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3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You will first have to a apply for a 90 day non immigrant visa (category O) entry at immigration before applying for the extension.

There are a few embassies and consulates that would issue a single entry non-o for being 50 or over if you are citizen of the country where they are located. A honorary consulate would be the best choice since they are normally more flexible.


Yes. I should have added that, in accordance with Jacko’s post #26, I first apply to convert the exempt entry into a Non-Imm O 90 day entry - then apply for the extension (probably in the last 30 days).

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9 hours ago, Jip99 said:


In which case you will be in exactly the same situation as me.

 

My extension expires 19 June but I leave Thailand, for European travel, in April and do not return until the end of June.

 

I will enter on a visa exempt and then go to my l required 800k ocal immigration office to apply for the extension.

Yes, we would indeed seem to be in the same situation.

 

I wonder if you have inquired into, or know anything relevant about a couple of details that Jacko touched on and which are worrying me, namely

1) the check-in desk not accepting me without a return ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days. (i'd be returning on a delayed return ticket i'd bought in thailand bkk/cdg/bkk).

2) i've had the required 800k baht deposit in the bank for years and this has been accepted at each annual extension.  i've never been asked to prove it came from abroad. i don't know that i've any longer got the old paperwork to prove that the money came from abroad - of course this and all the rest of my funds in Thailand came from abroad.  all immigration looked into was that the depo was there for the previous 3 months. is this matter going to be a problem even though the bank book shows the deposit of long standing and that the immigration office will see the regular previous annual extensions?

 

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, triffid said:

Yes, we would indeed seem to be in the same situation.

 

I wonder if you have inquired into, or know anything relevant about a couple of details that Jacko touched on and which are worrying me, namely

1) the check-in desk not accepting me without a return ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days. (i'd be returning on a delayed return ticket i'd bought in thailand bkk/cdg/bkk).

2) i've had the required 800k baht deposit in the bank for years and this has been accepted at each annual extension.  i've never been asked to prove it came from abroad. i don't know that i've any longer got the old paperwork to prove that the money came from abroad - of course this and all the rest of my funds in Thailand came from abroad.  all immigration looked into was that the depo was there for the previous 3 months. is this matter going to be a problem even though the bank book shows the deposit of long standing and that the immigration office will see the regular previous annual extensions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) is unlikely to happen, but COULD. If you are concerned book a hotel in Siem Reap for 3 weeks ahead (that is cancellable) and tell them you are traveling overland through the Chong Chom border. Or.... jusdt tell them your story and that you are heading straight to immigration to arrange the Non-Imm O and subsequent extension - show your bank book.

 

Chances of being challenged......1 in a million ?

 

2) I think immigration would rely on the usual bank letter.

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2 hours ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

1) is unlikely to happen, but COULD. If you are concerned book a hotel in Siem Reap for 3 weeks ahead (that is cancellable) and tell them you are traveling overland through the Chong Chom border. Or.... jusdt tell them your story and that you are heading straight to immigration to arrange the Non-Imm O and subsequent extension - show your bank book.

 

Chances of being challenged......1 in a million ?

 

2) I think immigration would rely on the usual bank letter.

on 1) i think i'll just tell them the truth - if asked. 

and thanks for the encouraging comments, and for troubling to make them.  

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On 2/9/2020 at 6:59 PM, triffid said:

Yes, we would indeed seem to be in the same situation.

 

I wonder if you have inquired into, or know anything relevant about a couple of details that Jacko touched on and which are worrying me, namely

1) the check-in desk not accepting me without a return ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days. (i'd be returning on a delayed return ticket i'd bought in thailand bkk/cdg/bkk).

2) i've had the required 800k baht deposit in the bank for years and this has been accepted at each annual extension.  i've never been asked to prove it came from abroad. i don't know that i've any longer got the old paperwork to prove that the money came from abroad - of course this and all the rest of my funds in Thailand came from abroad.  all immigration looked into was that the depo was there for the previous 3 months. is this matter going to be a problem even though the bank book shows the deposit of long standing and that the immigration office will see the regular previous annual extensions?

 

 

 

 

I'm another one who will be in that situation, and also was wondering about your worries 1 and 2. Would be good to hear from someone in similar situation who already went through this recently.

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On 2/9/2020 at 12:59 PM, triffid said:

1) the check-in desk not accepting me without a return ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days. (i'd be returning on a delayed return ticket i'd bought in thailand bkk/cdg/bkk).

A return ticket is not required when entering Thailand on any kind of Visa.

But a return (or onward) ticket is required when you want to enter Thailand VisaExempt, and you will probably be denied boarding at the Airport when you do not have such an onward ticket. 

