I got my 10 year pensioner LTR in January inside Thailand. My income is a simple pension. I gave them my previous year US tax return. I believe that now you have to give them 2 years of tax returns. My income was simple and they never asked me about it again. Whatever you submit on the application, once they start working on it they will ask questions and it will easy to communicate with them.

I had previously had an OA visa and my insurance certificate satisfied the insurance requirement.

I described my whole experience on this site last January but my experience may be a little out of date one year later.

@Nongnuch *******

I agree which is why I keep recommending the O. I extended my visa myself in Bangkok. You don’t need an agent but I am aware many prefer using an agent

@Anthony ***

I watched a video of someone else that compared companies and and I chose Pacific Cross. I start the policy in 2018 and it was my first time buying insurance in over 30 years. I can’t say I am a sophisticated buyer. There are too many variables for each person to recommend a specific policy. As for the integrity of the company, there will always be people the love or hate a particular company. I have never made a claim so I can’t report on that except to say that I am getting a discount of about 20,000 baht for not having made a claim.

Go to Thai immigration and ask them. Bring whatever documents you have regarding the passport renewal and the message that it is in the mail.

@Sharron ******

The O and OA visas are two very different visas with different benefits and different requirements. Don’t confuse the two visas.

I got an OA visa in the US in 2017 and extended it in Bangkok for 6 years. In 2019 the Thai government added a health insurance requirement for anyone with an OA visa. I have Thai health insurance.

These days I would recommend getting an O visa that doesn’t have the health insurance requirement for 1 year extensions. You can arrive in Thailand and get 30 days visa exempt. You can then apply for a 90 day O visa inside Thailand. At the end of the 90 days you can extend that visa for 1 year. You can continue to extend that O visa each year indefinitely. You need to meet the financial requirements with an 800,000 baht deposit in a Thai bank.

It may be possible to get an O visa, not the OA, from the Thai consulate in the US but you will have to check their website for that.

I am suggesting you get the O visa without the health insurance requirement. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have health insurance but you will have a lot more flexibility about your health insurance options if it is not tied to your visa requirements.

If you have an OA visa you will eventually have to get 1 year extensions of that visa here in Thailand. You will need qualifying health insurance to do that. The insurance you use to get the OA in the US may or may not qualify for an in county extension. At your age you may find it nearly impossible to buy into a new insurance policy. You should be certain about the insurance issues.

Alternatively you can get an O visa that will not have an insurance requirement for yearly extensions.

You’ve already been advised that you don’t need health insurance if you retire here on an O visa. I do have an insurance strategy though. I bought a 10 million baht policy from Pacific Cross with a 40,000 baht deductible. Health care is really inexpensive here and I have never spent as much as 40,000 baht in a year. A large deductible lowers the rate and I am getting an additional discount for not having made any claims. The insurance is there for a big health event such as an auto accident or a heart attack or whatever.

I know someone who got their 5 year Elite Visa at 44. He then had an 18 month gap until he turned 50. He chose to upgrade to the 20 year Elite at the old price. In your case one option is to get the 5 year Elite now and then figure out what to do about the gap later.

@Philip **********

I had an OA from 2017- Jan 2023. I used the Bangkok Immigration office. Both the O and OA 1 year visa extensions have identical financial requirements. The OA also requires a health insurance certificate.

@Philip **********

The insurance and financial requirements are separate requirements. Find an insurance policy that qualifies but you still either have to deposit the 800,000 baht or work your way into the monthly income requirement of 65,000 baht/month.