Wife Is New Usa

[thailand_tom]

my wifeis going to be a usa citizen..can she live in thailand? does she have to get a visa now? she was a tha national.can she still own land?

[siamamerican]

my wifeis going to be a usa citizen..can she live in thailand? does she have to get a visa now? she was a tha national.can she still own land?

My wife is taking her citizen test next month and she had the same questions. She is proud to be Thai and doesn't want to forfit her Thai citizenship. You might want to search this forum for topics on this forum. The genmeral consensus is that Thais can own land if the government doesn't have knowledge of their US residency. Sounds a little risky and it would be nice to get some feedback from US expats with Thai wifes that are now US citizens.

[Tony Clifton]

How would they even know?

In 2007, some govt. offices are still writing down information in ledgers.

Oops, 2008.

Edited March 29, 2008 by Tony Clifton

[astral]

I assume your wife will still retain her Thai passport?

Therefore she leaves the US on her new passport and enters Thailand on her Thai passport.

No visa required.

On the land side, she is still Thai so I see no problem.

and as TC says, no record at the local govt office level.

[Huey]

My Wife and I checked with our lawer about this recently, yes there was a law that said she would loose her land ownership rights however this was droped back in 97'. Yes she can own land.

[Martian]

My wife is studying to become a US citizen and our research says there is no problem with regard to her Thai citizenship side. Thai law states that no one can take away your Thai citizenship, you must sign an affidavit demanding such in order for this to happen. When were married several years ago, I intentionally had her keep her same name so that there was no obvious indication of her marital status or citizenship so she could retain any rights that might be in jeopardy. Since then, we have learned there are no real consequences on her Thai side with regard to our marriage or her impending US citizenship. She will retain both a Thai and US passport. We (she) own a house and land now. Of course, if you have any concerns, you should do your own research to satisfy yourself.

Regards!

[thailand_tom]

I assume your wife will still retain her Thai passport?

Therefore she leaves the US on her new passport and enters Thailand on her Thai passport.

No visa required.

On the land side, she is still Thai so I see no problem.

and as TC says, no record at the local govt office level.

thats what her friends were saying..check into thailand with her thai passport..but..when she goes back to the usa..will the usa be looking for a thai stamp as to when she entered thailand..on the way back to usa..does she use her usa passport..leaving thailand.

[jstumbo]

This is very common and countries do not have a problem with it for air travel. You always use the same passport to enter and leave a country. So she will always use her Thai passport for Thailand, except for checking in for a flight to the US, they will want to see that she can legally enter the US, so she will need to show her US passport to the airline.

Process would be as follows:

When she checks in for the flight to Thailand in the US, she should shows her US passport. They will enter that passport number into the computer, which is the equivalent of the exit immigration in other countries. As a US citizen you are supposed to enter and exit the US on your US passport. If they say anything about needing a visa or return ticket, then she can show them her Thai passport.

When she arrives in Thailand, she shows immigration her Thai passport. She will enter Thailand as a Thai citizen.

When she checks in in Thailand for her flight back to the US, she shows her US passport to the airline employees to show that she is allowed to legally enter the US.

When she goes through Thai immigration to leave Thailand, she shows her Thai passport that she used when she entered Thailand.

When she arrives in the US, she uses her US passport for immigration and enters as a US citizen.

Pretty standard for dual citizenship people. She will have both passports with her and if someone questions her, she can always pull out the other passport to show them. But don't offer it unless there are some problems, no need to complicate it for the people.

If she was going to Europe from the US, she could do the whole thing using her US passport.

Edited March 30, 2008 by jstumbo

[jetjock]

I congratulate Jstumbo in correctly writing very thorough and easy to understand steps in traveling on the airlines with dual citizenship.

If you are interested in reading what some of the official words are from the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs , here is a link to Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has FAQ concerning Thai's married to foreigners and buying property and a few questions that might be of interest to people with dual citizenship. This link is in Thai and has some legal speak so can be a bit confusing.

[TheDon]

Thanks guys, I was going to ask this same question soon. Great timing

[Old Man River]

This is very common and countries do not have a problem with it for air travel. You always use the same passport to enter and leave a country. So she will always use her Thai passport for Thailand, except for checking in for a flight to the US, they will want to see that she can legally enter the US, so she will need to show her US passport to the airline.

