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To clarify, are all 2019 applicants still waiting for their MOI interview, or an unlucky subset of them? Thanks.

My application was recently passed from Special Branch to MOI. I think it would have taken longer to complete the step with the local police station, but my husband happens to have a friend who knows someone high up in our particular neighborhood station. He made a phone call for us, and this seems to have accelerated progress after an initial delay (likely due to our trip abroad causing a loss of momentum) with that step. Expecting the wait for an MOI interview to be long, but hoping it will come quickly. All in all, we are pleased with the process so far. It seems like we've been treated fairly and even reasonably accommodated when possible. That said, I am mostly an outsider to the process since my husband handles nearly all interactions.

A work permit + visa question if that's alright... I'm preparing to apply for a work permit for the first time via a service provider. I'm in the process of being re-hired by an American company that I've worked for in the past (remote work from home - I realize I may not truly need a work permit since I am not taking a job from a Thai, but I'd rather be safe than sorry). Since the company has no presence in Thailand they are unable to help me obtain a work permit, hence the service provider. I'm currently on a non-immigrant O visa which will expire in October. I'm unable to extend it as my husband is working in the US right now and he would have to be physically present with me in Thailand to apply for the extension (or so I've been told by one immigration officer). I'm aware of my options regarding the visa. I can leave Thailand, apply for a new non-immigrant O, and all should be well. Or, I could work with the service provider to switch me to a B visa (extra costs involved that I'll avoid if practical). My question is, what happens with my work permit if I do either of those things? Is the work permit connected to the exact visa I have when I apply for it? Or can the work permit be transferred to the new visa? Should I get a new visa before applying for the work permit? Thank you!

Out of curiosity, what sort of problems could this lead to? Primarily that the granting of the citizenship itself could be challenged? Or other things? Thanks! If not married to a Thai man, or if married to a Thai man but choosing to apply on the basis of PR instead, then would a woman receive a naturalization certificate?

I'm prepping the docs for the NIA. Female married to a Thai male with registration of marriage abroad and คร.22. Thus far, I have kept my own last name, but I'm not opposed to taking my husband's name. Does anyone know if I need to reserve a Thai name? I've been assuming not, but now looking at the checklist from NIA feel a little less certain.

Update and question... Although we were warned that the initial police investigation might be delayed due to the election and my husband being abroad for 3 months this summer, I *think* we may have moved to the next phase. I received a call and a request for documents from the National Intelligence Service today. My Thai remains a work in progress so I was unable to ask questions competently. Does this mean the initial investigation performed by our local police station is likely over? Or do these things sometimes occur concurrently? If this is already the next phase, I'm very pleasantly surprised by this quick pace.

I'm a grad student enrolled in an American university while living in Bangkok. I would like to do some research locally, but am intimidated at the thought of just randomly going to local libraries and asking for help, especially since I am not yet fluent in Thai. I am enrolled in a class at Chula that will start in November, but otherwise I have no student status in Thailand. I am an established resident with a yellow tabien baan and pink foreigner ID card if either matters for the purpose of library privileges. I am learning Thai but not yet fluent enough to read native content. Accordingly, my research objectives fall into either of these two categories: 1. English content about Thai history, society, art, culture, etc. 2. Demographic or other data (could be labeled in Thai since data labels should be easy enough to manually translate) Any advice about what libraries might be worth going to? And what to expect from librarians or the overall experience once I'm there?

Our Special Branch case officer told us that the initial police investigation into my application would be delayed. He did not comment on how those further along in the process might be impacted.

