Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[Neeranam]

6 hours ago, khongaeng said:

During my 3 year period before applying based on marriage, I had a visa through the BOI company I was working for and then a transition to visa through my wife.  This caused me no issues when applying.  Then after applying, and 2 years ago when I renewed my visa I found out another type of visa through having Thai children (which is essentially the same as visa through wife, but with a requirement to have 400,000 baht parked in a bank account for 1 month instead of 3 for the marriage visa).  I gave my officer a call and asked him if I could change my visa from visa based on Marriage to visa based on Thai children, he said it wouldn't be an issue.  He only asked why I wanted to change, because the stipulation is if you are divorced (or possibly separated) from your wife during your application process, your application is rejected.  I ended up not changing my visa type, but from everything I gather based on my experience, you only need to maintain continuity of your visa to be eligible, regardless of visa type.  If you are extending your visa in Thailand, no matter the type, your application is fine.  If you leave the country to apply for another visa and come back in to the country, your continuity is broken and your application is void.  

Thanks khongaeng.

The reason I want to change is that I desperately want to leave my job. I have a new job waiting for me. However, the local immigration say I'd have to leave the country for a new visa based on work, which would mean a gap in the visa/WP. 

The way around this, I hope, would be changing to an extension based on marriage. Then again, they might say no to this. Maybe the one for having kid is easier?

[khongaeng]

18 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Thanks khongaeng.

The reason I want to change is that I desperately want to leave my job. I have a new job waiting for me. However, the local immigration say I'd have to leave the country for a new visa based on work, which would mean a gap in the visa/WP. 

The way around this, I hope, would be changing to an extension based on marriage. Then again, they might say no to this. Maybe the one for having kid is easier?

I'm actually not sure how the process works.  I entered Thailand on a temporary marriage visa many years ago, extended that visa a number of times, and then a few years back I transitioned to a visa based on working at a BOI company.  After that I went back to a visa based on marriage.  During this who process, I not once had to leave the country to start a new visa.  I'm not sure if there are special privileges provided to BOI companies other than the 1-stop place where you can do your work permit and visa at the same place and time, but to me it appears that there is a way to extend visas or change visa type without leaving the country.  When I left the BOI company, my visa was cancelled but immigration at BOI 1 stop stamped 7 days in my passport before I had to leave the country.  In those 7 days I extended my Non-O visa based on marriage and have had no problems since.  I also have a work permit separately from my new company.  When I transitioned, on paper my old WP had not yet expired when I got my new WP, but in reality there was a gap of 6 months or so of employment.  In any case, when I filed my application the SB officer gave me no problems about my visa or my WP. 

 

I would talk to the visa person at your current company and make sure that when they cancel your visa at immigration that they give you the 7-day grace period stamped in your passport that you can use to go and extend your visa based on marriage.  This is what I did, it worked well, and I had no problems with my application.  When you get the visa based on marriage the first time, be ready for some Immigration officers to show up at your house unannounced and take pictures of you with your wife all around your house including on your marital bed, as well as getting one of your neighbors to "witness" that you actually live there together with your wife...

Edited April 4, 2019 by khongaeng

[david143]

I entered Country in 2007 on Tourist Visa, then change to Business NON B  without leaving country, i was offered job in Thai company which i am still working since 2007 and same time also married with Thai National since that until now.
Used NON B until 2018 March . i already applied Nationality on NON B.
In 2018 March when i went for extension my NON B @ Immigration chaeng Wattana they are so stuborn and creating problem on small on things, like : Social security number should not be on TAX ID, blah blah blah , that time i have 15 days left, so i said to them i have kids, i have to look after and they are all Thai i don't have time to leave country and waste money and time, officer incharge said go L section and Change visa to Marriage NON O RIGHT AWAY.

i go to L counter request change visa , and convert it into NON 0 Marriage visa with same documents with WP 45000THB salary without leaving country Thanks God.
Special Branch Don't bothered why i change visa.
leaving country may applied , as i heard they are rejecting many non o extension on small small points, + same for non b.


