Latest TM30 and health insurance issues at BKK and Jomtien Soi 5

[phetchy]

Having perused all the available info in advance of departing to the UK on 15 Oct returning 7 Nov with a Non-Imm "O" extended since 2008, I hoped to have all bases covered while expecting the worst on my return to LoS.

 

Breezed through Immigration at Swampy (Fast track for once being priceless), no mention of health insurance as referred to in other threads (I have none - more sense to be self funded as the pre-existing conditions exclusions in my case make the policy worthless).  Thought I'd go by the book and save a possible fine when renewing my retirement extension at Jomtien Soi 5 as far as TM30 goes.  House in wifey's name so I had all the relevant paperwork (her ID, Tabien Baan, my passport, yellow Tabein Baan, Chanote etc.)

 

Five minutes in and out this morning including queuing and no questions.  The helpful lady IMO doing the paperwork told me that if I had a one year stamp (Visa retirement extension) and left Thailand again (UK visit for me 4/2020), I would not require a TM30 on my return if I was still at the same address !?  All news to me, but if right it will save a lot of unnecessary time wasting for expats and the IMO's.           

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Insurance has NEVER been a requirement for Non-Imm O visas, either current or extensions of stay of them.

 

The insurance requirement only comes into play for O-A visas and related extensions of stay.

 

So it's hardly surprising that no one at Immigration at Swampy mentioned insurance to you.

 

[phetchy]

43 minutes ago, phetchy said:

"no mention of health insurance as referred to in other threads"

Merely an observation - I know it's not a requirement for Non-Imm O visas , just adding trying to reassure those who may think it is.

[potless]

4 hours ago, phetchy said:

Five minutes in and out this morning including queuing and no questions.  The helpful lady IMO doing the paperwork told me that if I had a one year stamp (Visa retirement extension) and left Thailand again (UK visit for me 4/2020), I would not require a TM30 on my return if I was still at the same address !? 

I returned to Thailand on Wednesday 30th October. On Thursday 31st I went to Jomtien soi 5 immigration to present my bank book to show 800,000 baht is still present in my bank account. I told the lady I had just come back from abroad and would I need to file a new TM 30. "Yes" came the reply. And so I did. I have a yearly retirement extension and was returning to my usual address. Round and round in circles we go. i suggest you check again nearer the time.

Edited November 8, 2019 by potless
added a sentence.

[phetchy]

"i suggest you check again nearer the time."

 

For sure, maybe a new directive - a week is a long time in Thai Immigration.  

[jackdd]

So which health insurance issues did you have?

[Beggar]

9 hours ago, potless said:

On Thursday 31st I went to Jomtien soi 5 immigration.... I told the lady I had just come back from abroad and would I need to file a new TM 30. "Yes" came the reply. And so I did. 

Perhaps only if you go there on Thursdays? But I think she might be right since you got a new entry card number and this needs to be in their system. 

[jimn]

@phetchy, nothing new here. Its been like that a while. No insurance on Non O visa, never has been a requirement. TM30 at Jomtien, no new requirement to reregister if on extension of stay. Sorry, I bet you thought you were on to something there lol

[potless]

8 hours ago, Beggar said:

But I think she might be right since you got a new entry card number and this needs to be in their system. 

Then the same criteria would apply to the O.P. I left Thailand in July. No need for new TM 30. I come back in October. Have to do TM 30. O.P. visits immigration a week or so later. No have to do. Lol.

[potless]

21 minutes ago, jimn said:

TM30 at Jomtien, no new requirement to reregister if on extension of stay. Sorry, I bet you thought you were on to something there lol

I am on an extension of stay. I had to do a new T.M.30. Read post number 4.

[Peter Denis]

The reason you have to do a new TM30 after returning from abroad, is that the new TM6 (the Thailand entry-card) stapled in your passport has a different number than the previous one.  And that TM6-number is part of the data that needs to be provided when filing a TM30.  

Note: Probably they need to have that updated TM6-number to find you in their database.  That should normally also be possible using your passport-number, hence the rumours of scrapping the TM6 altogether.

