Legal Services & Resources
Up to date legal information pertaining to Thai, American, & International Law.
Contact us: +66 2-266 3698
Types of Thai Visa: The O-A Visa (Retirement Category)
Transcript of the above video:
As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Thai O-A Visa. This is a Visa for retirees coming to Thailand in order to take up retirement status here in the Kingdom.
I am making this video, and I am sure some of the viewers on this video are going to say "Hey, this is pretty remedial stuff." I have gotten a lot of feedback recently from folks that have said "Look a lot of things to talk about we really appreciate it, but we don't understand the fundamentals." I have wanted to make this series for a bit of time now but because of the fast moving, the fast evolving nature of Thai Immigration in recent weeks, especially involving the Thai Immigration Amnesty, the extension thereof, the issues associated with that, we simply just haven't had the time to go back to basics if you will. So that is what we are doing with respect to this video.
For those who are unaware, again the Thai O-A Visa, sometimes referred to as A-O and understand that it is O-A and A is generally in my understanding is A is regulatory shorthand for "Annual" so it is an O Annual Visa specifically for retirees; so O-As are issued strictly for retirees. They are generally issued strictly abroad. Here in Thailand you often see the categorization of Retirement Visas in the O category but it is just an O Retirement Visa, it doesn't have that A and I have gotten into deep diving into the nuances there.
Strictly speaking there is a difference in how an O-A operates and how an O operates. I have gone into detail where I have said I think that this distinction could easily be wiped away especially as all categories under the O heading are regulatorily driven so if you had a change of regulation it can just wipe it away as opposed to the other Visa categories which fall under specific codified pieces of the Thai Immigration Act. The O category for “Other” is sort of the miscellaneous category, the "catch all" provision in the Act under which Immigration is allowed to issue these visas per other ministerial regulations.
So what to take away from this video, they are substantially the same as an O Visa although an O-A Visa is strictly for retirement; strictly for retirees looking to come to Thailand in order to take up a retiree status and remain in the Kingdom presumably thereafter on a one-year basis renewed annually.