Health Insurance for the Non-OA Visa: Meeting the US$100,000 Rule

If you apply for a Non-Immigrant O-A (long stay) visa, Thailand requires you to hold health insurance for your whole stay with a sum insured of at least 3,000,000 baht or US$100,000 per policy year, including cover for COVID-19. You can use a Thai insurer from the approved list or a foreign insurer, but a foreign policy must come with a signed and stamped Foreign Insurance Certificate. This guide explains the rule, the paperwork and the questions to ask an insurer.

This is general information, not insurance or migration advice. We don't recommend specific policies. Check requirements with the Royal Thai Embassy in Canberra or the Thai e-Visa site before you apply.

Who the rule applies to

The insurance requirement is attached to the Non-OA visa, the one-year long-stay visa you apply for from outside Thailand (for Australians, through the Thai e-Visa system). The applicant must be 50 or older on the day of application.

It does not apply in the same way to everyone retiring in Thailand:

• Non-O visa + retirement extension (applied for inside Thailand): the extension rules do not include the O-A insurance requirement. Many retirees choose this route partly for that reason. Insurance is still strongly advisable.
• LTR "Wealthy Pensioner": has its own health requirement (lower cover, or alternatives). See our visa comparison.
• Accompanying spouse: the TGIA guideline notes that a spouse who isn't eligible for an O-A themselves is considered for a Category O stay with a marriage certificate.

What the policy must cover

According to Thai consulates and the Thai General Insurance Association (TGIA) guideline, for a first-year O-A application:

Requirement	What the official sources say
Sum insured	At least 3,000,000 THB or US$100,000 per policy year
What's covered	General illness, outpatient and inpatient, including COVID-19
Period	The entire period of stay in Thailand (the visa allows up to 1 year)
Insurer	A Thai insurer from the TGIA list, or a foreign insurer with the Foreign Insurance Certificate

Thai or foreign insurer?

Thai insurer: you buy from a company listed on longstay.tgia.org. You submit the policy document. The list shows which companies sell long-stay policies that are designed to match the visa rule.

Foreign insurer (including an international expat insurer): you submit the policy document plus the Foreign Insurance Certificate. This is a form set by Thailand's Office of Insurance Commission, downloadable from the TGIA site, which the insurer must complete, sign and stamp. Thai consulates describe this certificate as mandatory. Ask the insurer before buying whether it will sign it. Some do so routinely; others won't.

Can I use Australian private health insurance?

Generally no. Australian private health insurance is designed to cover treatment in Australia. It does not normally cover medical treatment overseas, so it is unlikely to meet the Thai requirement or come with a signed Foreign Insurance Certificate. Check with your fund if you're unsure.

Medicare also doesn't cover treatment in Thailand. Australia has no reciprocal health care agreement with Thailand, and Smartraveller repeatedly warns that Australians must pay their own medical costs overseas.

Can I use travel insurance?

Possibly, but be careful. A travel policy must cover the whole year, meet the 3,000,000 THB / US$100,000 minimum, cover illness (not just accidents) on an outpatient and inpatient basis, and the insurer must sign the Foreign Insurance Certificate. Many travel policies cap trip length, exclude pre-existing conditions, or are void if you are "living" overseas rather than travelling. Read the product disclosure statement (PDS) for the trip length limit and the definition of "resident".

What about renewals and extensions?

The rules for renewing get confusing, and official sources disagree in places.

• The TGIA guideline says that for renewals before 1 September 2022, a local policy with at least 400,000 THB inpatient and 40,000 THB outpatient cover was accepted. That was the original 2019 standard, as the Immigration Bureau's guideline also explains.
• The Immigration Bureau's current criteria for a retirement extension say that a person who was granted an O-A visa must have health insurance (or non-Thai social welfare) covering at least US$100,000 or 3,000,000 THB for the whole stay. Thai insurance can be bought through longstay.tgia.org. Foreign insurance must be certified by a foreign embassy in Thailand, or notarised with the signature certified by the applicant's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If insurers refuse you, you can instead hold 3,000,000 THB in a Thai bank (or deposits plus insurance totalling that amount) with evidence of the refusal.
• In practice, immigration offices extending an O-A have asked for insurance from a Thai insurer on the TGIA list. This is expat-reported and varies by office.

What to do: before your first anniversary, ask your local immigration office what insurance (Thai or foreign, and what amount) it will accept for your extension. Buy cover that meets that answer.

Questions to ask any insurer

Before you buy, get written answers to these:

1. Will you complete and stamp the Thai Foreign Insurance Certificate? (Foreign insurers only.)
2. Is the sum insured at least US$100,000 or 3,000,000 THB per policy year, covering both inpatient and outpatient treatment?
3. Is COVID-19 covered? The official wording still requires it.
4. What is the maximum entry age and renewal age? Many policies stop accepting new customers or renewals above a certain age. This matters if you're in your late 60s or 70s.
5. How are pre-existing conditions treated? Excluded, loaded, or covered after a waiting period?
6. Is there a deductible (excess) per claim or per year?
7. Does it pay hospitals directly (direct billing) at the private hospitals near where you'll live, or do you pay and claim back?
8. Is medical evacuation or repatriation to Australia included?
9. Will premiums rise with age, and can the insurer refuse to renew?

Costs

Premiums depend heavily on age, cover level, deductible and medical history, and insurers change prices often. We haven't published price ranges because we couldn't verify current figures from insurers' official rate tables. Get at least two or three quotes using your real age and medical history.

Step-by-step for an Australian applicant

1. Choose your route. If you want to avoid the insurance rule at the visa stage, compare the Non-O + extension route first.
2. If you go Non-OA, get quotes from TGIA-listed Thai insurers and from international insurers.
3. For a foreign policy, download the Foreign Insurance Certificate from longstay.tgia.org and have the insurer complete, sign and stamp it.
4. Make sure the policy start date and length cover your whole intended stay.
5. Upload the policy and certificate with your e-Visa application at thaievisa.go.th, along with your financial, medical and police-check documents.
6. Carry copies when you enter Thailand and when you deal with immigration.

Summary

• Non-OA applicants need health insurance of at least 3,000,000 THB / US$100,000 a year, covering outpatient, inpatient and COVID-19, for the whole stay.
• A Thai insurer from the TGIA list, or a foreign insurer that signs the Foreign Insurance Certificate, is accepted.
• Australian private health insurance and Medicare don't cover you in Thailand.
• Renewal and extension requirements vary in practice. Ask your local immigration office.

What we couldn't verify

• How offices treat foreign policies at extension time: the certification step is in the official criteria, but how strictly it's applied varies.
• Premium ranges: we omitted them rather than quote unverified figures.