GabbaGabbaHey

Regarding PR holders, when is the moment to handle back PR (and work permit), is it only after you got the Thai national ID card or technically this can be done once you got the post-RG certificate issued by SB? I was wondering if anyone had done this at this stage, before the ID issuance (assuming you make a number of copies of everything before) and if not, what prevents doing that or what would happen if you try this, likely Chaeng Wattana PR section would not take your PR?

1 hour ago, echrist said:

One could fly to a neighbouring country on the Thai passport, then fly out on the other passport from that country. Quite inconvenient, but an option if one were so inclined to maintain to separate identities. 

I'm not sure this is a valid move as much as the basic functionality of computerized immigration is to trace when a foreigner leaving the country did actually enter it... IMO having no data would trigger some questioning. I won't try this myself for sure.

25 minutes ago, FarangRimPing said:

Is there any other source which shows the requirements for getting the Alien Registration book maintained?

The alien book (red book) contains an explanation section towards the end that says "5. When the certificate is expired [...] you must report to the local police within 7 days".

Following this the police will extend you by 5 years (you actually get 5+1 years when they issue the book for the first time). That's it.

(I was somehow able to extend by 5 years although I still had 8 or 9 months validity left last time, they asked why but when I said I was planning to travel abroad they said fine. The 5 years were added from the expiration date of the current valid one)

On 4/2/2020 at 12:08 PM, Barty said:

The Special Branch officer just sent a line message to my wife showing that my name was published in the Royal Gazette yesterday.

Congrats!

57 minutes ago, mortenaa said:

No, nowadays everything is registered with an app, and paid with the same app.

Exactly. And whatever you have registered there (in English) the hotel front desk has it.

1 hour ago, mortenaa said:

Hehe, do you live in the same Thailand as I do? Most Thais get perplexed when they have to read Thai, and try to translate a name, written in Thai to English on the spot.  Then I just end up give them my drivers license, which has my name in English ???? That said, my last name is very Scandinavian, and hard to pronounce.

Don't you have the booking form and credit card (that you have to show) using alphabetical characters?

1 hour ago, onthemoon said:

Hotels need it, because if they key in your passport number, they also need to key in the TM number. All my bankers love it too.

It was difficult at air travel for me, because they couldn't confirm the spelling - I now use my driver's licence for domestic flights.

I agree that the combination of Pink ID and Driving license together is great since it has name in Thai, address in Thailand, ID number and name in English. We are just missing the nationality. I can confirm that with this duo I never had to show my passport to hotel check-in in Thailand for many years.

2 hours ago, mortenaa said:

I also got my new driving license the other day. Even though I brought copies of PR Book, Pink ID card, Tabian Baan etc, the still used my passport number as ID number. I don't see that it makes a difference for my personal life, so I didn't bother to argue about it. 

Last month I renewed my driving license in BKK and thought I could go without the passport, I almost succeeded with Pink ID card actually, just at the last minute to receive my license I was asked to read and sign my information and the form said "Nationality: Thai" (due to PR side-effect I guess) I told I was not Thai citizen to which the answer was "Ok, can you show me your passport?" - fair enough. That's actually one clear limitation of the pink ID: it doesn't say anything about your nationality. 

On 3/12/2020 at 3:54 PM, david143 said:

It will around 22 March to 27 March i will update here as usual.

Did MOI interview happen this month finally?

Has anyone reading this been called for the oath in February or March this year?

16 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Stranger things have happened. Let's have some equal rights for men! Discrimination is forbidden in the Constitution ???? 

I remember it's been explained by gurus in this forum this should rather be seen as an advantage in favor of Thai males and their foreign spouse rather than a discrimination against foreign male applicants. To what we could say: 'Let's have equal rights for (Thai) women!' ????

3 hours ago, cmsally said:

Time scale - just under 2 years from when I received the official letter saying I had passed last interview. Interview was January 2018, paperwork submitted (by CM to BKK)  just before Songkran if I remember correctly, and then official letter to say I had passed (from BKK) received either April or May. So basically sitting waiting for about 22 months.

Congratulations!

For male applicants however the average in the past years is around 3 full years (with some reported exceptions in both fast and slow timelines): in short it's 1 year for SB document preparation until your file is sent to MOI, 1 year for MOI process until you get called for the interview, and from that point one more year for final steps like getting approval, oath, publication to RG.

On 3/10/2020 at 7:22 PM, khongaeng said:

I really hope Covid-19 doesn’t affect this process. It has already disrupted everything else.

I think we'll have an indication when MOI interview has happened or not in March.

4 hours ago, saakura said:

Hi friends, i am qualified both by way of PR and marriage to a Thai citizen. Can speak and read very well, no problems in singing the anthems. So, is there any advantage of one over the other (Marraige Vs PR)? 

Hi Saakura, I think the advantage of PR is to not be affected should anything happen to your marriage during the 3-4 years of the application process (including in case of critical health issues). If you don't expect anything like this there's no difference to me. From what I understand PR-married applicants who go for PR route are also exempted from singing the anthem at MOI interview.

3 hours ago, david143 said:

thanks
almost 7 Months

I am +7 months now????

1 hour ago, yankee99 said:

What i dont understand is they are printing 35 names in the rg or about 150 a year but are processing 300 a year through moi? 

