O-A based on retirement 2yr extension questions ?

[jasonr3255]

My stepfather arrived at his local immigration office in Buriram to renew what he thought was a straight forward 2nd yearly extension for his O-A based on retirement. He was told by the officer that he now needs a Copy of evidence stating that he has insurance as stipulated by the Office of Insurance Commission and health insurance of Thailand which has insurance coverage for outpatient not less than 40,000 Baht and for inpatient not less than 400,000 Baht. 

His original application two years ago back in the UK did not require this insurance cover and he was not asked for this cover when he attended immigration in Thailand after his first year back in June / July 2019 ?
         We were of the impression this new requirement was only required for “new O-A Visa” applications based on retirement submitted outside of Thailand. He meets the financial requirements, however is this insurance cover now required by immigration law upon all yearly extensions based on retirement even those who were not required to obtain it during the original visa application back in the UK pre 2018 ?

Also if he needs this insurance cover, as a 76year old smoker with high blood pressure and existing heart conditions from stent surgery, does anybody have a rough idea on the cost of this type of insurance cover per year/month  and company recommendations for his existing conditions ? Helpful advice needed

Many Thanks

 

Many Thanks

[Issanman]

Different offices have different interpretations of the rules.

There is nothing we can do about it.

[DrJack54]

He will require Thai health insurance. This guy is very helpful. @Peter Denis

 

[rodknock]

LMG Insurance is the cheapest one around.

will probably have to get exclusions.

[ubonjoe]

7 hours ago, jasonr3255 said:

Also if he needs this insurance cover, as a 76year old smoker with high blood pressure and existing heart conditions from stent surgery, does anybody have a rough idea on the cost of this type of insurance cover per year/month  and company recommendations for his existing conditions ? Helpful advice needed

He will not be able to get insurance due to his age. The insurance companies will not insure anybody over 75 unless it is renewal of an existing policy. List of companies is here. https://longstay.tgia.org/home/companiesoa

There have been reports of immigration waiving the insurance for those over 75. That may be the only way he can apply his extension.

[Peter Denis]

Hi,

This is a slightly amended re-post of my Forum response to an elderly Non Imm O-A Visa holder, in the same situation as your stepfather.

 

When over 75 years of age - your stepfather being 76 - there is no TGIA-associated insurer that will issue you a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy.

The 'solution' suggested by IOs for retirees in that situation, was either

1- when married to a thai national or having thai dependant children, to apply for the 1-year extension of stay of your original Non Imm O-A Visa for FAMILY reasons.  The requirements are different (a.o. way lower financials to be proved) and NO need for the health-insurance requirement;

OR

2 - to exit Thailand and apply for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement in a thai embassy/consulate, OR return VisaExempt and apply at your local IO for that Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.  And in the last month of that 90-day permission to stay, to apply for the 1-year extension based on that Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.  Exactly the same requirements as for an O-A extension, but without the need for that mandatory health-insurance policy.

 

However, if you are not married to a thai national or do not have thai dependant children, option-1 is not possible for you.  And with the current border-closures also option-2 is not possible.

But there are 3 options for you:

1 - Since it is not possible for you to meet the requirements, your local IO would normally provide leniency and waive the - for you - impossible thai IO-approved health-insurance requirement.  So it would be a matter of visiting your local IO and explaining the situation, but this has to be done before your present permission to stay (Mid August) expires.

2 - There are currently a couple of IOs that do not enforce the thai IO-approved health-insurance requirement.  E.g. the IOs of Phuket and Phang Nga have officially announced that they are not enforcing it at the moment, and they will evaluate that Non-enforcement policy in October.  So, temporary relocating to Phuket or Phang Nga could be an option in case your local IO would not show any leniency in your case.  It would be crazy having to do this, but anything better than having to leave the country with the current border-situations.

Note: It would also be stuff for a nice article in the ThaiGer newspaper exposing the inconsistencies in thai Immigration matters,

3 - There is little chance it will, but by end of the Amnesty (31 July but will probably be extended) the border-situation might have relaxed, allowing you to do a quick border-run and return VisaExempt, and subsequently apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement at your local IO, followed in the last month of those 90-days with an application for the 1-year extension of stay based on that Non Imm O Visa.  As mentioned earlier: the conditions/requirements for that 1-year extension of stay based on a Non Imm O Visa are exactly the same as for the 1-year extension of your original Non Imm O-A Visa (but do not require the mandatory health-insurance requirement).  Also since it would be a NEW application you would only need to show 2 months of seasoning of the funds in your personal thai bank-account (instead of 12 months when re-extending your current permission to stay).