 

 

 

[GabbaGabbaHey]

Good news for the backlog: almost 4 months after December 2018 announcement, there has just been a new one in RG yesterday. 86 applicants approved. Congratulations to them!

http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2562/E/084/T_0023.PDF

 

[GarryP]

14 minutes ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

Good news for the backlog: almost 4 months after December 2018 announcement, there has just been a new one in RG yesterday. 86 applicants approved. Congratulations to them!

http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2562/E/084/T_0023.PDF

 

Quite a few western names in there too. 

[Neeranam]

15 hours ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

Good news for the backlog: almost 4 months after December 2018 announcement, there has just been a new one in RG yesterday. 86 applicants approved. Congratulations to them!

http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2562/E/084/T_0023.PDF

 

Great. I was told in December 20017 that there were 300 ahead of me in the process. 20 a month would mean 15 months wait, which I'll take.

[Neeranam]

20 hours ago, khongaeng said:

I'm actually not sure how the process works.  I entered Thailand on a temporary marriage visa many years ago, extended that visa a number of times, and then a few years back I transitioned to a visa based on working at a BOI company.  After that I went back to a visa based on marriage.  During this who process, I not once had to leave the country to start a new visa.  I'm not sure if there are special privileges provided to BOI companies other than the 1-stop place where you can do your work permit and visa at the same place and time, but to me it appears that there is a way to extend visas or change visa type without leaving the country.  When I left the BOI company, my visa was cancelled but immigration at BOI 1 stop stamped 7 days in my passport before I had to leave the country.  In those 7 days I extended my Non-O visa based on marriage and have had no problems since.  I also have a work permit separately from my new company.  When I transitioned, on paper my old WP had not yet expired when I got my new WP, but in reality there was a gap of 6 months or so of employment.  In any case, when I filed my application the SB officer gave me no problems about my visa or my WP. 

 

I would talk to the visa person at your current company and make sure that when they cancel your visa at immigration that they give you the 7-day grace period stamped in your passport that you can use to go and extend your visa based on marriage.  This is what I did, it worked well, and I had no problems with my application.  When you get the visa based on marriage the first time, be ready for some Immigration officers to show up at your house unannounced and take pictures of you with your wife all around your house including on your marital bed, as well as getting one of your neighbors to "witness" that you actually live there together with your wife...

Wow, they want to see our bed, that's totally ridiculous. Are we not allowed to sleep in separate rooms? 

My visa is up for renewal at the end of the month. I'll take my wife and bank statement, marriage cert. Hopefully that will be enough. Might be an idea to take my daughters, they have always had a soft spot for them.

They were very interested when I told them last time that I was in the process of citizenship as they said no whitey had ever done it before in this province.

Conversely, the Thais at my work are not happy that an English teacher could know the appropriate hi-sos, have enough money etc to be able to get citizenship - yes, they ignorantly think that. They like to keep us down to falsely feel like they are somebody.

One day soon, hopefully I'll be free, Thai citizenship, no crappy job and maybe even a Scottish passport.

 

[yankee99]

17 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Wow, they want to see our bed, that's totally ridiculous. Are we not allowed to sleep in separate rooms? 

 

No immigration officer ever came to my house in 8 years of marriage extensions. They do ask for some pictures of the front and some inside the house when renewing, Fwiw i have printed the same pictures for the last 5 years

[qualtrough]

What is the latest estimate for the timeframe from MOI receipt of application and call for interview? Or the time-frame range I should say.

[danielcondo]

How long would it approximately take once the file has been dispatched to the King's Office for signing after all the MOI stuff has been signed and cleared ? 

[GabbaGabbaHey]

What is the latest estimate for the timeframe from MOI receipt of application and call for interview? Or the time-frame range I should say.

15 months on average from my estimation, and for the timeframe I’d say 10-20.


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[GabbaGabbaHey]

How long would it approximately take once the file has been dispatched to the King's Office for signing after all the MOI stuff has been signed and cleared ? 

No idea on that, however from the MOI interview to getting the ID it can take 10-12 months, that’s my estimation from what some applicants have reported recently.


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[david143]

13 hours ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

No idea on that, however from the MOI interview to getting the ID it can take 10-12 months, that’s my estimation from what some applicants have reported recently.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

8 MONTHS , My friend name just came in 03 April 2019 in Royal Gazezzt , he done his interview in september 2018.

for me i am still waiting MOI interview from last 9 months, after in August 01 2018 my file was submitted from SB to MOI office.

