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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawThailand Immigration LawExpiration of a Thai O-A Retirement Visa During COVID-19 Amnesty

Expiration of a Thai O-A Retirement Visa During COVID-19 Amnesty

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Thai Retirement Visa specifically the O-A Retirement Visa. These are generally issued at a Thai Embassy or Thai Consulate abroad and they are issued to a Visa holder who then comes into Thailand and is granted a one-year stamp for usage to retire in Thailand.

Depending on the Embassy you use, it may be that your O-A Visa is issued with multiple entries so you come and go and every time you enter you get a one-year stamp. It may also be the case that you get a single-entry O-A Visa and you enter Thailand and get one single one year stamp. Under either set of circumstances, what happens during this COVID-19 Amnesty if your Visa should expire? 

Well I have done a number of videos on this topic. If your Visa should expire during this "lockdown" there is an Amnesty, so you will not fall into overstay. Let's be clear on that first. July 31st. folks have this waiver if you will wherein they will not be subjected to overstay fines nor to accrual of time in deciding whether one is to be blacklisted in the future. In essence one will not be considered to be in “overstay” if they have a retirement Visa that expires during this COVID-19 lockdown.

Now what should one do? A lot of folks that I have seen like to use the O-A, especially the multiple-entry O-A; they like to come and go. A lot of people return to their home country even on single entry O-A Visas. They just return to their home country once every year or every15 months and get a new O-A and come back. 

Well under current circumstances, notwithstanding the fact that you may be covered by the Amnesty, it may not be a terrible idea to be seriously considering an extension under the circumstances. It remains to be seen exactly what the logistical circumstances are going to be for people who want to come and go into Thailand in the aftermath of the current flight ban to Thailand but I suspect at least for the initial weeks and possibly months that the flight ban is being lifted, it will probably be not a particularly straightforward process; it will probably be pretty cumbersome. For this reason, I think it is wise for those who are looking at their Retirement Visa expiring while they are here in Thailand even during this Amnesty, it is probably a good idea to seriously consider an extension because if you just want to stay here and maybe this year it is not going to be possible to do your usual thing and return it to your home country an extension may be your best option to maintain lawful status out past the expiration of the Thai Visa Amnesty arising from COVID-19.