LTR Visa is Now available for Long Term Residency

[ThailandRyan]

1 hour ago, Misty said:

No, unfortunately I didn't get that far with the e-visa application before learning that it would be better in our case if we entered visa exempt and received the visa in Bangkok.

 

Another poster (BritTim?) suggested an LTR e-visa holder should have a long time, perhaps up to 5-10 years to enter the country. That makes sense to me, since an e-visa is an issued visa.

 

Would you have access to FB?  The US consulates all seem to have FB sites and are good at answering DMs. My best suggestion would be to FB message your consulate and ask them directly.

 

 

Misty,

 

The Notification of qualification endorsement for a Long-term-Resident Visa Letter I was given during my appointment states that the Notification of qualification endorsement, well in my case, was only good until 4 December 2022, and goes on to state that during the validity of the letter which is not exceeding your current permission to stay in Thailand, you may receive your Long Term Resident Visa or apply for a change of visa category to Long Term Resident Visa. 

 

Now I understand the handwritten note more clearly in my passport.  Once the endorsement letter is issued, and that for me was the day I put the wheels in motion for my appointment on the 7th of October, you only have 60 days in which to obtain the LTR Visa, or else you need to re-apply.  At least that's my take on it.

 

However, the 2nd sheet which is the list of details of applicant eligible for long term Resident Visa has an end date of October 5, 2032.  So I could be wrong in my view.

[Alotoftravel]

^{For me, the 10 years visa started on the day notification letter was approved .}

^{I received my letter Oct 4th.}

^{i have 2 months to get the visa stamped , Dec 3rd, if not , I start the process again .}

And my 10 years visa expired Oct 3rd, 2032 per the letter .

. Of course this might change when I really get my passport stamped next week in Bangkok boi.

A note to my self is to get the 5th year renewal requirements since we have been approved for 10 years and paid 50k upfront . 

Hate surprises …

 

[ThailandRyan]

7 minutes ago, Alotoftravel said:

^{For me, the 10 years visa started on the day notification letter was approved .}

^{I received my letter Oct 4th.}

^{i have 2 months to get the visa stamped , Dec 3rd, if not , I start the process again .}

And my 10 years visa expired Oct 3rd, 2032 per the letter .

. Of course this might change when I really get my passport stamped next week in Bangkok boi.

A note to my self is to get the 5th year renewal requirements since we have been approved for 10 years and paid 50k upfront . 

Hate surprises …

 

You will get your 10 year Visa stamp, and you will be given a 5 year allowed until stamp with the date of Issue being the day you arrive at the LTR Unit/Immigration where they will stamp you in with the fantastic stamp I have shown.  The letter dates and the actual dates on the stamps differ because of when the letter was issued and then when the Visa was actually issued.  Don't worry about the requirements for the second 5 years, they will explain to you that they will notify you 2 months prior to expiry of the 5th year in order for you to re-submit the required paperwork for the 2nd 5 year period.  For me it will be my Pension letter, and my insurance and a photo, that's it, and no more money since the 5oK was already paid.

[Misty]

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

You will get your 10 year Visa stamp, and you will be given a 5 year allowed until stamp with the date of Issue being the day you arrive at the LTR Unit/Immigration where they will stamp you in with the fantastic stamp I have shown.  The letter dates and the actual dates on the stamps differ because of when the letter was issued and then when the Visa was actually issued.  Don't worry about the requirements for the second 5 years, they will explain to you that they will notify you 2 months prior to expiry of the 5th year in order for you to re-submit the required paperwork for the 2nd 5 year period.  For me it will be my Pension letter, and my insurance and a photo, that's it, and no more money since the 5oK was already paid.

Thanks Ryan I think this may be a case of apples and oranges though.  The US consulates will grant actual visas, not not the "Notification of qualification endorsements" that comes from the BoI.  The question is "how long is that e-visa good for".  While the BoI's notification may only be good for 60 days, I think the actual e-visa may be good for at least as long as 5 years.

 

The e-visa process as explained to me is:  1) Get BoI approval, 2) Tell BoI you want to receive the visa overseas, from a consulate (instead of at their office), 3) Get a Notification of Qualification endorsement addressed to the overseas consulate, 4) Submit that as part of the e-visa application. 

