Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[THAIJAMES]

I contacted my SB officer in Chiang Mai.  He confirmed that all new applicants will have to go through dopa. However my and existing applications will not be affected and that he would still take care of me.

[Arkady]

2 hours ago, DrJoy said:

What is a panel interview? What happens in a panel interview?

The PR language test is in front of a panel of about half a dozen officials. It started off being a simple multiple choice test conducted informally by Immigration officers and then it was decided this was not rigorous enough, so it morphed into a panel interview. Inevitably they would probably ask the same sort of questions as teh NIA and the MOI.  Since singing is part of the language test, they would probably have to hear that too, at least for those without Thai wives.  Perhaps they will also conduct the optional reading and writing tests and knowledge of Thailand.  Have to wait and see. Before 2010 SB didn't have to conduct any tests except for the singing tests.  So they may be happy to revert to something like that.

[qualtrough]

On 1/13/2022 at 11:15 PM, sinthavee said:

Herewith I am listing some of the necessary updations one needs to do after obtaining Thai ID & passport (for those who were holding Thai PR prior to getting Thai Citizenship).

Update bank account records

Surrender work permit
Update social security account
Update driving license
Update car ownership records
Update  insurance for car
Surrender original country passport(For some countries, where it is essential)

Surrender Tangdav(Red book)/PR documents at police station & immigration respectively.
Update Covid vaccination records
Update mobile & internet services

 Please add, if anything is missing.

Thanks for the list Sinthavee1

 

Yesterday I had a marathon session accomplishing some of these. I got a late start at 11:30 so the clock was ticking:

 

1. I arrived to cancel my work permit only to find I had left it at home. Doh! So I arranged for a MC to fetch it and send it to me. Fortunately the SS office is right next door, so I did that instead.

2. The SS process probably took a bit more than an hour, primarily because it was busy, but also because we had an unpaid fine from 10 years ago that we didn't know about. That cost 1100 baht to clear and wasted time because the queue was long. Done

2. I went back and cancelled the WP once I had that in hand. That took about 1 hour. Would not let me keep the old one ???? Done

3. Here is the surprising thing, at least to me. I went to immigration and it took no more than 10 minutes for the visa cancellation process. I asked for a receipt, but they just told me I was already cancelled in the system and not to worry about it. Done

4. I hastened too the DLT to change over my car reg. This involved long waits, even though it wasn't crowded. Probably took 1.5 hours. Done

 

I think I only needed copies of my passport, ID card, and blue book for these, but I brought everything with me just in case.

 

Regarding Drivers licenses, the DLT now requires using an app to make an  appointment, and some of the offices are booked solid for months. I managed to get an app for Feb 24.

 

Monday I plan on doing the banking updating and will proceed with the other items.

 

Does anyone know how to go about updating Morprom for my vaccination record, if that is possible?

[qualtrough]

19 hours ago, Arkady said:

The PR language test is in front of a panel of about half a dozen officials. It started off being a simple multiple choice test conducted informally by Immigration officers and then it was decided this was not rigorous enough, so it morphed into a panel interview. Inevitably they would probably ask the same sort of questions as teh NIA and the MOI.  Since singing is part of the language test, they would probably have to hear that too, at least for those without Thai wives.  Perhaps they will also conduct the optional reading and writing tests and knowledge of Thailand.  Have to wait and see. Before 2010 SB didn't have to conduct any tests except for the singing tests.  So they may be happy to revert to something like that.

I am so glad that I was not required to sing. I have a terrible singing voice in any language and it would have been horrific for everyone involved.  

[yankee99]

13 minutes ago, qualtrough said:

Thanks for the list Sinthavee1

 

Yesterday I had a marathon session accomplishing some of these. I got a late start at 11:30 so the clock was ticking:

 

1. I arrived to cancel my work permit only to find I had left it at home. Doh! So I arranged for a MC to fetch it and send it to me. Fortunately the SS office is right next door, so I did that instead.

