Very pleasant experience at Phuket Immigration – OA extension based on retirement

[thomago]

Very pleasant experience at Phuket Immigration – OA extension based on retirement

 

Yesterday I visited Phuket Immigration for the extension of my OA based on retirement. As usual, the officer outside the room checking the papers was very friendly, polite and helpful. I got a queue number and was called-in shortly afterwards. The officer inside was also polite and processed my application. No question was asked about having local or international health insurance. After a picture was taken plus fingerprints, I was then told to come back the next day to receive my passport with the extension.

I was in and out in less than 30 minutes. This has been the case for the past 4 years.

 

Today I picked-up my passport with the valid OA extension based on retirement. I then proceeded to a different section and applied for a multiple re-entry permit. This was done in 40 minutes. The service provided by the immigration officers was polite and helpful.

 

I also checked around how people trying to extend their tourist visas were treated. My impression was that the whole process was very well organized. People could wait under tents rather than waiting in the sun.

 

Overall, full kudos to Phuket Immigration for properly managing a difficult situation.

 

Some background regarding my OA visa and extensions:

 

I have an OA visa based on retirement which I have extended annually since 2005.

 

New regulations since 2019 stipulate that OA visas and extensions based on retirement now require local or international health insurance. I have an international insurance covering 37 million Baht for annual in-patient benefits which is far in excess of Thai requirements. My insurance company also provided me with the required Foreign Insurance Certificate for immigration but I have been advised that in practice immigration only accepts local health insurance from certain companies (longstay.tgia.org). These local insurances are very expensive and do not provide value for money.

 

Based on this, I was prepared to change my “OA based on retirement” to “OA based on marriage”. I had prepared all the required documents and anticipated a lengthy process (with my wife and witnesses having to be present at a later date). Was very relieved when my “OA based on retirement” application was processed without any questions.

This was in line with advice I had previously received that Phuket Immigration still provides OA extensions based on retirement.

 

Good luck to everyone and stay healthy!

 

 

[Peterw42]

It could be worth it to relocate to Phuket for a month or so for those people where the local immigration want insurance.

[Peter Denis]

Amazing Thailand!

So in Phuket it is NOT required to have thai IO-approved health-insurance when applying for a 1-year extension of your original OA Visa for reason of retirement.

Maybe they are pro-active and don't think it's worth OA Visa holders applying for reason of marriage (much more work for IO), or OA Visa holders switching to a Non Imm O - retirement Visa which on extension has EXACTLY the same requirements as an OA extension for reason of retirement, but does not require the thai IO-approved health-insurance.

>> I would be interested to know if there are other Phuket OA Visa holders that were not required to meet the health-insurance requirement when applying for the 1-year extension for reason of retirement.

[jacko45k]

14 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

It could be worth it to relocate to Phuket for a month or so for those people where the local immigration want insurance.

Island is in lockdown.

[Peter Denis]

4 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Island is in lockdown.

It will not be forever in lock-down, and this is a really interesting development when indeed it is Phuket IO policy not to require the thai IO-approved health-insurance anymore for OA Visa extensions for reason of retirement.

[Peterw42]

10 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Island is in lockdown.

Yes of course it is, I was talking a broader time frame when the virus is done.

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, Peter Denis said:

It will not be forever in lock-down, and this is a really interesting development when indeed it is Phuket IO policy not to require the thai IO-approved health-insurance anymore for OA Visa extensions for reason of retirement.

I do not see how Phuket can bypass a police order requiring insurance on O-A based retirement extensions. The OP is a Newbie poster and I would like to see further confirmation. 

[Peter Denis]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I do not see how Phuket can bypass a police order requiring insurance on O-A based retirement extensions. The OP is a Newbie poster and I would like to see further confirmation. 

Yes, and hence my request for confirmation of other OA Visa holders.

>> I would be interested to know if there are other Phuket OA Visa holders that were not required to meet the health-insurance requirement when applying for the 1-year extension for reason of retirement.

[DrJack54]

The OP, did not have an O-A previously IMHO. I think he made a mistake. Perhaps he could clarify.

