One of the required documents for obtaining an LTR visa is medical insurance with coverage of at least USD 50,000 for each applicant.
At the same time, the insurance policy must meet certain requirements, which are important to consider before submitting the application.
What are the insurance requirements for the LTR visa?
The insurance must be valid for at least 10 months
At the time the application is approved, the insurance policy must have at least 10 months of remaining validity.
For example, you purchased insurance on January 1 and submitted your LTR visa application on March 1. If, by the time your application is approved, less than 10 months remain before the insurance expires, you will need to obtain a new insurance policy.
Therefore, it is important to consider not only the date of application submission, but also the insurance validity period at the time the approval is granted.
The insurance must be international, not travel insurance
The LTR visa requires international medical insurance that is not travel insurance.
However, simply calling a policy “international insurance” is not sufficient. If the insurance terms contain features of travel insurance — for example, transportation to the country of permanent residence, coverage of transportation expenses related to flight cancellation or delay, or other similar services — such insurance may not be accepted when submitting documents to the BOI.
Therefore, before purchasing insurance, it is important to carefully check not only the name of the insurance product but also its terms and conditions.
What should you do if your current insurance does not meet the LTR requirements?
Comprehensive medical insurance can be expensive, especially for applicants over 50 years old.
Nevertheless, there are ways to reduce the cost.
1. Choose insurance with a high deductible
A high deductible means that the insured person pays part of the medical expenses themselves, while the insurance company covers expenses exceeding the specified deductible amount.
For example, with a deductible of THB 200,000, the insurance company begins covering the relevant expenses once they exceed this amount.
The cost of such insurance can be significantly lower than the cost of a policy with a low deductible or no deductible.
2. Provide alternative documents
In some cases, alternative documents can be submitted to the BOI instead of medical insurance.
In particular:
- a deposit of at least USD 100,000 that has not decreased during the previous 12 months;
- Social Security (SSO) covering medical treatment in Thailand.
When choosing an alternative option, it is important to make sure in advance that the document provided meets the BOI requirements for the specific LTR category.
What is important to consider?
Medical insurance is only one part of the document package required to obtain an LTR visa. The requirements for the applicant and supporting documents depend on the visa category selected.
Therefore, before submitting an application, it is important to check not only whether the insurance meets the established requirements, but also whether the entire document package is complete and compliant.
Author: Alexandra Agapitova.
All rights reserved.
Copying and use of the materials without the written consent of the owner is prohibited.