 

After e-visa approval, the overseas consulate then emails a copy of the actual e-visa, which you give to Immigration when you enter Thailand. 

 

After a couple more calls today it's starting to sound to me like entering Visa exempt may not in fact be our best option. So I may get to test the LTR e-visa system after all....

[ThailandRyan]

28 minutes ago, Misty said:

Thanks Ryan I think this may be a case of apples and oranges though.  The US consulates will grant actual visas, not not the "Notification of qualification endorsements" that comes from the BoI.  The question is "how long is that e-visa good for".  While the BoI's notification may only be good for 60 days, I think the actual e-visa may be good for at least as long as 5 years.

 

The e-visa process as explained to me is:  1) Get BoI approval, 2) Tell BoI you want to receive the visa overseas, from a consulate (instead of at their office), 3) Get a Notification of Qualification endorsement addressed to the overseas consulate, 4) Submit that as part of the e-visa application. 

 

After e-visa approval, the overseas consulate then emails a copy of the actual e-visa, which you give to Immigration when you enter Thailand. 

 

After a couple more calls today it's starting to sound to me like entering Visa exempt may not in fact be our best option. So I may get to test the LTR e-visa system after all....

Thanks @Misty that makes sense in the fact that any actual Visa I had been issued before from outside of Thailand had a Valid Until date on the upper right.  Looking back at my last O-A Visa it was issued on October 3rd 2017, and was valid until October 2nd 2018.  So in essence with the new LTR Visa having a 5 year life essentially you could possibly enter on the last day possible in the 5th year, but then would you get 5 years from that date?  It will be nice to see what the actual Visa from outside of Thailand looks like.

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, gajah said:

I just received an email for my appointment at OSSC to get my WPLTR visa. The email stated the day, but not the time, of my appointment. Do I just show up at OSSC (with all the required docs), at any time?

Give them a call to confirm your appointment.  Perchance did you request the date and put a time like I did in my e-mail i sent to them?  I requested last Friday the 7th at 1pm, and that's when I showed up in the BOI OSSC LTR office on the 18th floor.  I then checked in at the front desk and they had my name on a sheet, had me sit down and then they called the agent, who came out with another person to meet me.

[stuarty]

I have my approval, and have now submitted separate application for my wife.  While slightly more simple, I am surprised that - apart from having to pay separate full visa fee (50,000B) - she also has to show $100,000 personal  bank deposit for 12 months in lieu of medical insurance. I would have thought that if I have approved her online in their BoI system as a dependent spouse, our (my) personal funds, which I have already shown, would have also covered for her, but apparently not. She needs to show separate bank deposit for last 12 months.

 

No problem for us as she has that bank deposit (WP!) and can show it, but it seems unduly onerous.  What if one is applying also for dependent children (less than 18 years old). Do they also each have to show having $100,000 for 12 months? That would be ridiculous imho. 

[Misty]

12 minutes ago, stuarty said:

I have my approval, and have now submitted separate application for my wife.  While slightly more simple, I am surprised that - apart from having to pay separate full visa fee (50,000B) - she also has to show $100,000 personal  bank deposit for 12 months in lieu of medical insurance. I would have thought that if I have approved her online in their BoI system as a dependent spouse, our (my) personal funds, which I have already shown, would have also covered for her, but apparently not. She needs to show separate bank deposit for last 12 months.

 

No problem for us as she has that bank deposit (WP!) and can show it, but it seems unduly onerous.  What if one is applying also for dependent children (less than 18 years old). Do they also each have to show having $100,000 for 12 months? That would be ridiculous imho. 

The BoI website says for spouse or children health insurance equivalent, only a $25,000 cash deposit is required

[stuarty]

55 minutes ago, Misty said:

The BoI website says for spouse or children health insurance equivalent, only a $25,000 cash deposit is required

Really? When you complete the online form for spouse, it asks for $100,000.

