Dual Citizenship

[sportingjim]

hello all.

i am a us citizen. i am married to a thai citizen/permanent us resident, all of whose family is still in thailand. we were married in the us two years ago.

we celebrated the birth of our twins at thanksgiving, 2003. they both already have us passports.

my question to the forum at large is:

how do i go about obtaining dual citizenship for these children (thai in addition to us)?

is dual citizenship a condition they can maintain indefinitely?

thanks for any help!

Jim

Santa Cruz, California

[IamMaiC]

Sorry Jim I don't know the answer to your question I have a question for you How long did it take for your wife to come to the states? Did u do a fiance visa? I had to wait for my wife 2 years because I applied for a immigration visa I did not know that they had a fiance visa

It's been ###### pretty much I'm happy she is finally going for her interview on nov 2 Thanks for your answer

Steve

[astral]

Check with the Thai Embassy in Washington.

http://www.thaiembdc.org/index.htm

gives the details you need.

[haroldc]

Children of a Thai citizen, male or female, are entitled to Thai citizenship. Marital status of the parents actually is immaterial, the key is the birth certificate.

The Thai Embassy can tell you what documents you will need and what official translations will be required (be sure you know the exact requirements, especially regarding who does the translations).

In theory, Thai children who have multiple nationalities are required by Thai law to choose Thai or foreign citizenship at age 20. In practice, I don't know if this is enforced (or if it is even traceable).

[lopburi3]

In theory, Thai children who have multiple nationalities are required by Thai law to choose Thai or foreign citizenship at age 20. In practice, I don't know if this is enforced (or if it is even traceable).

See below:

http://phuketgazette.com/issuesanswers/details.asp?id=694

[huski]

a child can have dual citizenship at birth, US & Thai:

US CITIZEN

http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/natz/faq.htm#q24[/url]]24. If I am a U.S. citizen, is my child a U. S. citizen?

A child who is born in the United States, or born abroad to a U.S. citizen(s) who lived in (or came to) the United States for a period of time prior to the child’s birth, is considered a U.S. citizen at birth.

THAI CITIZEN

http://www.thaiembdc.org/consular/pp/newpp.htm[/url]]APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS :

Children who may apply for a Thai passport must be those whose either or both of their parents is/are a Thai citizen.

i would like to see comments concerning the truth of the two statements below:

http://www.multiplecitizenship.com/wscl/ws_THAILAND.html[/url]]DUAL CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED. Exceptions:

Child born abroad to Thai parents, who obtains the citizenship of the foreign country of birth, may retain dual citizenship until reaching the age of majority (18). At this point, person must choose which citizenship to retain.

A Thai woman who marries a foreign national and acquires her husband's citizenship has technically lost her Thai citizenship. Should the marriage end in death or divorce, the Thai national woman could regain her Thai citizenship. This is an unofficial dual citizenship designed to protect female Thai nationals.

lopburi3, i read the link you provided to the phuketgazette article and it states differently . i'm confused which is correct here as multiplecitizenship.com also quotes the same act. is the actual citizenship act on the net?

[lopburi3]

a child can have dual citizenship at birth, US & Thai:

US CITIZEN

http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/natz/faq.htm#q24[/url]]24. If I am a U.S. citizen, is my child a U. S. citizen?

A child who is born in the United States, or born abroad to a U.S. citizen(s) who lived in (or came to) the United States for a period of time prior to the child’s birth, is considered a U.S. citizen at birth.

THAI CITIZEN

http://www.thaiembdc.org/consular/pp/newpp.htm[/url]]APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS :

Children who may apply for a Thai passport must be those whose either or both of their parents is/are a Thai citizen.

i would like to see comments concerning the truth of the two statements below:

http://www.multiplecitizenship.com/wscl/ws_THAILAND.html[/url]]DUAL CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED. Exceptions:

Child born abroad to Thai parents, who obtains the citizenship of the foreign country of birth, may retain dual citizenship until reaching the age of majority (18). At this point, person must choose which citizenship to retain.

A Thai woman who marries a foreign national and acquires her husband's citizenship has technically lost her Thai citizenship. Should the marriage end in death or divorce, the Thai national woman could regain her Thai citizenship. This is an unofficial dual citizenship designed to protect female Thai nationals.

lopburi3, i read the link you provided to the phuketgazette article and it states differently <Section 13 of the Citizenship Act 1965>. i'm confused which is correct here as multiplecitizenship.com also quotes the same act. is the actual citizenship act on the net?

The base act was 1965 but it has been changed several times since then.

You might also want to read second para of K below:

http://www.tillekeandgibbins.com/Publicati...n_practices.htm

[huski]

thanks lopburi3, i forgot about tillekeandgibbins.com

[samran]

In theory, Thai children who have multiple nationalities are required by Thai law to choose Thai or foreign citizenship at age 20. In practice, I don't know if this is enforced (or if it is even traceable).

Not quite, this clause is often misinterpreted. At age 20, the dual citizen child has the option of chosing a nationality (ie renouncing Thai nationality) if they so wish.

There are many posts on this topic on this site, simply do a search and all will be answered

[sportingjim]

thanks for all that info.

really appreciate it.

lopburi, your link to phuket gazette was very helpful!

cheers, jim