As I could see, it's not always 35 (I've seen sometimes 60 and even 100 in one RG at a time the announcements were not issued very regularly) but I also believe SB receives women applications, so perhaps the total of 300 is for both men and women which could explain the number of roughly 150 men a year.

On 2/12/2020 at 3:48 PM, david143 said:

https://www.matichon.co.th/news-monitor/news_1964994

RATCHA KITCHA
11 FEB 2020

The 3 latest RG announcements (for male applicants) were in Aug 2019, Nov 2019 and Feb 2020. If the quarterly trend continues we could expect the next ones in May, Aug and Nov this year. I hope to be in one of them.

15 hours ago, david143 said:

https://www.matichon.co.th/news-monitor/news_1964994

RATCHA KITCHA
11 FEB 2020

It’s good to see there’s regular processing of the backlog. Congratulations to these applicants.

10 hours ago, aidenai said:

* Approval by the MOI

* Approval by His Majesty The King

* Oath of Allegiance at the SB

* Announcement in the Royal Gazette

Just to be complete:

* Approval by the MOI

* Approval by the Prime Minister (I think)

* Approval by His Majesty The King

* Oath of Allegiance at the SB

* Announcement in the Royal Gazette

* Pick up the certificate

* Have the ID issued

48 minutes ago, david143 said:

any body had meeting this month, one of my friend almost applied in same time 2018 march but still not got call for interview in MOi .

 

I understand you were lucky to get your MOI quickly, however the average waiting time (if there's one) between the start of the application and the MOI interview is closer to 1.5-2 years than 12 months (mine was 28 months). So under normal circumstances your friend could expect something by the end of the year, if lucky, I think.

5 hours ago, khongaeng said:

Bkk_bwana thank you for the extra details, very interesting and helpful. You comment about letting your work permit expire in the period between royal gazette and getting your ID card - was this something you were told you could do, or did you just take a chance. I thought that you had to maintain a work permit until you had the shiny new Thai ID card in your hand?

Perhaps I'm wrong but what I understand is that bkk_bwana had PR which is a category allowed to reside in the country without a job, meaning if a current work permit expires there is no obligation to get a new one if you have resources. Which is different than non-PR holders which, should their employment terminate, must leave the country within 7 days if their visa is linked to WP ( I'm just not sure for non-PR people who use marriage visa: what would happens if their job terminates, but I guess they can remain in Thailand at least until the current annual visa expires - extending it later would likely be an issue).

But maybe let's have bkk_bwana confirm. Since I'm also PR holder I'd be happy to know there is no problem going to pick the citizenship certificate without a valid WP.

1 hour ago, Alex19 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I've read a lot of mismatching information regarding application based on PR, could anyone clarify this point for me :

 

Is it possible to apply with recent PR and 5 year continuous Work Permit ? (even if this gives a 0 points in a category) ?

A lot of websites disconnects the fact of living in Thailand for 5 years and having a PR.

 

Or is it mandatory to have PR for 5 years ?

 

Thanks !

PR for 5 years is only required for male applicants who are not married to a Thai national. If your wife is Thai you don't even need PR to apply. Just in case you have PR less than 5 year you will simply apply on the basis on marriage (which is what I did). But in all cases you need 3 years of continuous employment and tax submission.

28 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I was hoping that I could keep one bank account, Krung Thai, in my foreign name, as easier getting money sent from abroad. 

 

I wonder if there is a rule that you must inform all bank accounts when you become Thai?

Unless you plan to change your name, I don't see the problem to show your Thai ID card since it has the same name in English on it. In my case it's easier because I can instantly transfer from my euro account to my thb account by online banking so I don't think I'll notify the bank of any change until they request my documents again in the future.

I'd also be happy to know who/which entities we have to notify when we get Thai citizenship.

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

When do you decide if you want to use a new, Thai name, or keep your original name? 

 

The only thing that might keep me from choosing a Thai name is that, in 8 years when I try to renew my UK passport, there will probably be a problem, ie they don't gives me one, as I have another one with a different name. 

I wonder if I chose the Thai name, if I could change it back to my original name after 8 years. 

Obviously, traveling to the UK, I wouldn't need a visa, just an old passport.

 

One thing that might make me choose a Thai name would be that I might use my UK passport by mistake at a bank or somewhere, which I believe is an offence that could cause Thai citizenship to be revoked.

 

You can never use your UK passport in Thailand if you are a Thai citizen, is this right?

 

Maybe I am thinking too much.

From what I understood in this forum, 99% applicants are not using the new Thai name but the Thai translation of their original name, and this is the only way to avoid travel issues like having a different name on a boarding pass compared to one of the passport in use, should it be at the place of origin or the place of destination. I also understood you "could" use your original foreign passport in Thailand for anything that is not related to official or government activities (like rental, membership account...) - but it's also recommended to use your Thai ID card as much as possible since you don't need anything else.

As for losing the Thai nationality, I think some actual cases were given by gurus like Arkady, GarryP or Samran, and the top one which is not related to committing any crime is the fact that the person repeatedly entered Thailand with the foreign password... which must definitely never be done. Naturalized people must exit and re-enter Thailand with their Thai passport only.