 

from my wife's dependent application online form:

Health insurance policy covering entire course of stay in Thailand, with coverage for hospitalization treatment of no less than 50,000 USD and the remaining period of no less than 10 months OR evidence showing valid social security benefits which insures hospitalization and treatment in Thailand OR financial evidence showing a deposit of no less than 100,000 USD in a bank account which has been held for no less than 12 months at the time of application

[pepper402]

7 hours ago, Misty said:

Thanks Ryan I think this may be a case of apples and oranges though.  The US consulates will grant actual visas, not not the "Notification of qualification endorsements" that comes from the BoI.  The question is "how long is that e-visa good for".  While the BoI's notification may only be good for 60 days, I think the actual e-visa may be good for at least as long as 5 years.

 

The e-visa process as explained to me is:  1) Get BoI approval, 2) Tell BoI you want to receive the visa overseas, from a consulate (instead of at their office), 3) Get a Notification of Qualification endorsement addressed to the overseas consulate, 4) Submit that as part of the e-visa application. 

 

After e-visa approval, the overseas consulate then emails a copy of the actual e-visa, which you give to Immigration when you enter Thailand. 

 

After a couple more calls today it's starting to sound to me like entering Visa exempt may not in fact be our best option. So I may get to test the LTR e-visa system after all....

Thanks, Misty.  When you do the LTR e-visa, which Embassy will you use?  Do you think a visit to the Embassy will be required, or helpful?  I'm much closer to Los Angeles but they are completely unresponsive so If a visit is not part of the plan, I might try to go through the Washington DC Embassy. Any thoughts?  If you figure it out, I'd be grateful for a step-by-step as I intend to follow in your footsteps.  

[pepper402]

1 hour ago, stuarty said:

I have my approval, and have now submitted separate application for my wife.  While slightly more simple, I am surprised that - apart from having to pay separate full visa fee (50,000B) - she also has to show $100,000 personal  bank deposit for 12 months in lieu of medical insurance. I would have thought that if I have approved her online in their BoI system as a dependent spouse, our (my) personal funds, which I have already shown, would have also covered for her, but apparently not. She needs to show separate bank deposit for last 12 months.

 

No problem for us as she has that bank deposit (WP!) and can show it, but it seems unduly onerous.  What if one is applying also for dependent children (less than 18 years old). Do they also each have to show having $100,000 for 12 months? That would be ridiculous imho. 

I understand the requirement for insurance or personal funds for each adult (kids should have insurance or parent should have sufficient funds to cover kids).  I believe the goal is to be sure that the foreigner will pay for medical costs as necessary - instead of the Thai government getting stiffed for the bill. 

[BritTim]

9 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Misty,

 

The Notification of qualification endorsement for a Long-term-Resident Visa Letter I was given during my appointment states that the Notification of qualification endorsement, well in my case, was only good until 4 December 2022, and goes on to state that during the validity of the letter which is not exceeding your current permission to stay in Thailand, you may receive your Long Term Resident Visa or apply for a change of visa category to Long Term Resident Visa. 

 

Now I understand the handwritten note more clearly in my passport.  Once the endorsement letter is issued, and that for me was the day I put the wheels in motion for my appointment on the 7th of October, you only have 60 days in which to obtain the LTR Visa, or else you need to re-apply.  At least that's my take on it.

 

However, the 2nd sheet which is the list of details of applicant eligible for long term Resident Visa has an end date of October 5, 2032.  So I could be wrong in my view.

It is reasonable that you have a limited time to acquire the visa once it is approved. However, the question was "how long after you have paid for a 10-year visa do you have to use it?"" This is similar to the question of how long you have to enter on a Thailand Elite membership once you become a member. It makes no sense to me that you would have conditions like entering every year, or entering the first time within a limited period.

[Misty]

1 hour ago, stuarty said:

Really? When you complete the online form for spouse, it asks for $100,000.

 

from my wife's dependent application online form:

Health insurance policy covering entire course of stay in Thailand, with coverage for hospitalization treatment of no less than 50,000 USD and the remaining period of no less than 10 months OR evidence showing valid social security benefits which insures hospitalization and treatment in Thailand OR financial evidence showing a deposit of no less than 100,000 USD in a bank account which has been held for no less than 12 months at the time of application

Sounds like that could be a mistake with the online application. Give them a call to check. Here's where it says $25,000:

 

[Northwest87]

13 hours ago, Robin said:

Anyone see anything wrong with this thinking?