So you could apply for a single-entry Tourist Visa in your home-country.  However, although thai border-immigration does not require it, some embassies/consulates also require an actual return-ticket (not on an onward-ticket) when applying for the SETV.

When that's the case you could consider applying at your home-country embassy/consulate for a Multi-Entry Tourist Visa, which does not require any return or onward-flight ticket.

Alternatively you could also decide to enter VisaExempt, and to meet the airport-boarding and thai immigration requirements for an onward-ticket, buy online the cheapest throw-away one-way outbound ticket from a Thai Airport (e.g. HuaHIn - KL on AirAsia or Bangkok - Saigon > would cost you approx 1000 THB).

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7 hours ago, Is this real said:

Immigration requires the O-A Visa have the new 40K OPD, and many companies offer it.  Can you get the same policy if you have an "O" Visa?

I presume you are referring to the mandatory health-insurance when applying for or extending from an OA Visa, that requires 400K in-patient and 40K out-patient coverage.

Such insurance is not required when applying for a Non Imm O Visa.

Obviously a good idea to be well covered when on long-stay in Thailand.

But a terrible idea to subscribe to the thai IO-approved insurance scam.

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On 2/9/2020 at 12:59 PM, triffid said:

2) i've had the required 800k baht deposit in the bank for years and this has been accepted at each annual extension.  i've never been asked to prove it came from abroad. i don't know that i've any longer got the old paperwork to prove that the money came from abroad - of course this and all the rest of my funds in Thailand came from abroad.  all immigration looked into was that the depo was there for the previous 3 months. is this matter going to be a problem even though the bank book shows the deposit of long standing and that the immigration office will see the regular previous annual extensions?

When applying for the 90-day Non Imm O - retirement Visa, Clause 5.3 requires Evidence of foreign currency fund transferred to Thailand.

That means that when you already have the 800.000 THB on your thai bank-account because you used them earlier when extending your Non Imm OA Visa, that you STILL need to provide evidence that that money came from abroad.

A code next to the entries in your thai bank-book proving that the original funds came from abroad would normally be sufficient.  However when it is not possible anymore to prove the origin of the funds as coming from abroad, you might be forced to transfer the funds to your foreign bank-account, and then transfer them back to your thai bank-account, and making sure that the incoming funds carry the 'international transfer' code.

A crazy and senseless exercise that would cost you twice a currency exchange fee, so it would be useful to enquire first at your local IO where you apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa, whether they are not satisfied with the fact that the funds have been already long-time seasoned in your bank-account.  Note that the actual decision is not theirs, as the new 90-day Non Imm O - retirement Visa application needs the approval of divisional IO headquarters.

If IO insists that the origin of the funds must be evidenced, you could make use of the services of DEEMoney to transfer your thai funds to your foreign bank-account, and when transferring them back from your foreign bank-account to your thai bank-account you could make use of the services of TRANSFERWISE

Note: When applying for a Non Imm O - retirement Visa in a neighboring country, there is no need to prove that the funds originated from abroad.  So if you have problems meeting that requirement, you could also consider applying from a neighboring country (however, there are other requirements - e.g. an income statement - that need to be fulfilled then).

 

>> The above is an excerpt from the Roadmap to convert to a Non Imm O - retirement Visa, a document that I compiled to guide OA Visa holders that don't want to subscribe to the @#$%^ thai IO-approved health-insurance scam now required for OA Visa applications and extensions.

Just PM me when you like to receive a copy.

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On 8/22/2019 at 5:26 AM, triffid said:

i shall be leaving 3-4 months before current extension date, so prior extension is not possible.

 

what is setv?

 

i am willing to get the 30-day airport visa and go to immigration for conversion to retirement etc if that's would pose no problems or uncertainty.

I would go in 3 or 4 months before you leave, tell them that you have an urgent family problem and if the cannot renew your extensio  so far in advance, keeling tje same expiry date, that you would be happy to accept a renewal from the date of request for 12 months. It would bring forward your annual renewal date, I don.t know if that would be a problem for you. 

I have found that as long as you are not asking effectively for more than 12 months they don t mind doing this. 

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5 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

I presume you are referring to the mandatory health-insurance when applying for or extending from an OA Visa, that requires 400K in-patient and 40K out-patient coverage.

Such insurance is not required when applying for a Non Imm O Visa.

Obviously a good idea to be well covered when on long-stay in Thailand.

But a terrible idea to subscribe to the thai IO-approved insurance scam.

Not so fast.

I'll be 72 this year with a clean health record.  No diseases, or bad habits.  But, current insurance company won't renew policy because of age.  Others won't either.

Actually, this is the only insurance I can now obtain BECAUSE the government requires it to be available.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Is this real said:

Not so fast.

I'll be 72 this year with a clean health record.  No diseases, or bad habits.  But, current insurance company won't renew policy because of age.  Others won't either.