[Peter Denis]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

The OP, did not have an O-A previously IMHO. I think he made a mistake. Perhaps he could clarify.

That's indeed a possibility.  It's also possible that the officer processing his application mistook his original OA Visa for an O Visa.  And the 3rd possibility is that Phuket IO does not require thai IO-approved health-insurance anymore for 1-year extensions of stay for OA Visa for reason of retirement (OPs before last sentence seems to indicate that that is the case).

>> Question for OP - Did you apply for the Visa you are extending in your home-country, or did you apply for it in Thailand or a neighboring country?

 

[PST]

Are there seperate queues for 'normal' extensions, or do you need to queue in the same line as tourist/covid extensions?

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

It will not be forever in lock-down, and this is a really interesting development when indeed it is Phuket IO policy not to require the thai IO-approved health-insurance anymore for OA Visa extensions for reason of retirement.

 

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

I do not see how Phuket can bypass a police order requiring insurance on O-A based retirement extensions. The OP is a Newbie poster and I would like to see further confirmation. 

 

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

The OP, did not have an O-A previously IMHO. I think he made a mistake. Perhaps he could clarify.

My gut feeling is that his ability to provide Immigration with a Foreign Insurance Certificate issued by his insurance company (as he stated in the OP) was probably crucial to his successful retirement extension application.

Edited April 2, 2020 by OJAS

[JimGant]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

The OP, did not have an O-A previously IMHO. I think he made a mistake. Perhaps he could clarify.

Apparently, his O-A dates back to 2005:

Quote

I have an OA visa based on retirement which I have extended annually since 2005.

 

[thomago]

6 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

That's indeed a possibility.  It's also possible that the officer processing his application mistook his original OA Visa for an O Visa.  And the 3rd possibility is that Phuket IO does not require thai IO-approved health-insurance anymore for 1-year extensions of stay for OA Visa for reason of retirement (OPs before last sentence seems to indicate that that is the case).

>> Question for OP - Did you apply for the Visa you are extending in your home-country, or did you apply for it in Thailand or a neighboring country?

 

I'm a German national. From 2003 to April 2005 I worked in Seoul, Korea. My Non-Immigrant O-A visa based on retirement dated April 7, 2005 was issued in Seoul and I have extended it annually in Phuket up to now.

[thomago]

6 hours ago, PST said:

Are there seperate queues for 'normal' extensions, or do you need to queue in the same line as tourist/covid extensions?

There are separate queues for 'normal extensions (room 103?). Tourist/covid extensions are handled separately.

[DrJack54]

I thought a non O-A was only able to be issued in your own country. In your case Germany. How did you obtain one in Seoul?

[Peterw42]

10 minutes ago, thomago said:

I'm a German national. From 2003 to April 2005 I worked in Seoul, Korea. My Non-Immigrant O-A visa based on retirement dated April 7, 2005 was issued in Seoul and I have extended it annually in Phuket up to now.

An OA is only available from your home country, if you got a visa from Seoul it would have been an O visa.(insurance not required)

That would certainly explain why you didnt need insurance, you got an extension from an original O visa, not an OA visa.

[thomago]

7 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

An OA is only available from your home country, if you got a visa from Seoul it would have been an O visa.(insurance not required)

That would certainly explain why you didnt need insurance, you got an extension from an original O visa, not an OA visa.

Not correct. My OA was issued in Korea. I'm just looking at my old passport with the OA visa in it. Believe me.

[thomago]

18 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I thought a non O-A was only able to be issued in your own country. In your case Germany. How did you obtain one in Seoul?

I worked in Seoul at that time. Submitted all the required paperwork to the Thai Embassy in Seoul and was issued an OA visa based on retirement.

[Peterw42]

4 minutes ago, thomago said:

Not correct. My OA was issued in Korea. I'm just looking at my old passport with the OA visa in it. Believe me.

Is it a stamp or a full page sticker ? Any chance you can send a photo ?

 

You keep saying an OA based on retirement, an OA is only ever issued based on retirement, there are no other OA visa's. An O visa can be issued for various reasons, one of them being retirement.

