48 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

Heads up-

 

The Special Police Branch is relocating their office from December 8, 2025.

 

New address -

Public service center building,

Vibhavadi Rangsit 27, Thung Song Hong subdistrict, 

Laksi District, Bangkok -10210.

 

Thanks for the info!

I have a friend who's preparing an application. He has all this documents save one. This is what he just wrote me: 

 

Argh. I brought my diploma back with a certification from Marco Rubio that it is authentic and no agency will translate and certify. They say I now need a Thai consulate in the US to certify that the Department of State certification is authentic.

 

Is that right? Is it impossible to get it certified here in a way that will be acceptable to the MFA?

Hi all, I just started my journey towards citizenship, and might have a few things to add that I noticed were different than expected.

 

at first I was expecting that bringing more years of information would make the case better, however all of my evidence extending beyond 3 years was friendly returned and told it was not required (I had 12 years worth of tax documents, work permits etc, they really only wanted 3 years).

first visit was in late September to go through the list, it became obvious I needed to get some more documents, including my education papers legalised in my home country.

 

so early December, I had it all sorted I thought and went back. Just in time to be the last person in the old location at Siam, and being told that for the next appointment I needed to go to the new location at chaengwattana.

 

I am currently on an LTR-H visa, so I have a digital work permit. SB requested me to get a statement from the ministry of labour. I went to my amphur office of department of labour and they said: your visa is under BOi, so we transferred all your files to them. Maybe you can check there. So off to OneBangkok it was. Took quite some confusion, as at first they didn’t know what documents I required (even with a sample), but one lady heard I wanted to apply for Thai citizenship and she knew what was required. 2 weeks wait, 400 baht, but also that one settled.

 

for my company affidavit, my legal department requested an official copy from DBD. This is basically a printed out document with digital signature. This was at first rejected by the SB, as it required original stamps and signatures. Since my company has multiple mayor shareholders in several countries, my head of legal counsel was not sure he could get the documents signed in time, so he called my case officer and a few documents were added to the list and it went down smooth.

 

Last week, when I brought the final stack of documents to the new location, all documents were accepted, but I was asked to change my two witnesses. I had two witnesses that are well placed in companies and agencies, and my case officer said I should get regular people, that are more likely to be available at the interview. Sounds sensible enough, and maybe having less “political connection” to my witnesses might be good in this current climate.

 

so, today we updated the witnesses and gave those documents.

 

it was then mentioned I could say when I was available for the interview, they told me I should practice Thai and practice the national anthem (I take this as the case officer wanting me to get more points, as as far as I know it’s not mandated?).

he mentioned as well, that once I finish I could meet with the MOI for another round with 3-4 people. And it almost felt he was indicating right away. Will need to verify with the misses if I got that wrong, because what I gather here, that would be a few months of waiting?

 

anyway, will keep you guys updated, and fingers crossed!

 

btw, new location is nice, and has ample parking. For those that have to go there, it’s behind asawin hotel, and a new block, so not the old special branch compound, a little further down and in the corner (it will make sense when you get there).

 

my case manager seems very friendly and supportive, but speaks like a machine gun (fast as hell) and seems to not speak a single word of English…

 

So I had my interview today, was asked to write my name in Thai on a dozen documents, finger print, had a nice chat with the senior case officer and was awarded the full 15 points they can give in this round.

 

was given the 2 documents I have to have acknowledged at the embassy of my current citizenship, one for the amphur to certify the marriage certificate and a request for Thai name to take to the amphur for locking in.

 

was told the next interview will be with about 30 ministerial and legal professionals, maybe some high ranking security officials (guess that’s the committee meeting at MOI) in about 3-4 months. I was told there will be no more tests and the likes. The case officer also said to not worry, just respond like I did so far, and show respect for the monarchy, and it’s basically just for me to mess up, so don’t mess up 🙂 friendly case officer!
 

all in all, so far, a very painless experience, besides the horrible bureaucracy to get all the documents to get to this point. 

My experience so far, they want the right people, they have a 6th sense to see early on if your heart is in it, and are more then happy to help you out to get there if they feel you are the right person.

5 minutes ago, FelixPeccatum said:

My experience so far, they want the right people, they have a 6th sense to see early on if your heart is in it, and are more then happy to help you out to get there if they feel you are the right person.

