Dual Citizenship Us-thai

[jeb]

A friend asked me about dual citizenship and I was wondering if anyone has information about the topic.

Are there specific US Embassy or Thai Immigration offices that deal with this?

As must be obvious I'm starting from zero.

jeb

[Arunsak]

If you have kids born outside of Thailand (in US), and mother and/or father is Thai citizen, the consulate or Thai embassy is quite fast and efficient at preparing a Thai birth cert for the kids. The birth cert is written in Thai and there is a section which says "nationality" and in the case of our kids, it says "Thai". Since they were born in US, obviously they are American also. With the Thai birth cert, the kids can apply for Thai passport. Not sure if that relates to anything with you, as your post is a bit vague.

[jimmym40]

If you have kids born outside of Thailand (in US), and mother and/or father is Thai citizen, the consulate or Thai embassy is quite fast and efficient at preparing a Thai birth cert for the kids. The birth cert is written in Thai and there is a section which says "nationality" and in the case of our kids, it says "Thai". Since they were born in US, obviously they are American also. With the Thai birth cert, the kids can apply for Thai passport. Not sure if that relates to anything with you, as your post is a bit vague.

[/quote

I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but years ago (15 yrs) it was possible for adults to have dual citizenship (Thai/US). But somewhere along the line it became illegal. And I know of this from two experiences: (1) I asked the immigration officer in LA upon return from Thailand (2 yrs ago) and he said absolutely not legal, and (2) Thai consulate in LA told us if a thai national becomes a US citizen, that the person must turn in all their thai forms of ID

I was doing some checking on all this because I wanted to avoid getting the wife visa's everytime we wanted to come to Thailand to visit for over 60 days or longer.

Sorry, nothing in stone here, but I don't think it's possible. If you find out anything different, please let me know.

[jeb]

Sorry, nothing in stone here, but I don't think it's possible. If you find out anything different, please let me know.

Thanks to each for your response; if I do, I shall.

[Arunsak]

I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but years ago (15 yrs) it was possible for adults to have dual citizenship (Thai/US). But somewhere along the line it became illegal. And I know of this from two experiences: (1) I asked the immigration officer in LA upon return from Thailand (2 yrs ago) and he said absolutely not legal, and (2) Thai consulate in LA told us if a thai national becomes a US citizen, that the person must turn in all their thai forms of ID

I was doing some checking on all this because I wanted to avoid getting the wife visa's everytime we wanted to come to Thailand to visit for over 60 days or longer.

Sorry, nothing in stone here, but I don't think it's possible. If you find out anything different, please let me know.

Interesting. Immigration officers at airports are often among the lowest level in the legal totem pole that makes up immigration policy. With all due respect I would not put much credence in what a rubber stamp airport officer says in terms of what citizenship an individual is allowed. There are some excellent lawyers who specialize in immigration. I can only tell you that kids can get a Thai passport, based on their Thai birth certificate, and I am quite sure there will not be any loss of their American citizenship as a result. As for a Thai wife getting US citizenship, I am not sure of the intricacies because my wife has not made the application for US citizenship, though she intends to at some point for various reasons. We absolutely do not want to lose her Thai passport however. Someone once told me that a Thai can get a US passport and keep their Thai passport without any problem, but if that Thai decides to rise up in the middle of an airport in Thailand with two passports in her hand and starts shouting that she has two passports, it will lead to complications. In any case, in a forum called Thai Visa .com there are certainly going to be more experienced contributors to this thread so I will not add further other than to say my kids have a Thai birth cert clearly stating Thai nationality, and it was fairly easy to get. The Thai authorities we dealt with at the local consulate office were outstanding, professional and prompt.

[jeb]

I am embarassed to admit my misunderstanding of my(cryptic? 8~) friend's interest. He recently married a Thai national with children and wants dual citizenship for himself.

Failing that, he says what about Thai citizenship for a US national?

[samran]

If you have kids born outside of Thailand (in US), and mother and/or father is Thai citizen, the consulate or Thai embassy is quite fast and efficient at preparing a Thai birth cert for the kids. The birth cert is written in Thai and there is a section which says "nationality" and in the case of our kids, it says "Thai". Since they were born in US, obviously they are American also. With the Thai birth cert, the kids can apply for Thai passport. Not sure if that relates to anything with you, as your post is a bit vague.

