Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing O-A Retirement Visas. The reason for making this video, I made a similar one about O Retirement Visas but I had some people ask me in the interim, between that video and this one, "What is the point of the O-A? Why would anybody want the O-A compared to the O Retirement Visa?"

Well one, ease of getting it. Especially before COVID it was not really possible to get an O Retirement Visa abroad and it is my contention that probably moving forward, they are going to be few and far between. The Ministry and Foreign Affairs seems to be pushing everybody, nudging everybody if you will, towards the O-A Retirement Visa. In many cases we have been dealing with, yes if someone previously had an O Retirement Visa, Covid caused it, they couldn't get back to Thailand to renew it, yes in some cases people were reissued an O Retirement Visa but in the vast majority of cases, especially new applicants who are applying for a Retirement Visa abroad, O-A seems to be the category of choice utilized by the relevant Thai Embassies and Consulates. 

The question comes up because I know we have compared this a lot on this channel, what is the upside if you will of the O-A? Because we know the downsides; I have discussed it at length. Certain insurance requirements, the big one being the insurance requirement with the impending bump of the insurance requirement in the fourth quarter of this year going substantially higher raises the question, well is there an upside?  A big upside of the O-A Visa is generally speaking you are stamped in for one year from entry. Now the other big issue with the O-A Visa is there are certain places again that just and I think probably won't issue O Retirement Visas at all, the other issue is there are certain passport holders for whom conversion and what I am talking about is coming in for example on a Tourist Visa and then trying to change your status here in Thailand, that is just not going to be possible.

More and more as we are getting away from the Amnesty, which came to an end, they are no longer doing Visa Amnesties, yes Immigration still has a higher degree of discretion than they once had with respect to doing conversions in country. It has been my experience thus far, that well not just my experience it is just a fact, there are certain passports from certain countries where an extension or conversion in country, not necessarily an extension but a conversion then an extension in country, just isn't possible. For those folks, the only option is to utilize an O-A Retirement Visa.