GabbaGabbaHey

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The chance of having your Thai nationality revoked under that clause is very small. It would take a lot of proof for it to reach the level of the interior minister to do the revocation.

Hearsay from social media or any other source would not be enough. You would almost have commit a crime in the country while in the country after using your other nationality to enter the country.

As long as you always enter the country using your Thai passport there would never be any problem.

Thanks. I'm glad to hear that.

I have a question about the rule: "the Minister is empowered to revoke Thai nationality of a person who acquires Thai nationality by naturalization if it appears that there is evidence to show that he still makes use of his former nationality".

Let's say you got Thai citizenship and you're going to materialize (or not) your intention to cancel your former nationality, but you haven't taken the step yet. I wonder how not to be in trouble in today's highly social network oriented world where it's almost impossible for anyone to not be quoted in any online media, appearing associated with a former nationality's activities (business seminar, alumni, FCC, embassy activities... things like this) which seems to be a violation of the rule. Does it mean one has to ensure to always be quoted as a Thai national, to avoid any such activity/invitation and to somewhat behave with a low profile? Or am I being paranoid?
 

44 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Have someone in your HR Department act as a referee. They know your salary anyway. 

Good point, even if they know the salary only and not the assets (but I don't mind on this). For male applicants, do we have to include in these assets the potential house(s) and condo(s)  owned by the wife, or is it individual and centered on your person?

55 minutes ago, Arkady said:

 

Mine had to fill in forms in 2010 which included the information Garry mentioned. They also had to confirm my bank balance, according the statement I had submitted with my application which I thought was a bit odd, and my ownership of a condo.  I think it is a bit a bit of an issue asking people to disclose their salaries, as I was asked to collect the forms from the witnesses and give them to SB.  My witnesses were both former staff but one of them was very reluctant to disclose her salary for fear her former colleague would see it and I had to give her a detailed confidentiality undertaking.  Perhaps you can arrange for ;your witnesses to send their signed forms or statements direct to SB to avoid this sort of embarrassment but you would have to follow up with SB to make sure they received them and put them in the right folder.  I sought to avoid this issue by getting relatively junior people to be witnesses but it is not very nice for anyone at any level.  It is definitely not a good idea to ask your boss or anyone senior. 

 

As I have said before, contrary to popular belief, the seniority of your witnesses makes absolutely no difference to the priority your application gets.  If you know influential people who are willing to call in favours from very high level government connections on your behalf, that might help but they don't need to be your witnesses.  Under the current government applications are being considered in a more timely and transparent manner than under previous political governments, which often left applications in the drawer for years and years without explanation.  So there is no pressing need to try to find a  high level sponsor.

Since they have to acknowledge the applicant's salary and bank statement, IMO a senior person that you know (thus already knowing your salary range) plus a junior person that you're not working with (like among the wife's friends) seem to work - provided that you politely ask them to fill the letter and send it either by post or by walking themselves to SB. I personally wouldn't find very polite to show my (higher) salary to my subordinates or peers for instance, but this is just my first impression. I'll think about it.

What kind of information will the two grantors have to provide, beside their ID and House registration? I read they need to inform of their income too, is it true and is it something you're able to see as an applicant? If so it might create a privacy issue for someone considering to pick his boss or even some friends. Is there anything else the grantors will have to reveal? btw what does it mean that they have to guarantee your assets? are they going to view your tax declaration and/or asset form filled by the applicant?

6 minutes ago, Arkady said:

As far as I know, the method of calculation of points for residence was last changed in 2010 and is based on the date you got your residence book or alien book.  The intention of of that revamp of the points system was very obviously to take into the account the the amendment to the Nationality Act in 2008 that permitted males married to Thais to apply for citizenship without acquiring PR first.  For example the points for having a Thai wife and kids were scrapped completely and the points for PR were bumped up, so as to raise the hurdle somewhat for those applying on the basis of being married to a Thai. However, it is still not too difficult for most to get the necessary 50 points and the actual number of points is not even noted in the covering letter the police send to the MoI with your application after that.  It is just pass or fail, so no need to try to get 95+. 

 

If you apply on the basis of being married to a Thai, you will be exempted from the singing and will have a much easier and shorter interview at the MoI where your wife can help.  The only downside would be if something happened to your wife or your relationship with her before the interview.  For example, if you got divorced or she refused to come to the interview with you (I have heard of both of these cases happening), you might have to reapply from scratch as a PR.

 

It's best to double check any questions about details with SB because rules and interpretations change quite often, even though the basic law stays the same.

Thanks for the feedback and recommendations, Arkady (and GarryP). I have a better view and I think i'll start applying this month. In the worst case I still have the option to do it next year with 10 more pts from my PR.

13 hours ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

As I have permanent residency but only 4.2 years (which is obviously under the 5 required), I'm considering applying for marriage reason. Previous to my PR, I have 9 consecutive years of Non-Immigrant Visa with an associated work permit in the same company and no interruption to the PR. Do you think this could give me any points for the length of presence in Thailand? I read in some posts that the law used to be changed, to include the past Non-Immigrant years - but I'm not sure if this is still the case. Anyone knows this?

