Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Medinitas said:

Hi all,

 

I am trying to find out if I am qualified to apply to Thai citizenship and if I can reach 50 points. In relation to my studies I have GCSE. Would I get any points with this? 5? 3? or none?

 

Thank you.

AGE AND EDUCATION
Age:
20 t0 30 - 2 points
30 to 40 – 5 points
40 to 50 – 10 points
50 to 60 – 8 points
Over 60 – 5 points

Education:
Mor 6 and above – 3 points
Diploma – 5 points
Bachelors Degree – 8 points
Masters Degree – 10 points
Doctrate – 15 points

SECURITY OF PROFESSION
Income (monthly):
80,000 to 90,000 – 15 points
90,000 to 100,000 – 20 points
Over 100,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities
40,000 to 50,000 – 15 points
50,000 to 60,000 – 20 points
Over 60,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities holding an Alien ID Card for 10 years or more:
20,000 to 30,000 – 15 points
30,000 to 40,000 – 20 points
Over 40,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of those married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:
40,000 to 50,000 – 15 points
50,000 to 60,000 – 20 points
Over 60,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:
20,000 to 30,000 – 15 points
30,000 to 40,000 – 20 points
Over 40,000 – 25 points

Income (monthly) on which tax paid:
80,000 to 100,000 – 15 points
100,000 to 120,000 – 20 points
Over 120,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) on which tax paid in the case of those married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:
40,000 to 60,000 – 15 points
60,000 to 80,000 – 20 points
Over 80,000 – 25 points

RESIDENCE IN THAILAND
Domicile:
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years but no Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate – 5 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 5 years – 10 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 7 years – 15 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 10 years – 20 points

KNOWLEDGE OF THAI LANGUAGE
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai – 8 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai and sing the National and Royal Anthems – 10 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read Thai – 13 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read and write Thai – 15 points

KNOWLEDGE OF THAILAND
Has a medium level knowledge of Thailand
(1-5 correct answers) – 5 points
Has a good knowledge of Thailand
(6-8 correct answers) – 8 points
Has a very good knowledge of Thailand
(9-10 correct answers) -10 points

PERSONALITY
Assessment based on personality, physical appearance and bearing, speech, Thai manners, attitude towards Thailand, Thai culture and ceremonies - 5 points

[echrist]

11 hours ago, Tylor said:

An important point to mention would be is after you become a naturalized Thai, the ID number assigned to you will usually start with 8 unlike most other Thai's who were born here , i was told this number is for naturalized people and people who were not born here. 

yes, that's true. This is what the 1st digit means:

 

Category	Description
0	(Not found on cards of Thai nationals but may be found in the other issued identity cards below)
1	Thai nationals who were born after 1 January 1984 and had their birth notified within the given deadline (15 days).
2	Thai nationals who were born after 1 January 1984 but failed to have their birth notified in time.
3	Thai nationals or foreign nationals with identification cards who were born and whose names were included in a house registration book before 1 January 1984
4	Thai nationals who were born before 1 January 1984 but were not included in a house registration book at that time, for example due to moving residences
5	Thai nationals who missed the official census or other special cases, for instance those of dual nationality
6	Foreign nationals who are living in Thailand temporarily and illegal migrants
7	Children of people of category 6 who were born in Thailand
8	Foreign nationals who are living in Thailand permanently or Thai nationals by naturalization

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, echrist said:

yes, that's true. This is what the 1st digit means:

 

Category	Description
0	(Not found on cards of Thai nationals but may be found in the other issued identity cards below)
1	Thai nationals who were born after 1 January 1984 and had their birth notified within the given deadline (15 days).
2	Thai nationals who were born after 1 January 1984 but failed to have their birth notified in time.
3	Thai nationals or foreign nationals with identification cards who were born and whose names were included in a house registration book before 1 January 1984
4	Thai nationals who were born before 1 January 1984 but were not included in a house registration book at that time, for example due to moving residences
5	Thai nationals who missed the official census or other special cases, for instance those of dual nationality
6	Foreign nationals who are living in Thailand temporarily and illegal migrants
7	Children of people of category 6 who were born in Thailand
8	Foreign nationals who are living in Thailand permanently or Thai nationals by naturalization

Wow, illegal migrants get an ID card starting with 6!

[david143]

yesterday i have done my MOi interview which was only 4 min.
waiting for interview in waiting room 5 hours,
the friendliest and fastest interview i ever gave to Thai authorities .
 

