Matching expiry date of OA visa with the corresponding foreign insurance

[Jeff Olssson]

I am planning to stay in Thailand for about 6-7 months a year in the next two years and I have considered different visa alternatives. I understand that OA visa is multiple entry but it is not clear to me whether in each new entry (during the validity of visa) I will get one year permission to stay from the date of arrival or based on the last coverage day of the corresponding foreign insurance certificate.

Specifically, here is my preliminary plan:

1. I buy a foreign insurance from my home country (in EU) with the validity from Sep 1 2024 to August 31 2025.
2. I apply and obtain an OA visa valid from Sep 1 2024 to August 31 2025.

I have two questions:
a) If I arrive in Thailand in Sep 15 2024, do I get permission to stay until Sep 14 2025 (i.e. for one year from the date of arrival) or August 31 2025 (according to the expiry date of my foreign insurance)?
b) If I leave Thailand in April 2025 and return in August 1, 2025 with a new *foreign* insurance policy for the period August 1, 2025 to July 31 2026, is my permission to stay going to be until July 31 2026?

Please note that I am not planing to extend my OA visa in the immigration in Thailand and I will have a new one-year foreign insurance (not TGIA-associated insurance) in my return to Thailand in August 1 2025.

Cheers,

Jeff



 

Edited July 22 by Jeff Olssson
Clarification

[Tod Daniels]

On an OA visa that you get from the thai consulate in your country before you come here you show the proof of insurance (and it doesn't have to match the issue dates of the OA because you NEED the insurance to APPLY for the OA so usually the OA visa is issued a few weeks after you have the year 100K USD insurance policy

It will be written ON the PDF how long your insurance is valid for and when you arrive here you will get stamped in until the insurance expires (up to 1 year)

 

[Gsxrnz]

If you want to skip the insurance drama altogether, don't get an OA.  Enter Thailand on a 30 day stamp, then apply for a type O while in Thailand. Type O doesn't require insurance.

 

Much less hassle overall, and the same benefits.

[JimTripper]

26 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

If you want to skip the insurance drama altogether, don't get an OA.  Enter Thailand on a 30 day stamp, then apply for a type O while in Thailand. Type O doesn't require insurance.

 

Much less hassle overall, and the same benefits.

Really? They would need to get a Thai bank account and deposit money in it, go through the TM30 hassles, COR, etc while here to get the type O. Not to mention the numerous immigration visits and running around all day to get those things.

 

I found that getting insurance from the comfort of my home before I arrived was much easier.

Edited July 23 by JimTripper

[DrJack54]

On 7/23/2024 at 12:32 AM, Jeff Olssson said:

.....it is not clear to me whether in each new entry (during the validity of visa) I will get one year permission to stay from the date of arrival or based on the last coverage day of the corresponding foreign insurance certificate.

With a non O-A the visa has a validity of 12 months. 

Every time you are stamped in during the validity period you will be given 12 month permission of stay.

However to be given that 12 months you need to show insurance for that period. Your stamp permission will match your insurance. 

By reentering just prior to visa expiry you could in fact stay in Thailand almost 2 years .

Note: for the "second year" if you wish to take side trip out of Thailand and reenter you would require a reentry permit.

 

Aside: Thinking there are better options for 6-7 month stay for two consecutive years. 

[Jeff Olssson]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

However to be given that 12 months you need to show insurance for that period. Your stamp permission will match your insurance. 

Thanks for your reply and sorry to be pedantic but as I understand your post, the insurance for that period in each reentry during validity of visa can be from a foreign insurance company in my home country and it does not need to be from a TGIA-associated Thai insurer. Is that correct?

[Jeff Olssson]

4 hours ago, JimTripper said:

 

I found that getting insurance from the comfort of my home before I arrived was much easier.

This is exactly the reason I am considering the OA visa but I understand that there are different opinions on this in the forum.

[Jeff Olssson]

5 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

It will be written ON the PDF how long your insurance is valid for and when you arrive here you will get stamped in until the insurance expires (up to 1 year)

Thanks for your reply. My main concern was whether it is required to have a TGIA-associated Thai insurance in each reentry during the validity of OA visa but it seems that the requirement for having a Thai insurance applies only for the extension of stay in the country.

[howerde]

1 hour ago, Jeff Olssson said:

Thanks for your reply and sorry to be pedantic but as I understand your post, the insurance for that period in each reentry during validity of visa can be from a foreign insurance company in my home country and it does not need to be from a TGIA-associated Thai insurer. Is that correct?

The O-A insurance must either be from the TGIA list, if you use a company from outside Thailand then you need to down load a form(foreign insurance certificate)  and have it signed by a director of the company, be aware i have seen people reporting back that the embassy/consul simply does not accept the form, probably going to depends where you apply from.   This is from the Thai embassy London website

https://longstay.tgia.org/companiesoa         The pdf form is in red at the top

[Jeff Olssson]

12 minutes ago, howerde said:

The O-A insurance must either be from the TGIA list, if you use a company from outside Thailand then you need to down load a form(foreign insurance certificate)  and have it signed by a director of the company, be aware i have seen people reporting back that the embassy/consul simply does not accept the form, probably going to depends where you apply from. 

Thanks. I called the embassy yesterday and they referred me to the same form which you have linked to in your reply.

 

I think if the embassy does not accept the form (foreign insurance certificate) one can always apply for another type of visa but do you know of any case where the visa based on a foreign insurer was approved in the embassy but the IO officer at the airport has required a Thai insurance certificate?