That pretty much sums it up. They'll coach you through the process if they like you.

Congratulations! I'll pass on Thai citizenship. I'll be long dead by the time they'd give it to me.

 

In countries like Peru and the Dominican Republic, the foreign pensioners' problem is to DELAY the citizenship process, lest they lose foreign retiree status and the tax exemption that goes with it.

After submission of all documents for citizenship (which took a little more than one year to understand & gather), the interview/test at the SB took one month. Then the NIA interview about 2 months later. Then a 4.5 year wait for the big MOI committee interview. And it has been 16 months since then, waiting for the call to take the oath of citizenship. So it has been about 7yrs since I started the journey.

On 12/26/2025 at 9:10 PM, FelixPeccatum said:

So I had my interview today, was asked to write my name in Thai on a dozen documents, finger print, had a nice chat with the senior case officer and was awarded the full 15 points they can give in this round.

 

was given the 2 documents I have to have acknowledged at the embassy of my current citizenship, one for the amphur to certify the marriage certificate and a request for Thai name to take to the amphur for locking in.

 

was told the next interview will be with about 30 ministerial and legal professionals, maybe some high ranking security officials (guess that’s the committee meeting at MOI) in about 3-4 months. I was told there will be no more tests and the likes. The case officer also said to not worry, just respond like I did so far, and show respect for the monarchy, and it’s basically just for me to mess up, so don’t mess up 🙂 friendly case officer!
 

all in all, so far, a very painless experience, besides the horrible bureaucracy to get all the documents to get to this point. 

My experience so far, they want the right people, they have a 6th sense to see early on if your heart is in it, and are more then happy to help you out to get there if they feel you are the right person.

The Ministry of Interior interview, current wait times is approx 5 yrs.

 To get Thai citizenship from start to finish is approx 6-8 yrs even.

Candidates who applied in 2021 are still waiting for Ministry Interview.

Thai nationality MOI interview,  held on 19-Dec-2025.

Congratulations to all invited.

19 hours ago, DrJoy said:

Thai nationality MOI interview,  held on 19-Dec-2025.

Congratulations to all invited.

Thank you for the good information. Altjough I was not among the lucky ones, it is reassuring to know that the wheel is still turning, however slow it may be!

On 12/22/2025 at 4:20 PM, FelixPeccatum said:

Hi all, I just started my journey towards citizenship, and might have a few things to add that I noticed were different than expected.

 

at first I was expecting that bringing more years of information would make the case better, however all of my evidence extending beyond 3 years was friendly returned and told it was not required (I had 12 years worth of tax documents, work permits etc, they really only wanted 3 years).

first visit was in late September to go through the list, it became obvious I needed to get some more documents, including my education papers legalised in my home country.

 

so early December, I had it all sorted I thought and went back. Just in time to be the last person in the old location at Siam, and being told that for the next appointment I needed to go to the new location at chaengwattana.

 

I am currently on an LTR-H visa, so I have a digital work permit. SB requested me to get a statement from the ministry of labour. I went to my amphur office of department of labour and they said: your visa is under BOi, so we transferred all your files to them. Maybe you can check there. So off to OneBangkok it was. Took quite some confusion, as at first they didn’t know what documents I required (even with a sample), but one lady heard I wanted to apply for Thai citizenship and she knew what was required. 2 weeks wait, 400 baht, but also that one settled.

 

for my company affidavit, my legal department requested an official copy from DBD. This is basically a printed out document with digital signature. This was at first rejected by the SB, as it required original stamps and signatures. Since my company has multiple mayor shareholders in several countries, my head of legal counsel was not sure he could get the documents signed in time, so he called my case officer and a few documents were added to the list and it went down smooth.

 

Last week, when I brought the final stack of documents to the new location, all documents were accepted, but I was asked to change my two witnesses. I had two witnesses that are well placed in companies and agencies, and my case officer said I should get regular people, that are more likely to be available at the interview. Sounds sensible enough, and maybe having less “political connection” to my witnesses might be good in this current climate.

 

so, today we updated the witnesses and gave those documents.

 

it was then mentioned I could say when I was available for the interview, they told me I should practice Thai and practice the national anthem (I take this as the case officer wanting me to get more points, as as far as I know it’s not mandated?).

he mentioned as well, that once I finish I could meet with the MOI for another round with 3-4 people. And it almost felt he was indicating right away. Will need to verify with the misses if I got that wrong, because what I gather here, that would be a few months of waiting?