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, david143 said:

yesterday i have done my MOi interview which was only 4 min.
waiting for interview in waiting room 5 hours,
the friendliest and fastest interview i ever gave to Thai authorities .
 

Great! I was told by the nice lady to call every month to check process. She actually called me after 2 months to say that General Anupong had signed it and forwarded it to the PM. 

[yankee99]

22 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Great! I was told by the nice lady to call every month to check process. She actually called me after 2 months to say that General Anupong had signed it and forwarded it to the PM. 

I hope thats the case but they said they are sent in batches and yesterdays will be with next months.

[david143]

Staff Told every applicant that they send 2 Months interview list to Gen.anupong for sign

 

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, yankee99 said:

I hope thats the case but they said they are sent in batches and yesterdays will be with next months.

Exactly what they told me, so you should be the same.

[david143]

Yes neeranam brother,
 

[echrist]

18 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Wow, illegal migrants get an ID card starting with 6!

this must apply to other forms of id, such as the pink cards or id cards for migrant workers. 

[onthemoon]

On 12/18/2019 at 7:46 AM, david143 said:

yesterday i have done my MOi interview which was only 4 min.
waiting for interview in waiting room 5 hours,
the friendliest and fastest interview i ever gave to Thai authorities .
 

Did you have to sign during that interview?

[khongaeng]

8 hours ago, onthemoon said:

Did you have to sign during that interview?

There is a sign-in form when you check in before any interviews start.  Both you and your wife sign if you are applying based on marriage, otherwise just you will sign.  After signing you are handed a formal letter saying that you will be interviewed to find out your reasons for becoming Thai, and also indicate if you have to sing (if you are not applying based on marriage).  At some point during the waiting process, they will give you the contact number of the person you should call if you haven't heard anything after 6 months.  After your interview there is no paperwork given to you, you can just leave. I have to say very anti-climatic.  From what I saw, they didn't check any IDs or documents of any type nor did they require you to sign your name in Thai.  I saw a bunch of people sign their names with Chinese characters.

[yankee99]

1 minute ago, khongaeng said:

There is a sign-in form when you check in before any interviews start.  Both you and your wife sign if you are applying based on marriage, otherwise just you will sign.  After signing you are handed a formal letter saying that you will be interviewed to find out your reasons for becoming Thai, and also indicate if you have to sing (if you are not applying based on marriage).  At some point during the waiting process, they will give you the contact number of the person you should call if you haven't heard anything after 6 months.  After your interview there is no paperwork given to you, you can just leave. I have to say very anti-climatic.  From what I saw, they didn't check any IDs or documents of any type nor did they require you to sign your name in Thai.  I saw a bunch of people sign their names with Chinese characters.

Looked like everyone in the interview room has your pictures in front of them so no need for id's 

[onthemoon]

8 hours ago, onthemoon said:

Did you have to sign during that interview?

Sorry for the typo: I meant sing, i.e. sing the National Anthem and the Royal Anthem.

Edited December 19, 2019 by onthemoon

[onthemoon]

13 minutes ago, khongaeng said:

There is a sign-in form when you check in before any interviews start.  Both you and your wife sign if you are applying based on marriage, otherwise just you will sign.  After signing you are handed a formal letter saying that you will be interviewed to find out your reasons for becoming Thai, and also indicate if you have to sing (if you are not applying based on marriage).  At some point during the waiting process, they will give you the contact number of the person you should call if you haven't heard anything after 6 months.  After your interview there is no paperwork given to you, you can just leave. I have to say very anti-climatic.  From what I saw, they didn't check any IDs or documents of any type nor did they require you to sign your name in Thai.  I saw a bunch of people sign their names with Chinese characters.

Thanks. Talking about signing, I have no wife. Can I sign in Latin characters (as I will keep using my original name), or do I have to sign in Thai? I had to sign quite a number of documents in Thai already.

 

About singing, so it is random whether or not you have to sing the anthems? Or would I have to sing for sure?

[onthemoon]

13 minutes ago, yankee99 said:

Looked like everyone in the interview room has your pictures in front of them so no need for id's 

I plan to bring all my books, pink ID, the lot. If I don't need any, fine.

[yankee99]

2 minutes ago, onthemoon said:

Thanks. Talking about signing, I have no wife. Can I sign in Latin characters (as I will keep using my original name), or do I have to sign in Thai? I had to sign quite a number of documents in Thai already.