2. The SS process probably took a bit more than an hour, primarily because it was busy, but also because we had an unpaid fine from 10 years ago that we didn't know about. That cost 1100 baht to clear and wasted time because the queue was long. Done

2. I went back and cancelled the WP once I had that in hand. That took about 1 hour. Would not let me keep the old one ???? Done

3. Here is the surprising thing, at least to me. I went to immigration and it took no more than 10 minutes for the visa cancellation process. I asked for a receipt, but they just told me I was already cancelled in the system and not to worry about it. Done

4. I hastened too the DLT to change over my car reg. This involved long waits, even though it wasn't crowded. Probably took 1.5 hours. Done

 

I think I only needed copies of my passport, ID card, and blue book for these, but I brought everything with me just in case.

 

Regarding Drivers licenses, the DLT now requires using an app to make an  appointment, and some of the offices are booked solid for months. I managed to get an app for Feb 24.

 

Monday I plan on doing the banking updating and will proceed with the other items.

 

Does anyone know how to go about updating Morprom for my vaccination record, if that is possible?

I had bkk Pattaya hospital update the MorProm app with my thai passport number took a day to enter the system 

[qualtrough]

1 hour ago, yankee99 said:

I had bkk Pattaya hospital update the MorProm app with my thai passport number took a day to enter the system 

Thank you! I will go down to the hospital that gave me the injections and see if they can do it.

[DrJoy]

1 hour ago, qualtrough said:

Thank you! I will go down to the hospital that gave me the injections and see if they can do it.

Certificate issuing hospital can change your data, no issues with that.

[sinthavee]

21 hours ago, qualtrough said:

Thanks for the list Sinthavee1

 

Yesterday I had a marathon session accomplishing some of these. I got a late start at 11:30 so the clock was ticking:

 

1. I arrived to cancel my work permit only to find I had left it at home. Doh! So I arranged for a MC to fetch it and send it to me. Fortunately the SS office is right next door, so I did that instead.

2. The SS process probably took a bit more than an hour, primarily because it was busy, but also because we had an unpaid fine from 10 years ago that we didn't know about. That cost 1100 baht to clear and wasted time because the queue was long. Done

2. I went back and cancelled the WP once I had that in hand. That took about 1 hour. Would not let me keep the old one ???? Done

3. Here is the surprising thing, at least to me. I went to immigration and it took no more than 10 minutes for the visa cancellation process. I asked for a receipt, but they just told me I was already cancelled in the system and not to worry about it. Done

4. I hastened too the DLT to change over my car reg. This involved long waits, even though it wasn't crowded. Probably took 1.5 hours. Done

 

I think I only needed copies of my passport, ID card, and blue book for these, but I brought everything with me just in case.

 

Regarding Drivers licenses, the DLT now requires using an app to make an  appointment, and some of the offices are booked solid for months. I managed to get an app for Feb 24.

 

Monday I plan on doing the banking updating and will proceed with the other items.

 

Does anyone know how to go about updating Morprom for my vaccination record, if that is possible?

Hi Qualtrough brother,

 You accomplished many things in a single day. Excellent.

 When I checked in my morprop app, it already had my Thai passport number. However, it is still showing my previous Nationality. I have booked for my booster dose & it is scheduled on 27th of this month. I am still awaiting the confirmation SMS from the hospital. I will talk to the vaccination staff, to update my Nationality, when I go there.

 Please check your Morprom app; it might have been already updated from system, as it grabs the details from its database based on the thirteen digit ID.

[qualtrough]

58 minutes ago, sinthavee said:

Hi Qualtrough brother,

 You accomplished many things in a single day. Excellent.

 When I checked in my morprop app, it already had my Thai passport number. However, it is still showing my previous Nationality. I have booked for my booster dose & it is scheduled on 27th of this month. I am still awaiting the confirmation SMS from the hospital. I will talk to the vaccination staff, to update my Nationality, when I go there.

 Please check your Morprom app; it might have been already updated from system, as it grabs the details from its database based on the thirteen digit ID.

Thanks! Good luck with the booster process.

 

I have a question. Do you, or anyone else here, know if it is permissible to laminate the Certificate of Citizenship? Try as I might, it is starting to show some signs of wear. We have done this with our marriage and children's birth certificates and that has never posed a problem, but thought I would ask before proceeding just to be sure.

