Permanent Residence. Thai Language Ability?

[kiwiaussie]

21 hours ago, rimmae2 said:

Maybe or probably arranged by the agent to benefit him/her, who did not want to be named or associated in any way. Why use an agent if one is of a Nationality, which has less than 100 applicants?

Originally thought as I'd read online as much but from my understanding, the friendly question about the contribution to the Christmas fund was more direct.

 

 

[kiwiaussie]

4 hours ago, LazySlipper said:

 

How is this possible? First time ever I hear of this. Please share specifics. Very interested indeed.

Google 'Thai Citizenship marriage' and you'll get a bunch of results.

[Smokegreynblues]

On 4/6/2021 at 2:26 PM, Bredbury Blue said:

I have decent but BASIC Thai language skills, listening is better than speaking. By that i mean i can get comfortably go round on my own, order things, explain my requirements, understand most of what is said to me, etc. If i listen to the Thai news though, i struggle to follow it as there are many words and expressions i am not familiar with.

 

Everything i had read said the Thai language part wasn't difficult so i thought with a few months Thai language practice before the test i should be good to go, so the the wife and i went to get the forms and ask some questions in November last year at Chaeng Wattana. That was it really, we wanted a set of forms and the wife was going to ask a couple of very simple questions.

 

The lady on the desk though was having none of it. She gave me a right grilling in Thai, when i tried to speak in English she wouldn't permit it. I really struggled with the speed she was talking to me and some of the vocabulary. She basically destroyed me. Honestly, this turned in to being my worst experience with a Thai in all the decades i have been here (and before anybody chips in, yes i know i should be fluent in Thai by now - wish it was that easy though).

 

When my wife tried to assist me by jumping in to the conversation, the lady on the desk was having none of it. She basically reprimanded my wife.

 

To cut a long story short we came out of the Chaeng Watthana Immigration Office feeling like we'd received a right good slap. I decided i would study Thai seriously and we'd go back, my wife decided that no way was she going back. So thank you to the lovely lady on the desk.

 

The outcome was that i will now not bother with trying to get Permanent Residence and will stay on a non-O Support Thai Wife until i pop my clogs!

 

I hope that my BAD experience might be helpful in answering the OP's question "My Thai language skills are VERY rusty. Is this likely to be a problem?".

 

 

 

 

Same experience years ago. Take a Thai lawyer, or someone of stature, I got burned first time I went there "alone", second time,  I asked a friend on my behalf to talk, who was a retired good rank government official. Got all the documents needed. I didn't qualify according to those though, Hence didn't apply, I gave up. There is an internal points system, language interview, quiz etc. and Thai introductions forms a part of it. Technically one should still qualify if one has a large enough salary among other things. I don't really know why PR  applications are discouraged so much. The whole point of PR is to assimilate and to get citizenship later. Language should be learned, but it shouldn't be a huge reason to send people off like that. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by Smokegreynblues

[scorecard]

On 4/6/2021 at 10:39 PM, MRtommyR said:

I may have met your friend. I have submitted my application (or my lawyer did so I didn't say much except smile and give my fingerprints), and am waiting for my interview date. I was called in a couple of weeks ago to help the officer write up my life story in Thai and they gave me some "interview preparation", but I have the feeling they were trying to intimidate me. They conceded my Thai was not bad and even wrote the same on the form, but basically kept giving me the impression my application wasn't strong enough. (I'm married, have been employed for 6 years, decent salary, young-ish etc. etc.)

 

Officer: Why do I want to get permanent residence?

Me: For stability because I have my home here, a wife, a job, retirement savings etc.

Officer: It's not your home, it's your wife's home so that's not a reason

 

Also my financial donations to charity and a school didn't seem a good enough answer to the "how have you contributed to Thailand". I don't know what they are expecting, perhaps for me to build a hospital single-handedly or go to the border areas to help force back some refugees.

 

My description (which was very detailed and in Thai, which was not easy for me) of what my company did was also not exactly the same as what was on our VAT registration from when the company was set up 15 years ago. Which company doesn't evolve over 15 years??

 

I was also warned about not sitting politely or not speaking to the panel with sufficient deference.

 

Anyway so this had put me off and left me apprehensive. I'm expecting the interview later this month. I will post a report on how it goes!