 

About singing, so it is random whether or not you have to sing the anthems? Or would I have to sing for sure?

I signed in thai my name is easy in thai but i really don't think it matters they were calling your wifes name if applying that way

[yankee99]

3 minutes ago, onthemoon said:

I plan to bring all my books, pink ID, the lot. If I don't need any, fine.

I wasn't implying not to bring it {your id} sorry about that. Just that i am certain they know exactly who you are 

[FarangULong]

On 5/20/2007 at 4:26 AM, aussiestyle1983 said:

To sing the National Anthem should be required to get citizenship of any country. Usually, to get citizenship, you should have been there so long allready there should be no problem in singing the national anthem. I took me 3 months the sing the Thai National Anthem fluently, I can only speak a little Thai, but I can sing the National Anthem fluently. Hope other countries have the same requirements......................

Sure, you should "respect" your new country, but language skill wise it proves absolutely nothing. Take the French Foreign Legion... people learn to sing multi versed songs simply by phonetics (and you have to know a really long one called "Kepi Blanc" just over a month into your training, for a ceremony), long before they even grasp much of what it is, they're even singing... I'm not gonna say that THai is as easy to learn for Europeans as French, but there's people from all over the World, incl. Mongolia, Nepal, etc...

So being able to sing a national anthem proves nothing in terms of language skills OR patriotism. I agree it should be part of the requirements, but ONLY after you passed an extensive verbal and written test (preferably not solely multi choice, so you can't simply study for what to tick) and have a certain degree of skill. It shouldn't be easy for people to get citizenship.... I know of people in my country, who cannot speak more than a few phrases and words of my language, yet they have citizenship?! Ok, that worked 20 years ago, but even now... they offer classes for the civics test, the language test isn't super hard, etc. And still plenty of people (esp. Turks) hold 2nd citizenships, even though it's not allowed.

 

It shouldn't be easy to get citizenship, and people should have to show real commitment to get it. But that's just my opinion....

 

ANd congrats to the OP, for showing that much patience. Though how exactly is 2k baht or thereabouts expensive?

Edited December 19, 2019 by FarangULong

[onthemoon]

28 minutes ago, yankee99 said:

I signed in thai my name is easy in thai but i really don't think it matters they were calling your wifes name if applying that way

I'll see how they want me to sign my name then. Still no wife.

[onthemoon]

27 minutes ago, yankee99 said:

I wasn't implying not to bring it {your id} sorry about that. Just that i am certain they know exactly who you are 

I'm sure they know who I am. ????

[david143]

20 hours ago, onthemoon said:

Did you have to sign during that interview?

yes i have to sign the paper before go for interview.

[echrist]

16 hours ago, onthemoon said:

Thanks. Talking about signing, I have no wife. Can I sign in Latin characters (as I will keep using my original name), or do I have to sign in Thai? I had to sign quite a number of documents in Thai already.

 

About singing, so it is random whether or not you have to sing the anthems? Or would I have to sing for sure?

I believe you will have to sing both anthems if you are not married to a Thai citizen. Perhaps those getting citizenship based on investment do not, but I am not sure about that. 

[onthemoon]

On 12/20/2019 at 12:22 PM, echrist said:

I believe you will have to sing both anthems if you are not married to a Thai citizen. Perhaps those getting citizenship based on investment do not, but I am not sure about that. 

OK, thanks. 

[bkk_bwana]

You will have to sign (write) your name in Thai when you pick up the Certificate of Naturalization from the police. When you go to the District office for your ID card and to the Passport office you can use your regular 'foreign' signature.

 

[onthemoon]

1 hour ago, bkk_bwana said:

You will have to sign (write) your name in Thai when you pick up the Certificate of Naturalization from the police. When you go to the District office for your ID card and to the Passport office you can use your regular 'foreign' signature.

 

Interesting, thanks for the info.

[david143]

@onthemoon Brother New Thai name which we got from amphur /  or current Name.
 

[onthemoon]

1 hour ago, david143 said:

@onthemoon Brother New Thai name which we got from amphur /  or current Name.
 

Noted with thanks.

[Neeranam]

On 12/24/2019 at 3:49 PM, bkk_bwana said:

You will have to sign (write) your name in Thai when you pick up the Certificate of Naturalization from the police. When you go to the District office for your ID card and to the Passport office you can use your regular 'foreign' signature.

 

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.

[GabbaGabbaHey]

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.