No, if your current setup works fine for you. I don't even know why you mention it, unless you are double-checking for arguments in favor of switching.

[Northwest87]

11 hours ago, Misty said:

No, unfortunately I didn't get that far with the e-visa application before learning that it would be better in our case if we entered visa exempt and received the visa in Bangkok.

 

Another poster (BritTim?) suggested an LTR e-visa holder should have a long time, perhaps up to 5-10 years to enter the country. That makes sense to me, since an e-visa is an issued visa.

 

Would you have access to FB?  The US consulates all seem to have FB sites and are good at answering DMs. My best suggestion would be to FB message your consulate and ask them directly.

 

 

Good idea, I'll check with them. In my case, a validity of 3 months would be sufficient to cover all bases.

[BKKNono]

I've got my LTR WFTP stamp this morning at BOI Chamchuri Square. Arrived at 9am and finished in less than an hour. Process was pretty much the same as described by @ThailandRyan, your BOI agent will give you the endorsement letter and escort you to the immigration office side with all your documents.

 

From there, you wait for the immigration officer to call you and will send you to another to counter pay the 50,000 THB fee by banking app QR code. A receipt is given by the cashier, you return to the waiting area and after few minutes the immigration officer calls you back with your passport stamped.

[ThailandRyan]

16 minutes ago, BKKNono said:

I've got my LTR WFTP stamp this morning at BOI Chamchuri Square. Arrived at 9am and finished in less than an hour. Process was pretty much the same as described by @ThailandRyan, your BOI agent will give you the endorsement letter and escort you to the immigration office side with all your documents.

 

From there, you wait for the immigration officer to call you and will send you to another to counter pay the 50,000 THB fee by banking app QR code. A receipt is given by the cashier, you return to the waiting area and after few minutes the immigration officer calls you back with your passport stamped.

Congratulations @BKKNono Glad you had a good experience. Enjoy the day.

[anrcaccount]

1 hour ago, BKKNono said:

I've got my LTR WFTP stamp this morning at BOI Chamchuri Square. Arrived at 9am and finished in less than an hour. Process was pretty much the same as described by @ThailandRyan, your BOI agent will give you the endorsement letter and escort you to the immigration office side with all your documents.

 

From there, you wait for the immigration officer to call you and will send you to another to counter pay the 50,000 THB fee by banking app QR code. A receipt is given by the cashier, you return to the waiting area and after few minutes the immigration officer calls you back with your passport stamped.

Good result.

 

Did you get any clarification if there would be any ongoing checking of your employment status during the 5 years?

 

It appears there isn't , BOI have indicated there isn't , the employment status is "at one point in time" validated for the initial application and again at the 5 year point.

 

But what happens in the case BOI decide to validate this, assuming someones employment status changes in that 5 year period?

 

The intent of the visa is for 'Working from Thailand' but it appears at face value, anyone who currently meets the qualifications can get the stamp, immediately stop working, but retain the 5 year (I know it's 10 but they validate at the 5 year point) visa.

 

 

 

 

 

[BKKNono]

19 minutes ago, anrcaccount said:

Good result.

 

Did you get any clarification if there would be any ongoing checking of your employment status during the 5 years?

 

It appears there isn't , BOI have indicated there isn't , the employment status is "at one point in time" validated for the initial application and again at the 5 year point.

 

But what happens in the case BOI decide to validate this, assuming someones employment status changes in that 5 year period?

 

The intent of the visa is for 'Working from Thailand' but it appears at face value, anyone who currently meets the qualifications can get the stamp, immediately stop working, but retain the 5 year (I know it's 10 but they validate at the 5 year point) visa.

 

 

 

 

 

They didn't tell me  there will be any checks in between each 5-years period, but they will definitely re-check your qualifications before stamping the next 5 years.

[K2938]

Does anybody know if the 100,000 USD for the health insurance waiver can also be in stock exchange investments?  It would be very costly to hold so much in cash given how low the yield on cash is

[mudcat]

I submitted a brokerage statement with both retirement accounts (traditional IRA [income taxes due upon distribution] and Roth [income taxes already paid]) and a small robot managed non-retirement account with a combined balance well in excess of the requirement.  I had a phone call late last week that my application had been approved but I have not seen the notification.