[Max69xl]

21 hours ago, phetchy said:

Merely an observation - I know it's not a requirement for Non-Imm O visas , just adding trying to reassure those who may think it is.

There's no need to do a TM30 report at all at Jomtien Immigration if staying at the last reported address. This includes coming back from abroad. 

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

There's no need to do a TM30 report at all at Jomtien Immigration if staying at the last reported address. This includes coming back from abroad. 

That's how I feel about it as condo owner on retirement extensions. Never done one. Never asked to do one. It seems to me to start doing them now is asking to be put in a system I'd rather not be in. If it's ever demanded, then I'll start. Sure you can ask five people in that office whether you should do one for this or for that and maybe get five different answers, but that's the key, why even ask if you've never done one before?

Edited November 9, 2019 by Jingthing

[Max69xl]

10 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

That's how I feel about it as condo owner on retirement extensions. Never done one. Never asked to do one. It seems to me to start doing them now is asking to be put in a system I'd rather not be in. If it's ever demanded, then I'll start. Sure you can ask five people in that office whether you should do one for this or for that and maybe get five different answers, but that's the key, why even ask if you've never done one before?

I am talking about Jomtien Immigration only, and what I wrote is a fact. 

[potless]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

The reason you have to do a new TM30 after returning from abroad, is that the new TM6 (the Thailand entry-card) stapled in your passport has a different number than the previous one.  And that TM6-number is part of the data that needs to be provided when filing a TM30. 

If that is the case, why has the O.P. been told he will NOT have to file a new TM30 when he returns to Thailand? He will have a new TM6 number.

 

38 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

There's no need to do a TM30 report at all at Jomtien Immigration if staying at the last reported address. This includes coming back from abroad. 

If that is the case, why was I told to do a new TM30?

[Max69xl]

2 minutes ago, potless said:

If that is the case, why has the O.P. been told he will NOT have to file a new TM30 when he returns to Thailand? He will have a new TM6 number.

 

If that is the case, why was I told to do a new TM30?

A good question because there's been several reports about Jomtien Immigration regarding the TM30 report.Both here and from PCEC (the Pattaya expats club). Did you return to your last reported address? 

[potless]

4 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

A good question because there's been several reports about Jomtien Immigration regarding the TM30 report.Both here and from PCEC (the Pattaya expats club). Did you return to your last reported address? 

Same address. Retirement extension. Who knows what the next roll of the dice will bring? Consistent inconsistency.

[Max69xl]

1 minute ago, potless said:

Same address. Retirement extension. Who knows what the next roll of the dice will bring? Consistent inconsistency.

Did you have an existing TM30 report at that address before you left? 

[potless]

3 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Did you have an existing TM30 report at that address before you left? 

Yes.

[Max69xl]

1 minute ago, potless said:

Yes.

Ok, then I don't understand why it wasn't needed just 2 weeks ago and was reported here at TVF. Like you said, inconsistency as always.

[ericthai]

On 11/8/2019 at 12:46 PM, potless said:

I returned to Thailand on Wednesday 30th October. On Thursday 31st I went to Jomtien soi 5 immigration to present my bank book to show 800,000 baht is still present in my bank account. I told the lady I had just come back from abroad and would I need to file a new TM 30. "Yes" came the reply. And so I did. I have a yearly retirement extension and was returning to my usual address. Round and round in circles we go. i suggest you check again nearer the time.

This is typical in Thailand, what is required by one office is not required by others. Each office /  Govt official interpret (and make up) the rules as they go along.  

[ericthai]

7 hours ago, potless said:

I am on an extension of stay. I had to do a new T.M.30. Read post number 4.

yes, that is the requirement. If you leave your registered address for more that 24 hrs you are suppose to submit a new TM30. However, not all offices follow the rules, you always need to check with your local office what they require.  

[jimn]

18 hours ago, potless said:

I am on an extension of stay. I had to do a new T.M.30. Read post number 4.