[GarryP]

8 minutes ago, qualtrough said:

Thanks! Good luck with the booster process.

 

I have a question. Do you, or anyone else here, know if it is permissible to laminate the Certificate of Citizenship? Try as I might, it is starting to show some signs of wear. We have done this with our marriage and children's birth certificates and that has never posed a problem, but thought I would ask before proceeding just to be sure.

I am not sure. I did it with birth certificates and marriage certificates and there was never a problem. However, when I laminated my British birth certificate it was rejected by the authorities in the UK. They advised that lamination is not allowed to reduce the risk of forgery. I am not sure if Thailand will follow suit in the future so I never laminated my Citizenship Certificate.  

[DrJoy]

36 minutes ago, qualtrough said:

Thanks! Good luck with the booster process.

 

I have a question. Do you, or anyone else here, know if it is permissible to laminate the Certificate of Citizenship? Try as I might, it is starting to show some signs of wear. We have done this with our marriage and children's birth certificates and that has never posed a problem, but thought I would ask before proceeding just to be sure.

Cannot laminate Thai documents.

 

My wife divulged that laminating Thai documents is forbidden.

[yankee99]

13 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

Cannot laminate Thai documents.

 

My wife divulged that laminating Thai documents is forbidden.

My wife had a shop laminate all my original documents. I previously said this. Not one agency turned down color copies or questioned the originality of them 

[DrJoy]

1 hour ago, yankee99 said:

My wife had a shop laminate all my original documents. I previously said this. Not one agency turned down color copies or questioned the originality of them 

My wife had to get her name change certificate certified by MFA.

 

Instantly rejected by MFA Klong Toei coz of lamination.

 

They suggested her to delaminate it at a nearby shop and then proceed.

[qualtrough]

1 hour ago, DrJoy said:

 

 

1 hour ago, DrJoy said:

Cannot laminate Thai documents.

 

My wife divulged that laminating Thai documents is forbidden.

Can, but it may depend on the document and the circumstances. As I mentioned, we have laminated our marriage certificate and birth certificates from Thailand and submit  them many times to many different offices here. No one has ever batted an eye.

 

I guess what I'm looking for here is to see if anyone has laminated their citizenship certificate and had any problems with it.

 

Edit: I just sent a Line message to my SB case officer asking about this and I will let everyone know what he says.

[qualtrough]

My SB officer already replied to my question about laminating the citizenship certificate:

 

แล้วแต่ครับ แต่ถ้าให้แนะนำ ก่อนเคลือบถ่ายสำเนาไว้เยอะๆครับ

 

Which I interpret as "It depends/up to you. But if I were to advise you I would make a lot of copies before laminating."

 

Unless I hear of anyone having a laminated certificate rejected or being advised by an authority that the citizenship certificate specifically should NOT be laminated, I think I will proceed with that since I have already used it to obtain my ID card, passport, etc. and etc. Copies can be purchased and made so it's not like it is irreplaceable.

 

I am not sure why he advises making lots of copies, since in my experience laminated docs copy just fine. Many of the documents I submitted along the way during the process were laminated: Thai and US birth certificates, marriage certificate, etc. Perhaps he is under the impression they do not.

 

 

[GarryP]

2 minutes ago, qualtrough said:

My SB officer already replied to my question about laminating the citizenship certificate:

 

แล้วแต่ครับ แต่ถ้าให้แนะนำ ก่อนเคลือบถ่ายสำเนาไว้เยอะๆครับ

 

Which I interpret as "It depends/up to you. But if I were to advise you I would make a lot of copies before laminating."

 

Unless I hear of anyone having a laminated certificate rejected or being advised by an authority that the citizenship certificate specifically should NOT be laminated, I think I will proceed with that since I have already used it to obtain my ID card, passport, etc. and etc. Copies can be purchased and made so it's not like it is irreplaceable.

 

 

I didn't know that copies could be purchased. From where? SB?