 

anyway, will keep you guys updated, and fingers crossed!

 

btw, new location is nice, and has ample parking. For those that have to go there, it’s behind asawin hotel, and a new block, so not the old special branch compound, a little further down and in the corner (it will make sense when you get there).

 

my case manager seems very friendly and supportive, but speaks like a machine gun (fast as hell) and seems to not speak a single word of English…

 

Sounds like we have the same case officer.

On 12/26/2025 at 10:24 PM, JackGats said:

Congratulations! I'll pass on Thai citizenship. I'll be long dead by the time they'd give it to me.

 

In countries like Peru and the Dominican Republic, the foreign pensioners' problem is to DELAY the citizenship process, lest they lose foreign retiree status and the tax exemption that goes with it.

Why should we care? Why are you even hanging out here?

7 hours ago, saakura said:

Thank you for the good information. Altjough I was not among the lucky ones, it is reassuring to know that the wheel is still turning, however slow it may be!

Yes, thanks for the update, Drjoy. It is reassuring to know that the cogs haven't ground to a complete halt.

8 hours ago, saakura said:

Thank you for the good information. Altjough I was not among the lucky ones, it is reassuring to know that the wheel is still turning, however slow it may be!

What did your officer say about oath?

14 hours ago, DrJoy said:

What did your officer say about oath?

My lady case officer with whom I was aquainted since long years was promoted and transferred few months ago. The new officer was not so friendly (on the phone) and asked me to wait patiently for my turn.

On 1/1/2026 at 9:00 AM, saakura said:

My lady case officer with whom I was aquainted since long years was promoted and transferred few months ago. The new officer was not so friendly (on the phone) and asked me to wait patiently for my turn.

There were oaths in Oct 2025 but don't know why you and onthemoon were not called.

Hope you're in the next batch.

2 hours ago, DrJoy said:

There were oaths in Oct 2025 but don't know why you and onthemoon were not called.

Hope you're in the next batch.

I think I read in this forum that those oaths were for applicants under marriage. My application is under business.

I am patient, as I don't think there will be new oath ceremonies before the elections anyway.

I’m looking to attain citizenship by way of marriage to a Thai citizen and I believe I meet all the requirements.

However, I am still somewhat confused about legalizing my UK degree.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I understand it goes something like this:

1. Mail a photocopy of my degree to a UK notary public or solicitor who will certify it.

Any recommendations? Costs?

2. Pay the solicitor the fee for his signature and a mailing fee for them to mail it to the FCDO in Milton Keynes to be legalised.

3. Fill in the Milton Keynes application form online and pay their stamp fee and a fee for it to be mailed to the Thai embassy in London.

4. Fill in the Thai embassy form online, pay their stamp fee and the mailing fee for it to be returned to me in Bangkok.

5. Get it translated to Thai in Bangkok and get it certified at the MFA Chaeng Wattana.

The Milton Keynes website says it can be the original or a photocopy. Will the Citizenship people accept the photocopy rather than my original certificate signed and stamped all over? Having only one original certificate, I would rather not risk it being lost/damaged/stamped all over if a photocopy is fine.

I’m a teacher and in addition to my degree, I have a PGCE. Reading through this forum, I noticed one successful poster suggested paying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education to go through the above process as well as the degree because his Thai translation came out with the same Thai words as Masters degree which gave him more points in the application process.

Saying all this, I have a colleague who says he successfully submitted all his documents for Thai citizenship and never went through the above to get his degree legalized from the UK. He says maybe they let him off because he submitted his Thai Teacher Licence in addition to his non legalized Thai translation of his UK degree.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

23 minutes ago, guru said:

I’m looking to attain citizenship by way of marriage to a Thai citizen and I believe I meet all the requirements.

However, I am still somewhat confused about legalizing my UK degree.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I understand it goes something like this:

1. Mail a photocopy of my degree to a UK notary public or solicitor who will certify it.

Any recommendations? Costs?

2. Pay the solicitor the fee for his signature and a mailing fee for them to mail it to the FCDO in Milton Keynes to be legalised.

