Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[Arkady]

8 minutes ago, skippybangkok said:

 

 

I registered my twin sons names @ birth which were western names, and was not a problem. I am Thai now and they were at birth


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I have never done this.  I think they are less demanding about first names than family names but, as always, it probably depends on who you have to deal with at the DO. 

[Arkady]

I note that Abhisit was registered at birth in the UK as Abhisit Mark Vejjajiva.  Now you can register middle names in Thailand you can probably have the flexibility of a Thai first name and a farang middle name or vice versa.

[Mattd]

1 minute ago, Arkady said:

I note that Abhisit was registered at birth in the UK as Abhisit Mark Vejjajiva.  Now you can register middle names in Thailand you can probably have the flexibility of a Thai first name and a farang middle name or vice versa.

Both of my sons have very English forenames and my surname, both have middle names, in fact the second born has 3 forenames (although one of which is a Thai name), first was born on 1999 and second in 2002, so it must be a while since they have been allowing middle names, unless there is some flexibility due to the Western parent side?

[GarryP]

6 hours ago, VIBE said:

Oh no....we are expecting a child and want to name her Misha, which is not a Thai name, do you think they would prevent us?  How can they stop parents from choosing names for their children?  Seems so very wrong.

All is not lost. My son was born long before they tightened up on this so he goes by the name Harry. However, when my daughter was born I tried to register the name Melanie. It was rejected by the local district office because it could not be broken down into Thai words that had meanings which could be found in Thai language dictionaries. A Thai friend then stepped in with copies of the pages of a very old Thai dictionary that identified the meanings of Mae Ranee, or something like  that (which meant something to do with power and elbow - not exactly an auspicious name but it got us what we wanted) so in the end we got a name which when written in English was Meranee or Meranie. The district office was happy with that as they had a source of reference from the dictionary. Also, as many Thais pronounce "r" as "l", the name actually sounded exactly like the name we intended.

 

You need to do a bit of research to see if you can find meanings for words which sound like Me or Mee and sha or cha.  You could show that your daughters name means "has tea". Just joking, but why not?   

 

From what others have posted, it would appear that it depends on the actual district office concerned. My son's name was registered without problems 28 years ago, whereas my daughters name was registered about 17 years ago and initially rejected because it was not a Thai name. 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2017 by GarryP

[Neeranam]

23 hours ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

Before March... 2019 perhaps, but not even guaranteed considering recent applicants had a waiting time of 15-18 months from the starting point to the MOI interview.

But I don't need the WP after the NIA interview, maybe, which could be before March?

[GabbaGabbaHey]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

But I don't need the WP after the NIA interview, maybe, which could be before March?

My understanding is that you need to report any change in your situation until SB sends your data to MOI, which usually happens 3+ months after the NIA interview. But on MOI interview day your WP will be requested so you should be employed at that time. Between these, I don’t know. 

[Arkady]

20 hours ago, VIBE said:

Yeah, can me....there is tea?  I spell and pronounce it Misha, wife says Micha, cause she can not really say the sh.  It will have to be spelt cha, which I am ok with.  She can decide how she wants to be called....Misha or Micha.  Thanks 

It is not much different from Meesook (has happiness) which is a regular Thai name, although tea is not an abstract noun.

[Arkady]

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

But I don't need the WP after the NIA interview, maybe, which could be before March?

SB's advice to me was to stay on the safe side by remaining in employment throughout the process.  During Thaksin's time a new interior minister came in and kicked back all the citizenship applications to SB for re-checking, resulting in a delay of around 3 years. Although the risk is low, there is still a risk that your application could be re-checked for whatever reason. 

 

You will definitely have to present your WP at the MOI interview and will be rejected, if you no longer have one or, if they find a gap when you were unemployed. After that the risk of being caught out is low but is not non-existent. The risk further diminishes significantly after the minister has signed.

[choonsan]

On 22/11/2017 at 9:14 PM, GabbaGabbaHey said:

http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2560/E/284/1.PDF

Thanks to all contributors in this forum. I find all the advise and information posted to be really valuable and greatly helpful.

Had I not joined this forum, I would most probably still be waiting for my application to progress at the Songkhla Police. 

Thank you.

 

[Arkady]

40 minutes ago, choonsan said:

Thanks to all contributors in this forum. I find all the advise and information posted to be really valuable and greatly helpful.

Had I not joined this forum, I would most probably still be waiting for my application to progress at the Songkhla Police. 

