then went ahead and stamped us in for one year.

         

           As for the Thailand Pass, he asked if we had it, we said yes and handed him our phones with the QR code showing. He looked at the phones and handed them back to us without scanning the QR code or reading the info.

        

          We then crossed over to the exit side and tried to buy multiple re-entry permits because even though we had been stamped in for an additional year, once we exit to go home next month then that entry stamp would no longer be valid and neither would our old OA visas. The IO on the exit side of the border said we needed to buy the re-entry permits at the main Immigration Office, so we went there and did so without any problems, the cost was 3,800b each.

                 

           We now have a valid entry stamp dated for one year from now and a valid re-entry permit which supports that entry stamp. While this did take some doing, it was cheaper and less trouble than buying another one-year OA visa back home by quite a bit.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Lee4Life