 

[GabbaGabbaHey]

8 MONTHS , My friend name just came in 03 April 2019 in Royal Gazezzt , he done his interview in september 2018.

for me i am still waiting MOI interview from last 9 months, after in August 01 2018 my file was submitted from SB to MOI office.
 

I wrote for MOI to the ID, not RG. At the time he gets his ID it should be 10 months.

[yankee99]

1 hour ago, david143 said:

8 MONTHS , My friend name just came in 03 April 2019 in Royal Gazezzt , he done his interview in september 2018.

for me i am still waiting MOI interview from last 9 months, after in August 01 2018 my file was submitted from SB to MOI office.

 

Mine was submitted to moi July 2 2018

[khongaeng]

On 4/5/2019 at 9:59 AM, yankee99 said:

No immigration officer ever came to my house in 8 years of marriage extensions. They do ask for some pictures of the front and some inside the house when renewing, Fwiw i have printed the same pictures for the last 5 years

That’s lucky. The first time I applied for extension in a Province in central Thailand, they visited my house but only stayed in the front room area. The first time I applied in Province neighboring Bangkok, they insisted on touring the house and taking another picture of me and my wife on our marital bed. I was furious and said a snide remark and received a tongue lashing from the immigration paper pusher that came to my house. Fortunately for all extensions after the first extension in a new office only has required the mountain of paperwork. 

[echrist]

7 hours ago, yankee99 said:

8 MONTHS , My friend name just came in 03 April 2019 in Royal Gazezzt , he done his interview in september 2018.

for me i am still waiting MOI interview from last 9 months, after in August 01 2018 my file was submitted from SB to MOI office.

Great to hear that your friend got to the Royal Gazette already. I passed my MOI interview in June 2018 and haven't been called for the oath ceremony yet. I heard I was in the next batch, but if your friend got to the Royal Gazette before me even though doing his MOI interview several months after me, then it would appear it doesn't go in any sort of chronological order. I see alot of people posting about timeframes. It would appear there is no real way to gauge it accurately. The best you can hope is an approximation of 3 to 6 years total, I would say. Plus, some applicants may have ways of getting in through faster. Anyone finishing it in under 3 years...  

[Neeranam]

On 4/5/2019 at 3:56 PM, qualtrough said:

What is the latest estimate for the timeframe from MOI receipt of application and call for interview? Or the time-frame range I should say.

I've been waiting since March 2018.

[GabbaGabbaHey]

16 hours ago, echrist said:

your friend got to the Royal Gazette before me even though doing his MOI interview several months after me, then it would appear it doesn't go in any sort of chronological order. I see alot of people posting about timeframes. It would appear there is no real way to gauge it accurately. [...]

I think everyone will agree on that, since every application has its own pace. That's why facts are much more important than discussions - I always provide averages based on timelines posted by recent applicants.

Would you be kind sharing when was your first SB visit, your SB interview and NIA interview?

[echrist]

54 minutes ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

I think everyone will agree on that, since every application has its own pace. That's why facts are much more important than discussions - I always provide averages based on timelines posted by recent applicants.

Would you be kind sharing when was your first SB visit, your SB interview and NIA interview?

My Application was accepted October 2016. Regarding the SB and NIA interviews, I didn't get track of those dates. At that time, I was prepared for along wait and not counting down the days yet. However, both those interviews happened quite quickly. I would say the SB interview was 2 to 3 months after my application was accepted and the NIA interview was probably only about 1 to 2 months after that. Then MOI interview was in June 2018. 

[MrPatrickThai]

16 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I've been waiting since March 2018.

I waited 8 months from MOI getting my file to the actual interview.

 

11 months from NIA interview.

 

 

Maybe a trip to their offices would speed it up a bit.

 

Edited April 7, 2019 by MrPatrickThai

[MrPatrickThai]

18 hours ago, echrist said:

Great to hear that your friend got to the Royal Gazette already. I passed my MOI interview in June 2018 and haven't been called for the oath ceremony yet. I heard I was in the next batch, but if your friend got to the Royal Gazette before me even though doing his MOI interview several months after me, then it would appear it doesn't go in any sort of chronological order. I see alot of people posting about timeframes. It would appear there is no real way to gauge it accurately. The best you can hope is an approximation of 3 to 6 years total, I would say. Plus, some applicants may have ways of getting in through faster. Anyone finishing it in under 3 years...  