 

Use of my assets was prompted by the difficulty of having my health insurance expiration date changed along with dropping out-patient coverage.  I realized that what I really wanted was health insurance to protect my assets rather than to be used to qualify for an immigration visa as that is its true purpose here - to serve as insurance against a major medical expense not to pay for every headache and band aid.  

 

I will post when I receive the 'letter' as that will confirm that use of my brokerage statement was acceptable.  I do note that a statement might be questioned if it was not current and did not show the required balance for the past year.  

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, mudcat said:

I submitted a brokerage statement with both retirement accounts (traditional IRA [income taxes due upon distribution] and Roth [income taxes already paid]) and a small robot managed non-retirement account with a combined balance well in excess of the requirement.  I had a phone call late last week that my application had been approved but I have not seen the notification.

 

Use of my assets was prompted by the difficulty of having my health insurance expiration date changed along with dropping out-patient coverage.  I realized that what I really wanted was health insurance to protect my assets rather than to be used to qualify for an immigration visa as that is its true purpose here - to serve as insurance against a major medical expense not to pay for every headache and band aid.  

 

I will post when I receive the 'letter' as that will confirm that use of my brokerage statement was acceptable.  I do note that a statement might be questioned if it was not current and did not show the required balance for the past year.  

@mudcat you may never receive the letter and the screen will stay as pre-approved.  Try to click on the 3 dots to the right of the pre-approved and see if the notice is uploaded.  Like myself, I called to confirm like you did and then made the appointment to go into the OSSC and have my Visa Stamp placed into my PP, this was then when they handed me the letter of certification and the attachment which shows my LTRWP information.  The letter I posted above is what they gave me.But here it is again

 

[mudcat]

My status still shows reviewing additional documents and the 'bell' notification is still referencing the initial document receipt date back in early October.  There is nothing when I click on the three dots. 

 

I will give it another week on the assumption that the individual who called me had access to my files that I submitted (tax return and transcript, pension and Social Security benefit letters) and had knowledge that everything was in order and the approval would be forthcoming.

 

Not worried about the delay as my extension on Non-IMM O expires in January.

[aublumberg]

Hello, appreciate everyone's sharing here. My chronology:

05 Sep 2022 submitted application online for a LTR WFTP
26 Sep 2022 request for additional documents but actually everything was already provided correctly in the first place
04 Oct 2022 email approval received
12 Oct 2022 received formal Notification Letter for Qualifications Endorsement

 

Next step to make an appointment at the Royal Thai Consulate in Hong Kong for the visa stamp. According to the published fee schedule it's HKD15,000 or approx THB72,000 currently. 

 

Called a couple times into the BOI office in Bangkok along the way to enquire progress. Always super helpful team, keeping spirits high despite the system glitches, with some still persisting currently.

 

 

 

[JoeHo]

Hi all,

Until now I've been an account-less, silent reader learning from your very helpful experiences. It's useful, thanks! But now I've created an account due to a pressing question that I have about payment of the 50k THB for the visa stamp. I've read from both @ThailandRyan and @BKKNono that payment can only be done by QR app banking. But how to pay if you'll arrive in Thailand on a (tourist) visa exemption? On a tourist visa I'm not eligible to open a Thai bank account, so how should I pay? I am mostly interested how BKKNono has managed to pay (since you also are granted a WFTP visa), did you already find a way to open a Thai bank account prior to visa issuance?

For those interested, my experience so far: I submitted all docs for a WFTP in the System, then was asked to upload some additional docs like additional tax returns & salary slips. I applied Sept 8th and got approval on Oct 3rd (yay!). I was then asked to submit additional info in the System, being my preferred visa pickup point, current and latest visa information, and health insurance. The bottleneck until now has been my visa information. Selecting OSS as pickup point, required me to fill in "current" and "latest" visa info. Since I won't arrive in Thailand until Oct 24th, for my "current" visa I filled in the from- and until-dates of the 45-day tourist visa exemption that I expect to receive on Oct 24. For the "latest" visa information, I filled in the details of my latest tourist visa exemption that I got during a one-day transit to Vietnam last September. Three days after submitting that, I got an email from BOI where they apologized for glitches in the System and requested to have further communication via email. They wanted a copy of my current visa, which as such I couldn't yet provide. They explained me that I could not make an appointment at the OSS until I arrived in Thailand and provided them with a photocopy of my current visa.