I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but years ago (15 yrs) it was possible for adults to have dual citizenship (Thai/US). But somewhere along the line it became illegal. And I know of this from two experiences: (1) I asked the immigration officer in LA upon return from Thailand (2 yrs ago) and he said absolutely not legal, and (2) Thai consulate in LA told us if a thai national becomes a US citizen, that the person must turn in all their thai forms of ID

I was doing some checking on all this because I wanted to avoid getting the wife visa's everytime we wanted to come to Thailand to visit for over 60 days or longer.

Sorry, nothing in stone here, but I don't think it's possible. If you find out anything different, please let me know.

It is entirely possible.

The Thai Nationality act was ammended in 1992. While the legistlation is a bit fuzzily worded, the upshot is that dual nationality is possible.

Women who take their husbands nationality do not have to give up Thai nationality...unless they choose to volunarily renounce it.

Children who are born with dual nationality DO NOT have to choose a nationality at age 20. They are given one year only between ages 20 and 21 to file a request to have their citizenship renounced...should they wish to. If they don't chose to renounce, they continue with being Thai as well as what ever else they wanted.

If you are confused, the Thai Embassy in Washington DC has an excellent website. In the consular section page there is a FAQ section which will put your mind at rest.

[blizzard]

give up american citizenship...................is he ting tonggy? the kids aint even his!

Edited June 10, 2007 by blizzard

[samran]

I am embarassed to admit my misunderstanding of my(cryptic? 8~) friend's interest. He recently married a Thai national with children and wants dual citizenship for himself.

Failing that, he says what about Thai citizenship for a US national?

If he wants Thai citizenship for himself, he is going to have to qualify for it. See the Thai visas and residency forum, there is a thread posted at the top of the forum on this. He'll have to get permanent residence first, a minimum of 3 to 4 years, and citizenship is a further 5 years away. It won't be easy, especially if he isn't working here, and impossible if he is on a retirement visa.

As for his new 'children', I'll leave that to the Americans here who know about that.

[mellow1]

Our son was born in the USA.As a baby we went to the Thai embassy in Chicago.We got both a Thai birth certificate and passport.On vacation to Thailand,my wife included him in the family papers here in Thailand.I believe you can never lose your US citizenship, if you were born in the USA.

[thaihome]

I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but years ago (15 yrs) it was possible for adults to have dual citizenship (Thai/US). But somewhere along the line it became illegal. And I know of this from two experiences: (1) I asked the immigration officer in LA upon return from Thailand (2 yrs ago) and he said absolutely not legal, and (2) Thai consulate in LA told us if a thai national becomes a US citizen, that the person must turn in all their thai forms of ID

I was doing some checking on all this because I wanted to avoid getting the wife visa's everytime we wanted to come to Thailand to visit for over 60 days or longer.

Sorry, nothing in stone here, but I don't think it's possible. If you find out anything different, please let me know.

This a hugely inaccurate post and I hope the poster and it is a shame if he has based any life type decisions on the information.

There is certainly no issue with the US and dual nationality. As stated in other post, Thailand does not either.

I personally know 3 Thai women having dual US-Thai citizenship due to being married to US citizens. One of them lived in the US for less then a year and became a US citizen while living in Thailand, as her husband was working for a US company and the residency requirement was waived. All of the children (6) from these marriages have both US and Thai passports.

TH

[jeb]

If you are confused, the Thai Embassy in Washington DC has an excellent website. In the consular section page there is a FAQ section which will put your mind at rest.

May I ask for the link? Nothing I found had a FAQ.

jeb

[glaitong]

This might be helpful link.

http://oca.thaiembdc.org/faq.htm

Edited June 10, 2007 by glaitong

[jeb]

This might be helpful link.

http://oca.thaiembdc.org/faq.htm

Thank you; through that I found this:

http://www.thaiembdc.org/consular/con_info...htm#nationality

Couldn't find the FAQ, though.

jeb

[jeb]

This might be helpful link.

http://oca.thaiembdc.org/faq.htm

Thank you; through that I found this:

http://www.thaiembdc.org/consular/con_info...htm#nationality

Couldn't find the FAQ, though.

jeb

Or should I say, didn't find anything labelled FAQ

jeb

[samran]

jeb - that is the one i was talking about.

[jeb]

jeb - that is the one i was talking about.

Thank you; that question's answer seemed positive. Of course the devil's in the details...

jeb