Thank you.

 

 

Congratulations. 

 

You are probably right about trying to apply in Songkhla and most other provinces outside Bangkok.  It's no accident that every single name on that list has a Bangkok address.  I wonder how many will stay there after getting their ID cards!

 

The regulations for applying in the provinces actually make no sense.  The provincial SB offices can't be expected to set up the infrastructure and train staff to process applications which is fairly complicated, given that most of them would probably never receive an application from one decade to the next. Perhaps Phuket, Chonburi and Chiang Mai are still viable as there have been some addresses from those provinces in the past but most of the rest are non-starters. They should actually require everyone to apply in Bangkok and eliminate the hassle and pretence of having to change one's tabien baan to Bangkok.  That works perfectly well for PR applications which can only be submitted to Immigration at CW.      

[yankee99]

From personal experience i can say chonburi is a waste of time for a westerner

[choonsan]

I wasted 7 years in Songkhla with my application there.

Yes, I agree with Arkady that they should make it official that all citizenship applications be submitted in Bangkok and waive the condition of having a Bangkok address.

[Neeranam]

On 24/11/2017 at 12:21 PM, Arkady said:

SB's advice to me was to stay on the safe side by remaining in employment throughout the process.  During Thaksin's time a new interior minister came in and kicked back all the citizenship applications to SB for re-checking, resulting in a delay of around 3 years. Although the risk is low, there is still a risk that your application could be re-checked for whatever reason. 

 

You will definitely have to present your WP at the MOI interview and will be rejected, if you no longer have one or, if they find a gap when you were unemployed. After that the risk of being caught out is low but is not non-existent. The risk further diminishes significantly after the minister has signed.

Thanks Arkady.

My current plan is to leave my work in March, but I have another job lined up.

I expect there will be a gap in the WP, but no period of unemployment. Do you think this could cause a problem? Any suggestions?

[GabbaGabbaHey]

7 hours ago, Neeranam said:

My current plan is to leave my work in March, but I have another job lined up.

I expect there will be a gap in the WP, but no period of unemployment. Do you think this could cause a problem? Any suggestions?

If I were you, by default I'd try to stay on my current job as much as possible, at least until SB sends the application to the MOI. The reason is because before that time, documents verifications are done during the "120 days period", and let's say if the Ministry of Labour replies that your employment situation doesn't match SB details, you'll probably be in trouble. I must admit have no clue if MOI runs its own verification process of the documents passed by SB (Arkady do you know that?) or it's the sole role of SB and MOI would just process the application? Because if MOI were to check documents, you'd be in trouble as well for a mismatch. Perhaps it would be wise to ask SB on this potential situation ("what happens if I change my job during the process"?) I'm sure they will be helpful and they may even have some recommendations for you.

 

[Neeranam]

9 minutes ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

If I were you, by default I'd try to stay on my current job as much as possible, at least until SB sends the application to the MOI.

How long after the NIA interview would this be?

[GabbaGabbaHey]

28 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

How long after the NIA interview would this be?

My guess is +3 to +6 months, following what recent applicants have reported, but I believe they had a very good application and no major rework request on top.

I'll let you know when I see this happening for myself, I'm currently close to +3 months after NIA. 

Edited November 27, 2017 by GabbaGabbaHey

[yankee99]

The officer in chonburi said no falang has ever passed. The suggestion by SB bangkok was to move there ;/).  It was a simple task to get a bkk yellow book. 

 

Of course CM is a lot farther away.

[Neeranam]

12 hours ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

My guess is +3 to +6 months, following what recent applicants have reported, but I believe they had a very good application and no major rework request on top.

I'll let you know when I see this happening for myself, I'm currently close to +3 months after NIA. 

Thanks very much!

 

And the NIA was one month after your application to SB?

[GabbaGabbaHey]

31 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

And the NIA was one month after your application to SB?

That's correct, however my SB application/interview day happened 4-5 months after my first visit to SB. For this I consider myself to be already 7-8 months into the process.
 

[choonsan]

3 hours ago, VIBE said:

I was advised to apply in BKK, however it made no sense to me, as I would then need to find a place there and change my house registration, and the company is register in CNX.  Also, we had to go to the SB about 6 times before we actually submitted the application, so doing it in CNX was way more convenient.  When we submitted our, there was also another individual that is being processed in CNX.  The SB did inform that I will still have to go to BKK for interviews though.

