Uggg.  I'm currently on a Non Immigrant OA Visa.  Extension due in July.  I am wondering what the differences are between a O and a OA Visa.  Having trouble tracking down a good comparison of the two.  The insurance requirement seems to disappear with the O and I gather that being married to a Thai may come into the picture?  I'm not married.  I'm also under the impression that the O is only good for 90 days?

Need help with this please and thank you.

I am on extension of Non-Imm "O". No marriage requirement. 90 day check-in, same as O-A.

 

My understanding is the only difference is O-A is applied for and collected abroad. "O" obtained here. And the insurance thang. 

@Randy99you’ve posted your question in the wrong forum, I’ll move to the forum for visas for Thailand.

With a non-O visa you don't need health insurance. 

With a non-O-A visa you need health insurance.

 

The non-O-A visa is acquired outside Thailand, the non-O inside the country. 

 

 

31 minutes ago, mikebike said:

I am on extension of Non-Imm "O". No marriage requirement. 90 day check-in, same as O-A.

 

My understanding is the only difference is O-A is applied for and collected abroad. "O" obtained here. And the insurance thang. 

Thank you mikebike.  It's all good news.

1 minute ago, Goethe said:

With a non-O visa you don't need health insurance. 

With a non-O-A visa you need health insurance.

 

The non-O-A visa is acquired outside Thailand, the non-O inside the country. 

 

 

Thanks

10 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

@Randy99you’ve posted your question in the wrong forum, I’ll move to the forum for visas for Thailand.

Sorry about that.

Re your question about being married to a Thai national.

When you are already on a 1-year extension of stay and want to apply for another 1-year extension for your Non Imm O-A or your Non Imm O Visa, you have several options:

1 - applying for reason of retirement

2 - applying for reason of marriage or

3 - applying for reason of having Thai dependant children. 

Obviously each of these options has different requirements to be met when applying for it, and the financial requirements when applying for reason of Marriage or Thai dependant children are way lower than when applying for reason of retirement.

An interesting point is that the mandatory Thai Health-Insurance when extending the permission to stay from your Non Imm O-A extension is ONLY applicable when applying for reason of retirement.

 

 Non O-A requires insurance.

It's a visa valid for one year, however if you exit and reenter just prior to expiry you are stamped in for another 12 months so basically 2 years.

 

The other benefit is no funds required to be held in Thai bank.

 

You then have 2 options.

Return to home country and obtain another non O-A.

OR obtain extension based on retirement. 

That has exactly same financial requirements as extensions from a Non O ....BUT requires insurance UNLESS you do your extensions from the non O-A to based on marriage.

 

Most folk (not married) find non O retirement better option especially if don't return to home country every 2 years

 

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

 

 Non O-A requires insurance.

It's a visa valid for one year, however if you exit and reenter just prior to expiry you are stamped in for another 12 months so basically 2 years.

 

The other benefit is no funds required to be held in Thai bank.

 

You then have 2 options.

Return to home country and obtain another non O-A.

OR obtain extension based on retirement. 

That has exactly same financial requirements as extensions from a Non O ....BUT requires insurance UNLESS you do your extensions from the non O-A to based on marriage.

 

Most folk (not married) find non O retirement better option especially if don't return to home country every 2 years

 

Wow.  Lots of info.  Thank you.

3 hours ago, mikebike said:

I am on extension of Non-Imm "O". No marriage requirement. 90 day check-in, same as O-A.

 

My understanding is the only difference is O-A is applied for and collected abroad. "O" obtained here. And the insurance thang. 

You can also get a Non-O visa outside of Thailand. 

2 hours ago, Goethe said:

With a non-O visa you don't need health insurance. 

With a non-O-A visa you need health insurance.

 

The non-O-A visa is acquired outside Thailand, the non-O inside the country. 

 

 

You can also get a Non-O visa outside of Thailand.

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1 hour ago, Mutt Daeng said:

You can also get a Non-O visa outside of Thailand.

Always an option.

One bonus is the requirement to show funds came from abroad is not required 

Helpful in some cases. 

No one has mentioned the Police check in home country required for an OA or am I wrong...? Myself on an O as suits me fine 800K in bank

28 minutes ago, Lokie said:

No one has mentioned the Police check in home country required for an OA or am I wrong...? Myself on an O as suits me fine 800K in bank

Correct.

Also medical check. 

 

Extend your OA via an agent and the insurance cost/req. Is reduced markedly.

Related but not right on point. I retired to Thailand in 2011 coming with the O-A Visa after establishing I had no police record, no dread disease and finances to support myself. Thailand later added the health insurance requirement for O-A Visa holders for reason of Retirement. I rationalized this as simply a tax as, due to health pre-existing conditions, the insurance would not be paying. I have recently changed to an "O" Visa for reason of having a Thai spouse. We have just returned from a trip out of the country. Both e tiring the USA and re-entering Thailand we went through Immigration as a family traveling together (requirements already cleared). Fast and efficient with no longer being required to buy useless health insurance with a high deductible with exclusion of pre-existing conditions.