"

Officer: Why do I want to get permanent residence?

Me: For stability because I have my home here, a wife, a job, retirement savings etc.

Officer: It's not your home, it's your wife's home so that's not a reason".

 

perhaps your initial (not later) response should have focused on the development, beauty, friendliness of Thai people etc., of Thailand, quickly followed by family care etc.

[Ventenio]

On 4/6/2021 at 7:39 PM, MRtommyR said:

Officer: Why do I want to get permanent residence?

Me: For stability because I have my home here, a wife, a job, retirement savings etc.

Officer: It's not your home, it's your wife's home so that's not a reason

in a nutshell.

 

red flag???  to me, yes.   

[smutcakes]

On 4/8/2021 at 5:55 PM, kiwiaussie said:

Google 'Thai Citizenship marriage' and you'll get a bunch of results.

I am not married so i cannot go down this route but my understanding the issue with thw Thai Citizenship by marriage route is essentially you need to meet the same requirements in terms of tax returns etc. So for those planning to go down this route its probably just a quicker way to do it but you cannot circumvent the basic qualifications which you need for the PR.

 

[jaiyenyen]

My understanding is that if you apply for Thai citizenship, and your wife is Thai, you don't need to gain PR beforehand and you don't need to be as proficient in the Thai language.

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, jaiyenyen said:

My understanding is that if you apply for Thai citizenship, and your wife is Thai, you don't need to gain PR beforehand and you don't need to be as proficient in the Thai language.

That's true but in my case, I needed lots of points in the Thai language part to get me over the 50 needed for application. This was due to only having the minimum salary(on paper). 

[GarryP]

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

That's true but in my case, I needed lots of points in the Thai language part to get me over the 50 needed for application. This was due to only having the minimum salary(on paper). 

For me Thai language made up for minimum education points. Without it and getting the maximum 5 discretionary points,  I don't think I would have made the minimum 50 points.  

[RAZZELL]

10 minutes ago, GarryP said:

For me Thai language made up for minimum education points. Without it and getting the maximum 5 discretionary points,  I don't think I would have made the minimum 50 points.  

 

Is there an updated list of the points system?

 

I know it awards them depending on age, charity work, donations, kids, language skills, qualifications etc?

 

RAZZ

 

 

Edited April 13, 2021 by RAZZELL

[GarryP]

8 minutes ago, RAZZELL said:

 

Is there an updated list of the points system?

 

I know it awards them depending on age, charity work, donations, kids, language skills, qualifications etc?

 

RAZZ

 

 

Not sure how up to date this attached link is: https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-citizenship-points-test/

 

I just noted that the way they score language ability follows the old system. It is my understanding that singing the royal and national anthems has been separated from reading and writing. However, I could be wrong. 

Edited April 13, 2021 by GarryP

[Neeranam]

5 hours ago, GarryP said:

For me Thai language made up for minimum education points. Without it and getting the maximum 5 discretionary points,  I don't think I would have made the minimum 50 points.  

Even with the full 15 points for the language part, they said I would have to sing the 2 Royal songs. However, my Post Grad Diploma was translated as "parinya toe", which gave me the points for a Master's Degree ???? so I never had to sing them. 

[PuaSai]

On 4/6/2021 at 12:32 PM, jaiyenyen said:

Really?

I thought you you needed PR first before you can apply for citizenship.

 

edit.

I've just checked online. Being married to a Thai woman seems to make the process for citizenship much smoother.

Great information Neeranam. Thanks very much.

Really!?!?!  That's awesome to hear! I never knew this.  I thought you had to be fluent in the Thai language.  I used the Pimsleur course, but they only offer Thai 1 which is basic getting around language skills.  I found the course very effective though.  Of course talking to my wife and our little one via the internet helps me pick up further terms, including the Isaan dialect, but not enough to speak to a native speaker who is speaking too quickly or in-depth in a subject.

 

This is great news to know though.

Edited April 14, 2021 by PuaSai
Fix sentence structure

[chrissables]

Here is a link to an interview guide and a list of some possible Thai language questions.

 

https://btisolutions.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Permanent-Residency-Interview-Guide_Baan-Thai_v1.1.pdf