Meeting health insurance requirements for extending an O-A visa

[ALMIN 22]

In a few months time I will need to extend my O-A retirement visa for an additional year. 

Since my retirement, I am indeed been fortunate to have a good health insurance plan in place  provided directly by my former Government employer. I am, however, unsure at this stage, how to navigate the rather elaborate insurance procedures for Thai  immigration purposes. 

There is a form on the website http://longstay.tgia.org/documents/overseas_insurance_certificate.pdf) showing that one can request  one's foreign insurance company to complete (with the required policy number, validity dates specified and signed by 2 directors etc.). In my case, unfortunately, it is just blank coverage based on my name and pension number. So the details cannot simply be recorded and signed on the standardised Thai pre-printed form. 

 

To cut a long story short, I suspect  that at the end of the day, the easiest option will be to fork out the 15 000 baht (or more) and take out a Thai Approved Insurance policy with a maximum deductible amount. 

 

Nevertheless, it would be interesting to hear how the Northern European and  Swiss retirees have dealt with this issue because (the way I understand it) they already have very good national State insurance coverage. So they must have similar difficulties in getting their state insurance approved. 

 

Thanks in advance for any

advice that your forum members might be able to provide. 

[Peter Denis 6,667]

A foreign insurance policy that meets the IO-requirements (at least 400K/40K for in-patient/out-patient coverage), is ONLY accepted when you apply for the Non Imm O-A (long-stay) Visa in your home-country.

Once in country and applying for the 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement (even if that original Visa dates from yesteryear). ONLY a thai IO-approved insurance policy issued by a TGIA-associated insurer will be accepted ( https://longstay.tgia.org/home/companiesoa ).

Content-wise most of these thai IO-approved policies are worthless, so - if you go that road - you might as well opt for the cheapest one, which is the LMG Insurance Plan 1 with a 200K deductible (annual premium of 6.000 THB to 11.400 THB in the age bracket of 51 till 75), with the additional advantage that no medical exam is required when subscribing to that LMG-policy.

Here the link > https://www.lmginsurance.co.th/en/Products/Pages/Universal-Longstayvisa.aspx

 

Alternatively you could also switch to a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement and subsequent 1-year extension.  Unfortunately that option is presently not possible, as it requires a border-run (to 'kill' the permission to stay based on your current Non Imm O-A Visa).

However, I did PM you a comprehensive guideline document containing all details/options on doing just that.  That guideline can be used once the borders are open again and the entry-requirements are not too inconvenient with covid-19 measures like mandatory quarantaine or 100K US $ covid-19 insurance.

In case you consider the LMG Insurance option (cheapest option to meet the Non Imm O-A retirement extension requirement for health-insurance), just PM me and I will provide you with full details on how to apply for it, including tips/caveats.

>> In order to access your PM-messages just click the letter-icon next to your profile when logged in to the Forum.

[ubonjoe 47,671]

Immigration will only accept insurance from a Thai company. They will not accept the certificate for foreign insurance.

[Mango Bob 6,637]

I was in a similar situation likes your.  I took the cheapest insurance I could, since I already had insurance from my military service and also covered convid-19.  I applied and got my visa extension in under 30 minutes since no applicants were there ahead of me.    Now hoping a vaccine will be avaialbe and I will be able travel out and in to go to the Thai Embassy in Ho Chi Minh City for an O for marriage.  Good luck I am sure it will work out for you. 

[ALMIN 22]

Many many thanks to Peter Denis, Ubon Joe and Mango Bob for their quick and valued replies. Your replies are much appreciated and I will now try the LMG policy route.

[Peter Denis 6,667]

4 minutes ago, ALMIN said:

Many many thanks to Peter Denis, Ubon Joe and Mango Bob for their quick and valued replies. Your replies are much appreciated and I will now try the LMG policy route.

Hi Almin,

I will PM you some additional information of relevance with tips/caveats on how to apply for the LMG Insurance Plan 1 (with 200K deductible) policy.

 

[ALMIN 22]

3 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Hi Almin,

I will PM you some additional information of relevance with tips/caveats on how to apply for the LMG Insurance Plan 1 (with 200K deductible) policy.

 

 

[doggie1955 863]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Immigration will only accept insurance from a Thai company. They will not accept the certificate for foreign insurance.

So is 1,000 baht per month a good price for insurance?

[DrJack54 7,037]

4 minutes ago, doggie1955 said:

So is 1,000 baht per month a good price for insurance?

The insurance being described and suggested above is to satisfy immigration requirement for insurance. It's a rubbish cover. Think of it as part of the extension cost.

[rwill 1,355]

5 hours ago, ALMIN said:

Many many thanks to Peter Denis, Ubon Joe and Mango Bob for their quick and valued replies. Your replies are much appreciated and I will now try the LMG policy route.

Just be aware that the LMG deductible is per incidence, not per year.  But in your case you should be covered by your other insurance anyway.

[david_je 12]

5 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Hi Almin,

I will PM you some additional information of relevance with tips/caveats on how to apply for the LMG Insurance Plan 1 (with 200K deductible) policy.

 

Dear Peter, Pls also PM that to me? Thanks.

[Peter Denis 6,667]

2 minutes ago, david_je said:

Dear Peter, Pls also PM that to me? Thanks.

Hi David > done, and you are welcome!

[Peter Denis 6,667]

31 minutes ago, rwill said:

Just be aware that the LMG deductible is per incidence, not per year.  But in your case you should be covered by your other insurance anyway.

Correct, but doesn't matter as most of these IO-approved insurance polices are basically worthless.

The only reason for subscribing to them is to meet the IO health-insurance requirement when applying for the 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa (and when doing this for reason of retirement).

So you might as well subcribe to the dead-cheapest one, which is this LMG Insurance Plan 1 (with a 200K deductible).

The money you save by opting for this relatively cheap 'paper' policy, can then be used for REAL insurance that will cover your actual health-care needs, and should be well above the ridiculously low 400K/40K coverage for in-patient/out-patient care.  Insurance that meets your needs should be looked at from the perspective of a catastrophic accident/illness you might encounter so that at least the monetary impact of such event would not totally devastate your life.

 

[StewB1 3]

I entered Thailand just under the wire late last Oct 2019 on an O-A issued outside of Thailand which eliminated the need for me to purchase this new insurance.

Is my understanding correct in that I am able to to extend this O-A for only one more year in October 2020 and that no insurance will be required with this extension?

[udonsteve 0]

1 hour ago, david_je said:

Dear Peter, Pls also PM that to me? Thanks.

Hi Peter, could you also PM me the above. I am also on a O-A, and will be extending in December.

 

Thanks 

 

Steve