43 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Extend your OA via an agent and the insurance cost/req. Is reduced markedly.

A guy I know does exactly this & it adds 2,500b to the normal cost for extending a visa without having the finances in place (i.e. it costs 15,000b in stead of 12,500b).

 

One point to note is that he does have the finances in place (brings in >65K every month so qualifies on income grounds) BUT the agent won't (or is unable) to just "smooth over" the Insurance part so it's all or nothing.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, wwest5829 said:

Related but not right on point. I retired to Thailand in 2011 coming with the O-A Visa after establishing I had no police record, no dread disease and finances to support myself. Thailand later added the health insurance requirement for O-A Visa holders for reason of Retirement. I rationalized this as simply a tax as, due to health pre-existing conditions, the insurance would not be paying. I have recently changed to an "O" Visa for reason of having a Thai spouse. We have just returned from a trip out of the country. Both e tiring the USA and re-entering Thailand we went through Immigration as a family traveling together (requirements already cleared). Fast and efficient with no longer being required to buy useless health insurance with a high deductible with exclusion of pre-existing conditions.

Hi wwest,

When you were already on a 1-year extension based on your Non Imm O-A Visa, and are married to a Thai national, there was no reason for you to switch to a Non Imm O Visa. 

You could have simply applied for another 1-year extension based on that Non Imm O-A Visa, but this time for reason of marriage, and by doing so there would be NO Thai health-insurance policy requirement and the requirements/conditions are exactly same as for a 1-year extension based on a Non Imm O Visa.

Note: Obviously having already switched from O-A to O this info is of no use for you anymore, but for other members in same situation as you were at the time, it would be beneficial to be aware of that little known fact.

Just wondered, as a ballpark for a 57 year old with no pre-existing conditions, what is the approximate cost for the health insurance for O-A?

 

Also, is it correct this has to be purchased from one of a specific list of Thai insurance companies?

41 minutes ago, Dazzler said:

Just wondered, as a ballpark for a 57 year old with no pre-existing conditions, what is the approximate cost for the health insurance for O-A?

https://longstay.tgia.org/companiesoa 

 

https://longstay.tgia.org/

 

26 minutes ago, Dazzler said:

Just wondered, as a ballpark for a 57 year old with no pre-existing conditions, what is the approximate cost for the health insurance for O-A?

 

Also, is it correct this has to be purchased from one of a specific list of Thai insurance companies?

When applying for the Non Imm O-A Visa, which can only be done in your home-country or country of permanent residence, and you already have Health Insurance from a Non-Thai insurer that meets the requirements you can make use of that option. 

The snag is that once you are in Thailand and after the 2 year that you can squeeze out of that Visa, want to apply for the 1-year extension of that Non Imm O-A Visa that Immigration ONLY accepts O-A compliant Health Insurance policies issued by THAI insurers. 

When you visit your Home-country once every 1-2 year, you can of course opt to apply for a new Non Imm O Visa while over there. 

Ok great, so as I go back home yearly I can continue to just purchase the insurance in my home country.

 

I assume that I need to apply for a new O-A visa from scratch each time after the nearly 2 years are up, when I return to my home country i.e. the visa can only be extended in Thailand?

Just noticed the financials for the O-A seemed to have changed (Thai Consulate in Sydney). O visa in Thailand requires 800,000 baht however the O-A lists A$54,545. This is about 1.25 million baht or they've used a ridiculous 14.6 exchange rate instead of 23

 

(I'm assuming Consulate has stuffed up)

 

29 minutes ago, Dazzler said:

Ok great, so as I go back home yearly I can continue to just purchase the insurance in my home country.

 

I assume that I need to apply for a new O-A visa from scratch each time after the nearly 2 years are up, when I return to my home country i.e. the visa can only be extended in Thailand?

Yes, that's correct.  You would need to apply each time again for a new 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa (which can only be done when the validity of the old one has expired, and the last Permit to stay you received with that Visa is not protected with a Re-Entry Permit). 

I will PM you later (the file is on my other PC) with a comprehensive Guideline on how to apply for a Non Imm O-A Visa and navigating the Health Insurance issue.

Ok great Red Phoenix, much appreciated.

3 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

A guy I know does exactly this & it adds 2,500b to the normal cost for extending a visa without having the finances in place (i.e. it costs 15,000b in stead of 12,500b).

 

One point to note is that he does have the finances in place (brings in >65K every month so qualifies on income grounds) BUT the agent won't (or is unable) to just "smooth over" the Insurance part so it's all or nothing.

 

 

 

Yep about right price. Get insurance policy but dont Bank on it.

I used to get an OA from Thailand embassy in Los Angeles....even though it's issued for one year...you can leave thailand a month (for example) and return a few days before your visa expires and you get another 12 months extention for free!

 

Now I get O  ...because I dint want to travel that far to get a visa and the O has no insurance requirements. But must renew every year...inside Thailand. 

Why does all the Thai embassy sites say a O visa is a retirement visa that requires $1000 monthly pension AND medical insurance? And the O-A is a long stay visa that requires 800k (medical insurance not specified)?