I'm hoping someone can help me with a question about visas and permission to stay for wives applying through their Thai husbands. The Special Branch application instructions don't seem to mention visas. I've already submitted my application and I do not think my case officer even wanted a copy of my visa. I imagine most people get one-year extensions of stay for their non-immigrant O visas. That was my plan. However, six hours at Chaengwattana yesterday ended in me being instructed to take my request to Phitsanulok immigration despite Chaengwattana knowing that our tabien baans and current residence are in Krung Thep. Not knowing better, I dutifully hopped on the first flight this morning to Phitsanulok and went straight to immigration, where I was promptly told to go back to Chaengwattana. After this, I have lost all appetite for the one-year extension of stay and am quite content to make quick trips out of country every 90 days for the rest of my life if that means I never have to set foot in Chaengwattana again. My question is... will it matter for my citizenship application what type of visa and permission to stay I am on so long as they are legal and valid? Even if we could have gotten the extension today, there is no guarantee that I could get it in the future because my husband is not guaranteed to be in the country during the window of time that the extension applications must be submitted, and since he must be physically present for the application to be accepted... I'm virtually guaranteed to be out of luck at some point no matter how many hoops I am otherwise willing to jump through. This has definitely been the most disheartening aspect of the entire process for me, though it's quite separate from my actual citizenship application. Can I simply continue indefinitely on multi-entry non-immigrant O visas, even if I have to re-apply from scratch every year? The online application process that gets routed through the Thai embassy/consulate in the United States is blissfully pleasant. I've used it once for a tourist visa and again for my non-immigrant o. I'll have to leave the country, but the processing time is only 15 business days so seems like it might be ok.

We submitted our application yesterday. I'll share some info about how the process went for us. When my husband called Special Branch to let them know we had all our paperwork together, our case officer asked my husband to bring our documents on his own so they could review them together without me. We complied, but because we were confident that we had everything ready, I hung out near the office while they met. As anticipated, Special Branch was ready to proceed with both of us after lunch. At that time, we finalized our documents, signed some additional forms, and I was fingerprinted. Then, we met with a more senior member of Special Branch who conducted an interview, asking us pointed questions about why we are childless. The simplest answer we could provide is that we are letting nature take its course. It seems as though we passed this interview. I will need to get my passport certified at the US Embassy again (the copy from last year is considered too old now even though my passport itself remains the same), but there is no particular rush on me delivering the new copy. Noteworthy for us, we've been told it's completely fine for my husband to travel back and forth to the US as his work requires... the only travel restriction is on me, and only for the next 4 months or so. Special Branch has been very clear about their expectations of us, and so far, so good.

Thanks! This makes me happy as I did have my educational qualifications translated. I figured I'd need them for something eventually...

Yes, please do share your letter! Thank you!

Yes, I do wonder if the Consulate in Chiang Mai is on the same page, or if this is a development unique to Bangkok. I may try to find out as I need to make a trip to Chiang Mai soon anyway.

I didn't have anything from Special Branch with me. Just the two affidavits I wrote for myself, as posted above. The Consular Officials are willing to process actual renunciations of American citizenship, just not the performative, unenforceable sham docs created exclusively for the Thai citizenship application process.

Went to the US Embassy today with 2 versions of an affidavit related to hypothetically renouncing my American citizenship upon receipt of Thai. They wouldn't sign either one. The consular official made it clear that it is an intentional diplomacy-driven decision to not engage with these requests on any level any longer and that all consular officials are on the same page in this regard. I wish I knew all of the related details, as I find a policy change like this quite interesting. For clarity, here are both versions, appropriately redacted. Happily, I had other docs to get notarized, so it wasn't a waste of my time.

It's not required for foreign wives applying through their Thai husbands. I believe all foreign men need to be prepared to sing as part of the application, unless they don't need the points associated with that requirement. If memory serves me correctly, one of the wives who previously applied and was already granted citizenship was asked if she could sing the anthems... not because she was expected to but because the interviewer was simply curious. That's partly why I'm learning them even though I don't technically need to.

I made some YouTube playlists of each of the anthems. I find the official versions hard to learn from because the background instruments and chorus of voices muffles the pronunciation. Would love to collect additional recommendations if anyone has (a) favorite performance(s). Based on the difficulty I had finding soloists singing the National Anthem it seems the Thais have much less of a tradition of performers singing it in public than Americans, for instance, have of singing their anthem. เพลงชาติไทย https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRHNDpJM_kWjQhNCHROJxfk-Hab6as2S8 สรรเสริญพระบารมี https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRHNDpJM_kWjHPmYspOjVIbTGIGlQcvxj

Old thread, but it comes up in search results, so... I'll post an update. The Fundamentals of the Thai Language (Fifth Edition) by Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs is also available as a PDF at Scribd. If you sign up for a free 30 day trial with your email address (unfortunately, you will need to provide payment info to start the trial) you will be able to download the file. Then, you can immediately cancel the subscription from your account page, or enjoy the full 30 days of the trial and go from there.