My MOI interview was after yours. Nice to have you reporting your progress. 

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, MrPatrickThai said:

I waited 8 months from MOI getting my file to the actual interview.

 

11 months from NIA interview.

 

 

Maybe a trip to their offices would speed it up a bit.

 

8 months is excellent, did you know someone's at the MOI?

 

From what I gather, there are two of us here waiting for 11 months from the time our applications were sent to MOI, and two waiting for 9 months.

 

An earlier poster said he waited 24 months!

 

 

[echrist]

11 hours ago, MrPatrickThai said:

My MOI interview was after yours. Nice to have you reporting your progress. 

MrPatrickthai, have you done the oath ceremony yet?

[khongaeng]

17 hours ago, Neeranam said:

8 months is excellent, did you know someone's at the MOI?

 

From what I gather, there are two of us here waiting for 11 months from the time our applications were sent to MOI, and two waiting for 9 months.

 

An earlier poster said he waited 24 months!

 

 

MrPatrickThai avatar says that she is Female.  If this is true (I haven't had a chance to look back through her posts) and she is a woman that applied based on her husband, then 8 months is probably quite normal.  Women naturalizing due to Thai husbands have a more dependable (and shorter) timeline, based on the few posts from others in this thread.  

 

I myself am male and am one of the ones waiting 12 months for the MOI interview since the paperwork was sent.  It has been 20 months since my application was signed at SB and 18 months since NIA interview.  

 

I'm excited for those 86 that were published in the RG and hope to see that with the "new" government all the moving parts of this process continue to operate normally and we avoid the blackhole that many on this thread experienced between the early 2000s and 2014

Edited April 8, 2019 by khongaeng

[MrPatrickThai]

8 hours ago, echrist said:

MrPatrickthai, have you done the oath ceremony yet?

No, still waiting!

[MrPatrickThai]

58 minutes ago, khongaeng said:

MrPatrickThai avatar says that she is Female.

Oh, not true, I'm a man! 

[Arkady]

On 2/12/2019 at 5:59 PM, GarryP said:

I think you will find that the majority of people on this thread who applied for citizenship did it themselves without the need for a lawyer. Most of the documents you will need have to be obtained yourself anyway- the lawyer can't do it for you.  Also, there are not that many lawyers who know the process and most are as much in the dark as you are (regardless of their claims otherwise). That is, you end up paying a lot of money but benefit very little from it. If you are not strong in spoken Thai, you could get your wife to go along with you and then get the information in a face to face meeting with the SB officers. 

 

I just heard from someone who dumped a tidy sum into a lawyer's pocket to process his application, against the advice of myself and others.  The lawyer claimed to have inside connections and that he would be passing on some of it to those who could get things done quicker etc.  But from what he says the lawyer's knowledge of the process seems a bit spotty and maybe dangerously misleading in some areas.  I will not be surprised to hear that down the track the lawyer has come back to the well for more cash, claiming that a special opportunity opened up to fast track selected applicants.  That happened with PR a few years back when lawyers were tipped off in advance that their clients were soon to be approved and tapped them for another couple of hundred thou in "fast track" fees.  Later they found out that a large batch had been approved including those who had not used lawyers or attempted to pay any bribes.  

[khongaeng]

13 hours ago, MrPatrickThai said:

Oh, not true, I'm a man! 

Sorry for my mistake ????  glad to hear that your application has moved along so smoothly. You give us other males hope!

[Neeranam]

15 hours ago, khongaeng said:

I'm excited for those 86 that were published in the RG and hope to see that with the "new" government all the moving parts of this process continue to operate normally and we avoid the blackhole that many on this thread experienced between the early 2000s and 2014

Does anyone know of General Anupong remains as the Minister of Interior?

 

Your roughly the same time as me from since paperwork was sent. I was told last March.

However, I'm only 16 months since application. Just shows there are no hard and fast times.