Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[david143]

1 minute ago, heiri007 said:

With a batch of 112 approvals, they got lots of writing to do! Wishing us speedy work ????

 

i believe every case officer of candidate already printed or type up the certificate once they will receive the MOI letter they will start calling candidates.

[heiri007]

On 8/17/2021 at 9:41 AM, Smokegreynblues said:

I often feel the rules to citizenship aren't up to date with the times, the Foreign Husband amendment was progressive and up with the times, but its been 12 years since, and still doesn't address the many issues that prevail. LGBT people aren't represented, while they may have legitimate relationships. Also, not all men choose to marry, for many reasons- security financial etc., there is no provision of acceptance of a civil partnership. It also seems that citizenship is only availiable to a select few that meet a certain demographic. The income requirements are extremely high as a single male. Plus the PR requirement increases the hurdles. In a country where an average graduate makes 24k/month in Bangkok. Asking for a 80-120k salary, is about attracting a rich demographic/or discouraging applicants. Deterring the single male, and making it a niche thing to posses. While nothing is there for a woman. If this isn't sexism, I don't know what is. I know I am bashing this, but someone has to say it. This thread has so many people, who in their quest to naturalize often overlook the negatives, because the positives far outweigh the negatives. If any policy maker reads this thread, it would help to make amendments, amendments as to length of stays say 10-20 Years (Like every other sane country, which provides some level of social stability, after all its social stability that people apply for citizenship anyway)  rather than a high income to qualify. Yes, I am sour. Unmarried and yes, I don't make the income requirement to qualify for PR and hence citizenship. 

Lots of things in this country are wrong, many things are good. Love the people, they're mostly generous and warm-hearted. Hate all the stupid laws, such as no commercial small-scale craft beer brewing allowed, no alcohol sales before elections and on certain holidays - not to mention the off-hours -, miserable education system, no accountability by those who govern, modern laws but no enforcement if of no benefit to some... LGBT is certainly low on the radar of those who decide. And overall now it might still be easier to apply for citizenship in Thailand than in many many other countries. As someone else noted, why not get a job that pays the money required. Thailand is quite flexible. If you behave no one is asking too many questions. Things are tolerated here that aren't in many other places. If you know how to deal with these freedoms and restrictions, Thailand is a beautiful welcoming place.

[yankee99]

On 8/18/2021 at 11:28 AM, david143 said:

today i was talking to my SB case officer, he said within this month we will get our Certificates, SB is waiting from MOI for approved RG candidates list so they can issue Certificates.

 

T minus 11 days

[skippybangkok]

wishing you guys the best !.... got mine back in 2016.....  happy with the decision. As a long term resident in Thailand, life became a lot easier.   

 

Went to a upcountry hospital recently, registration lady was insisting on a passport even though she had a Thai ID in her hand. I guess she just came off the Doi as the expression goes. 

[GarryP]

4 minutes ago, skippybangkok said:

wishing you guys the best !.... got mine back in 2016.....  happy with the decision. As a long term resident in Thailand, life became a lot easier.   

 

Went to a upcountry hospital recently, registration lady was insisting on a passport even though she had a Thai ID in her hand. I guess she just came off the Doi as the expression goes. 

You should have given her your Thai passport. ????????

[GabbaGabbaHey]

4 hours ago, GarryP said:

You should have given her your Thai passport. ????????

I went to ask for a loan in a Thai bank recently, they copied my ID card and were asking for my passport, then I showed the Thai passport... guess what? they made a copy of it. That was funny but understandable, one can never be too careful!

[Neeranam]

33 minutes ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

I went to ask for a loan in a Thai bank recently, they copied my ID card and were asking for my passport, then I showed the Thai passport... guess what? they made a copy of it. That was funny but understandable, one can never be too careful!

When I got my Thai ID, a few foreign friends and acquaintances didn't believe I was Thai if I didn't have a Thai passport. I told them I didn't need one, as I wasn't going anywhere. I might say that to Thais who ask for it. 

[DrJoy]

Has the Korean coach been granted Thai citizenship?

[DrJoy]

On 8/16/2021 at 1:00 PM, Arkady said:

Here you go.  Number 86 on this 2016 list of naturalisations (i.e. all except wives of Thai husbands which are not considered naturalisations) had a Chiang Mai address.  You may find some more recent ones, if you comb through the RG announcements but I don't have 2018-20 on file.  In the 2017 naturalisation announcements I also spotted a Lampang, a Trat and a brace of Nonthaburis.

6.pdf 63.46 kB · 8 downloads

What was your citizenship timeline from start to Thai ID card?

[david143]

20 hours ago, DrJoy said:

Has the Korean coach been granted Thai citizenship?

case has been applied at SB last friday

[Neeranam]

9 hours ago, david143 said:

case has been applied at SB last friday

Interesting, he expects to get it by the end of this year. 

