GabbaGabbaHey

I'm applying with a 4.6 year old PR, I have Thai spouse and children. Anyone knows if I will be required to sing? My initial understanding is that in order to be an applicant under PR you need 5+ years of PR, but I have a doubt and I can't find where I read that. Which of PR and marriage category wins in my case?

19 hours ago, ThaiCitizen said:

1-      Do the photos have to be colour? 2 inch x 2 inches? My requirement just say 2x2.

 

Something not apparent if you read too quickly, the pictures are asked as 2x2.5 inches.

 รูปถ่ายของผู้ยื่นค าขอ ฯ ขนาด 2x2 นิ้วครึ่ง  จ านวน 12 รูป และของคู่สมรส จ านวน 3 รูป    (ชายใส่สูทผูกไท หรือชุดพระราชทาน หญิงแต่งกายสุภาพ) 

12 hours ago, Arkady said:

 No need to have the same work permit during the three year qualifying period before applying. I changed jobs the year before I applied and so have several others.  But it is critical that you do whatever it takes to make the transition between WPs seamless.  I ended up having a 3 day gap due to incompetence in my new company's HR dept, something that is unfortunately hard to avoid in large Thai companies.  As has been suggested a gap of a week  should probably be regarded as the outer limit before you might have to go back to the beginning and start the 3-year period again.  It doesn't matter about the renewal of the book.  In practice 2-year WPs are the maximum you can get but 1-year renewals or less are fine as long as they are continuous. As I have said here many times before, if you change jobs, demand to get the cancelled WP back, as is your right under the 2008 Working of Aliens Act, because you will need it.  Take a copy of the law in Thai with you to the Labour Ministry, if necessary.  It is very specific on that point.  

Thanks for this clarification, Arkady, I must have invented or mixed with PR topic. Just, by "renewal" I wasn't talking about yearly extensions but a new work permit book. This happened to me when I got my regular extension this year and I was issued a new-version book while my old one had plenty of empty pages. Since the new one is consequently few months old only, despite my continuous job extensions for many years I had brief fear this could make me fail under "technical reason" but now I feel relaxed on this point. 

(btw I'm not sure I understood exactly what a failure for technical reason is, if you could summarize or give examples this would be great).

1 hour ago, SABloke said:

Hi Sathuluv,

 

Do you mind if I ask about your statement regarding the tax returns: Were your extensions of stay continuous for the same period? I ask, because I read that one must be on an unbroken run of extensions in order to apply, but this is the first mention I hear of them putting weight on the tax returns. I had 5 years continuous extensions of stay for work until this year when I left and came back with a new Non-Immigrant visa (My tax records do cover 5 years and are continuing). 

 

I wonder (open question to the forum) whether I would be allowed to apply or whether my new visa has reset my process to day zero? 

My understanding is that you must have been on the same work permit (I mean same company, since the book itself can sometimes be renewed) for three continuous years, at the time you apply.

2 hours ago, ThaiCitizen said:

Could anyone tell me if the bank statement is just a normal 6 month statement or a letter. What details exactly? Thanks

I understand it must be a letter. In my case I went directly to my bank's head office, which has a special counter for certificates, and I clearly mentioned I needed a statement of my current balance for citizenship application purpose, and I requested it to be addressed to SB following Arkady's comments in below posts. I got the letter within 30 minutes.

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/121353-story-of-my-thai-citizenship-application/?page=98#comment-11749686

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/121353-story-of-my-thai-citizenship-application/?page=98#comment-11750848
  

11 hours ago, ThaiCitizen said:

Thanks for this document, does this need to be submitted in the first instance?

I wonder if my two Thais are expected to travel all the way to Bangkok?

BTW, I can’t see anything about a medical check, is this required?

 

Thanks

Yes, the witnesses forms are required otherwise your application wouldn't be complete, without you'd probably be in the same state I'm today (still missing a change in one of my documents, consequently I haven't been called to sign my application yet).

I haven't been asked any medical certificate and I don't think it's required as part of the process, at least not during the application.

On 5/14/2017 at 1:33 PM, GabbaGabbaHey said:

If I understood well from earlier posts, it can be a different one, but you have to maintain continuity in your work history and this means get any new job in a very short time after you terminate the current one (ideally within one month). Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong.

To be precise, gaps seem possible. I just found the OP's comment in page 79: 

"Actually, you can have interruptions, so long as you have a valid WP when you first apply, and when you appear at the Interior Ministry. Following my IM interview, I hung on to a job I hated to keep my WP in effect, but I was not asked to produce it again. Prior to appearing at the IM, but after my interview at the SB, I changed jobs a couple of times, and there were gaps of a couple of months in between." 

1 hour ago, onthemoon said:

For the interview at the MOI, a work permit has to be presented again. Does it have to be the same work permit, or I can change companies after submission of the docs to SB?

If I understood well from earlier posts, it can be a different one, but you have to maintain continuity in your work history and this means get any new job in a very short time after you terminate the current one (ideally within one month). Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong.

