Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing O-A Retirement Visas. I kind of decided on the title because I was watching the film Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes the other day and I thought of the scene where he is in the armoury, Wesley Snipes is the bad guy for those who haven't seen the movie; he is in this armoury trying to steal these guns and somebody comes up to him and says "What seems to be your Boggle?" The whole scene ensues that I thought was kind of funny. It is an inside joke; it is so inside maybe I am the only one that finds it humorous. 

The reason for the video I was recently reading an article regarding Thai O-A Retirement Visas specifically Insurance on them. The article was from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Future Insurance Requirements for foreigners entering Thailand still muddled. Yeah that is a good title, I think across the board insurance policy is really kind of in a state of flux. I would urge folks who are watching this video to go check out that article but a specific excerpt in there regarding Insurance specifically but within the context of the Retirement Visa, quoting directly: "Another key ambiguity lies in the future of visas and extensions based on expat retirees over 50 years of age. As is well known, the 12 months O-A Visa - only issued by Embassies abroad - requires comprehensive medical insurance. All Embassies appear to require cover of at least 3 million Baht or US $100,000 for the whole year. Solely, the Thai Embassy in Norway offers self- insurance as an alternative for those too old or sick to obtain cover. Instead, applicants may place 3 million Baht in a bank account at least 2 months before application. This sum is on top of the 800,000 Baht ordinarily required as a bond, a grand total of 3.8 million Baht. Annual O-A extensions at Immigration Offices require the continuation of comprehensive medical insurance, but the details vary from office to office." Yeah, well and on top of that it is our understanding that this does not come into effect until the fourth quarter of 2022.

Now that being said, Embassies have a tendency to kind of do things more on their own. We have discussed that in many videos, they have a lot of administrative prerogative with respect to how they process cases. That being said, with cases we have dealt with in the US here recently involving O-A Retirement Visas as yet we haven't seen the 100,000 requirement. Now that being said, that could change and maybe it has changed since the last case we were working on and the timing of this video, but that being the case, the announcement stipulated that this did not become the rule until again the fourth quarter of this year. So that's something to bear in mind. Also keep in mind, we are not talking about O Retirement Visas, we are only talking about O-A Retirement Visas so those of you who are dealing with an O Retirement Visa no need to fret, this does not apply to you. If you are dealing with your O Retirement Visa extension you are probably going to be all right; you can continue to extend the way you have been.

For those out there who are looking for some clarification on how best to deal with the O-A, possibly the O, and all the insurance requirements or lack thereof associated therewith, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.