OX visa Australia Application

I'm going to apply for the OX 5 year visa from Australia as I understand that I won't need to deposit funds into a Thai bank account for the first two years. It says that I must have health insurance but I'm a bit confused about applying for insurance before I apply for the visa because it costs a lot of money and what happens if my visa application is rejected? Anyone have experience can advise me please on the nest way forward?
-@Ken Oath

Why would you even consider applying for the O-X (or even O-A) visa when you can go for the Non-immigrant O based on retirement? You start with the 90 days Non-immigrant O based on retirement applied for back home,and then extend it annually in Thailand for 1.900 baht/year. No health insurance is needed for annual extensions. You need a Thai bank account, though. When applying for the O-X or O-A which isn't a smart move, you must have a 1 year health insurance. There's no way around it. That insurance must be extended every year. Haven't you asked about this before?

I was comparing the costs between Non-immigrant O and

non-immigrant OX.

Initial cost: Non-immigrant O is 1900baht per year

Non-immigrant OX 10,000 one time payment good for 5 years

Re-entry: Non O is 3800baht per year. Single entry is 1000baht

Non-OX is covered multiple entry

Med ins: Non O is not required

Non OX medical is required for duration of stay

To me it seems if people are going to have medical insurance

from Thailand which is a good idea for long stay then the

insurance aspect is kind of a wash

So it boils down to how many entries a person plans on

making per year. There may be savings with the Non OX

1900 Baht per year for 5 years is 9500. Plus 1000 yr for

single entry is 14,500 with the Non O.

With multiple entry at 3800 baht per year is 19,000

plus 1,900 a year for the fee equals 28,500 baht for the

Non O against 10,000 for the Non OX

There certainly could be other factors to consider for

costs that I am missing here

I was comparing the costs between Non-immigrant O and
non-immigrant OX.
Initial cost: Non-immigrant O is 1900baht per year
Non-immigrant OX 10,000 one time payment good for 5 years

Re-entry: Non O is 3800baht per year. Single entry is 1000baht
Non-OX is covered multiple entry

Med ins: Non O is not required
Non OX medical is required for duration of stay

To me it seems if people are going to have medical insurance
from Thailand which is a good idea for long stay then the
insurance aspect is kind of a wash

So it boils down to how many entries a person plans on
making per year. There may be savings with the Non OX

1900 Baht per year for 5 years is 9500. Plus 1000 yr for
single entry is 14,500 with the Non O.

With multiple entry at 3800 baht per year is 19,000
plus 1,900 a year for the fee equals 28,500 baht for the
Non O against 10,000 for the Non OX

There certainly could be other factors to consider for
costs that I am missing here
-@scbrock

If going for the O and you want a health insurance, you can pick an insurance after your needs and you pick the cover you want and can afford. That's not the case when it comes to the mandatory health insurance for the O-A and the O-X. You are forced to pick an insurance with a ridiculously high cover and way to expensive. When retiring in Thailand, you're supposed to live here,not leaving the country on never ending re-entry permits,or go back home on a regular basis. That's not what retirement is about. Airline tickets are also not free. Maybe you forgot that in your equation.The amount of expats on the O-X is really low and if it was profitable and smart,there would be many more.

Ok, fair enough

I didn't calc travel into my numbers since no matter

what type of visa I get I will still travel home once a

year. And not everyone will do that.

You said: "When retiring in Thailand, you're supposed to live here,not

leaving the country on never ending re-entry permits, or go back home

on a regular basis. That's not what retirement is about."

And why is that? We are not supposed to be able to leave to home

or travel when we like? Retirement can mean different things to

different people. One of the reasons I retired is to be able to travel

more.

Is there a way to know how many people get the Non O

or OX?

Ok, fair enough
I didn't calc travel into my numbers since no matter
what type of visa I get I will still travel home once a
year. And not everyone will do that.
You said: "When retiring in Thailand, you're supposed to live here,not
leaving the country on never ending re-entry permits, or go back home
on a regular basis. That's not what retirement is about."

And why is that? We are not supposed to be able to leave to home
or travel when we like? Retirement can mean different things to
different people. One of the reasons I retired is to be able to travel
more.

Is there a way to know how many people get the Non O
or OX?
-@scbrock

I said retirement isn't about never ending re-entry permits. Going for an O-X visa which is actually based on retirement to save money on re-entry permits is pure stupidity. You said you're going back once a year,it means you're saving ฿1.000/year if you're on an O-X compared to an O. (Travelling a lot will save you ฿3.800/year.) Not going back home on a regular basis maybe came out wrong,what I meant was using a reason for the O-X multiple entries as an excuse to pay for a very expensive health insurance (which you're stuck with every year you extend your stay). The difference in cost between a health insurance with a proper cover (if you know what a proper cover is) at for example Pacific Cross and a health insurance covering the ฿3.5 million you need for the O-X visa every year would pay for a return ticket to any where in Europe every second year. That's a lot of money in the long run and don't forget that the cost for a health insurance goes up a lot when you reach 70 and the choices are very few at that age. Use Google and you'll figure out how few O-X visas are issued every year. The number even went down further when they increased the health insurance coverage from $50.000 to $100.000 at the end of the pandemic.

Yeah OX is more appealing to me. It's five years and recommended for retirees on the embassy website. Don't have to put money in bank account for two years which gives me time to decide if I want to stay and my money earns 5% in Australia compared to nothing in Thailand.

@Leeds forever! I'm happy to pay for health insurance. If anything goes wrong as it often does then I'm not hit with a nasty surprise and have to pay out thousands for medical assistance. I'll just factor it in to my costs.

@Leeds forever! I'm happy to pay for health insurance. If anything goes wrong as it often does then I'm not hit with a nasty surprise and have to pay out thousands for medical assistance. I'll just factor it in to my costs.
-@Ken Oath

Keep us updated on the status of your Visa app.

@scbrock thanks for the help. Will do