[Dogmatix]

12 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Interesting, he expects to get it by the end of this year. 

Those last few seconds in the Taekondo match could make all the difference.

[david143]

on 13 august coach was @ SB

[david143]

any update for certificates ?
 

[GabbaGabbaHey]

12 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Interesting, he expects to get it by the end of this year. 

Or could it be some confusion in the wordings where doing the application meant different thing for journalists? Obviously special merit to Thailand has a high potential to speed up signatures as compared to standard Joe applicants but I doubt they would bypass necessary investigations. Let's see, it will be an interesting timeline to follow.

[Dogmatix]

4 minutes ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

Or could it be some confusion in the wordings where doing the application meant different thing for journalists? Obviously special merit to Thailand has a high potential to speed up signatures as compared to standard Joe applicants but I doubt they would bypass necessary investigations. Let's see, it will be an interesting timeline to follow.

It will definitely help and it is not impossible to get it by year end but I think a bit optimisitc.  I am sure everything will go smoothly but there is always the potential to slip a couple of months here and there, e.g. waiting for a batch to go to HMK and for the RG.  Anyway I guess he will get it within a year and no longer than 18 months.  Actually a friend who got his citizenship in the early 90s told me that was the normal time frame in those days but they thought it was a very long wait at the time.  Same for my PR which took me just under a year in the late 90s but a friend got his in 6 months. The processes are the same but they have manged to introduce huge inefficiences over time and drag them out. 

[yankee99]

4 hours ago, david143 said:

any update for certificates ?
 

Texted SB this morning they are still waiting 

[david143]

1 minute ago, yankee99 said:

Texted SB this morning they are still waiting 

thanks brother,
Today we both Completed our Oath which we  took on 23 August 2020 And today is 23 August 2021
12 months
And now  waiting for certificate.
never mind i hope it will be in this month

[kst]

17 hours ago, david143 said:

thanks brother,
Today we both Completed our Oath which we  took on 23 August 2020 And today is 23 August 2021
12 months
And now  waiting for certificate.
never mind i hope it will be in this month

@david143 We are already on the final leg of this exciting journey. After cert and a few more hoops to cross at the district office, we will finally be what we set out to be, so lets embrace the culture that makes all Thais unique - Jaiyenyen. ????

[david143]

1 minute ago, kst said:

@david143 We are already on the final leg of this exciting journey. After cert and a few more hoops to cross at the district office, we will finally be what we set out to be, so lets embrace the culture that makes all Thais unique - Jaiyenyen. ????

Yeah Brother , that's true .
oh i am jai yen yen.

[david143]

I have Received a letter from MOI to my home address in Bangkok , and its mentioned that pleas contact SB fees 500THB , 
i straight call to my Case officer he will call me next week to collect my Citizenship certificate, in case if no one receive yet, nothing to worry they are start going to call next week.

 

[david143]

@Neeranam and @GabbaGabbaHey Brother
The day i will go for Cancel Visa do i need Thai passport too, or Just
ID card
House Registration Copy

 

[digbeth]

On 8/18/2021 at 2:05 PM, heiri007 said:

Lots of things in this country are wrong, many things are good. Love the people, they're mostly generous and warm-hearted. Hate all the stupid laws, such as no commercial small-scale craft beer brewing allowed, no alcohol sales before elections and on certain holidays - not to mention the off-hours -, miserable education system, no accountability by those who govern, modern laws but no enforcement if of no benefit to some... LGBT is certainly low on the radar of those who decide. And overall now it might still be easier to apply for citizenship in Thailand than in many many other countries. As someone else noted, why not get a job that pays the money required. Thailand is quite flexible. If you behave no one is asking too many questions. Things are tolerated here that aren't in many other places. If you know how to deal with these freedoms and restrictions, Thailand is a beautiful welcoming place.

Civil partnership and recognizing same sex partner for things like will and rights to determine your partner's medical decision over (possibly estranged) family members aren't even available to native Thais yet too.

 

Work permit eligible expats that stayed long enough would probably come through the requirement just fine, neighoring countries workers that worked here all their life would never get to naturalize under the present rule. It's not fair, but many counties has point system or investment criteria for residence/citizenship too 

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, david143 said:

@Neeranam and @GabbaGabbaHey Brother
The day i will go for Cancel Visa do i need Thai passport too, or Just
ID card
House Registration Copy

 

Just the ID card and official copy of the RG announcement and Naturalization certificate too. 

Actually, Immigration told me I never needed to cancel, but I was on a temporary COVID visa. I wanted to go to tell them I was happy never to see them again ???? 

Not long to go now, David, exciting time ???? 

[david143]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Just the ID card and official copy of the RG announcement and Naturalization certificate too. 

Actually, Immigration told me I never needed to cancel, but I was on a temporary COVID visa. I wanted to go to tell them I was happy never to see them again ???? 