 

For me that is rather unfortunate, because after I arrive the 24th I have a one-way flight to Chiang Mai 3 days later. By applying early Sept, I expected to be in a position where I could well in advance make an appointment with BOI within those 3 days. Unfortunately, BOI did not want/could not make a provisional appointment already, so now my hopes are that they will give me the final approval within 2 days after I arrive in BKK and that I can make an appointment the next day. I preferably don't fly back and forth for a 1-hour visa issuance session. However, if I do manage to make an appointment within that small timeframe, I don't want to be sent away because I cannot pay the 50k. I want to be well prepared, hence my question about payment.

I must say that BOI in this entire process has been very responsive to me, apart from the payment question. So I hope someone can help me out with that one!

[Pib]

Can anyone provide more insight on exactly what "or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand" means. 

 

Does that mean "Thailand social security" or can it mean a "foreign social security type medical policy" like say the U.S. military retiree Tricare/Tricare for Life medical coverage which provides full in- and out-patient coverage "worldwide" but is not a type of policy that comes with a policy sheet saying $XXX,XXX coverage because the coverage is really unlimited.   I have emailed BOI with the question asking for clarification of what "social security...." means, but no response yet.

 

Health insurance with at least USD 50,000 coverage or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand or at least USD 100,000 deposit

[BKKNono]

11 hours ago, JoeHo said:

Hi all,

Until now I've been an account-less, silent reader learning from your very helpful experiences. It's useful, thanks! But now I've created an account due to a pressing question that I have about payment of the 50k THB for the visa stamp. I've read from both @ThailandRyan and @BKKNono that payment can only be done by QR app banking. But how to pay if you'll arrive in Thailand on a (tourist) visa exemption? On a tourist visa I'm not eligible to open a Thai bank account, so how should I pay? I am mostly interested how BKKNono has managed to pay (since you also are granted a WFTP visa), did you already find a way to open a Thai bank account prior to visa issuance?

For those interested, my experience so far: I submitted all docs for a WFTP in the System, then was asked to upload some additional docs like additional tax returns & salary slips. I applied Sept 8th and got approval on Oct 3rd (yay!). I was then asked to submit additional info in the System, being my preferred visa pickup point, current and latest visa information, and health insurance. The bottleneck until now has been my visa information. Selecting OSS as pickup point, required me to fill in "current" and "latest" visa info. Since I won't arrive in Thailand until Oct 24th, for my "current" visa I filled in the from- and until-dates of the 45-day tourist visa exemption that I expect to receive on Oct 24. For the "latest" visa information, I filled in the details of my latest tourist visa exemption that I got during a one-day transit to Vietnam last September. Three days after submitting that, I got an email from BOI where they apologized for glitches in the System and requested to have further communication via email. They wanted a copy of my current visa, which as such I couldn't yet provide. They explained me that I could not make an appointment at the OSS until I arrived in Thailand and provided them with a photocopy of my current visa.

 

For me that is rather unfortunate, because after I arrive the 24th I have a one-way flight to Chiang Mai 3 days later. By applying early Sept, I expected to be in a position where I could well in advance make an appointment with BOI within those 3 days. Unfortunately, BOI did not want/could not make a provisional appointment already, so now my hopes are that they will give me the final approval within 2 days after I arrive in BKK and that I can make an appointment the next day. I preferably don't fly back and forth for a 1-hour visa issuance session. However, if I do manage to make an appointment within that small timeframe, I don't want to be sent away because I cannot pay the 50k. I want to be well prepared, hence my question about payment.

I must say that BOI in this entire process has been very responsive to me, apart from the payment question. So I hope someone can help me out with that one!

I already had a Kasikorn Thai bank account open few years ago.

 

I don't know if any other payment method is accepted (cash is definitely not) but it seems you will need a local Thai bank account if you want your LTR visa issued at BOI Chamchuri Square. There were 3 folks in front of me in the cashier queue paying for their visa fees, and all used their mobile phone banking app with QR code.

