Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[DrJoy]

3 hours ago, onthemoon said:

 

It would be great to read it, as I have seen that the practice of government officials is often their interpretation and not what the law actually says. I hope I won't need to insist (I still have a few years until retirement), but I would like to know what the legal situation is.

I will try to dig in and find out the original text, if some one else has please post it here.

 

It just says "must have an occupation" and that I think is a very big loophole, purposefully created by MOI.

 

Remember, the power to grant citizenship lies with MOI and minister (Anutin) and this process is not subject to judicial review.

 

I will agree with arkady, if asked for WP at oath and you dont have it, simply say that it is with the company HR for info update or any other cheesy excuse.

 

For you, the hard part is now over.

 

 

[saakura]

13 hours ago, onthemoon said:

 

I have a book, never had a digital WP. I'm old-fashioned enough to prefer the book. 😉

Well, me too. I would much rather prefer a book with historical data. I had one with  22yrs of stamps. When I went for renewing it in 2017, it was taken away and in lieu, an app was installed which only states that "xxx is permitted to work as yyy till zzz". It came as a shock. Luckily I had save scan copies of the booklet which I used in my citizenship application. I had with me for 22yrs and still miss that WP book. They could have simply stamped it as cancelled/void or whatever & returned it.

[Arkady]

I tried to upload the Nationality Act, as requested about but it seems that AN no longer accepts Pdf or Word files for uploading which makes it difficult. I don't have a link on hand but there are plenty online. One thing to be wary of is that you need the 1965 Nationality Act, as amended up to 2008.  There was also an amendment act in 2012 but I don't think any of it was relevant to naturalisation, although there was important stuff for those born in the Kingdom after 1992 and displaced Thais from neighboring countries, whose ancestors lost Thai nationality in the after the bits of neighboring countries seized by Thailand under Japanese auspices in WW2 were taken back by the European powers after the war. 

 

Re digital WPs.  Has anyone used one to apply for citizenship yet.  Do you get a print out that you can keep for your records.  This would certainly be an issue for anyone changing jobs in the 3 year qualifying period.  Previous legislation allowed you to keep the cancelled hard copy version.  I did this by quoting the Working of Aliens Act at them and they gave it to me with very bad grace. But that law was superseded by a Royal Decree of Prayut's.

[onthemoon]

16 hours ago, Arkady said:

I tried to upload the Nationality Act, as requested about but it seems that AN no longer accepts Pdf or Word files for uploading which makes it difficult. I don't have a link on hand but there are plenty online. One thing to be wary of is that you need the 1965 Nationality Act, as amended up to 2008.  There was also an amendment act in 2012 but I don't think any of it was relevant to naturalisation, although there was important stuff for those born in the Kingdom after 1992 and displaced Thais from neighboring countries, whose ancestors lost Thai nationality in the after the bits of neighboring countries seized by Thailand under Japanese auspices in WW2 were taken back by the European powers after the war. 

 

Re digital WPs.  Has anyone used one to apply for citizenship yet.  Do you get a print out that you can keep for your records.  This would certainly be an issue for anyone changing jobs in the 3 year qualifying period.  Previous legislation allowed you to keep the cancelled hard copy version.  I did this by quoting the Working of Aliens Act at them and they gave it to me with very bad grace. But that law was superseded by a Royal Decree of Prayut's.

 

Thanks for the pointer. I found the 2008 amendment on the UNHCR website, will keep looking for the 1965 version.

[Marcati]

20 hours ago, Arkady said:

I tried to upload the Nationality Act, as requested about but it seems that AN no longer accepts Pdf or Word files for uploading which makes it difficult. I don't have a link on hand but there are plenty online. One thing to be wary of is that you need the 1965 Nationality Act, as amended up to 2008.  There was also an amendment act in 2012 but I don't think any of it was relevant to naturalisation, although there was important stuff for those born in the Kingdom after 1992 and displaced Thais from neighboring countries, whose ancestors lost Thai nationality in the after the bits of neighboring countries seized by Thailand under Japanese auspices in WW2 were taken back by the European powers after the war. 

 

Re digital WPs.  Has anyone used one to apply for citizenship yet.  Do you get a print out that you can keep for your records.  This would certainly be an issue for anyone changing jobs in the 3 year qualifying period.  Previous legislation allowed you to keep the cancelled hard copy version.  I did this by quoting the Working of Aliens Act at them and they gave it to me with very bad grace. But that law was superseded by a Royal Decree of Prayut's.

I had both a paper book and digital WP.  It wasn't a problem.  Just provided screen shots from the WP app on my phone.

[DrJoy]

1 hour ago, Marcati said:

I had both a paper book and digital WP.  It wasn't a problem.  Just provided screen shots from the WP app on my phone.