Not long to go now, David, exciting time ???? 

Thanks Alot Brother.

Soon we will free from Visa Prison of Immigration
Thanks alot for your Valuable time

 

[Neeranam]

9 minutes ago, digbeth said:

Work permit eligible expats that stayed long enough would probably come through the requirement just fine, neighoring countries workers that worked here all their life would never get to naturalize under the present rule. It's not fair

What is not fair? We can't have any riff raff becoming Thai ????

 

Applicants from neighbouring countries don't have to earn nearly as much as Western ones. 

[Arkady]

1 hour ago, david143 said:

@Neeranam and @GabbaGabbaHey Brother
The day i will go for Cancel Visa do i need Thai passport too, or Just
ID card
House Registration Co

I dropped by at CW to cancel my PR on the way to apply for my Thai passport at the nearby Consular Section. No problem. Cancelling PR is simple and takes about 20-30 minutes.  I think it is necessary as you have an ID document as a PR in the form of the red book that needs to be returned. But there has been some debate here as to whether you need to cancel your visa, if you didn't have PR. Some people have had problems trying to do it in the past because CW didn't have a clue and made them come back another day or wait around for hours while they called around to figure how to do it. Others didn't bother to cancel their visas and had no problem when they travelled in and out with their Thai passports.  I don't know, if CW has become organised in cancelling visas by now. While others who travelled in on a foreign passport and out on a Thai passport have often had problems with overstay fines on the way out, there is no record of this ever having happened to naturalised Thais when first using their Thai passports. 

 

Your decision to complete the loop at CW or not, if you don't have PR books to hand back. It's probably safest to do it to avoid potential hassles on the way out in case things change but the risk seems pretty low.

[david143]

9 minutes ago, Arkady said:

I dropped by at CW to cancel my PR on the way to apply for my Thai passport at the nearby Consular Section. No problem. Cancelling PR is simple and takes about 20-30 minutes.  I think it is necessary as you have an ID document as a PR in the form of the red book that needs to be returned. But there has been some debate here as to whether you need to cancel your visa, if you didn't have PR. Some people have had problems trying to do it in the past because CW didn't have a clue and made them come back another day or wait around for hours while they called around to figure how to do it. Others didn't bother to cancel their visas and had no problem when they travelled in and out with their Thai passports.  I don't know, if CW has become organised in cancelling visas by now. While others who travelled in on a foreign passport and out on a Thai passport have often had problems with overstay fines on the way out, there is no record of this ever having happened to naturalised Thais when first using their Thai passports. 

 

Your decision to complete the loop at CW or not, if you don't have PR books to hand back. It's probably safest to do it to avoid potential hassles on the way out in case things change but the risk seems pretty low.

I had to Cancel my Visa and WP.
My office Lawyer told me to do it once ID issued.

thanks for your time Brother

[Dogmatix]

42 minutes ago, digbeth said:

Civil partnership and recognizing same sex partner for things like will and rights to determine your partner's medical decision over (possibly estranged) family members aren't even available to native Thais yet too.

 

Work permit eligible expats that stayed long enough would probably come through the requirement just fine, neighoring countries workers that worked here all their life would never get to naturalize under the present rule. It's not fair, but many counties has point system or investment criteria for residence/citizenship too 

Thailand is a rather backward country  in many ways. But most of us who have obtained citizenship are still amazed that the law allowed for it at all and that we were able to make the cut without being super wealthy or well connected. There is a lot of tolerance for LGBTs relative to other regional countries like Malaysia for examle where same sex relations are illegal. I am sure civil partnerships will come and they have already been discussed publicly without great push back. But it will take some time and more time after that before the change may be recognised in the Nationality Act which is normally only amended once or twice in a generation. 

 

As for migrant labourers from neighbouring countries, I doubt that will ever happen under the existing legal framework.  Most of them come under temporary bilateral Memoranda of Understandings (MOLs) with the neighbouring countries that have to be regularly renewed.  Thailand still regards them as a necessary evil to import as a plug to alleviate temporary shortages of labour.  It would take a major shift in thinking to regard them as a permanent fixture and provide them with a pathway to citizenship. If Thailand continues its current trajectory of poor education, economic underperformance and uncompetitiveness, within a generation the process may reverse anyway with Thai labourers having to go and work for low wages in more prosperous neighbouring countries like Vietnam which is outperforming Thailand on all measures of FDI and export competitiveness, as witnessed by Kamala Harris not bothering to touch down in Thailand on her way to Vietnam.     

[Dogmatix]

50 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

What is not fair? We can't have any riff raff becoming Thai ????

 

Applicants from neighbouring countries don't have to earn nearly as much as Western ones. 

I think that the lower salary hurdles are only for minorities born in the Thailand. I don't think children of migrant workers are eligible and I am pretty sure the migrant workers born in their home countries are not.