I plan to clarify this with SB. Sadly if I stick to guidelines I just read on their website, it should get no points for that.

As I have permanent residency but only 4.2 years (which is obviously under the 5 required), I'm considering applying for marriage reason. Previous to my PR, I have 9 consecutive years of Non-Immigrant Visa with an associated work permit in the same company and no interruption to the PR. Do you think this could give me any points for the length of presence in Thailand? I read in some posts that the law used to be changed, to include the past Non-Immigrant years - but I'm not sure if this is still the case. Anyone knows this?

33 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I never had PR and applied based on marriage to a Thai. If you have been married for more than 3 years and have the requisite work permit, tax returns, etc. you could apply based on marriage now without having to wait. While the singing is dropped, you still have to go through the interview. Someone with 90 points has no real advantage over someone with 52 points. If you have 50 points, you qualify and that's it. I think it was Arkady who told me that the police do not even tell BoRA your score when your application is passed on to them. It is the responsibility of the police to make sure you meet the minimum requirements and that is what BoRA is concerned about, i.e. your application would not have passed screening and been passed on to BoRA 

Thank you Garry.

To be more precise, how many points of the 15 related to Thai language level (8 for speaking/understanding, 2 for singing the anthems, 2 for reading, 3 for writing ) can an applicant under marriage reason try to get? is it 13 or less?

Other side question: my wedding is a foreign wedding registered in my European country, that was translated to Thai and legalized by my embassy and Thailand officials. I've always used that as a proof of marriage and it worked , but I  don't have the actual Thai wedding certificate. Would this be an issue to go for the citizenship under marriage application?

Hello everyone, and congratulations to those of you who got Thai citizenship recently. I'm getting interested in the topic myself and I meet the requirement (I'm PR holder since end 2012). After reading the whole thread, I have this first set of questions that may interest others as well :

It's said early in this thread that the Minister is empowered to revoke Thai nationality of a person who acquires Thai nationality by naturalization if it appears that:

- (2) There is evidence to show that he still makes use of his former nationality;

- (5) He has resided abroad without having a domicile in Thailand for more than five years

• How about flying to Europe but you enter back Thailand with a Thai passport that has no visa from the flight destination, isn't this proof of dual nationality usage?
• I also heard that you sometimes have to show your foreign passport to the Thai custom officers, isn't this meeting (2) and a violation?
• Is (5) still true today? Has anyone with acquired citizenship been more than 5 years abroad and got in without any trouble?

As of today, I checked the points system and I have either ways of 

- Going for PR reason and it seems I'd start with 70 more or less secured points, but I have to wait for Feb 2018 

- Going for Marriage reason and it seems I'd start with 52 points secured (excluding thai language test), I could start now

• When you apply for marriage reason, beside the dropped singing and police interview, do you still have a language tests and can get the points as for PR reason? then I might get more than the more or less secured 52 points I mention
• What do you think should be my best option (considering the time it takes in both process)?

Thank you in advance for your help and your time.

I imagine this has been covered somewhere in this thread so sorry for asking again: is the red book mandatory to carry when travelling outside Thailand? Anyone knows?

Great. Thanks for the confirmation.

Hello everyone. I am PR holder since last year (lucky me) and I wish the best to all of you who are in the waiting room. My question: I need to sell my car. Does anyone know if as PR I still need a letter of residency from immigration/CW or the PR books can be enough to go to the Dept of Land and Transportation as proof of residency? Thanks in advance.

Does any married guy who got PR regret not getting citizenship instead ? From what I see it's easier and had more benefits.

In my opinion, citizenship involves a lot more than the ability to apply. It is something highly important that should come only from mature motivation with tangible and psychological needs.

For instance, I feel these should be the grounds of the application:

- You've lived long time in Thailand and you feel Thai in some aspects, you are involved in Thai communities

- You suffer from not being Thai and not having a Thai passport, there would be pride and achievement in the move

- You are advanced in life and stabilized with few dependencies

- The move would result in significant assets benefits

Meanwhile some of these factors would lower the interest in it:

- You have dependants (like young children who live with you and rely on you)

- You still often deals with your country of origin for various kind of papers

- You get some social benefits from your current country for you or your dependants

- Your job would administratively pay more for a foreigner than it would as Thai citizen

- You haven't cleared the situation of all your assets (or don't have much assets)

- You are still junior and lots of things can still happen in your life

That's to say, it makes sense for a senior who lived most of his life in Thailand, feels Thai, has cut most links to his country of nationality, has few dependants, has assets and wants to optimize inheritance perhaps - but not for a junior person with multiple dependants, dependencies, someone who sees the life fully opened in front of him.

