THAIJAMES

Before I got my PR, the scrutiny at Immigration and the anxiety involved and the process of preparing all the paper work to renew my business visa were a big hassle.  Always 2-3 days of anxiety and wasted time every year.  If you are well established in Thailand with a business and a home.  PR gives you a certain piece of mind.  No more having to worry that immigration will not to renew your visa.  (Which happened to me one year in the past when my business was not making a profit for that year)

Other than that, yes I agree not many benefits, except maybe you are taken more seriously in some cases when dealing with government officials.

The cost of getting the PR was not an issue for me, but the time involved and the hassles involved in getting PR (for me at least) may not make it worthwhile for some. 

6 hours ago, gamini said:

 

I lost my certificate of residency and think it might be a good idea to try and get a new one. Do you know where I can do this and do I have to take any other documents other than my blue tambien Baan and alien registration book

Immigration will re-issue a certificate of residency.  Go to the branch where you applied. Hopefully they still have the original book with your entry.  Bring as many documents as possible.  More than likely you are in the system, since you were offered a blue ID card so it should not be a problem. 

12 hours ago, Bangel72 said:

Apart from when they registered at the police station have any of the PR's been asked for their Blue Tabien Baan?

 

Is it actually their's or their landlords where they are renting from? If the latter, not sure how often they would carry it anyway.

 

I know PR's who were refused the Blue one and stuck on the yellow book with zero issues at all over the years since it was granted, including BOI work permits granted against it.

 

Agree with the others though pink ID is not against PR, being in a yellow book is enough.

You need to provide the Tabien Baan for any official dealings including opening bank accounts and drivers's license.

i was asked to provide the Blue Tabien Baan for my drivers license.  I need it every year to renew re-entry permit.  Otherwise when photocopied, the copy has no color and as far as Thais are concerned they can't tell the difference between yellow and blue as most are not aware of the numbering scheme.  So I can see how you could easily get by with just the yellow one.

12 hours ago, gamini said:

I think you misread my post. I never actually had a Thai ID card but was told to go and pick up one about 35 years ago. My mistake was that I didn't do so. If I remember rightly it was because I thought that I might have to give up my UK citizenship.

For some reason I did bother to get my Thai ID card having been told that I was entitled to oner (big mistake).

I think he just wanted to see the departure card and stamp from having exited Thailand with the passport. 

Thats the funniest thing I have heard all day. Thanks for the laugh.

The instructions were a letter from immigration. I don't think you will get another one. Show the numskulls your PR Certificate??

Permanent Resident or Not, I don't think they check to see if you have 4 employees. This is because Immigration will not renew your visa if your company does not have 4 Thai Employees. So basically its impossible if your are not a PR to apply without those 4 employees (2 if you are married)

I am a PR and have never been asked before or after becoming a PR to show 4 Employees. What is required is your employment contract or Business Registration if you are the owner and relevant permission to stay in the kingdom.

According to my accountants they check for the 4 employees when applying for a NEW work perment, but not when renewing. Of course this being Thailand it may be different next time!

Thank you for the correction.

Permanent Resident or Not, I don't think they check to see if you have 4 employees. This is because Immigration will not renew your visa if your company does not have 4 Thai Employees. So basically its impossible if your are not a PR to apply without those 4 employees (2 if you are married)

I am a PR and have never been asked before or after becoming a PR to show 4 Employees. What is required is your employment contract or Business Registration if you are the owner and relevant permission to stay in the kingdom.

I am also interested in people's feedbacks that have applied from the provinces.

I am a PR and still have to wait 4 years before I can apply.

When I checked with Special branch in Chiang Mai a couple of years ago. They had hundreds of applications on file, but according to the officer no one had been granted citizenship for many years.

Would be interested to know if that has changed since the army has took over as they have improved the process.

Just for your info,

It has been mentioned (arkady) that you are better off moving your Tabien Baan to Bangkok as they are much better able to deal with your application and you don't have to go through so many departments to get approved. I had a look at the flow chart for getting citizenship and people in the provinces have to go through a number of additional steps (still has to go through Bangkok) each complicating the process.

Speaking for recent permanent residents and new citizens, it has become easier as they have cleared a backlog of applications that existed for many years.