 

Note > The elderly gentleman that was in similar situation as your stepfather, did apply at his local IO and -  as expected - was provided leniency and he had his 1-year extension approved for reason of retirement without having the mandatory health-insurance policy, which was impossible for him to subscribe to being over 75 years of age.

He did however probably smoothen the process by handing over a 'brown envelope' in gratitude for their leniency.

Attached the link to his posting (and my response with some comments).

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1171446-meeting-health-insurance-requirements-for-extending-an-o-a-visa/?do=findComment&comment=15595510

 

[fittobethaied]

Here is the Police Order which demonstrates the requirement for the insurance, and a copy of the various plans with pricing

2019 Police Order for Mandatory Health Insurance.pdf Visa Plans 2019_Update (1).pdf

[gerrytraveller]

Thank very much Peter for youvery in depth reply.

Being a 75 y.o. whose O.A expired on the 1st May and who like the other gentleman was under the impression that insurance applied only for newbies, i too am now waiting for the opportunity to do my first ever visa run to start the '0' process as suggested my local office.

My local IO office is super helpful but play by what they consider the rule book.

[Peter Denis]

48 minutes ago, gerrytraveller said:

Thank very much Peter for your very in depth reply.

Being a 75 y.o. whose O.A expired on the 1st May and who like the other gentleman was under the impression that insurance applied only for newbies, i too am now waiting for the opportunity to do my first ever visa run to start the '0' process as suggested my local office.

My local IO office is super helpful but play by what they consider the rule book.

Hi Gerry,

Thanks for the Thumbs Up.

Question > Are you by any chance married to a thai national or have thai dependant children?

If so that would allow you to apply for the 60-day extension of stay for family reasons.

If you do that at the end of the Amnesty (31 July but probably extended), it will provide you 2 extra months of stay, bringing you to end of September.

If by then the border-situation has relaxed, you could do the required border-run then as precursor for the 90-day Non Imm O application at your local IO followed by the subsequent 1-year extension of stay application based on that Non Imm O.

If the border situation is still too inconvenient at that moment, you could alternatively also apply for the 1-year extension of your Non Imm O-A Visa.  And you can do that for reason of retirement or for reason of marriage / dependent child.

But all of these options depend on whether you are married to a thai national or have have thai dependant children, because without that condition you won't be able to apply for the 60-day extension of stay.  And in that case you have no other options left and will have to leave Thailand at the end of the Amnesty.

[flexomike]

If he is 76 years old he will not be able to get insurance there are a couple of companies that go to 75.

[gerrytraveller]

Thanks for the reply Denis.

In answer to ...are you  married to a thai??.

The answer is no !

But hope to be in 2 to 3 weeks after getting documents etc.

[gerrytraveller]

It appears by your comments that if i was married already i would be able to apply for ext of my OA...with out insurance...

But my previous ext expired 1 st May??

I guess that puts me offside?

[Peter Denis]

19 minutes ago, gerrytraveller said:

It appears by your comments that if i was married already i would be able to apply for ext of my OA...with out insurance...

But my previous ext expired 1 st May??

I guess that puts me offside?

The point is that some offices will not accept your application for the 1-year extension of stay if your permission to stay already expired during the Amnesty.  And from what you write I presume that is the case.

But you can apply any time for the 60-day permission to stay for reason of visiting your family.

And once you have that 60 day permission to stay you can again apply for the 1-year extension of stay because it would now be from a 'valid' permission to stay and not from an Amnesty-based extension.

> But by all means do check at your local IO if indeed they would not be handling your application for the 1-year extension of stay even with your permission to stay already expired.

Note: An extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa when done for reason of marriage does NOT require the mandatory health-insurance requirement imposed on such extensions when applying for reason of retirement.  But obviously you would then need to meet the requirements for such marriage-extension which are different than those for a 1-year extension for reason of retirement.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Peter Denis