 

If it is an OA then it would appear immigration has made a mistake in your favour, you were (and maybe will be next year) required to have insurance.

[WorriedNoodle]

23 hours ago, thomago said:

These local insurances are very expensive and do not provide value for money.

Based on this, I was prepared to change my “OA based on retirement” to “OA based on marriage”.

I didn't think there was an OA based on marriage visa? Its just an OA visa for long term stay that needs insurance (or in your case not for some reason?).

 

You would need to change to O based visa and extend that based on retirement or marriage to avoid insurance.

[dick turpin]

That multiple re-entry permit is going to come in handy.....

[steve187]

49 minutes ago, thomago said:

I'm a German national. From 2003 to April 2005 I worked in Seoul, Korea. My Non-Immigrant O-A visa based on retirement dated April 7, 2005 was issued in Seoul and I have extended it annually in Phuket up to now.

what length of permission to stay stamp did you get on the first ever entry you made, based on that visa issued in Seoul on April 7 2005,

i think the terminology you use to describe your yearly extension of your permission to stay, as you call it an OA extension based on retirement, is confusing other posters on here, you can not extend any visa only the permission to stay stamp that the visa gives you on entry.

[Peter Denis]

6 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

I didn't think there was an OA based on marriage visa? Its just an OA visa for long term stay that needs insurance (or in your case not for some reason?).

 

You would need to change to O based visa and extend that based on retirement or marriage to avoid insurance.

You can only APPLY for the Non Imm O-A (long-stay) Visa in your home-country.  Since you need to be +50 years of age, it is sometimes also referred to as Non Imm O-A retirement Visa.

But when you apply for an EXTENSION of stay based on that original Non Imm O-A Visa you can do this for reason of retirement, or for another reason (e.g. marriage to a thai national).  The requirements are different, and ONLY an extension for reason of retirement requires the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance.

When applying for an extension of your O-A Visa for reason of marriage, there is thus no reason to exit Thailand to switch to the Non Imm O Visa that does not require health-insurance.  When not married to a thai national, and wanting to avoid the thai IO-approved health-insurance you could convert to a 90-day Non Imm O - retirement Visa and subsequent 1-year extension, but that requires you to exit the country.

 

[thomago]

23 minutes ago, steve187 said:

what length of permission to stay stamp did you get on the first ever entry you made, based on that visa issued in Seoul on April 7 2005,

i think the terminology you use to describe your yearly extension of your permission to stay, as you call it an OA extension based on retirement, is confusing other posters on here, you can not extend any visa only the permission to stay stamp that the visa gives you on entry.

My first permission to stay in 2005 was for one year and I have extended it annually here in Phuket.

[Peter Denis]

4 minutes ago, thomago said:

My first permission to stay in 2005 was for one year and I have extended it annually here in Phuket.

Hi, @thomago is of course somewhat reluctant to post his personal info on the Forum.  But he did sent me a copy of the passport page with the Visa-sticker and it is indeed an O-A Visa issued in Seoul to a German national.

This now being cleared, the good and quite interesting news is that he was NOT required by Phuket IO to have thai IO-approved health-insurance when applying for his 1-year extension of stay based on that original O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

[thomago]

Hello everybody,

 

I have been in contact with Peter Denis and have supplied him with all the information related to my original "OA based on my retirement passport sticker" from 2005 as well as my annual extensions for the permission to stay.

 

I am a Newbie and just wish to help in these uncertain times. I've requested Peter Denis to check all my documents and to reply accordingly on the Forum. I understand that Denis and Ubonjoe are amongst those most knowledgable when it comes to visa and extension matters.

 

All the best and stay healthy,

 

thomago (Gottfried)

[DrJack54]

OP, did you have permanent residence in Sth Korea when you obtained your O-A

[thomago]

21 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, did you have permanent residence in Sth Korea when you obtained your O-A

No, I only had a work permit for my role as President & CEO for a large subsidiary of a major international company.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, thomago said:

No, I only had a work permit for my role as President & CEO for a large subsidiary of a major international company.

Apparently it was some type of residency that the embassy in Seoul accepted or they would not of issued a OA visa to you.