3. Fill in the Milton Keynes application form online and pay their stamp fee and a fee for it to be mailed to the Thai embassy in London.

4. Fill in the Thai embassy form online, pay their stamp fee and the mailing fee for it to be returned to me in Bangkok.

5. Get it translated to Thai in Bangkok and get it certified at the MFA Chaeng Wattana.

The Milton Keynes website says it can be the original or a photocopy. Will the Citizenship people accept the photocopy rather than my original certificate signed and stamped all over? Having only one original certificate, I would rather not risk it being lost/damaged/stamped all over if a photocopy is fine.

I’m a teacher and in addition to my degree, I have a PGCE. Reading through this forum, I noticed one successful poster suggested paying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education to go through the above process as well as the degree because his Thai translation came out with the same Thai words as Masters degree which gave him more points in the application process.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

4. Fill in the Thai embassy form online, pay their stamp fee and the mailing fee for it to be returned to me in Bangkok.

^This is my biggest hurdle it seems. Looking at their website, there does not seem to be any opportunity to get it mailed to Thailand if you live here because you need a prepaid Royal mail envelope.

“Documents can be collected in person or sent returned back by post (Please include a self-addressed pre-paid Royal Mail Special Delivery 100g-500g A4/C4 hardback envelope).”

https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/page/81905-legalisation?menu=5d6636ce15e39c3bd0007344#letter

For a notary service in London to do it all for me including the HEDD degree verification fee, Milton Keynes FCDO fee, Thai Embassy fee and courier fee back to me in Thailand, I just got a quote of 420 pounds. All I have to do is upload a PDF of my degree. Does this sound reasonable?

On 12/30/2025 at 2:49 PM, DrJoy said:

Thai nationality MOI interview,  held on 19-Dec-2025.

Congratulations to all invited.

Any idea if meetings will start to be held more regularly now?

7 hours ago, ecline said:

Any idea if meetings will start to be held more regularly now?

It depends on the mood of the Minister, there is no set criteria.

When did you apply? Married to Thai or not?

On 1/9/2026 at 8:57 PM, DrJoy said:

It depends on the mood of the Minister, there is no set criteria.

When did you apply? Married to Thai or not?

Married to a Thai lady. Applied in 2021. Docs went to MOI around Oct 2022.

On 1/13/2026 at 11:28 AM, ecline said:

Married to a Thai lady. Applied in 2021. Docs went to MOI around Oct 2022.

They accepted my application in Oct 21 and my docs were sent to MOI in July-22. I'm still waiting to hear from MOI. Will it be this year? I'm not holding my breath! I applied as unmarried.

6 hours ago, Arun Mai said:

They accepted my application in Oct 21 and my docs were sent to MOI in July-22. I'm still waiting to hear from MOI. Will it be this year? I'm not holding my breath! I applied as unmarried.

Unmarried applicants have a higher wait time for sure. Sad but true

Thai nationality MOI interview today.

Congratulations to all invited.

18 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

Thai nationality MOI interview today.

Congratulations to all invited.

Although I am not among the lucky ones, it is good to hear that the process is moving slowly. Congratulations to the lucky ones!

Dear All

I have a question about what kind of Thai government medical benefits I might be eligible for if I am granted citizenship. I have just turned 65 and I'm working at an international school on an expat contract - I have never made any social security payments (and I gather that it is much too late to start payments now).

Thank you!

22 minutes ago, lomtalay said:

Dear All

I have a question about what kind of Thai government medical benefits I might be eligible for if I am granted citizenship. I have just turned 65 and I'm working at an international school on an expat contract - I have never made any social security payments (and I gather that it is much too late to start payments now).

Thank you!

I am now retired and get free healthcare from my local government hospital (free for Thais over 60). This is not linked to social security payments, which I stopped paying upon retirement. I do, however, get a social security pension based on what I paid in, and a governemnt pension of 600 Baht per month, which will increase to 700 Baht when I hit 70 years old.

2 hours ago, GarryP said:

I am now retired and get free healthcare from my local government hospital (free for Thais over 60). This is not linked to social security payments, which I stopped paying upon retirement. I do, however, get a social security pension based on what I paid in, and a governemnt pension of 600 Baht per month, which will increase to 700 Baht when I hit 70 years old.

That's a relief! Thanks for clarifying, Garry.