Dear Ronnie,
My question is the following: I have had a retirement Visa “OA” for more than 10 years, which I have renewed every year. Recently I read here on Thailand blog that for the extension of that visa, it would now be mandatory to take out or have health insurance for possible hospitalization.
I also read that this is only valid for Vium “OA” and NOT for Visa “O”.
I would like to know what difference there is between these two retirement visas.
Please answer about this.
Regards,
Mario
Dear Mario,
You do not extend your visa, but the period of stay that you have obtained with a visa. That is why it is also called an “Extension of stay”.
Mandatory health insurance is currently only required when applying for a Non-immigrant “OX”. They now also want to introduce this when applying for a Non-immigrant “OA” visa. The target date is/was July, but at the moment I don't see any signs that this will actually be achieved. But that can change day to day, of course. We will see it appear on the websites of the various Thai embassies when the time comes (I hope).
There are also currently no signs that health insurance will be required when extending your stay. Whether that period of residence has been obtained with a Non-immigrant “O” or Non-immigrant “OA” does not matter in itself.
A Non-immigrant “O” is a visa that can be applied for for all kinds of purposes and for which no specific visa is (yet) provided. Hence the “O” of “Others”. You can therefore request this for “Retirement”, Thai marriage, Thai children, sports competitions, medical reasons, etc…
The Non-immigrant “OA” is a derivative of the Non-immigrant “O” and then specific for “Retirement”. The “A” added to it comes from “Approved” and means that the specific requirements of a “Retirement” have already been met at the time of application. For the immigration officer, this is a sign that upon entry a residence period of one year may be allowed instead of the 90 days with an ordinary Non-immigrant “O” visa.
You can also read it all here
TB Immigration Info Letter 022/19 – The Thai Visa (7) – The Non-Immigrant “O” Visa (1/2) www.thailandblog.nl/dossier/visum-thailand/immigratie-infobrief/tb-immigration-info-brief-022-19-het-thaise-visum-7-het-non-immigrant-o-visum-1-2/
TB Immigration Info letter 024/19 – The Thai visa (8) – The Non-immigrant “O” visa (2/2)
TB Immigration Info Letter 024/19 – The Thai Visa (8) – The Non-Immigrant “O” Visa (2/2)
TB Immigration Info letter 039/19 – The Thai visa (9) – The Non-immigrant “OA” visa
TB Immigration Info letter 039/19 – The Thai visa (9) – The Non-immigrant “OA” visa
Regards,
Ronny