22 hours ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

Out of curiosity, do non-PR holders applicants to naturalization have a different set of requirements, things like a blank criminal record, DNA paternity test or health certificate, which PR holders had to provide to be granted PR? I would be surprised if not. Since I am applying for naturalization as PR holder with less than 5 years of PR, and I was not asked for these, I assume the process still makes a difference between non-PR holders and PR-holders no-matter how old your PR is.  

 

For those interested, I read an answer in below link saying" it turns out that applications under this rule are processed the same as applicants with PR without distinction".

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/876707-realistic-chances-of-obtaining-thai-citizenship/?page=3

21 hours ago, Arkady said:

 

the law was only amended in 2008 to allow males with Thai wives to bypass PR

Out of curiosity, do non-PR holders applicants to naturalization have a different set of requirements, things like a blank criminal record, DNA paternity test or health certificate, which PR holders had to provide to be granted PR? I would be surprised if not. Since I am applying for naturalization as PR holder with less than 5 years of PR, and I was not asked for these, I assume the process still makes a difference between non-PR holders and PR-holders no-matter how old your PR is.  

2 hours ago, ThaiCitizen said:

I know, I was only joking!

 

Do the two Thai people that attest to my good character have to just submit copies of their ID and House Registration or do they need to write a letter or be present when I apply? Could be a problem if they have to be there. 

You have to collect a copy of their ID card and house registration, and each witness has to fill this form

http://www.sb.police.go.th/AA/production/uploads/doc/5_06062553.pdf

They don't have to be there the first time you submit all your documents, because there will be an initial checking for several weeks. As I understood after this they'll be invited with your relatives on the day you sign your application (which they also sign). This is my next step.

5 hours ago, NewlyMintedThai said:

There is a website where you can type in a surname and it will tell you if it's available or not.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Could you share the link please?

On 5/2/2017 at 9:48 AM, GarryP said:

If you elect to use the Thai name you reserve, that name will appear in your id card, passport, house registration documents, driver's license, etc. That is, that will be your identity going forward as far as Thailand is concerned. You cannot pick and chose which of those documents use your Thai name and which use your home country name. I chose not to use the name I reserved and continue to use my English fore and family names. I was hesitant to change a name I had used all my life and believe that difficulties could be encountered if you use both, one on your home country documents and another on Thai documents. As dbrenn mentions, one thing that immediately sprang to mind was when traveling and showing two passports at the check-in counter. If the passports you are showing bear the same name and picture, you are likely to have less of a problem than if, say, your British passport shows Joe Bloggs while your Thai passport shows Somchai Na Klong Toey.  

May I ask a precision on the notion of reserved Thai name. You're not talking about the transliteration of one's original name/surname into Thai language, am I correct? in my case I have it appearing in almost every document (WP, tabian baan, resident permit, alien certificate) and I imagine it's the same for all applicants. Thanks to clarify.

In such case does the singing at SB (without MoI) provide points? Also do you know how much time after an application start does the MoI interview happen on average?

16 hours ago, onthemoon said:

I have two questions:

 

1.) I got my PR in October 2012 and believe I can apply for citizenship in October this year. Is that correct? If so, I need to start looking for the documents.

2.) Is it still necessary to choose a Thai name? Or is it optional?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Re 1) My understanding is also that if you have enough points by calculation and you've been married with a Thai wife for 3 years, you can apply right away under marriage, not PR. That's actually my situation now, I applied after Songkran this year and I have only 4.5 years of PR. I also read earlier that this makes the singing step optional.

FYI at a normal pace I could compile all my documents in about 4-5 weeks. One hint: to save time regarding the letter of intention (to drop your current nationality after you get Thai citizenship), I recommend you to go and ask your embassy if they have any template used by previous applicants. I lost time preparing a draft for them and was later happy to find they just had to print the existing document.

One thing I just read here at http://www.thailawonline.com/en/others/documents/how-to-legalize-a-document.html

IF THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT TO BE LEGALIZED IS NOT IN ENGLISH IT MUST BE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH AS WELL AS THAI. 

Is this true?  Because I'm about to go to Chaeng Wattana to legalize few documents next week. Although they were translated in Thai and stamped by my embassy, I don't have the English version. I don't even know how an English translation could be legalized in my case (by who?).

Can anyone tell me who has to sign copies of Tabian Baan, spouse ID, children IDs and children birth certificate (between: myself/spouse/both/nobody)? Another question is : do I need the charity institutions to provide a certified true copy of their receipt, or showing the originals and providing a self-signed copy would be sufficient?

Thanks.

2 hours ago, Arkady said:

They will not even look at anything to do with assets overseas.  Specifically the form asks for details of property (i.e. condos, as that is all you are allowed to own) and bank account.  I offered Thai brokerage account details but they didn't want that, although I note that they accepted Garry's RMF and LTF details.  For my condo a copy of the title deed certified by  me was accepted.  

