The purpose of this study is to evaluate the welding distortion of the circular type lap joint in STS304L of 0.7mm thickness by using FEA. In order to do it, a heat input model for GTA welding process with non-consumable electrode was established through comparing the molten pool shapes and temperature distributions obtained by both FEA and experiment. With the heat input model, the welding distortion of the circular type lap joint was evaluated by 3-D FEA. From FEA results, it was found that 3-D FEA with proper heat input model can be used for the evaluation of the excessive distortion of the circular type lap joint of STS304L thin plate. In addition, the root cause of the excessive distortion in the weld was also identified as the excessive compressive residual stress in the tangential direction of the weld.