[qualtrough]

44 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I didn't know that copies could be purchased. From where? SB?

I will have to look it up, but in the documents I received I recall reading that there was a charge of something like 500 baht for replacement copies.

[DrJoy]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

I didn't know that copies could be purchased. From where? SB?

Yes SB

[DrJoy]

1 hour ago, qualtrough said:

My SB officer already replied to my question about laminating the citizenship certificate:

 

แล้วแต่ครับ แต่ถ้าให้แนะนำ ก่อนเคลือบถ่ายสำเนาไว้เยอะๆครับ

 

Which I interpret as "It depends/up to you. But if I were to advise you I would make a lot of copies before laminating."

 

Unless I hear of anyone having a laminated certificate rejected or being advised by an authority that the citizenship certificate specifically should NOT be laminated, I think I will proceed with that since I have already used it to obtain my ID card, passport, etc. and etc. Copies can be purchased and made so it's not like it is irreplaceable.

 

I am not sure why he advises making lots of copies, since in my experience laminated docs copy just fine. Many of the documents I submitted along the way during the process were laminated: Thai and US birth certificates, marriage certificate, etc. Perhaps he is under the impression they do not.

 

 

It can be delaminated with no problem.

I have already done it, there is a shop near MRT sukhumvit gate 1

[david143]

9 hours ago, DrJoy said:

It can be delaminated with no problem.

I have already done it, there is a shop near MRT sukhumvit gate 1

I have done it the day i picked my certificate and there is no problem.

 

[DrJoy]

On 1/14/2022 at 8:12 PM, Arkady said:

The PR language test is in front of a panel of about half a dozen officials. It started off being a simple multiple choice test conducted informally by Immigration officers and then it was decided this was not rigorous enough, so it morphed into a panel interview. Inevitably they would probably ask the same sort of questions as teh NIA and the MOI.  Since singing is part of the language test, they would probably have to hear that too, at least for those without Thai wives.  Perhaps they will also conduct the optional reading and writing tests and knowledge of Thailand.  Have to wait and see. Before 2010 SB didn't have to conduct any tests except for the singing tests.  So they may be happy to revert to something like that.

I will be visiting SB next week, will update what they inform about the new rules.

[david143]

Just now, DrJoy said:

I will be visiting SB next week, will update what they inform about the new rules.

thanks

[sinthavee]

Today morning, I went to the Immigration office, Chaengwatana for surrendering my PR book. Information counter staff directed me to the queuing section. I was given token for the E2 section. I was asked for the RG copy(3 sets were given to me by SB).

I had a photocopy & submitted the same. No other documents were needed.

I had to sign in a register, where she had written brief details as to why the book is returned. She also updated the details in the immigration system. She cut the top corner of the booklet & kept the booklet.

 Then she told me that the process is complete.

Totally it took about 10 minutes, from the information section to completion of the activity.

[khongaeng]

I have found that the humidity in Thailand is particularly rough on our documents.  For the first 5 years I kept our marriage certificates, birth certificates, passports, etc. in plastic sleeves in a drawer in my house, when I noticed ink starting to soak through to the other side of the page and generally the paper degrading, I decided something needed to change.  I bought one of those water-resistant, fire-resistant safes (3000 baht if I recall) and put one of those moisture absorbing canisters in the back of the safe (100 baht each).  I have found out that the canister needs to be switched every 6 months or so as moisture is collected inside.  

Since making the change, my documents do not appear to have degraded a single day.  I too considered laminating my documents, but I now prefer keeping them in individual plastic sheets in a humidity minimized safe, mostly because I know that the country of my previous nationality does not accept laminated documents and some Thai officials I have asked in passing have grunted their displeasure with laminated documents.  Even the dust cover on my passport gets removed almost every time because I suppose immigration officers (of various countries) can only detect forgeries if they put their grubby paws on the actual cover of the passport.  

One of the benefits of getting Thai nationality is that I almost never have to crack open my safe for various documents anymore.  I just have to wip out my blue ID card from my wallet.  

[qualtrough]

Updating on progress in changing over to my Thai ID card info. Boring stuff, but perhaps something might be useful for someone at some point.

