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In-country OA visa extension - insurance/timing question


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I have had some great help on here with the process for extending my OA visa in-country. Thank you. I now have two more questions, which I hope will be the last. 

 

Our current stamps expire on 17th March but we would like to do the renewal on 15th February. I realise that insurance cover is a condition which affects the application.  We currently have insurance which takes us up to 17th March. We have opened a new policy which we can start from 17th March or from earlier if necessary. So the questions are: 

 

1. Will the IO date the new visas from the expiry of the old visas or from the application date, assuming that insurance is in order?

2. Will the IO accept two insurance policies - one covering the period from 15th February to 17th March and one for the 12 months following 17th March?

 

I apologise for the complicated questions and appreciate your help. 

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18 minutes ago, Kopitiam said:

Not all Non O-A extension requires medical insurance.  This requirement applies only to those Non O-A Visas after October 2019.

That is not correct. Immigration requires it for all extension of a OA visa entry.

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6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That is not correct. Immigration requires it for all extension of a OA visa entry.

Or to be more specific the IO-approved health-insurance is mandatory for all 1-year extensions based on an original Non Imm O-A Visa (irrespective when issued) for reason of RETIREMENT.

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4 hours ago, rosyrose said:

...

Our current stamps expire on 17th March but we would like to do the renewal on 15th February. I realise that insurance cover is a condition which affects the application.  We currently have insurance which takes us up to 17th March. We have opened a new policy which we can start from 17th March or from earlier if necessary. So the questions are: 

 

1. Will the IO date the new visas from the expiry of the old visas or from the application date, assuming that insurance is in order?

2. Will the IO accept two insurance policies - one covering the period from 15th February to 17th March and one for the 12 months following 17th March?

If I understand correctly your current 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement, is valid till 17 March 2021 and when you applied for that extension you did have the mandatory health-insurance policy which is valid till expiry of your current retirement extension.

That being the case it is only matter that your new policy will seemlessly align with your current policy and extend your insurance coverage (with a new policy) till 17 March 2022.

So your 2nd question is a YES, your current policy will cover you till current extension expiry date (17 March 2021), and your new health-insurance policy has to cover you from that date till 27 March 2022.  

And to answer your 1st question, your 1-year permission to stay will start from the date your current permission to stay expires (i.e. 17 March 2021).  And you can apply for that new 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement, 30 days before till actual expiry date of your current permission to stay.  So, 15 February is indeed the first day of the 30-day window during which you can apply.

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1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

Or to be more specific the IO-approved health-insurance is mandatory for all 1-year extensions based on an original Non Imm O-A Visa (irrespective when issued) for reason of RETIREMENT.

Not correct.  I came with a Non O-A visa 10 years ago.  I just renewed my extension of stay (Retirement) in Phuket without the need of a health insurance.

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1 hour ago, Kopitiam said:

Not correct.  I came with a Non O-A visa 10 years ago.  I just renewed my extension of stay (Retirement) in Phuket without the need of a health insurance.

Phuket is the ONLY Thai province where IO does not enforce the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurnance when applying for the 1-year extension for reason of retirement based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa when you meet certain conditions.

See attached excerpt from the Phuket Volunteer website:

Screenshot_20210102-092538_Chrome.jpg

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49 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Phuket is the ONLY Thai province where IO does not enforce the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurnance when applying for the 1-year extension for reason of retirement based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa when you meet certain conditions.

See attached excerpt from the Phuket Volunteer website:

Screenshot_20210102-092538_Chrome.jpg

If Phuket Immigration is so clear about the law on this, I wonder why the other provinces are not following?  Kudos to Phuket Immigration.

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12 hours ago, Kopitiam said:

If Phuket Immigration is so clear about the law on this, I wonder why the other provinces are not following?  Kudos to Phuket Immigration.

Note that this sole Phuket exception was only decided October 2020.  Since March 2020 Phuket (as well as Pha Ngam) did - unofficially - not impose the health-insurance requirement for retirement extensions based on an original Non Imm O-A Visa. 

However, the insurance-requirements was introduced Oct 31, 2019 and those whose Non Imm O-A based retirement extension expired after that period and before the non-enforcement was practiced in Phuket, also had to comply with this nation-wide IO regulation.

Many of those that were confronted with it (not only in Phuket, but nation-wide) simply made a border-run to 'kill' their Non Imm O-A based permission to stay, and after returning Visa Exempt applied for the Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.  Exact same requirement/conditions, except that the health-insurance is NOT required for the Non Imm O Visa.  Others - when married to a Thai national - opted when their Non Imm O-A Visa based permission to stay was due for renewal, to apply for reason of MARRIAGE.  And also in that case > no insurance needed.

Considering all of the above, it would be useless for other provinces to take over the current Phuket non-enforcement regulation, as those for who it would be applicable already applied for a 1-year retirement extension of their original Non Imm O-A Visa and therefore already subscribed to a mandatory Non Imm O-A compliant health-insurance policy.

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And let's hope this Phuket exception eventually drives HQ Immigration to change this to the official policy for all immigration offices.   It would seem at some point that HQ Immigration will either have to tell Phuket immigration to stop their exception or HQ Immigration change their country-wide police order to match.   But the latter will only occur if Thai immigration does a reversal of thought and decides its initial policy should have grandfathered folks--but I expect the insurance industry will fight that tooth and nail. 

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3 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Note that this sole Phuket exception was only decided October 2020.  Since March 2020 Phuket (as well as Pha Ngam) did - unofficially - not impose the health-insurance requirement for retirement extensions based on an original Non Imm O-A Visa. 

However, the insurance-requirements was introduced Oct 31, 2019 and those whose Non Imm O-A based retirement extension expired after that period and before the non-enforcement was practiced in Phuket, also had to comply with this nation-wide IO regulation.