That's awesome Steve, well done

I got the same advice as you - keep using your business visa, rather than getting a bridging visa. I'm choosing to take this as a good sign - that they're expecting to be so efficient processing this years applications that it's not even worth cutting bridging visas My understanding from this post is that the 2014 applications were processed by May: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/827854-thai-interior-minister-signs-residency-permit-for-foreigners/

"The approved permit consists of 565 pending requests and 115 new requests from the consideration of the Immigration Commission’s 1/2015 meeting on 16 March 2015."

Also got the same advice as you that there'll be a March-ish interview of some sort - I didn't catch if that was the language test or something else.

Fingers crossed.

Doesn't that mean that you have to fill out and supply the mountain of documents required for the business visa? What most of us PR's got is a stamp saying that PR is under consideration and we were told to come back every six months to renew the stamp - No documentation required.

Thanks, I think I will wait until your lawyer makes some headway ! and if within a month or two no progress then I will go there personally again.

Scorecard, finally got my Blue Tabien Baan after 5 months of waiting.

I asked the local Chiang Mai office 5 months ago if a PR ID card was available and they were absolutely adamant that it does not exist.

Yesterday when I picked up my blue book, they now acknowledge that it exists but basically don't know how to go about doing it.

I saw some information about the steps required but I don't know where that thread or topic is any more.

So if you still have not gotten your PR ID you may want to try again, they are likely to be more receptive if you can provide them with more info. Then hopefully I can follow in your footsteps.

have him show you what else he has built at this price and see what you think of fit and finish..

This is the best advice yet. Go a step further and have him give you a list of all the houses that he has recently built. Then later, alone approach the homeowners and ask them their opinion of the builder and the build quality.

Many will tell you their horror stories and all the problems they had.

If you are lucky they will have only good things to say about the builder and the quality of the work. This is the builder that you should use -- no one else!

A few years ago, CM immigration had an officer taking care of PR applications. (They probably still do) You may want to go and see them with all your documents. I am from Chiang Mai, but still decided to do it in Chaeng Wattana immigration in Bangkok.

I pretty sure that if she is born in Thailand and her mother is Thai, then she can always claim back her citizenship.

I think the 100,000 is the tax paid for that year.

PR is essentially just akin to paying for a lifetime of your annual extensions fees upfront. There are essentially no other meaningful benefits besides no longer requiring a visa, and being able to boast about it

What a load of rubbish you write, PR in any country gives the holder unhindered right of abode and is a legal migrant in that country, you cant even compare a visa / extension versus PR you have no idea what your talking about

Usually the ones who are most bitter towards people who have PR are the ones who would never qualify anyway as your post perfectly illustrates and for the record i am neither PR or a Thai citizen

I am a PR holder and I beg to differ. So far I haven't seen PR has made my life easier in any way, other than visa. There are practically no benefits whatsoever for a PR holder comparing a non PR holder. No work benefits, no business benefits, no property benefits, nothing at all. You only get peace of mind that they can't kick you out, plus it's a pre requisite for citizenship, which is my ultimate goal, since I m not married to a thai.

I completely agree. I am also a PR holder.

Just on extensions of stay based upon marriage (7 of them) since I am not working here.

Is that 7 marriages or 7 extensions

Thanks for this news, much appreciated

Thank you in advance.

Very grateful for you posting this information.

I applied in 2007. I have been patiently waiting to get approved, however 2 weeks ago, Immigration in CM would not give me a 6 months extension as previous officers had and I had to run around for 4 days until the officer in charge finally signed. So I prefer not to go through that frustration again.

I would like to also go this route, but am not sure of the negative consequences of going to court against the Interior Minister. Since he has the final say and there is no appeal process. Is it possible he might also just reject the application in order to stop further applicants from going this route? Since rejection is also a resolution. What are your thoughts?

THAIJAMES what website did you use for ordering from china? Any problems with customs?

Ali express

No problem with customs as long as you use the regular free shipping. (DHL has a scam which almost forces all shipments to go through customs so they can charge you a fee) Takes about 5-10 days to arrive.

Never had to pay any customs fees and I have ordered more than 20 shipments from ali express.

As of today the phones are available for order freely in the states freely without invitation if you can have someone ship it to you.