[howerde]

1 minute ago, Jeff Olssson said:

Thanks. I called the embassy yesterday and they referred me to the same form which you have linked to in your reply.

 

I think if the embassy does not accept the form (foreign insurance certificate) one can always apply for another type of visa but do you know of any case where the visa based on a foreign insurer was approved in the embassy but the IO officer at the airport has required a Thai insurance certificate?

I have never heard/read of an IO refusing a foreign insurance certificate, make sure you have the original forms or at least copies of all forms

[JimTripper]

1 hour ago, Jeff Olssson said:

This is exactly the reason I am considering the OA visa but I understand that there are different opinions on this in the forum.

There are a lot of negative views on the O-A in this forum, esp Dr. Jack. I think it's because people don't want to buy the Thai medical insurance, for example, they are already automatically covered by another policy that does not qualify for the visa, or they just prefer to be uninsured.

 

You need a valid coverage certificate each time you enter with an O-A. The admitted until date will match the expiration date on your certificate. They have O-A certificates that you use to present to immigration at the border. You get the stamped certificate from the insurance company when you are approved.

 

There is a form you can have signed by a foreign insurance company to qualify. However, I heard that it's difficult to get it signed due to liability and other issues. I never tried it since global insurance was prohibitively expensive for my budget.

Edited July 23 by JimTripper

[Jingthing]

My opinion is that you'd have to be crazy to choose and O-A rather than an O to start.

[Jeff Olssson]

7 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

If you want to skip the insurance drama altogether, don't get an OA.  Enter Thailand on a 30 day stamp, then apply for a type O while in Thailand. Type O doesn't require insurance.

 

Much less hassle overall, and the same benefits.

 

Thanks for your suggestion. As I mentioned in my OP, I am considering different alternatives and I noticed that I can even apply for a Non-O visa in the embassy in my home country. I have two questions:

1. A Non-O visa will give me a 3-month permission to stay from the date of arrival. Can I still have a return flight booked for example for 7 months after arrival (as I plan to apply for extension of stay) or I might encounter problem at the check-in at the departing airport or on arrival in Thailand who might require to see a return ticket withing 3 months?

2. If I have a Non-O visa then I need to show that I have at least THB 800k in my Thai account which has been transferred from overseas at least 2 months before the day I apply for extension at the immigration in Bangkok. Is this correct?

[DrJack54]

1. With a single entry non O visa in pp you will not be required to show return/onward flight.

 

2. Yes funds as you outlined for 12 month extension 

 

Note: you are not compelled to obtain the 12 month extension.

Rather you could do a border bounce and receive 60 day visa exempt entry.

Thinking since you want stay of up to 7 months over conservative years that a non O + 12 month extension + second 12 month extension would be a good option.

You would require a reentry permit along with the extension. 

[OJAS]

8 hours ago, Jeff Olssson said:

I noticed that I can even apply for a Non-O visa in the embassy in my home country

 

There is also the option of applying for a non-O visa conversion at Bangkok as set out in the following link:-

 

https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

 

For this purpose no 2-month seasoning of the 800k in your Thai bank account would be needed.

 

However, assuming that your initial permission to stay would be granted on the basis of a 60-day visa exemption, you would still need to provide evidence of an onward/return flight (as stated by DrJack54 in the context of a single-entry non-O visa obtained in your home country) when checking in for your flight to Bangkok at your home country airport.

 

[Jeff Olssson]

23 minutes ago, OJAS said:

For this purpose no 2-month seasoning of the 800k in your Thai bank account would be needed.

 

Thanks for pointing this out which simplifies the planning for extension application.

[bangkok19]

It's one thing getting foreign health insurance to be able to then fill out the Foreign Insurance Certificate, but getting the Director to sign and stamp... good luck with that!

I tried with the biggest health insurer in Australia (Medibank Private) as well as Bupa..  their words: "we don't sign stuff"....

I eventually went with a company on the TGIA list..   easier, plus I got the director's signature and rubber stamp..   Thai officialdom love that!

[Jeff Olssson]

57 minutes ago, bangkok19 said:

It's one thing getting foreign health insurance to be able to then fill out the Foreign Insurance Certificate, but getting the Director to sign and stamp... good luck with that!

I tried with the biggest health insurer in Australia (Medibank Private) as well as Bupa..  their words: "we don't sign stuff"....

I eventually went with a company on the TGIA list..   easier, plus I got the director's signature and rubber stamp..   Thai officialdom love that!

 

That is a good point and in all fairness I should mention that I called the Thai embassy and said that I can buy the health insurance with the coverage they require but it is really considered very unusual thing to ask the director of a big insurance company to sign the certificate.

The lady at the embassy seemed to be aware of the issue and said that I could upload the same document for items 6 and 7 in the list for O-A visa (https://thaievisa.go.th/visa/long-stay-visa) and it would probably be acceptable otherwise they would contact me and ask for supplementary documents.

[DrJack54]

2 hours ago, Jeff Olssson said:

Thai embassy and said that I can buy the health insurance with the coverage they require but it is really considered very unusual thing to ask the director of a big insurance company to sign the certificate

Out of interest...what does the 12 month insurance policy cost.

I realize it varies by age etc

[Jeff Olssson]

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Out of interest...what does the 12 month insurance policy cost.

 

Approximately US $650 a year but they refund you for the time period you don't use.

Note that this is the discounted price and it is based on how many other insurances you have with the company, the length of the time you have been with them, your claim history and so on. I don't know what the cost would be for a completely new customer.