[Northwest87]

11 hours ago, Pib said:

Can anyone provide more insight on exactly what "or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand" means. 

 

Does that mean "Thailand social security" or can it mean a "foreign social security type medical policy" like say the U.S. military retiree Tricare/Tricare for Life medical coverage which provides full in- and out-patient coverage "worldwide" but is not a type of policy that comes with a policy sheet saying $XXX,XXX coverage because the coverage is really unlimited.   I have emailed BOI with the question asking for clarification of what "social security...." means, but no response yet.

 

Health insurance with at least USD 50,000 coverage or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand or at least USD 100,000 deposit

The LTR social security option is simple: one, you could have a Thai SS account if you ever worked there and maintained it after leaving the job. Two, you come from a country like France  where universal medical coverage is provided AND it works abroad; the latter is not a given (e.g. Medicare in the US). If you are covered under one of these two options, you're golden insurance-wise as far as the BOI is concerned.

 

NW

[Pawpal]

I had a bit of a worrying surprise yesterday. Some background info:

My current "retirement visa" expires in mid-November, and the BOI representative I spoke with by phone in September assured me there was plenty of time for me to apply for the "wealthy pensioner" LTR as it would take 20 working days.

 

I submitted my application on Sept 14 and assumed all was in order with the documents since I heard nothing further from BOI. On Oct 12, the 20th working day after my initial application, I received a request for another insurance document. (I assume the problem was that the one I'd submitted didn't have an expiration date but stated the policy was automatically renewed every April.) I phoned the insurance rep and he promptly issued a document saying my policy was good till April 2024, and I immediately uploaded it to my online LTR application.

 

Yesterday I phoned BOI to see how long it would be before I would be notified whether or not my application was accepted. The representative said "20 working days" and that the clock started ticking when the updated document was received (Oct 12). She was very sympathetic when I described my concerns over my soon-to-expire retirement extension (another 20 working days would really push things to the limit), and she said she'd talk with the officer in charge of my application.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar situation. Is there a chance the other docs originally submitted have already been vetted and that approval of the LTR visa is a real possibility and/or they'll get back to me in less than 20 working days?

 

Thanks. 

[Pib]

26 minutes ago, Northwest87 said:

The LTR social security option is simple: one, you could have a Thai SS account if you ever worked there and maintained it after leaving the job. Two, you come from a country like France  where universal medical coverage is provided AND it works abroad; the latter is not a given (e.g. Medicare in the US). If you are covered under one of these two options, you're golden insurance-wise as far as the BOI is concerned.

 

NW

That's what I'm hoping.  Regarding the U.S. Medicare, it does "not" provide coverage outside the U.S. (except in rare situations).   And I think most other countries' social security medical coverage works the same way...that is, coverage within the home country but not outside.   

 

I haven't worked in Thailand....no Thai social security.

 

Now I do have U.S. Medicare coverage "only because" I must maintain it to automatically retain coverage under the U.S. military retiree Tricare for Life medical coverage which provides coverage worldwide.  Tricare is the coverage I've been using in Thailand for well over a decade. 

 

So, I have Medicare and Tricare coverage but since living in Thailand only the Tricare coverage applies since Medicare only covers in the U.S.; however, when I go back to the U.S. for say a one day visit or permanently  I'm automatically covered by Medicare and Tricare the second I set foot on U.S. dirt....kinda like double coverage.

 

But will BOI really understand medical coverage provided by many foreign countries....coverage that even applies if living outside the home country may not come with any document that states coverage in monetary terms like say $1M coverage since the coverage is really unlimited...no dollar limit....and really no policy end date as long as  you are paying the monthly premium/stay enrolled....an open ended policy end date so to speak.

 

I'm hoping where the BOI uses the term "social security" medical coverage it's meant in board terms of having some "government medical coverage" although that coverage may not be coming from the Social Security Agency in that country but another part of the government like the military. 

 

 Hopefully BOI will respond to my question with a clear, definitive answer but I'm not holding my breath.   I would like to get some clarification from them versus uploading a bunch of personal info docs for income, medical, etc...etc....etc...to probably live on their servers for years only to be turned down due to medical coverage paperwork.