Ok, I completed my PR process this week, which is about a month after receiving the approval letter. Similarly to what was stated by other PR applicants earlier in this forum, one needs to double-check every data that appears in the Residence Permit, the letter for the Police station, the Alien book and the House registration when you get them (almost everything is in Thai language). I found some mistakes on my birth date, my last entry date, my parents name and my address but after spottting them it was a matter of seconds to get it fixed. This will save you some additional visits.

The police station took me two visits, two hours on the first one and I got my book the week after (ensure you sign the Alien book very gently - I had similar experience as some other member when I almost punched a hole into the page). The House registration took me two visits as well, the first one about one hour for general discussion on the subjet, context, introducing myself, getting the detailed data forms and setting a rendez-vous for the week after. On the second visit (with my wife as house owner, one witness, and our three detailed information forms pre-filled) it took about two hours for the officer to record and stamp everything and finally pass us back the house registration which had my name on it. He also passed me two sets of certified true copies of the registration book page and what is probably my ID page in the people's ID database. I will have one set laminated to keep at home, one that I will probably reduce and keep as evidence in my passport - I guess it could help with hotels and officials that are not aware of what PR is).

Every step has been quite friendly with helpful people around, I was just nervous inside to see the end of it. As I have no plan to travel outside Thailand, I will wait to do the re-entry stamps next year at the same time my work permit gets renewed. Which means I can now relax and enjoy the 'no more 90 days forms' (no doubt I have filled more than 30 of these since 2004 or 2005). PR complete? This has been my Christmas gift of 2012.

Good luck to all of you still pending approval.

I called CW and they confirmed my PR is approved ( 2007 batch) and asked me to come on next Tuesday. As I asked them not to send the letter to me I realise that I don't know what documents to carry with me when I go to CW.

Can someone list me the documents required?

...

4. Original and copy of House Registration (certified true copy) and checking the name of the local police station in which jurisdiction your home is?

...

Are they talking about the main police station of the district (เขต) or the possible one in the sub-district (แขวง)? is there a document where this police station appears?

I just got the letter of approval today (it was sent last week). I am class of 2008.

I Will let you know when I am done. Good luck to all of you still waiting.

Anyone knows if 2005-2006-2007 batches have been fully cleared, or we still have people in these years that didn't get their approval letter and PR?

I went to CW to get my PR. I had small chats with the officers there. I also went through the bulky set of papers maintaing the records of the mine. I am 2007 batch and my papers were signed way back in September by Mr. Yongyut. Same is the case for 2006/7/8. Next years selected candidates are approved some even from 2011 batch...2010 there were no applications accepted.

Are you saying that all approved PRs are back to CW (which would mean CW is now in control of the pace to issue the letters)?

Can anyone let us know on which document(s) the name/signature of the Interior Minister used to appear in the past? it could be interesting if applicants from the current batch in progress, once they get their PR, can confirm it is a different signature or not.

On my side (2008, still waiting) I am confused by two different statements in the past weeks, one was that several hundred applications and possibly the entire batch of 2006/2007/2008 had been signed and all were back to the immigration, the other one was that at the moment, beside the 2006 and few 2007 PRs issued, no more signed applications were at CW. I now put my faith in an older post mentioning the 99% chances that all approved applications could be cleared by the end of the year...

Just read the news that deputy interior minister has been made acting interior minister. Dunno whether he has the authority to sign our pending PR applications.

I asked someone and per them he has the authority but will he exercise it for an issue like PR? Seems may be low on his agenda.

I am a bit puzzled on the discussion around the difficulty for a Minister to sign something which by the law falls under his scope of duties. Applications which have been screened dozens of times at least, approved by various ministries/agencies/departments, just waiting for his signature. All he has to do is to take the pile of documents and start signing. I don't even seen what complain could be receivable based on the fact that he is not the one to have defined the process. His signature is probably just a stamp for which he represents the Authority, not himself as a man. So to me, if he's aware of the situation, if he's willing to sign them, if he's not instructed not to sign them, if he's keen to prioritize this, if..., if..., then... anything positive could happen soon. Or did I miss something?

On March 8th, Siamfan was saying: "So, was there on monday, all very friendly, busy posting more letters to applicants. They said, all PR will be processed now within the next 3 months.[...]"

April 23rd: let's cross fingers because we are exactly half-time, given the assumption.

So here we are: three months have past since the original remark, and I guess nobody has seen any "real" progress otherwise we would know, right?

I applied in 2006. I retired last month after working and paying taxes in Thailand since 1999. Will my application still be valid even though I am now on a retirement visa..

The application is valid until the final decision is made to grant the permit or to deny it. The only thing anyone should do in that case is to go to the permanent residence section and get the 6-month extension of stay under residence application. But perhaps you cut the link with the process and did something else? Anyway you should go to see them.

On March 8th, Siamfan was saying: "So, was there on monday, all very friendly, busy posting more letters to applicants. They said, all PR will be processed now within the next 3 months.[...]"

April 23rd: let's cross fingers because we are exactly half-time, given the assumption.