Years of residency required before thaicitizenship

[sabaijai]

The Residency page on this website states:

"An alien with permanent residency status will be eligible to apply for Thai citizenship after 10 consecutive years under this classification."

But my immigration lawyer here, who himself served as an immigration officer for 15 years and has written textbooks about Thai immigration, says the permanent residency status requirement is only three (3) years.

Have I been misinformed or is it possible this may have changed?

Thanks.

[george]

Residency status after 3 qualifying years with Non-Immigrant Visa.

Citizenship after 10 years of residency.

[goofy]

With the new visa fees its getting more interesting to what will happen to the suggestion that a male married to a thaigirl will be able to obtain citizenship, as a swede i am able to have double citizenships but what does the thailaw say, can i have 2.

[sabaijai]

Right, that's what I said, ie, your website says 10 years residency before you're eligible for Thai citizenship, but Khun Suphat Skonchai says three years.

The way the discussion went, he said I needed three years on a Non-B with work permit before I could apply for PR. Once I had PR, he said in another three years I'd be eligible for Thai citizenship.

It's possible I either misunderstood what he told me or that he was mistaken or misunderstood my questions. Or that your web page is wrong. Just trying to figure out which. No one's infallible, etc. Is there a Thai goverment website where this info is available (either Thai or English, doesn't matter as I read Thai)?

Also I was confused by information on Thai citizenship appearing on another page on this website: "Aliens who wish to apply for Thai nationality under the Nationality Act B.E. 2508 (A.D. 1965) a person does NOT need to be 40 years or have spent 10 years in Thailand.

They must be of the age of majority, be of good character, be gainfully employed, have continuously lived in Thailand for not less than FIVE years and have knowledge of the Thai language. (Section 10)"

This forum is a lot of fun to read through,and the information on your website is extremely helpful.

Thanks.