Actually, this is the only insurance I can now obtain BECAUSE the government requires it to be available.

OK, when your choice is not limited by the 'thai IO-approved' requirement (mandatory for OA - retirement Visa extensions), there will for sure be fitting policies available from foreign or thai insurers.

But that would require you to convert to a Non Imm O Visa (or change the reason for your OA extension from retirement to marriage or other reason, you might be eligible for).

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6 hours ago, Is this real said:

Not so fast.

I'll be 72 this year with a clean health record.  No diseases, or bad habits.  But, current insurance company won't renew policy because of age.  Others won't either.

Actually, this is the only insurance I can now obtain BECAUSE the government requires it to be available.

 

 

I'm even a bit older than you but otherwise also have a clean bill of health.  Never faced the health insurance requirement in previous extensions.  So, to be clear, there is now a requirement for the specified insurance for all non-O retirement visa, whether new applications or extensions? 

(Should I be bracing myself for a shockingly hig premium level - and is this quoted online by those companies?)

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31 minutes ago, triffid said:

I'm even a bit older than you but otherwise also have a clean bill of health.  Never faced the health insurance requirement in previous extensions.  So, to be clear, there is now a requirement for the specified insurance for all non-O retirement visa, whether new applications or extensions? 

(Should I be bracing myself for a shockingly hig premium level - and is this quoted online by those companies?)

In fact I'm 76 so was wondering if the listed companies - or any of them - will accept that age.

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9 hours ago, triffid said:

So, to be clear, there is now a requirement for the specified insurance for all non-O retirement visa, whether new applications or extensions? 

If you have been extending a entry from a non-o visa insurance is not required.

If you have been extending a entry from Non-OA visa it is required.

 

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14 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

If you have been extending a entry from a non-o visa insurance is not required.

If you have been extending a entry from Non-OA visa it is required.

 

looking at visa stamps in my passport, in an extension of a few years ago I see the words 'non-O retirement'  but in the last two years I see only the word 'retirement'; I don't see 'non-OA' anywhere.  all the extensions were for one year.  

The complication now is that I won't be extending in the normal way because I won't return until after the current extension has expired.  I was thinking of getting a 90 day tourist visa and then applying to have that changed to a retirement visa at my local immigration office.

Edited by triffid
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16 minutes ago, triffid said:

looking at visa stamps in my passport, in an extension of a few years ago I see the words 'non-O retirement'  but in the last two years I see only the word 'retirement'; I don't see 'non-OA' anywhere.  all the extensions were for one year.  

The complication now is that I won't be extending in the normal way because I won't return until after the current extension has expired.  I was thinking of getting a 90 day tourist visa and then applying to have that changed to a retirement visa at my local immigration office.

What did obtain originally. You would know if it was a no O-A as the application is VERY detailed. Forget your stamps. If you have been obtaining extensions of stay from original non O-A entry then you now need insurance.

Edited by DrJack54
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This might not be relevant now, but some years ago, I was in this situation.  At the old immigration office at Soi Suan PLu, I was told that I could apply for the normal 365 day extension more that 30 days in advance if I asked for "special permission"  I was give a blank sheet of paper and told to write a letter to IO giving my reason for an 'early extension'  I did so and was allowed to apply for a normal 365 day extension from the expiry date.  Suan Plu were then often more helpful than the normal IO, so this might not still be allowed.

I will be in a similar situation later this year, so I'll be interested to know what the current situation is regarding early extensions.  I get th impression that I/O's make up their own rules now, and it depends on how the I/O feels at the time.

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On 2/11/2020 at 10:24 PM, triffid said:

I'm even a bit older than you but otherwise also have a clean bill of health.  Never faced the health insurance requirement in previous extensions.  So, to be clear, there is now a requirement for the specified insurance for all non-O retirement visa, whether new applications or extensions? 

(Should I be bracing myself for a shockingly hig premium level - and is this quoted online by those companies?)

 

The law now requires insurance on all Long Stay O-A visa extensions.  They fail to mention Long Stay O visa extensions. 

 

Unless you've been with your current company since age 60, or so, they will cancel you, as Aetna did with me, at 71-72.  For all practical purposes, even though I want it, I cannot get health insurance.  Aetna (BUPA), Thai Health Insurance, Falcon, Viriyah, AXA, Dhipaya will not if over 70.

 

BUT, the government's "O-A" plan is supposed to make it available, through a few companies, at a reasonable cost.  I'm trying to find those companies.

 

Some companies are afraid of breaking the law.  They think they aren't allowed to sell it UNLESS you have the O-A Visa since an "O" isn't mentioned.  

Very confusing.  Honestly, how many 70+ year old expats purchased their health insurance at 60 years old?

 

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