Good to know, Thanks

[ecline]

On 9/22/2024 at 3:46 PM, Arkady said:

I tried to upload the Nationality Act, as requested about but it seems that AN no longer accepts Pdf or Word files for uploading which makes it difficult. I don't have a link on hand but there are plenty online. One thing to be wary of is that you need the 1965 Nationality Act, as amended up to 2008.  There was also an amendment act in 2012 but I don't think any of it was relevant to naturalisation, although there was important stuff for those born in the Kingdom after 1992 and displaced Thais from neighboring countries, whose ancestors lost Thai nationality in the after the bits of neighboring countries seized by Thailand under Japanese auspices in WW2 were taken back by the European powers after the war. 

 

Re digital WPs.  Has anyone used one to apply for citizenship yet.  Do you get a print out that you can keep for your records.  This would certainly be an issue for anyone changing jobs in the 3 year qualifying period.  Previous legislation allowed you to keep the cancelled hard copy version.  I did this by quoting the Working of Aliens Act at them and they gave it to me with very bad grace. But that law was superseded by a Royal Decree of Prayut's.

I applied with my digital work permit. I had to go to our HR department and they either got a printout from the labor office or they already had it on hand, not sure which. But the printed copy has a lot more info on it than is shown in the app. If I ever get the call for the MOI interview I will get a new printout since I have renewed my WP once since the application.

[onthemoon]

Does anybody know whether an interview meeting at MOI took place at the end of September? I understand they wait for at least two of the "small" meetings before arranging for a "big" meeting.

[saakura]

11 hours ago, ecline said:

I applied with my digital work permit. I had to go to our HR department and they either got a printout from the labor office or they already had it on hand, not sure which. But the printed copy has a lot more info on it than is shown in the app. If I ever get the call for the MOI interview I will get a new printout since I have renewed my WP once since the application.

Quite true. I also got a pdf copy of the WP through my HR and this has much more information than the digital WP app on my mobile.

[NativeBob]

On 9/22/2024 at 11:46 AM, Arkady said:

I tried to upload the Nationality Act, as requested about but it seems that AN no longer accepts Pdf or Word files for uploading which makes it difficult.

copy it to Google Drive and share a link to it "read-only". can do?

I hate to search Google just to find outdated copies and you sir seems have the real and current one. 

Thanks!

[Neeranam]

11 hours ago, onthemoon said:

Does anybody know whether an interview meeting at MOI took place at the end of September? I understand they wait for at least two of the "small" meetings before arranging for a "big" meeting.

Yes, there was a meeting at MOI last month. 

[onthemoon]

7 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Yes, there was a meeting at MOI last month. 

Wonderful, thanks! 

 

I don't think we'll have a way to find out when the "big meeting" will take place but at least we know that it will. Things are definitely moving forward.

[Neeranam]

3 hours ago, onthemoon said:

Wonderful, thanks! 

 

I don't think we'll have a way to find out when the "big meeting" will take place but at least we know that it will. Things are definitely moving forward.

Yes, good news that things are running again as I know some were concerned that there might be delays due to a new government.

There’s a bit of a backlog now compared to 5 years ago but .

[Seth7]

On 9/5/2024 at 9:22 AM, qualtrough said:

Cannot see one practical benefit??

 

No need to deal with immigration ever again. 

 

Immigrations fees/laws/requirements can change. You could wake up one day to find out that your retirement or marriage visa costs twice what it did the other day.

 

You can own or  co-own your home or other property. No need to own through a spouse or third party.

 

No need to obtain a work permit.

 

Can own your own company/business.

 

Thai prices for entry to national parks. Free entry if you are over 60.

 

Coverage under Thai 30 baht health scheme or whatever name it is known by now.

 

Visa free travel to ASEAN countries 

 

No need to sell your house if your wife pre-deceases you, or to have to engage is some kind of legal legerdemain to stay there.

 

No hassles signing up for bank accounts and other programs because you don't have a Thai ID.

 

You can use the Thai line at immigration, potentially savings hours during busy periods.

 

Substantial rail travel discounts for retired people for several months of the year.

 

Too many more to list.

 

And  all that cost less than  10,000 baht in fees, submitting documents, going in for a few interviews. Quite a bargain.

 

 

 

 

Excellent comment about the benefits of obtaining Thai citizenship. 

[david143]

https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/33075.pdf
Loss of Thai nationality

https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/40015.pdf
Restoration of Thai nationality

https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/40473.pdf
Female Candidates

22/10/2024

Male candidates still pending
 

[qualtrough]

On 10/22/2024 at 5:47 PM, david143 said:

https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/33075.pdf
Loss of Thai nationality

https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/40015.pdf
Restoration of Thai nationality

https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/40473.pdf
Female Candidates

22/10/2024

Male candidates still pending
 

From my very brief perusal, the loss of nationality document appears to  list people who have requested giving up their Thai citizenship. Their names and their new country of citizenship are then listed. It looks like those of countries that do not allow dual citizenship, like Singapore.

 

I would be interest in seeing information about people whose citizenship was taken away from them and the reasons for that.

