Dear readers,
My wife has Dutch and Thai nationality. Now I hear, if she goes to Thailand with her Thai passport for vacation, that she may have problems with the Dutch health insurance or if something else happens in Thailand with other Dutch facilities.
There are wild stories going around among her Thai friends.
Thanks for the information.
Regards,
Jeans
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Jean, before vacation I read. So she will not emigrate. So she continues to live in NL and has a holiday elsewhere. Then the health care policy applies with the restrictions that this entails; the maximum rate to be reimbursed is the NL rate, or she must have an extra module. If necessary, ask your health insurer.
Only emergency treatment is covered and, depending on the policy conditions, you must first request permission for such treatment. I assume you have a good travel policy for other health and travel expenses.
Which other NL facilities do you mean? The state pension? The WIA? Or does your wife have a benefit that limits or prohibits holidays?
Wild stories, you say it yourself. There are people who like to light a fire.
Ok thanks now I can reassure her
And since she has Thai nationality, she can always rely on the '30 baht' national health care in Thailand.
Dear Jan,
No health insurance and/or other facilities are interested in how your wife travels to Thailand or any other country with her Thai or Dutch passport.
It's actually quite simple, I think.
She also has the NL nationality, well then she just travels to Thailand with the NL passport.
Why would she do that? Visa applications etc…..
And what does a passport have to do with nationality? A passport is a travel document and not an ID card.
A passport is all about nationality.
A passport is an official document that identifies the holder as a citizen of a particular country.
Without identity and nationality in it, it would be of no use.
This is especially important for traveling to countries where your ID card is not accepted.
You can't even enter the UK with your ID
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/brexit/vraag-en-antwoord/heb-ik-na-de-brexit-een-paspoort-nodig-voor-een-bezoek-aan-het-verenigd-koninkrijk
You could actually say that worldwide your ID card is much less important than your passport.
ID card is mainly something national or to countries that accept it.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paspoort
Yes, but then she has to apply for a visa again
Dear, the health insurance has absolutely nothing to do with which passport your wife travels with. The advantage of 2 passports is only easy to avoid visa questions at passport control and check-in. Show the Dutch passport when leaving the Netherlands, and show the Thai passport on arrival in Thailand. On the return journey Thai passport on departure, Dutch passport on arrival Netherlands. If you are still asked for a visa at check-in, your wife can show both passports without any problems. As you mentioned, "wild stories" that are about nothing.
No problem for health insurance. She has valid insurance + NL passport. How she enters Thailand is irrelevant.
Having Thai girlfriends is fun and sometimes pleasant for Thais residing in Europe.
Teach your wife that you will look for reality and that she should not believe what her Thai "girlfriends" want her to believe.
I myself have been married to my Thai wife for 20 years now, we have 2 children who were born in Thailand. Wife and children have both nationalities and travel freely in and from Belgium to Thailand.
Departure from the Netherlands with a Dutch passport, land in Thailand with a Thai passport.
Leave Thailand with a Thai passport and enter Europe (the Netherlands) with a Dutch passport.
Always keep track of the others and that's handy if a civil servant starts asking questions.
EU members may neither deny nor refuse dual nationality. Thailand never makes a fuss about this at all.