Post by sl on Dec 29, 2017 3:45:24 GMT 7
no offence, but I am struggling to understand what it is you want.
Correct me if I am wrong, neither you nor your mrs live here full time, what would a 10 year visa offer you, and why would you need one?
If you are visiting for a few months at a time, get a visa on being married to a Thai,....
If you wish to purchase medical insurance in Thailand, companies such as Thai Prakan Cheewit can knock you out a policy for about 60,000 baht per year (depending on your age).
I’m not married to the remarkable/tolerant Thai woman who I have been dating for about 14 years now. Did the marriage thing already (15 years to a wonderful woman ). What’s the saying? If you make a mistake once, you’re ignorant. If you make the same mistake twice,…you’re stupid. I will not ever go through a 10 year divorce again. It can be costly, time consuming and painful (not only for the two divorcing).
I have a still hold a wonderful health insurance policy that I have held for at least 10 years with BUPA (32,000 baht/year), but never have had any issues to use it (minor cuts/stitches I’ll pay for myself). I now have two health insurance policies. Next year it’ll only be one. Maybe. I kinda like BUPA (coverage up to 1 million baht) and might keep them With the other Long Stay insurance policy I’m required to hold with the Long Stay Visa (limited amount of coverage).
We split our time between Thailand and the states/traveling every year and on the average most of that time (about 6 months) is spent in Thailand. The Thai girlfriend holds (the second) 10 year Visa to come and go to the states as she pleases,….BUT she can spend no longer than a total of 6 months a year in the states each year as per the 10 year multiple entry US Visa requirement or else we would be spending more time in the states (and the surrounding countries).
I have held an O-A Thai Visa for the past ten years which has worked out great. But what I don’t want to do is worry about making a yearly check-up for an O-A Thai Visa every year on the limited window I have open during a stay in the states each year [it takes more than a month to get all the paperwork completed (3 weeks turnaround time for the criminal background check)/medical check-up (at least one week with blood tests and the return doctors visit)/processing time with the Thai embassy in the states (at least three weeks if you mail it in)]. I’ll still get the full medical check-up every year because of my age. I want to make sure I stay healthy and catch anything that might popup (example…catch any sign of cancer early). But I don’t want the pressure of having to do the check-up with time constraints.
One year there was a glitch when the Thai embassy was processing my O-A Visa and it took two maybe three weeks to work that glitch out with the Thai embassy. That year it took almost 2 months to get the O-A Visa. Usually we plan other holidays while in the states to neighboring countries and I need my US passport to travel. I don’t want to be held up for any reason again and will not have the problem with a 10 year Thai visa (5 years plus 5 years).
Another point should be made in reference to the window of opportunity I have to get a Thai O-A visa while in the states. Remember,…….I go out with a single Thai woman and most countries we visit require a Thai to get a visa to visit. To get a Thai a visa to visit some countries can be difficult (example the Bahamas). That Thai will have to show, paid flights to and from, accommodations, reason for the visit (proof of payment), documents to support travel companions worth, etc. Some of the holidays we take outside the US to other countries (while in the states) can add up (I don’t know if you’ve ever seen my travel thread to Peru? Mexico?) especially the way we travel. I would lose those deposits (sometimes the full amount) if I didn’t get my passport back in a timely manner from the Thai embassy in the states.
With an O-X visa I wouldn’t have to worry about any of the above. Come and go as I please on the time frame I wish.
An example:
Our next trip to the states (March, April, May and maybe part of June). We’ll be spending most of the time between the ranch and S. Florida (Miami – Dade County and Broward County), but will be traveling to Washington DC for the cherry blossoms/visit the Thai embassy, Grand Canyon for a white water river run and to Belize (the girlfriend might do California/New York/the state of Washington).
The Belize trip is the tricky one. It’s been paid for (flights/accommodations/car rental everything but our dive guide). We have friends (also divers) that will be joining us and my daughter (also a diver) is taking time off for this dive. She wants to swim with whale sharks.
There is a window to see whale sharks in Belize (best time is 4-5 days after the full moon in April) and we’ll be there then. The girlfriend doesn’t (thankfully) need a visa to visit Belize as long as she holds a US Visa. I need my passport to visit.
If the Thai embassy holds up my passport while processing the O-X visa (or an O-A visa) I could lose out on this scheduled Belize trip. The guests that are planning their trip with us will lose out and my daughter will lose her vacation time she requested/dedicated to spending time with us while in Belize.
Again,.......if I have an O-X visa I will not have to worry about the above any longer.