New Requirement For One Year Extension Of Stay

[RDN]

I am over 50 and entered Thailand in 2002 on a one year "long-stay" visa, type O-A, granted by the Royal Thai Embassy in London.

Last year in Bangkok I applied for an "Extension of Stay" for one year and submitted form TM7, photograph, bank statement showing Bt 800,000 and bank letter certifying that the bank statement was correct. My extension was granted.

This year in Phuket I applied for the same extension and submitted the same documents but was told that I also need to provide a Medical Certificate. No details were given other than "it must show you are strong".

Can you confirm that a medical certificate is now required and what must it certify?

[lopburi3]

That you are strong? Any hospital should be able to issue this for you. Just that you are alive and kicking.

[RDN]

That you are strong?  Any hospital should be able to issue this for you.  Just that you are alive and kicking. 

What I meant was, the guy at Phuket Immigration didn't give any useful information about this certificate. He only made a little joke about it ("it must say that you are strong").

He didn't seem to know what was required and I know better than to make a Thai person feel stupid by asking him again what was required.

Has anyone in this forum had to produce a medical certificate for a one year extension of stay?

[mrmnp]

this is a test

[JimGant]

Surpised you got your 'O-A' without providing a medical certificate(?) -- this is the Thai requirement when applying in the States anyway. But, as we all know on this forum, there are no hard and fast immigration requirements.

Anyway, I'm told that most Thai clinics and hospitals are familiar with the form they are to fill out for Immigration. But in case they're not, here's a link that provides a medical form that should satisify Immigration (at the link, just click on 'certificate of health.' It's in MS Word format).

http://www.thai-la.net/visa/retire.htm

Oh, word is that Chiang Mai immigration requires a hospital, not a clinic, for your check up. Don't know about other locales.

[taxexile]

on the certificate the doctor wrote will write that you are "kairng rairng",the literal translation of which is "strong", although the meaning is probably that you are hale and hearty and in good health....hence the immigration officers comment.

it is probably a standard term used by doctors to imply good health.

[Thetyim]

I got my retirement visa extension in Nan.

No medical asked for there.

[RDN]

Surpised you got your 'O-A' without providing a medical certificate(?) -- this is the Thai requirement when applying in the States anyway. But, as we all know on this forum, there are no hard and fast immigration requirements.

Anyway, I'm told that most Thai clinics and hospitals are familiar with the form they are to fill out for Immigration. But in case they're not, here's a link that provides a medical form that should satisify Immigration (at the link, just click on 'certificate of health.' It's in MS Word format).

http://www.thai-la.net/visa/retire.htm

Oh, word is that Chiang Mai immigration requires a hospital, not a clinic, for your check up. Don't know about other locales.

Thanks everybody for your replies. I got my extension OK at Phuket Immigration after going to the PMC clinic at 340 Phuket Road - just up from the immigration office on the left. The doctor asked a few questions, looked in my mouth and one eye and listened to my heart with a stethoscope. The certificate was all in Thai so I don't know what it said, but it cost only 80 Baht and satisfied immigration.

I should clarify some details about my original visa: I got it in London from the Thai Embassy and I did need and I did get a medical certificate for that. The requirements for the certificate were clearly stated in a form that I got (from the embassy, I think). This form was entitled "Ministerial Regulation Number 14 (B.E. 2535) Issued in accordance with the Immigration Act B.E. 2522". It states that the diseases (which an immigrant must not have) are Leprosy, TB, Filariasis, Drug addiction and Syphillis. This ties in exactly with the form that Jim Gant refers to in his reply.

The only occasion that I did NOT provide a medical certificate (because the Thai Embassy procedure that I was given in London did not require it) was when I got my first one-year extension last year in Bangkok. I just provided the bank statement, bank letter, form TM 7, photograph, copies of bank book and passport and that was it. No medical certificate was asked for then for the extension.

One last point that really hurt this year was the increase in cost. Last year everything cost about 1,700 Baht - extension 500, multiple re-entry permit 1,000 and bank letter 200. This year it was 6,000! Extension 1,900, multiple re-entry 3,800, bank 200, medical certificate 80, photocopies 20. Please nobody tell the banks that immigration have quadrupled their fees or they will start charging 800 Baht for their letter!

Thanks again everyone for your replies. I can now relax again for another 12 months and 18 days.

[Thaiquila]

This post brings up an interesting question. I understand Thai immigration will not allow people who are carrying certain transmittable diseases (such as TB), but what about this probably pretty common scenario.

Person on retirement visa for a while, could be a year, could be twenty years. Then the foreigner becomes ill with a chronic disease such as cancer or heart disease. Would Thai immigration exclude a retirement visa extension based on that kind of ill health? Old people usually eventually get something, and it seems inhumane to send home people at that stage of their life if they have made Thailand their new home.

[RDN]

This post brings up an interesting question. I understand Thai immigration will not allow people who are carrying certain transmittable diseases (such as TB), but what about this probably pretty common scenario.

Person on retirement visa for a while, could be a year, could be twenty years. Then the foreigner becomes ill with a chronic disease such as cancer or heart disease. Would Thai immigration exclude a retirement visa extension based on that kind of ill health? Old people usually eventually get something, and it seems inhumane to send home people at that stage of their life if they have made Thailand their new home.

Thank you for putting into words one of my main worries about the necessity for a "medical certificate": that although this certificate may be considered a "joke" by the immigration officer I spoke to, as a retired person gets older and his health starts to fail maybe he will be refused an extension on health grounds

(Maybe this is why Chiang Mai will only accept a certificate from a hospital, not a clinic as reported by Jim Gant - possibly to stop people in poor health giving back-handers to corrupt doctors to get a certificate).

So the worry now is that Thailand wants only rich and HEALTHY farangs to retire here - not much of an incentive to buy property or build relationships when it could all end just as you are getting old and settled.

So the best thing is to stay healthy, then die suddenly, preferably in bed, and just before your money runs out

[Thaiquila]

The other part of this equation for the Thai government is that foreigners who are ill are often paying good prices (by Thai standards) for care in private hospitals, so the older and the iller they get, the more money they will spend for health care IN THAILAND, which you would think would be good for Thailand.

Thanks for appreciating my question. Of course, we are still waiting for answers.

[Thetyim]

I use Ayudhya Bank.

Their computer has a template letter and the staff just enter the name,a/c number and balance and hit print.

The letter is free. Yes thats right something from the bank for FREE.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I use Ayudhya Bank.

Their computer has a template letter and the staff just enter the name,a/c number and balance and hit print.

The letter is free. Yes thats right something from the bank for FREE.

Siam Commercial charges 200 baht for the letter.