The Fundamentals of the Thai Language (Fifth Edition) by Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs is also available as a PDF at Scribd. If you sign up for a free 30 day trial with your email address (unfortunately, you will need to provide payment info to start the trial) you will be able to download the file. Then, you can immediately cancel the subscription from your account page, or enjoy the full 30 days of the trial and go from there.

It is also available as a PDF at Scribd. If you sign up for a free 30 day trial with your email address (unfortunately, you will need to provide payment info to start the trial) you will be able to download the file. Then, you can immediately cancel the subscription from your account page, or enjoy the full 30 days of the trial and go from there.

Hello Arun Mai, please see above for where you referenced being asked for additional docs. Thanks to all for relaying your experiences and helpful tips! I have an appointment at the US Embassy March 7. I'll report back after as to what they will/won't sign.

To be clear, no one has asked us for anything, and based on my husband's interactions with Special Branch so far it seems unlikely that anyone will. Being bluntly asked for cash (as some here have been) or bluntly offering it seems rather indelicate. Edible gifts seem appropriate and fun to offer. I haven't had the opportunity to discuss with my husband yet, but I'm imagining that my husband could ask the officer if he has any family, friends, or colleagues looking for a bit of work, and explain that we may be looking to hire help. Clearly someone that the officer trusts would be someone that we could trust as opposed to putting an ad out to the public. The help could be related to any number of things... someone to run errands, or drive, or cook, or clean, or more of a personal assistant if the candidate is skilled in that way. The point would be that we'd be communicating/demonstrating our willingness to look after him via his proxy in a fair and ethical manner, in the hopes that he'll reciprocate by looking after us and the timely progress of our application. Ideally, the help would be meaningful work for meaningful pay rather than merely performative. It could have the effect of bringing us into his inner circle as the article I linked above mentions. We would simply be befriending him in an intentional way through someone he cares about, with no strings attached. Right now, this is just a thought exercise. Based on the success so many have had without such a strategy, it seems wholly unnecessary. I guess part of me is just curious if it's possible to expedite the process without being famous (as others have mentioned here as an expediting factor).

I'm trying to get a grip on what tokens of appreciation (food or other gifts, charitable donations, etc.) might be appropriate within this process, so I'm researching the topic in general. I'm only partway through this article, but find it very interesting so thought I'd share a short excerpt. I am still new to Thailand, and have very few experiences upon which to form a personal strategy or opinion about how things are/aren't done here. We did take a gift basket of food to the Tessaban last year when they were in the process of completing my Tabien Baan. It was not an incentive as they had already more or less finished the work, but was meant as a token of genuine appreciation because I don't think they'd previously issued many yellow books and it seemed like the process was mildly daunting for them. They seemed to receive the gift happily. We similarly gave our neighbor an edible gift for his critical assistance as a witness. A Traveler’s Guide to Gifts and Bribes "In this case, he suggested that money and a radio would be appropriate gifts. What he did not tell me was that his culture’s traditions required him to use the money to provide a feast—in my honor—to which he would invite everyone in his social and commercial circle whom he felt I should meet. The radio would simply create a festive atmosphere at the party. This was to mark the beginning of an ongoing relationship with reciprocal benefits."

Thank you. I understand there has been some reluctance on the part of the Embassy to formally acknowledge a willingness to participate in this process, but I believe if I take their standard affidavit form with a statement I've written myself they will sign it. DrJoy suggested something like, "I RBS, an American citizen, my US PP number is XXXX. In connection with my recent application for Thai citizenship, I confirm I will renounce my US citizenship when granted Thai."

Based on the prior cautionary posts regarding how missing/delayed documents can set approval back by months or years, I'm hoping to provide as many documents up front with my initial application as I can. Of course, we've covered everything on the published list for wives applying through their Thai husbands. In addition, I'm planning on providing: my American divorce decree, with a related Embassy notarized affidavit and translation an Embassy notarized affidavit of my intent to renounce US citizenship upon receipt of Thai I'm wondering about providing the following since I've seen others here indicate they were eventually asked for them (all Embassy notarized and translated): birth certificate driver's license (Arun Mai reports being asked for this here - I only have an American license) Thai work permit (once issued by the company we're planning to create) Thai company registration docs (once we've created the company) certificate of residence (I don't currently have) alien book (I don't currently have) In regards to the intent to renounce US citizenship, is there any risk in completing this affidavit so early in the process? General thoughts on providing any/all of these documents?