jamesthailand

Hello, I'd like to know what are ALL the requirements now for applying Thai citizenship, a lot of websites state that you need PR, but somebody here said you don't need it as per new laws, so now I'm having a hard time believing which piece of info is correct.

If you are married to a Thai citizen, you do not need PR; otherwise, you do.

The line above the number says that it is for someone that does not have Thai nationality; that is also on permanent residents' cards. What about the line below the number?

In Thai it says มีถิ่นที่อยู่ถาวร

I'm curious what your ID card says on the line below the line with your ID number (starting with 6). For permanents residents (who have an ID number starting with 8), it says (in Thai) "has permanent residence".

Number 25 is a French name. I counted 13 names that I would say are fairly clearly Western.

Which begs the question... Why the hell include a requirement to produce a LOI to renounce one's previous citizenship in the naturalization process and inform the Embassies etc? That bit, I truly don't understand.

There seem to be some people in the Interior Ministry that feel that anybody naturalizing as a Thai ought to be forced to give up their existing nationality. The current law doesn't allow them to do this, so they are getting as close as they can.

At the time I applied for citizenship, it wasn't yet a requirement to submit the letter of intent, but I was asked by the interviewing committee at the Interior Ministry whether I would be willing to give up my current citizenship "as the law required". I bit my lip and resisted the temptation to argue with them as to the requirements of the current law, and said something to the effect that I would be willing to do so, if the law required it.

Just to clarify: the 2008 Nationality Act relaxed the rules for a foreigner married to a Thai woman to allow them to obtain Thai nationality without PR; if you are a foreign man without a Thai wife, you still need 5 years PR.

Since the OP has a Thai wife, I would suggest applying for Thai nationality rather than PR, provided his current country of citizenship allows for dual nationality. The 70,000 baht salary is enough.

I was under the impression permanent residence was a prerequisite for a citizenship application.

I am planning to apply next year.

I believe your understanding is correct

No - under the new regulations introduced during 2014, it no longer a requirement to hold PR status for 5 years prior to requesting naturalization

You can now apply for Thai citizenship directly - the latest rules are given here(Thai-website) and here(English pdf document)

The explanation given to me for the changes (faster processing of RP applications, and an easier naturalization process) was that the new military government wants to encourage foreign business investment (both from new investors - and improve confidence for further long term investment by existing foreign investors)

I picked up my nationality change certificate from Special Branch today, which makes 4 weeks from the announcement in the Royal Gazette.

I am puzzled by 2 other things

1- many people said they didnt have the house registration blue book until getting id card, i am puzzled as i got the blue book when i got my residency.

2 - seems some people get to use the foreign name on their id card but i had to make a new Thai name when My application for citizenship was approved. Ans imassume that will be used?

If you got citizenship as a result of being the spouse of a Thai citizen, then you would not need to have PR, and you would therefore get the blue book when you got citizenship.

I also had to include a new Thai name on my application for citizenship. My understanding is that there is no requirement or expectation to use it. I guess it's included just because the bureaucrats haven't got round to removing the requirement for it to be included.

Dear all,

I got My PR this year July 1st 2015 (reason: investment-business)

I would like to apply for Thai citizenship.

I have a Thai daughter, 6 years old and I'm legally the father.

I read in the Guidelines for Applications for Thai Citizenship by Naturalization of 14th day of October 2009 (english translation):

3.2 Applicants with direct personal ties with Thailand, such as those married to a Thai citizen, those with children who are Thai citizens, or those who graduated from an institute of tertiary education in Thailand should have an income of not less than 40,000 baht a month supported by a letter of confirmation of monthly salary/income and must show evidence that they have paid tax for not less than 3 years; or they should they should have paid personal income tax of more than 50,000 baht per year for the 3 tax years prior to their application for naturalization

4. They should have received permission from the Immigration Bureau to remain permanently in the Kingdom of Thailand and be able to show supporting documentation in the form of a Certificate of Residence, an Alien Registration Book, or a House Registration Certificate (Thor Ror 14) that proves incontrovertibly that they have been permanently resident in Thailand for not less than 5 years.

5. They should have been permanently resident in the Kingdom of Thailand for not less than 5 years counted from the date they received their Certificate of Residence, Alien Registration Book or House Registration Certificate (Thor

Ror 14) that proves incontrovertibly that they have been permanently resident in Thailand for not less than 5 years.

My question is: when can I apply?

It seams obvious that reading the translation of point 4 and 5, I can apply in 5 years from the obtention of my PR.

But reading this forum it looks like some posters say that there is no need to wait 5 years from the PR obtention.