Many of those that were confronted with it (not only in Phuket, but nation-wide) simply made a border-run to 'kill' their Non Imm O-A based permission to stay, and after returning Visa Exempt applied for the Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.  Exact same requirement/conditions, except that the health-insurance is NOT required for the Non Imm O Visa.  Others - when married to a Thai national - opted when their Non Imm O-A Visa based permission to stay was due for renewal, to apply for reason of MARRIAGE.  And also in that case > no insurance needed.

Considering all of the above, it would be useless for other provinces to take over the current Phuket non-enforcement regulation, as those for who it would be applicable already applied for a 1-year retirement extension of their original Non Imm O-A Visa and therefore already subscribed to a mandatory Non Imm O-A compliant health-insurance policy.

"Considering all of the above, it would be useless for other provinces to take over the current Phuket non-enforcement regulation, as those for who it would be applicable already applied for a 1-year retirement extension of their original Non Imm O-A Visa and therefore already subscribed to a mandatory Non Imm O-A compliant health-insurance policy."

 

Two wrongs do not make a right.  But unfortunately, this is very common in Thailand.

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1 hour ago, Pib said:

And let's hope this Phuket exception eventually drives HQ Immigration to change this to the official policy for all immigration offices.   It would seem at some point that HQ Immigration will either have to tell Phuket immigration to stop their exception or HQ Immigration change their country-wide police order to match.   But the latter will only occur if Thai immigration does a reversal of thought and decides its initial policy should have grandfathered folks--but I expect the insurance industry will fight that tooth and nail. 

The Phuket interpretation of the law is the correct one.  The excuse given by the immigration law was to prevent new Non O-A applicants (Retirement) from not having enough money to cover medical fees (hospitalisation) during their stay.  Those who (on retirement extension) are already here are required to maintain at least 400k in their bank account if they intent to continue.  So, all bases covered.

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14 minutes ago, Kopitiam said:

The Phuket interpretation of the law is the correct one.  The excuse given by the immigration law was to prevent new Non O-A applicants (Retirement) from not having enough money to cover medical fees (hospitalisation) during their stay.  Those who (on retirement extension) are already here are required to maintain at least 400k in their bank account if they intent to continue.  So, all bases covered.

 

Actually neither this nor the 400k insurance required in any way cover bases for being able to pay for medical care as 400k is a ridiculously low sum for that.  But that's another matter.

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On 1/13/2021 at 11:51 AM, rosyrose said:

I have had some great help on here with the process for extending my OA visa in-country. Thank you. I now have two more questions, which I hope will be the last. 

 

Our current stamps expire on 17th March but we would like to do the renewal on 15th February. I realise that insurance cover is a condition which affects the application.  We currently have insurance which takes us up to 17th March. We have opened a new policy which we can start from 17th March or from earlier if necessary. So the questions are: 

 

1. Will the IO date the new visas from the expiry of the old visas or from the application date, assuming that insurance is in order?

2. Will the IO accept two insurance policies - one covering the period from 15th February to 17th March and one for the 12 months following 17th March?

 

I apologise for the complicated questions and appreciate your help. 

 

 

1. You will nto get a new visa. You will get a one year extension of stay, the visa stays the same (and will presumably be expired). If at any point you want to leave the country and return you will need to first get a re-entry permit as you no longer have a valid visa for entry.

 

2. Yes, no problem.

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On 1/13/2021 at 4:36 PM, Peter Denis said:

If I understand correctly your current 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement, is valid till 17 March 2021 and when you applied for that extension you did have the mandatory health-insurance policy which is valid till expiry of your current retirement extension.

That being the case it is only matter that your new policy will seemlessly align with your current policy and extend your insurance coverage (with a new policy) till 17 March 2022.

So your 2nd question is a YES, your current policy will cover you till current extension expiry date (17 March 2021), and your new health-insurance policy has to cover you from that date till 27 March 2022.  

And to answer your 1st question, your 1-year permission to stay will start from the date your current permission to stay expires (i.e. 17 March 2021).  And you can apply for that new 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement, 30 days before till actual expiry date of your current permission to stay.  So, 15 February is indeed the first day of the 30-day window during which you can apply.

Thanks Peter - I realise my question was badly worded but you’ve answered it anyway! I thought that the renewal window opened 45 days before expiry, so it’s useful to know it’s actually 30 days. Appreciate the help. 

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1 hour ago, rosyrose said:

Thanks Peter - I realise my question was badly worded but you’ve answered it anyway! I thought that the renewal window opened 45 days before expiry, so it’s useful to know it’s actually 30 days. Appreciate the help. 

Hi, the 'regular' application window for 1-year extensions is from 30 days before.  But there are indeed some IOs that allow to apply 45 days before permission to stay expiry.  And if for some reason it would be difficult to do it during the normal 30 or 45 day window, e.g. a scheduled trip abroad, you could enquire at your local IO whether they would be willing to do it even earlier.

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On 1/15/2021 at 8:48 AM, rosyrose said:

I thought that the renewal window opened 45 days before expiry, so it’s useful to know it’s actually 30 days.

Chiang Mai allows 45 day before expiry renewals.

I assume you switched insurance companies 'cause you got a better deal .....? Could you give details? Thanx.

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5 hours ago, JimGant said:

Chiang Mai allows 45 day before expiry renewals.

I assume you switched insurance companies 'cause you got a better deal .....? Could you give details? Thanx.

Thanks for the info re CM IO. We switched to LMG for the absolute minimum cover necessary for the visa. The excess is laughable though, so it’s not for those who need proper cover. Peter Denis very kindly provided contact details of an agent, who we used. I will DM it to you.  

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