What factors influence the choice between a Non-O visa and a Non-OA visa for retirement in Thailand?

COVID teached me a lesson. OA visa must renewed in your home country. So I had to travel during COVID with all that restrictions. Wasn't easy with all that special paperwork. So I changed now from OA to O which I easily can extend in Thailand every year while OA extension is not that convenient.

In my case, the OA option health insurance requirements and Libbit, as of which health insurance providers would be allowed was the primary reason I went with the non-o

Non-OA requires a health insurance at aprox 35,000 pa with little value and benefits. It also requires a medical and security check. Non-O simpler, cheaper and more flexible. I was attracted by the way it gets extended when returning to Thailand (along the validity of the insurance policy) but at the end applied for non-O in home country (which also simpler and cheaper than applying in Thailand).

Bob Rooney . . The differences:

For the “1-year extension of stay permit based on retirement” (the 1-year stay permit) from out of a Non-O visa, your insurance is NOT mandatory, so you have free choice of your health insurance provider.

You do NOT have this free choice of a health insurance, if you start out of a Non-O/A visa! Because you have to take out a private Thai health insurance as soon as your “second year” out of a Non-O/A visa is close to expiring, that’s when you need to apply for the “1-year extension of stay permit” based on retirement

If you start with the Non-O/A, you will have to deal with the compulsory Thai private insurance for the rest of your life.

You have to take out a "tgia"-listed Thai private health insurance provider, Immigration will not accept any other health providers

You could of course avoid an application for the 1-year extension of stay, fly back to your home country and restart the whole process of applying for the next Non-O/A visa, again

. . . well that's not everything that speaks against a Non-O/A visa!

The effort you need to mount in order to apply to the Non-Imm-O/A visa is MUCH GREATER!

*** You need a minimum one-year health insurance for the visa (better to take one up for the first two years). Your insurance provider will have to sign the F.I.C. (“Foreign Insurance Certificate”) by three of their representing members

This F.I.C. is not required for the application to a Non-O visa

*** You need a police clearance certificate (not required for the Non-O visa)

*** and a special, official medical certificate (not required for the Non-O visa)

*** you need the equivalent of a minimum of 800.000.- THB in your home bank account or a bank account anywhere, as long as it is in your name (also required for the Non-O visa)

OR an official proof of a monthly income of the equivalent of a minimum of 65.000.- THB

*** For the application to both visa types, the 800.000.- THB money deposit can be kept in a bank account in your home country.

*** If you however convert the Non-O visa on Immigration in Thailand into a long-term stay permit (the "1-year extension of stay"), then you need the 800,000 THB deposited a Thai bank account

On a Non-O/A visa, you can keep the funds in your home bank account for the first year and 9-10 months of the second year, however after this period, the funds must be in a Thai bank account, if you wish to go from the visa to the “1-year extension of stay”

For the “1-year extension of stay” out of a 90-days Non-Imm-O retirement visa, you can buy a multi re-entry permit for 3800.- THB. This re-entry permit will keep your stay permit alive until the expiration date, should you exit Thailand. And it allows an unlimited number of entries into Thailand

The Non-O/A visa comes as a multi re-entry type for the first year. This means, as soon as you slip into the second year and the visa validity is expired, you don’t have any re-entry permit any more. If you wish to exit Thailand and keep your last stay permit stamp alive, you will need to buy a re-entry permit.

Every time you enter the country with a Non-O/A within the 1-year visa validity period, you have to show the border official the proof of health insurance and the F.I.C. He will stamp you in for another 365 days, yet only given as long as the insurance is valid for another 365 days

You do NOT have to mess around with any health insurance certificates while being on a 1-year extension of stay out of a Non-O visa.

What did we learn?

To start your long-term stay in Thailand, it should be the Non-Imm-O retirement visa.

It means the least effort, no mandatory proof of insurance required, no police clearances & certificates of good conduct, no F.I.C.

Fewer documents to carry, less fees, less time spend on Immigration for future renewing applications

the fee for the EOS is the same for both visa types, it’s 1900.- THB, but yeah, but behold!

Some people will tell you, that binding 800.000.- Thai Baht in a Thai bank account on a Non-O extension, that pays only a meager interest or no interest at all, would be a loss of interest, compared to the opportunity you have when on a Non-O/A visa, leaving the funds on a home country long term fixed bank account

They even claim that even if you are paying an agent something like 25.000-32.000.- THB for fudging a “1-year retirement extension” for you without own funds (which enables you to keep your money in your home country), the interest gain on a fixed term 20.000.- US Dollar at home, would be higher than these yearly (!!) 900.- USD fee for the agent

(I have heard and read about agent fees demanded in the amount of 70.000.- THB and many people fell for these scammers, so beware!)

I dare to say, if a person really needs to weight the loss of interest against a legal approach towards the 1-year Stay Permit based on retirement, instead of paying an agent, this person has financial problems and should not be in Thailand

I had the same question and went for the non O applied from the netherlands. The main reason for my decision was the fact that i can ‘choose’ the health insurance which suits me. I went for a dutch insurer company OOM. For me its a better insurer for a reasonable price compared to the list of insurers you can choose from if you go for the non OA. I was kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place concerning this topic but a good health insurance gives me a peace of mind if, fingers crossed, the sh*t hits the fan….😏

I am moving to Bkk in august. Goodluck Bob with your planning and decisions regarding your immigration

It's a purely personal decision.

Non-O means keeping 800,000 in a Thai bank account and you don't need insurance.

Non-OA means you can keep your money at home, but because you no longer have this deposit in Thailand to fall back on, you must have the required insurance.

Also for non-OA it makes no sense to apply for extension in Thailand because you'll still have the insurance requirement for as long as you do but then you'll have to have the 800,000 in the Thai bank as well, so it's the worst of both scenarios. This means if you want to go the non-OA route, you'll need to return to your home country about every 2 years to apply for a new non-OA visa. For many people this is not a problem as they want to return home occasionally already. But they are all factors you need to consider in your decision.