Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing O Marriage Visas and comparing them to O Retirement Visas. I have done another video contemporaneously with this one where we discuss and compare and contrast the O Marriage Visa to the O-A Retirement Visa; here we are talking about the O Retirement Visa. So remember, with the O Retirement Visa it does not require medical insurance; it's a big difference between the O and the O-A. 

Now we are comparing the O Retirement Visa to the O Marriage Visa and in this comparison I actually think, it is my opinion for the most part I think a new, especially a newly minted retiree expat, okay you are married to a Thai and you are doing the analysis - “Do I do a Marriage Visa or do I do an O Retirement Visa?” At first blush, I think most people would say "oh I'm going to do the O Marriage Visa, it's a no brainer if you will because the financial requirements are lower". And that is true - 400,000 Baht as opposed to 800,000 Baht bank balance for O Marriage Visa versus O Retirement Visa or in the case of O Retirement Visa, 65,000 Baht but if you are married to a Thai, it's 40,000 Baht in terms of income per month in order to meet the financial criteria to maintain either one of those Visas. At first blush it's a no-brainer, you should do the O Marriage Visa. Stepping back though for a moment, when you know the history of the Marriage Visa, it may not necessarily be a no-brainer, and why is that? As we have discussed in other videos and at the time when the news was breaking, there were scandals involving basically people faking marriages here in Thailand to obtain O Marriage Visas. The upshot of this was a lot of heightened scrutiny on O Marriage Visas. They do sometimes spot checks, they will show up at people's houses; they will inspect them. They will call ahead sometimes and inspect them; sometimes they will just call the house and see if you are really there. There is a lot of heightened scrutiny on the O Marriage Visa and for this reason, again everybody's case is going to be different and everything is driven by the facts in a given case, so one person's financial situation might be such where they say "no I really need to go after the Marriage Visa." 

But all things being equal, if money isn't the issue I think for the most part, especially for retirees here in Thailand, the O Retirement Visa is better for a number of different reasons most notably one, and nobody wants to think about this, but if one's Thai spouse passes away, then the O Marriage Visa extinguishes and honestly, I have had to assist folks in this situation before, there's nothing really worse than having to go deal with Immigration after losing your loved one, especially your spouse. So that's one reason I think O Retirement Visa is a little bit better but also it is this heightened scrutiny associated with O Marriage Visas here in the Kingdom of Thailand.