[IsaanExpat]

On 10/25/2024 at 6:32 AM, qualtrough said:

From my very brief perusal, the loss of nationality document appears to  list people who have requested giving up their Thai citizenship. Their names and their new country of citizenship are then listed. It looks like those of countries that do not allow dual citizenship, like Singapore.

 

I would be interest in seeing information about people whose citizenship was taken away from them and the reasons for that.

Hop further back in this Thread. Arkady had posted some information about a dual Brit-Thai who had tried to use his British Citizenship while entering Thailand I believe. And he had his Thai Citizenship revoked.

[DrJoy]

On 10/8/2024 at 9:08 AM, ecline said:

If I ever get the call for the MOI interview

Which year did you submit?

[qualtrough]

On 10/27/2024 at 12:31 AM, IsaanExpat said:

Hop further back in this Thread. Arkady had posted some information about a dual Brit-Thai who had tried to use his British Citizenship while entering Thailand I believe. And he had his Thai Citizenship revoked.

I believe I saw that earlier. Was that the one where the person was repeatedly warned not to do that, not just a one time thing? 

 

Any other cases that come to mind to anyone?

[digbeth]

1 hour ago, qualtrough said:

I believe I saw that earlier. Was that the one where the person was repeatedly warned not to do that, not just a one time thing? 

 

Any other cases that come to mind to anyone?

 

even if you don't have thai passport on hand, you can enter thailand with thai ID card, I don't see why one would use foriegn passport to enter Thailand if you have thai citizenship

 

though i've seen thai born thais that has foreign passport use that to enter visa-excempt if they know they won't be staying long, often the thai passport is expired or whatever, but then if they exit thailand on the autogates, their foreign passport will be on overstay, or thai passport won't have exit stamp/ record which raises alarm bells next time they are at the border and some explanation

[GarryP]

13 hours ago, digbeth said:

 

even if you don't have thai passport on hand, you can enter thailand with thai ID card, I don't see why one would use foriegn passport to enter Thailand if you have thai citizenship

 

though i've seen thai born thais that has foreign passport use that to enter visa-excempt if they know they won't be staying long, often the thai passport is expired or whatever, but then if they exit thailand on the autogates, their foreign passport will be on overstay, or thai passport won't have exit stamp/ record which raises alarm bells next time they are at the border and some explanation

Earlier this year when returning from the UK, my Thai passport would not work with the e-gates, despite trying several times. As a result I had to go to an immigration kiosk, where I showed my Thai passport. The officer asked whether I bought my tickets with another passport. When I replied that I did, she asked to see it. She then initialled that one (UK) and gave me back both passports. No trouble, but in future I will buy my tickets based on my Thai passport. 

[digbeth]

22 hours ago, GarryP said:

Earlier this year when returning from the UK, my Thai passport would not work with the e-gates, despite trying several times. As a result I had to go to an immigration kiosk, where I showed my Thai passport. The officer asked whether I bought my tickets with another passport. When I replied that I did, she asked to see it. She then initialled that one (UK) and gave me back both passports. No trouble, but in future I will buy my tickets based on my Thai passport. 

wow, good to know that the advance passenger information data is being used actively 
 

so it seems the infrastructure is already there for them to implement ETA for visitors 

[onthemoon]

On 11/5/2024 at 12:52 PM, GarryP said:

Earlier this year when returning from the UK, my Thai passport would not work with the e-gates, despite trying several times. As a result I had to go to an immigration kiosk, where I showed my Thai passport. The officer asked whether I bought my tickets with another passport. When I replied that I did, she asked to see it. She then initialled that one (UK) and gave me back both passports. No trouble, but in future I will buy my tickets based on my Thai passport. 

 

Next time, when you check in, show both passports to the airline staff. "This is my passport for leaving, and this is my passport for entering Thailand". I think they can tell the system somehow, as many passengers have dual nationality.

[DrJoy]

29 Nov 2024, Thai Nationality Interview, congrats to all who were invited.

[DrJoy]

31 Female candidates granted Thai nationality, RG publication on 11-DEC-24

 

53941.pdf

[qualtrough]

On 9/18/2024 at 6:41 PM, FlyingThai said:

 

I think for many if not most it's the problem that you would have to surrender your current citizenship as dual citizenship is not permitted in a vast amount of countries unless obtained by birth.

 

There are practical benefits, but they are limited depending on your financial situation. As is, people who have very little money it's rather useless because buying property is probably not in the cards. If you have a lot of money then you get most of what you want anyway unless you insist on having property in your name.

 

Some people I know did it for fun as a pet project.

I think many more countries allow dual citizenship now than don't, and I know some have recently relaxed their rules on that.

 

In any case, even if they have very little money, how could they not see the benefit of never having to waste any time or money on visas and work permits and all the other hassles in daily life thrown up by not being  a citizen?

[qualtrough]

On 12/12/2024 at 10:41 PM, DrJoy said:

31 Female candidates granted Thai nationality, RG publication on 11-DEC-24

 

53941.pdf

One Dutch woman, the rest from PRC, Taiwan, Lao,  Vietnam, Burma, and other Asian countries.