Thai Citizenship?

[JC3]

I was wondering if you all could help me. I was born in Thailand and lived there only two years. I was then naturalized in the U.S. when I was 12. Is it possible for me to obtain dual citizenship Thai/US? I do have a US passport. Thanks.

-J

[old wanderer]

A few more fact please???

Were your parents Thai??

Do you have a Thai birthcertificate?

It might be as easy as comming to Thailand and getting your ID card with proof of parents and birht certificate. Once you have the ID card, they will issue a passport.

Best shot go and ask at the Thai consulate near you.

[JC3]

A few more fact please???

Were your parents Thai??

Do you have a Thai birthcertificate?

It might be as easy as comming to Thailand and getting your ID card with proof of parents and birht certificate. Once you have the ID card, they will issue a passport.

Best shot go and ask at the Thai consulate near you.

Thanks for the response. I am a product of the Vietnam War. My mother is from Thailand...we (my brother and sisters) all got naturalized at the same time. My father was in the military.

My birth certificate says "Department of State, Foreign Service of the USA" and was issued when I got into the states. But it does say I was born in Bangkok. I will definately take your advice and locate a Thai consulate. Thanks again.

-J

[astral]

It will strengthen you case if your mother has any papers showing her Thai ethnicity,

or even yours? A Thai birth certificate, perhaps?

[Maestro]

My birth certificate says ...does say I was born in Bangkok...

Your birth place is immaterial. Since one of your parents, your mother, is a Thai national you acquired Thai nationality by birth, regardless of the place of your birth. See Section 7(1) of Thailand’s Nationality Act:

Section 7. The following persons acquire Thai nationality by birth:

(1) A person born of a father or a mother of Thai nationality, whether within or outside the Thai Kingdom;

All you need to do to obtain a Thai passport and Thai ID card is to provide proof that your mother is Thai.

--

Maestro

[samran]

you need proof that one of your parents was a thai national. In this case, it appears that your mother is. Lacking any hard evidence, you'll need to follow the path that one of our members 'Greenwanderer' went down. He had to prove to authorities here in Thailand his linkages via DNA evidence. You can do a search for his posts to get an idea of what he had to go through...it took quite a long time. In your case, if your mother has documentation proving that she is Thai, then that would be a good start.

[greenwanderer108]

If you're dealing with a consulate overseas, I wouldn't be able to tell you how easy or difficult the path may be as I dealt directly with Immigration Police / MFA / Central Thai government in Bangkok before ultimately being given the green light for the final interview at the Amphur which saw me into an aunt's house registration and issued my ID. OVer 7 years ago when I initially contacted the US embassy in DC, while I was still livin in the states, they gave me misleading info that i would have to choose nationality as I was already 18...which turns out to be false, but they may or may not give you more or less hassle....not sure.

If your goal is to acquire a Thai passport, it may be possible and easier via the consular office, though they have would ultiamtely need the clearance from MFA in BKk before issuing it to you. Check with them first, but don't be surprised if you have to finalise it Thai side, as I'm not aware of adults being issued initial naturlization / citizenship via embassy, though it may be possible.

Before my US documents including my own birth certificate and mothers death certificate were translated and recieved the final legalisation stamp at MFA in Bangkok, it had to be passed and legalised by Thai Embassy DC, which requires Department of State (the US's ministry of FA) seal (signed by C. Rice herself!), which required state, city, and county seals as in my case. Your initial 30 year old Dep. of State issued Consular Birth Report Abroad or what have you, may or may not still be acceptable by Thai Emb DC's standards, but a new one can be issued via Dep of State website, for a small fee and the Thai emb in DC legalises that for a small fee and ultimately forwards it to the MFA for final legalisation, though that will most likely need to be certified translated for Thai side use before it gets the final seal...

The actual obtaining of citizenship wasn't final for me until I recieved an ID card at a district office in Thailand, which included house registration...Ofcourse the US documents mentioned were only a fraction of the whole pie for my case which included DNA test between me and an aunt, and several other Thai documents puzzle fillers that were translated and legalised by the appropriate Thai authorities.

...but as far as being issued the passport/Idcard via overseas embassy, I can't attest for adults though it's possible for minors for sure. I can say that I've met several other adults in the Bangkok 'Proving Nationality' Division going through the process on various occasions, of which all had some relative representative for interviews and DNA test as I did, and one 30 plus luk kreung american girl had both her parents fly to Thailand from the states to do this part of the process.

Ican tell you now that a DNA test Mytocondria connecting with an aunt or uncle costs close to 20k baht at the government hospital the BIB assiged, The results alone took two months. Though I imagine a straight praternity test would be much cheaper and swifter results, which would definately be required if you go through central bkk channels...

Good luck and please do keep us updated!