 

Now listen carefully.  For the bank statement, they only want a letter confirming the balance as of that date but it must be addressed to the nationality section of the SB correctly, or it will be rejected, as my first attempt was.  You will have to ask SB to print this out for you, as they are unlikely to give it to you, unless you ask.  Then you have to make absolutely sure that the bank uses that - my bank addressed their second attempt to the Immigration Department because some idiot at head office insisted he knew that was required and overruled me and the girl at the branch.   I had something close to an apoplectic fit when I went to pick it up.  As Big Guns and Garry have said, the amount of assets you show doesn't seem to make any difference to your application.  If you ask them, I think SB will advise you to show at least B80,000 or something like that in a bank account.  If you don't have the recommended minimum in your account at the time, you can borrow some more from a friend for one day, as that is all it takes.  Again, you are thankfully not dealing with Immigration and the assets qualification is nothing like as arduous as for retirement or marriage extensions which require B400-800k 'seasoned' for 3 months.  The reason for this is that you qualify by virtue of having an occupation in Thailand to support yourself with, whereas those people only have their savings and pensions to live on.

Wonderful, you answered almost everything I needed  here:-) which makes things clearer for me now.  And this is really good tip to know about the SB naturalization section to put in the bank letter. How about the company letter for the salary and position, should it be the same address too? The one I have doesn't have any recipient.

Thank you Big Guns and GarryP. I'm glad to hear that. But just does anyone has any experience on this point: if you provide a screenshot of a bank account or stock portfolio in a foreign country/institution, would they take it "as is" or immediately ask you to get  the institution certified letter, later to be translated in thai language? I'm curious how far this would go. 

Hello,

On the aspect of assets declaration, I have a little issue. Like many other men, my Thai wife owns the house, condo and car, so excluding these I look like having no property at all in Thailand - just few 100Ks THB in cash in the bank - and this doesn't make my application very sexy. Actually I have some assets in my country (standard amounts though):  cash, stocks, things like a corporate share plan, but also less tangible stuff like bare-ownership of a house from a potential future inheritance.  Before I list them all on the paper, I first need to understand if this is going to put me in a process where every line will be asked for details from the bank or institution, with translation, and so forth - which could turn into a heavy process, or on the contrary they will accept a self-certify declaration of assets, without evidence? This would be paradise but I have a doubt it works like this. To simplify I could think to sells shares, corporate plans from abroad and transfer the amount to Thailand... is it worth? Do you have recommendations on this tricky topic?

(Side question: can LTF and Provident Fund in Thailand be listed as part of the assets?)

Hello, I have two more stupid questions (it's always better to be prepared with good tips, isn't it?)

- My Work permit specifies a very old position (I changed several times) while the company letter specifies my current title. I have to fill this into the application form and this means misalignment with the work permit. Can this be an issue or is it something SPB will fully understand? An option would be to use the old position, but this is not something I want to be doing unless I have no other choice.

- Regarding numbers and dates, do we have to fill the application form using Thai numerals only?

A stupid question perhaps but at least it will save me some stress if I can prepare in advance for the application: can someone confirm I have to sign each page of required document copies (passeport, books, work permit, tabian baan...)?

13 minutes ago, VinBkk said:

Hello,

 

Could someone kindly tell me the process (requirements/documents) to apply for Thai Citizenship?

May be post a link to the page if it's already posted somewhere.

 

Many thanks for this wonderful thread.

 

Cheers

VinBkk

As everything will be in Thai, I recommend to start with documents from this link http://www.sb.police.go.th/sb/documentDownload.php

Otherwise, since I read the whole thread and took some notes (I recommend everyone to do the same), it should be approximately something like this:

1- Get checklist from http://www.sb.police.go.th/sb/documentDownload.php and gather all application documents
2- Bring documents to the Special Branch of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok

            อาคาร 6 สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ
            ถนนพระราม 1, แขวงวังใหม่
            เขตปทุมวัน กรุงเทพมหานคร 
            02 205 1823

3- Bring two witnesses and family
4- Bring the police forms to Immigration and District office
5- Get the forms back to Police
6- Thai language interview at Police
7- Meeting at Interior Ministry (40 people panel): singing + interview
8- House visit
9- Approval by the Interior Minister
10- King countersign
11- Oath of allegance
12- Publication to the Royal Gazette
13- Get certificate from Police HQ
14- Return Work permit, alien and residence certificates, and Get the Thai ID

All, let me know if I misunderstood or forgot anything important. BTW I'm just at #1 at the moment.

I'm preparing all documents to apply under marriage but one thing is still unclear to me: my marriage was registered abroad and not directly in Thailand, so all I have is the translation and an equivalent thai document of the marriage (Ko Ro 22, issued 18 years ago) but no actual "thai certificate" or thai registration like the one people married in thailand get. Could this be an issue?

And definitely, I will share any point that can help others, as soon as I'm advanced in the process.

I know the process to legalize my university diploma (translate in thai language/legalize the signature by the embassy/legalize the signature by thai authorities), but I'm unsure for documents directly issued by the embassy -letter of intention and certificate of legal age-. Do these need the same steps (and two times at the embassy in this case) or  the translation in thai is enough -but then it would need an approved translator from thai authorities if such list exists-?