 

I went to my bank to change over my account ID and it took one and a half hours. The woman who dealt with me had not done this before and almost the entirety of that time she was on the phone getting instructions. Everyone was pleasant, and I felt a bit bad as it stretched one hour past banking hours. This involved only my personal account. My company account is tied to the company, and since I had my ID changed on the company registration papers the bank doesn't need to do anything. Or so they said.

 

Went to the hospital for the Mor Prom ID switch. The  person needed wasn't there but they took all my info and will call me tomorrow to let me know how it goes. 

 

I opted to have my citizenship cert laminated and then purchased a nice gilt frame to put it in. It can be removed easily if necessary and I made some copies first.

 

Insurance policies:

One insurance policy I was able to change over the phone.

The other required a scanned and signed copy of my ID be e-mailed to them.

The third policy turned out to be in the wife's name, so nothing needed to be done with that. 

 

Now I am wracking my brain to think of any other things here that might be tied to my US id, like billers for electric, water, phone, etc.

 

If anyone knows of any other things that need to be changed over please let us know. 

[yankee99]

6 hours ago, qualtrough said:

Updating on progress in changing over to my Thai ID card info. Boring stuff, but perhaps something might be useful for someone at some point.

 

I went to my bank to change over my account ID and it took one and a half hours. The woman who dealt with me had not done this before and almost the entirety of that time she was on the phone getting instructions. Everyone was pleasant, and I felt a bit bad as it stretched one hour past banking hours. This involved only my personal account. My company account is tied to the company, and since I had my ID changed on the company registration papers the bank doesn't need to do anything. Or so they said.

 

Went to the hospital for the Mor Prom ID switch. The  person needed wasn't there but they took all my info and will call me tomorrow to let me know how it goes. 

 

I opted to have my citizenship cert laminated and then purchased a nice gilt frame to put it in. It can be removed easily if necessary and I made some copies first.

 

Insurance policies:

One insurance policy I was able to change over the phone.

The other required a scanned and signed copy of my ID be e-mailed to them.

The third policy turned out to be in the wife's name, so nothing needed to be done with that. 

 

Now I am wracking my brain to think of any other things here that might be tied to my US id, like billers for electric, water, phone, etc.

 

If anyone knows of any other things that need to be changed over please let us know. 

The company bank account was a problem for me. Im a signer but only a employee. They wanted a list of things including minutes of the meeting update from dbd etc. Still haven't done it. 

 

[GarryP]

28 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

As a Thai you're obliged to present your Thai National ID card and Tabien Baan only.

 

Any other document demanded from you is just pure non sense.

 

You should be adamant about it.

 

So the discussion about laminating or not doesn't hold any weight coz you will rarely need the cert.

 

Thai National ID card has a chip and almost all Government Offices have a chip reader to decode the info on the chip.

The crux of it is many Thais are not happy to see Foreign looking face holding a Thai Id card, thats it.

 

Few years ago, @Arkady mentioned that he was mistreated by the Land Office in Amnat Chaeron for the certificate and was called 'Thang Dao' on the face.

The last time I used the certificate was at the Land Office in Somdej, Kalasin 2 years ago. There was no real bother, it was just that the member of staff that handles the queue numbers couldn't get her head round the fact that I was a Thai citizen and could own land. She wasn't impolite, just a tad confused. She passed the matter on to her boss who just smiled and said that everything was in order and to give me a queue number. I only took my certificate as a back up as I knew they wouldn't have handled land matters for many farangs before in Kalasin. 

 

In Bangkok, since getting all my accounts and documents in order, I have only presented my ID card to officialdom without any problems.  

[ubonjoe]

Some baiting and bickering posts have been removed. Time to end it.

[Nordlys]

Is it true when you're granted citizenship that they (Min of Interior?) will notify your embassy you are now a naturalized Thai citizen?  

[yankee99]

1 minute ago, Nordlys said:

Is it true when you're granted citizenship that they'll advise your embassy you are now a naturalized Thai citizen?  

Never heard this before. Why would they do that