At Jomtien if you have already submitted a TM30 and you are on an extension of stay based on retirement and you leave the country. You do not have to resubmit a TM30. This has been their policy for some time now and was as recently as April. If you are saying that this is not now the caae, then the policy must have changed or you are wrong. Its got nothing to do with a different TM6 number.

Edited November 10, 2019 by jimn

[Thomas J]

18 hours ago, Max69xl said:

There's no need to do a TM30 report at all at Jomtien Immigration if staying at the last reported address. This includes coming back from abroad. 

Max69xl

Not according to Jomtien immigration.  We specifically asked when I returned from a trip.  They indicated that every time you leave your address and return you need to file a new TM30.  I just returned from the USA and at the time we were filing we asked the agent if it really was required each time.  The answer YES

[Max69xl]

11 hours ago, ericthai said:

yes, that is the requirement. If you leave your registered address for more that 24 hrs you are suppose to submit a new TM30. However, not all offices follow the rules, you always need to check with your local office what they require.  

Since the end of 2017 at Jomtien Immigration,there's been no need to submit a TM30 when coming back from a trip outside the province if coming back to the last reported address. Then about 4-5 months ago, they went from 24 hours to 3 days when coming back from abroad to the last reported address. Then a while later, they said there were no need to submit a TM30 at all. It was reported both here and in Pattaya expats clubs newsletter. But now one poster here at TVF reported he had to submit the TM30 after coming back from abroad. It might have been because of an unknowing officer at desk 10 or a volunteer. Sometimes people behind the front desk comes up with wrong info when people ask them something. 

[potless]

6 hours ago, Max69xl said:

It might have been because of an unknowing officer at desk 10 or a volunteer. Sometimes people behind the front desk comes up with wrong info when people ask them something. 

Just for the record Max, It was at desk 8 while showing my bank book and the lady who said I had to file the TM30 is the lady giving out passports with new extensions of stay. 

[potless]

7 hours ago, jimn said:

If you are saying that this is not now the caae, then the policy must have changed or you are wrong.

What I was saying related to my experience on that particular day.

[Peter Denis]

On 11/9/2019 at 1:56 PM, potless said:

If that is the case, why has the O.P. been told he will NOT have to file a new TM30 when he returns to Thailand? He will have a new TM6 number.

Thai law requires that a TM30 has to be filed within 24 hours after arrival of the foreigner at the place where he is staying.  But the law is not enforced everywhere.  Some provincial IOs insist that it is done according 'to the letter of the law' meaning after every return to your home from a trip.  Some only require that a TM30 is filed after returning from a trip abroad.  And some don't require anything at all.

The same applies when you visit your provincial IO for an extension of stay (or residence certificate or other service where they need your current address).  And that's the ONLY time that it will ever be checked (if it is checked) and they will only look whether a current TM30 is on file (not interested in the history).

When your provincial IO is 'tough' they can refuse your application for extension of stay when there is no current TM30 on file.  In that case, you will be fined and a TM30 has to be filed before your application for extension will be processed.

[potless]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

Some provincial IOs insist that it is done according 'to the letter of the law' meaning after every return to your home from a trip.  Some only require that a TM30 is filed after returning from a trip abroad.  And some don't require anything at all.

Absolutely right. The O.P. and myself were referring to the policy of the Jomtien office which has flip flopped on this issue more than once. That was the crux of my post. Who knows what the policy will be tomorrow?

[sandyf]

On 11/8/2019 at 9:42 PM, phetchy said:

Merely an observation - I know it's not a requirement for Non-Imm O visas , just adding trying to reassure those who may think it is.

"The helpful lady IMO doing the paperwork told me that if I had a one year stamp (Visa retirement extension) and left Thailand again (UK visit for me 4/2020), I would not require a TM30 on my return if I was still at the same address !?"

 

I use Sri Ratcha, same province, and have been told the same thing at every extension for the last 5 years. The TM30 slip in my passport is from 2014.

I do not know about Jomtien, but I have seen the same IO for extensions over that period, asking the same question got the same answer.