Sorry If i misunderstand, i just want to be sure.

Thanks to posters of both tread I used here: Camerata for PR and Dbrenn for this one.

If you are not married to a Thai citizen, you have to wait 5 years after obtaining PR. This is stated clearly in the Thai Nationality Act 2008. Having a Thai child helps only in reducing the salary required for applying for citizenship.

Is there anything to stop someone setting up their own company, employing the necessary amount of Thais, getting your own WP and paying staff and oneself the required salaries and tax for the 3 years plus?

Nothing to prevent that. However, if your company consistently loses money for many years, it can become difficult to renew the work permit, so to be completely safe, you should ensure that your company makes a modest profit.

I think I was maximally unlucky in my timings. My PR application got stuck for a long time with Purachai as IM. Then my citizenship application was one of the oldest in the backlog that has been cleared by Anupong. If I had been just a little bit quicker getting my citizenship application in, I might have got my citizenship some years ago.

At the time I applied for citizenship, I was single, so I had to get PR. During the wait, I met and married my wife, and we've had a child! I am hoping that my son and I will be able to get our first Thai passports at the same time.

Thanks to everybody who has contributed to this thread. It has been a big help. And good luck to everybody waiting. Let's hope the process continues to run as quickly as it has since Anupong has taken over.

I am on the list. I took the oath in June; for me, it was 5 months and 3 weeks between oath and announcement.

I submitted my application back in January 2008, so by the time I get my ID card it will be about 8 years total. I got PR (based on investment) in 2002, after applying in 2000, so the whole process (from nothing i.e. tourist visa to Thai ID card) will have taken me about 16 years.

Third time lucky

http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2558/E/318/28.PDF

Unfortunately there was no announcement in the RG today either.

Seems like that there are some changes in the name so the royal gazette department has sent the list back to MOI for correction. The word is that the latest date for announcement will be next Monday (30-11-15)

Thanks very much for checking. I will keep my fingers crossed for Monday.

Just checked - The Royal Gazette are going to announce Thai naturalization list on 26-11-15 (around 270 persons) & on 3-12-15 (don't know how many). Congratulations to all the lucky ones in this list.

Unfortunately, there do not appear to have been any naturalizations announced in the RG today (26-11-15).

Go this link and search for ได้สัญชาติ

http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/RKJ/announce/search.jsp

Thanks very much: that works great.

If I start from the homepage, I get redirected (I'm using Chrome) to a search form on http://www.mratchakitcha.soc.go.th/, which doesn't seem to work properly.

www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/RKG/announce/newrkj_load.jsp

That link gives me a 404 (not found).

Yesterday, 20 applicants were published in RG, hope to hear good news soon too. Good Luck to all applicants waiting to be published in RG.

Oasis

I tried to search for this on the RG web site without success. Any search tips?

If your Thai girlfriend's current surname is different from her surname at birth, she should have a surname change certificate. You should submit that along with her birth certificate.

Just checked - The Royal Gazette are going to announce Thai naturalization list on 26-11-15 (around 270 persons) & on 3-12-15 (don't know how many). Congratulations to all the lucky ones in this list.

This is very interesting news, as I believe I am one of the 270 (took my oath about 5 months ago, part of the large multiyear male backlog batch).

When my secretary called up BORA, they had no idea about the date of publication in the Royal Gazette. They only knew that the list of about 270 was in the process of being sent for publication. May I ask where you got the date of 26-11-15?

I wonder why he couldn't use his Thai ID card to prove his Thai nationality, and use that to gain entry rather than his British passport.

When I went to take my oath last week, SB said they were aiming to get the names published in the Royal Gazette in 5 months. They said that it would take them two months just to complete the fingerprint checking of such a large batch.

I am guessing you were born between 1972 and 1992. If so, the reason your birth certificate and tabian baan say non-Thai is that according to the Thai laws in effect at the time, children born of a Thai mother and foreign father did not have Thai nationality. The law changed in 1992, and applies retrospectively. See this topic. Even though your birth certificate says non-Thai, it is in fact proof that you are Thai, because it proves you were born of a mother with Thai nationality, which is sufficient to give you Thai nationality.

So you are already a Thai citizen, and you have definitive proof of it (a Thai-issued birth certificate). I don't think you need to get your birth certificate corrected: it was correct accordingly to the laws of the time. You should be able to go along to your district office and ask them to issue you a Thai ID card and an updated tabian baan. The only thing you have to prove to them is that you (the person standing before them) is the same individual as the person named on the birth certificate. I am not sure what they will require for that: I would guess your current passport and a certified translation should be enough. Your step-mum may need to act as referee.