 

It is the time-frame that matters; unless you do not mind a longer process. FYI, if you submit your application in the province, the process is much more complicated. You will have to wait for the provincial governor to interview you before your application lands in the SB in Bangkok. If you've got good connections within the province and can get the governor to sign your application without delay, then it should be ok.

[Neeranam]

On 24/11/2017 at 12:21 PM, Arkady said:

SB's advice to me was to stay on the safe side by remaining in employment throughout the process.  During Thaksin's time a new interior minister came in and kicked back all the citizenship applications to SB for re-checking, resulting in a delay of around 3 years. Although the risk is low, there is still a risk that your application could be re-checked for whatever reason. 

 

You will definitely have to present your WP at the MOI interview and will be rejected, if you no longer have one or, if they find a gap when you were unemployed. After that the risk of being caught out is low but is not non-existent. The risk further diminishes significantly after the minister has signed.

Didn't you say before that you were not asked for your WP at the MOI interview?

[GarryP]

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

Didn't you say before that you were not asked for your WP at the MOI interview?

I was not asked for it, but I took it with me just in case. 

[aidenai]

10 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Didn't you say before that you were not asked for your WP at the MOI interview?

I was asked for it at the MOI interview and an official even reminded me that the work permit was going to expire in about 2 weeks and that I should take care of it.

[red horse]

May I know how long time between royal gazette to receiveing time of nationalty certificates


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[GabbaGabbaHey]

4 hours ago, red horse said:

May I know how long time between royal gazette to receiveing time of nationalty certificates

I think it's just few weeks, perhaps one month.

[red horse]

I think it's just few weeks, perhaps one month.

Thanks a lot


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[sanchobkk]

Hi,

 

I have been following this thread for years, but not continuously.

I got confused especially on one point, i know, it must have been discussed, but i couldn't find either on the first 10 pages nor the last 10 ones. So I apologies in advance.

I thought (as the OP didnt specify) that we had to live consecutevely 10 years in order to just start thinking about going though this application.

I ve seen on other website that we need the PR (permanent residency)  for 5 years. Which one is true/fasle ? both maybe ?

I know it s not the only requirement, but it's an important one.

If a good samaritain could say if i m entitled to go to this please ? :

 

- french national, married with thai wife and 3 kids.

- in April 2018, i will be working for 10 consecutives years in the same company (Pathumthani)

- Paying taxes all those years (around 300k/year)

- speaking writing thai fluently, (i dont know if it really helps though)

- Dont have any thabian ban though.. is it mandatory ?

 

https://www.phuketgazette.net/issues-answers/asked/thai-citizenship-procedure

 

Is this link still up to date ?

Thank you very much

[GarryP]

4 minutes ago, sanchobkk said:

Hi,

 

I have been following this thread for years, but not continuously.

I got confused especially on one point, i know, it must have been discussed, but i couldn't find either on the first 10 pages nor the last 10 ones. So I apologies in advance.

I thought (as the OP didnt specify) that we had to live consecutevely 10 years in order to just start thinking about going though this application.

I ve seen on other website that we need the PR (permanent residency)  for 5 years. Which one is true/fasle ? both maybe ?

I know it s not the only requirement, but it's an important one.

If a good samaritain could say if i m entitled to go to this please ? :

 

- french national, married with thai wife and 3 kids.

- in April 2018, i will be working for 10 consecutives years in the same company (Pathumthani)

- Paying taxes all those years (around 300k/year)

- speaking writing thai fluently, (i dont know if it really helps though)

- Dont have any thabian ban though.. is it mandatory ?

 

https://www.phuketgazette.net/issues-answers/asked/thai-citizenship-procedure

 

Is this link still up to date ?

Thank you very much

You qualify assuming you meet the minimum salary requirements. Based on marriage you need to have been married for three years and in employment in Thailand for 3 consecutive years to qualify. 

 

Go get your yellow house registration book. Keep records of charity payments or start making donations if you have not already made any.

[ubonjoe]

32 minutes ago, sanchobkk said:

Is this link still up to date ?

Certainly not since it is from 2004. The nationality act was changed in 2008.

[sanchobkk]

Thank you.

I know that i should have done this yellow book way back ago, but i got turned down by an officer back then, who told me that i can't (when they dont know thhey say cannot). Of course , i should have insisted but i got lazy.

 

Anyway, what is the time for thai citizen application ?  i think it s right now right ? only once a year ?