Permanent residency - do the 3 year extension has to be current?

[jombangkok]

I held 3-4 extensions a couple of years ago, and since then I've been jumping around at different employers. Now I am looking at permanent residency and I wonder if I have to stay in my current employer for another X years (extending it 1-2 times more) or if my previous extensions count somehow? When I google I get this:

 

• You must have had a Thai non-immigrant visa for at least three years prior to the submission of your application. Holders of multiple NON-Immigrant visas can not apply. You must have 3 consecutive yearly extensions in order to qualify.
• You must be a holder of a non-immigrant visa at the time of submitting your application.

 

Technically they don't specify that they have to be the same visa. However in another document I read this:

 

• Foreign national applicant must hold a passport that bears a Non-Immigrant Visa and was granted with one-year visa extensions which reveal that up until the date of application submission, the applicant have been staying in the Kingdom for at least 3 consecutive years.

 

Which is more clear in that it has to be at the point of submission.

 

Anyone have gone through this specific situation?

 

Thank you

[BritTim]

To apply for permanent residency, as I understand it:

1. If you are married to a Thai, you need three consecutive years of working and paying taxes. [In that case, however, you are better off going directly for Thai citizenship.]
2. Unless married to a Thai, you need five consecutive years of working and paying taxes.

In either case, I believe you need to be working at the time you make the application.

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, BritTim said:

• If you are married to a Thai, you need three consecutive years of working and paying taxes. [In that case, however, you are better off going directly for Thai citizenship.]
• Unless married to a Thai, you need five consecutive years of working and paying taxes.

You mixing up the requirements for Thai nationality with permanent residency (PR).

Being married to a Thai for PR only reduces the minimum income requirement to 50k baht from 80k baht.

If not married to a Thai you have to have PR for 5 years before applying for Thai nationality.

 

To the OP

A person applying for PR has to be working and paying taxes on a income of at least 80k baht for 3 consecutive years on extension of stay.

A visa only allows you to enter the country to get a permit to stay and then you extend it your permit to stay in the country.

You can change jobs but there cannot be any amount of time without being employed. 

[Sydebolle]

"You must have 3 consecutive yearly extensions in order to qualify."

That's the script, i.e. you have to be in Thailand on the same visa (and subsequent extensions) for at least three years. If you left Thailand in between and returned on a new visa, then it is back to Square One. 

Above is irrespective of how many employments you had or not; the original visa has to be at least three years old, i.e. whenever you left, you returned on a re-entry visa and got your yearly visa extended appropriately. 
Keep an eye on the other conditions (minimum wage and income taxed accordingly), possibly supporting Thai subjects (wife, children) or official solid investment (amount unknown to me) with traceable funds from outside Thailand. 

Good luck and, due to the maze you'll encounter, you might want to get some outside help by a professional law firm doing immigration issues.
www.kss.co.th did sterling jobs; Khun Anuchai Autchayawat, [email protected], is the man of the hour. They will not accept your application file if they cannot get you through and helped many to obtain residency and later on assisted in their efforts becoming Thai nationals.   

[ubonjoe]

29 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

Above is irrespective of how many employments you had or not; the original visa has to be at least three years old, i.e. whenever you left, you returned on a re-entry visa and got your yearly visa extended appropriately.

The visa would of expired long ago and means nothing after you are in the country and on extensions of stay.

If you dd not get a re-entry permit (it is not a visa) to enter the country your extension would be lost and you would have to apply a new visa and start the 3 years all over again.

[Thalueng]

There are several requirements, for example fluency of spoken Thai, funds, max. 100 individuals of each foreign country are considered each year, there is an application window which differs each year, etc. The visa requirements are min. 3 years of consecutive visa of the same type, non-O, marriage, or work, or retirement by the time of application. Employer etc. do not matter.

[jomtienisgood]

28 minutes ago, Thalueng said:

There are several requirements, for example fluency of spoken Thai, funds, max. 100 individuals of each foreign country are considered each year, there is an application window which differs each year, etc. The visa requirements are min. 3 years of consecutive visa of the same type, non-O, marriage, or work, or retirement by the time of application. Employer etc. do not matter.

If I recall correctly you cannot apply for PR on retirement visa......

[Myran]

"Technically they don't specify that they have to be the same visa."

 

What? That's literally what they spell out in the text you're quoting: "Holders of multiple NON-Immigrant visas can not apply."

[jombangkok]

On 8/16/2021 at 12:27 PM, Myran said:

"Technically they don't specify that they have to be the same visa."

 

What? That's literally what they spell out in the text you're quoting: "Holders of multiple NON-Immigrant visas can not apply."

I know I am a year late to reply to this, but that's not exactly what I meant.

 

I am pretty sure they are referring to the 3 years consecutive can not be 3 different visas. It has to be one visa with extension.

 

My question is wether the visa with 3 year extensions has to be the same visa you hold when applying.

 

For example:

 

I stay in Thailand since 2016, and hold various jobs like this:

• 2016 - Visa 1
• 2017 - Visa 1
• 2017 - Visa 2
• 2018 - Visa 2
• 2019 - Visa 2
• 2020 - Visa 2
• 2021 - Visa 3
• 2022 - Visa 3

In this case. I have 4 years unbroken visa during 2017-2020, however at the time of application 2022 I am at 2 years. 

 

So interpreting these:

• You must have had a Thai non-immigrant visa for at least three years prior to the submission of your application. Holders of multiple NON-Immigrant visas can not apply. You must have 3 consecutive yearly extensions in order to qualify.

You must have HAD a visa for three years. HAD, as in, past tense. Yes I had it at 2017-2020.

• You must be a holder of a non-immigrant visa at the time of submitting your application.

Yes, I HAVE a visa currently, just not the same as above.

 

Hope that makes it more clear.

[MaddieC_23]

I am wanting to resign in Thailand in the next two years are so, I have picked up a second job to save up and I am taking classes to learn Thai.  I found this website and your post when I had searched on how to permanently move into the country. And so I was wondering if you could give me some pointers or tips.