Thai Passport For My Friends Child

[oldhand]

Help please Gents as I was asked for advice on this and it had me stumped.

My Italian friend has a Thai GF of 5 years who had previously been married to a UK guy and obtained a British passport. Due to the ease of travel on a UK passport to Italy his GF has always entered into the country on the UK passport.

Recently they have had a baby and the baby's birth was registered with the mothers name and british nationality and the fathers name and his Italian nationality. The daughter has obtained both a British and Italian passport but they have been told by the Thai embassy in Italy that she cannot have a Thai passport.

Any advice and contacts would be gratefully received so that I can send this on to him.

Thanks

[lopburi3]

Sounds logical as she was in the country as a citizen of the UK when the child was born.

But we also have a recent post with the London Embassy requiring marriage prior to issue a passport to a child of a Thai and foreign national if there was no misunderstanding involved.

[samran]

The child is a Thai national by birth, and is eligble to apply for a Thai BC and passport, so long as the mother still has her ID card and house registration. He current Thai passport would be useul too.

IF bubs was born in the UK, the Thai embassy in London is going to be the only place for you to get the paperwork done as they are responsible for recording the births of Thai nationals born in the UK. Equally, bubs was born in Italy, the Thai embassy in Rome are going to have to process the paperwork.

The link below is to a table which has been produced by the Thai Embassy in Washington DC. As you will see, it clearly states that a baby born outside to Thailand to at least one Thai parent is Thai, regardless of marital status.

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

I shall also direct you this site which is the English Translation of the Thai nationality law. Again, it states simply, that a child born to at least one parent is Thai. There is no stipulation that the parents need to be married. As you can see, Chapter 1, Section 7, part 1 deals specifically and simply with the issue of who gets Thai nationality and who doesn't.

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/THAILAND&...onality_Act.htm

Recommend you go back to the embassy armed with this evidence, the wifes Thai ID, house registration (or at least a copy) and her Thai passport.

If the junior official at the front desk says it isn't possible, demand to speak to the first secretary responsible for the consular section.

Be polite, but firm.

[lopburi3]

The Embassy they applied at is located in Italy and she was not Thai in Italy because she was using a UK passport to enter so technically I suspect that could prevent the Royal Thai Embassy there from issuing a passport.

[samran]

The Embassy they applied at is located in Italy and she was not Thai in Italy because she was using a UK passport to enter so technically I suspect that could prevent the Royal Thai Embassy there from issuing a passport.

Entering on a different passport doesn't stop you from being Thai, Lop. It just means you are using a certain type of travel document to enter a country. Thai nationality can only be revoked in limited circumstances, via the minister, or in some cases a court. Once obtained, Thai nationality is passed down by blood. Hence the ability in Thailand to use DNA evidence to prove ones right to Thai nationality.

But I digress.

To use yours truely as an analogous example for the OP:

I was born on OZ. Both my parents are Australian citizens, but my mother is also Thai national from birth. My mother enters Australia on her Australian PP as is her right. My birth was registered at the Royal Thai embassy in Australia so that makes me Thai via my mum proving that she was also a Thai national. Being born on OZ, also makes me Australian.

Conversely, my Daughter was born here in Thailand. I entered Thailand on my Thai passport. Born in Thailand to at least one Thai national parent (showed my ID card to the ampur) and my daughter is Thai. Went to the Australian embassy, and although I didn't enter Thailand on my Aussie PP, my daughter is registered as an Australian citizen.

[lopburi3]

Entering on another passport most surly does change your status in that country. And the Embassy is in that country. This is the reason governments hate dual nationality. Passports are not the same thing as citizenship. This is a country she is not a national of. She entered the country as a UK national and birth certificate will not say Thai.

[samran]

Entering on another passport most surly does change your status in that country. And the Embassy is in that country. This is the reason governments hate dual nationality. Passports are not the same thing as citizenship. This is a country she is not a national of. She entered the country as a UK national and birth certificate will not say Thai.

lop, it changes your status in so far as the levels of consular assistance you receive. But entering a country on one passport doesn't strip you of the rights associatiated with your other nationality, nor of the rights that derive from that (eg passing on citizenship to your children).

I honestly suspect that the embassy in rome is just being recalcitrant. Better the OP knows his wifes rights than let them be bullied around by a petty Thai bureaucrat.

[lopburi3]

It will change the paperwork. The birth certificate says the child is UK/Italian. So how can Thai Embassy issue a passport? Add the fact this is not a married couple and normal bureaucratic issues and you get a mixture for an extreme merry-go-round of paperwork I suspect.

[samran]

It will change the paperwork. The birth certificate says the child is UK/Italian. So how can Thai Embassy issue a passport? Add the fact this is not a married couple and normal bureaucratic issues and you get a mixture for an extreme merry-go-round of paperwork I suspect.

It doesn't/shouldn't matter what the Italian issued birth certificate says as it has very little bearing on the overall paperwork.

ALL Thai's born overseas are issued with a seperate Thai birth certificate - one specifically for Thai nationals born outside the Kingdom. This is always in addition to the locally issued BC. To get the overseas issued Thai BC, at least one parent has to establish their right to Thai nationality (ie via ID card, thai passport, house registration). The overseas Thai BC is substantially different to the one you would be issued if you were born inside the kingdom. The former can only be issued by Thai embassies to Thai's born in the country that the embassy is responsible for, the latter can only be issued by the Thai Ampur (municipality) you were born in.

Once you have the overseas issued Thai BC, then all things follow after that. The Thai passport can then be issued by the embassy. Upon returning to Thailand, the BC and passport will be needed to put the childs name on the Tabieen Baan. Once on the Tabieen Baan, the ID card can then be issued. But, literally speaking, the embassy-issued Thai Birth Certificates are the "keys to the kingdom", the first step for all subsequent bits of paper one needs ulitmately to live and work full time in Thailand.

[oldhand]

It will change the paperwork. The birth certificate says the child is UK/Italian. So how can Thai Embassy issue a passport? Add the fact this is not a married couple and normal bureaucratic issues and you get a mixture for an extreme merry-go-round of paperwork I suspect.

It doesn't/shouldn't matter what the Italian issued birth certificate says as it has very little bearing on the overall paperwork.

ALL Thai's born overseas are issued with a seperate Thai birth certificate - one specifically for Thai nationals born outside the Kingdom. This is always in addition to the locally issued BC. To get the overseas issued Thai BC, at least one parent has to establish their right to Thai nationality (ie via ID card, thai passport, house registration). The overseas Thai BC is substantially different to the one you would be issued if you were born inside the kingdom. The former can only be issued by Thai embassies to Thai's born in the country that the embassy is responsible for, the latter can only be issued by the Thai Ampur (municipality) you were born in.

Once you have the overseas issued Thai BC, then all things follow after that. The Thai passport can then be issued by the embassy. Upon returning to Thailand, the BC and passport will be needed to put the childs name on the Tabieen Baan. Once on the Tabieen Baan, the ID card can then be issued. But, literally speaking, the embassy-issued Thai Birth Certificates are the "keys to the kingdom", the first step for all subsequent bits of paper one needs ulitmately to live and work full time in Thailand.

Kh. Samran,

Having seen your advice and assistance many times on TV. I am again amazed at the depth and detail that you have aquired.

I will happily pass on your advice to my friend who will return with new determination to the Embassy in Rome. I will keep you advised of his progress.

Thanks again

OH