Process would be as follows:

When she checks in for the flight to Thailand in the US, she should shows her US passport. They will enter that passport number into the computer, which is the equivalent of the exit immigration in other countries. As a US citizen you are supposed to enter and exit the US on your US passport. If they say anything about needing a visa or return ticket, then she can show them her Thai passport.

When she arrives in Thailand, she shows immigration her Thai passport. She will enter Thailand as a Thai citizen.

When she checks in in Thailand for her flight back to the US, she shows her US passport to the airline employees to show that she is allowed to legally enter the US.

When she goes through Thai immigration to leave Thailand, she shows her Thai passport that she used when she entered Thailand.

When she arrives in the US, she uses her US passport for immigration and enters as a US citizen.

Pretty standard for dual citizenship people. She will have both passports with her and if someone questions her, she can always pull out the other passport to show them. But don't offer it unless there are some problems, no need to complicate it for the people.

If she was going to Europe from the US, she could do the whole thing using her US passport.

A very thorough list. One additional thing that should be mentioned in case it comes up is that normally the name on the air ticket is the married name which is OK from the US side as it will be the same name that is on the US passport, but is different from the name showing on the Thai passport (and Thai ID card). This assumes that the wife maintains her maiden name for Thai purposes, which is normally the case.

While no problems on this so far, if the Thai side ever closely checks the name on the air ticket with the name on the passport being used to leave or re-enter Thailand, it would be a hassle to explain why the name of the person entering Thailand is different from the name on the air ticket that was used to enter Thailand.

Of course, with heightened security these days, should this ever become a problem the Thai wife could get a one year visa on the US passport and re-enter Thailand as a US citizen (similar to the husband). She would, of course, still keep her Thai passport and ID card as is. It would simply be a matter of cost for the visa.

[TheDon]

I think this desrves a sticky in the visa forum, or something simular

[jstumbo]

A very thorough list. One additional thing that should be mentioned in case it comes up is that normally the name on the air ticket is the married name which is OK from the US side as it will be the same name that is on the US passport, but is different from the name showing on the Thai passport (and Thai ID card). This assumes that the wife maintains her maiden name for Thai purposes, which is normally the case.

My wife is actually Chinese. I do not know if Thailand will do it, but my wife was able to take her Chinese passport to a Chinese consulate in the US and they added an addendum that said that she was "also know as", and then gave her married name. So she has them both in the same passport.

[Thaiboxer]

I'm not sure on how the US immigration people are these days, but it was a real hassle when my wife and I lived there in 2001/2002. I got her a K-1 marriage visa which I used for us to get legally married in the States. After we got the marriage license and signed the wedding papers, they gave her a one year work permit which she used to find a job. Going down to the immigration in Miami, FL was a nightmare; standing outside for hours waiting to just ask a question or two. When we wanted to visit Thailand in 2002, they made us get something called "advanced parole" which allowed my wife back into the country when we returned. That cost us $100 and is just another way for them to rob you. The advanced parole said we had to be back in early July 2002 as her interview for the green card was in Sept. When we returned in June, we had a notice in the mail that they had scheduled her interview WHILE WE WERE ON VACATION and that since we didn't appear, they took away her work permit and wanted another $100 to "reopen" her case. In other words, the advanced parole was useless. This was one of the things that prompted us to move to Thailand in 2002.

It's nice that your wife can have US citizenship as it makes it easy for her if you live here and decide to return to the States. As for foreign men married to Thai ladies getting Thai citizenship, it's what we call wishful thinking!

[PadThaiGuy]

The Thai Wife can own land in Thailand.

[Old Man River]

A very thorough list. One additional thing that should be mentioned in case it comes up is that normally the name on the air ticket is the married name which is OK from the US side as it will be the same name that is on the US passport, but is different from the name showing on the Thai passport (and Thai ID card). This assumes that the wife maintains her maiden name for Thai purposes, which is normally the case.

My wife is actually Chinese. I do not know if Thailand will do it, but my wife was able to take her Chinese passport to a Chinese consulate in the US and they added an addendum that said that she was "also know as", and then gave her married name. So she has them both in the same passport.

I don't know if the Thai embassy would do this either, but it is a good idea to try if it does ever become a problem.

[thaihome]

...A very thorough list. One additional thing that should be mentioned in case it comes up is that normally the name on the air ticket is the married name which is OK from the US side as it will be the same name that is on the US passport, but is different from the name showing on the Thai passport (and Thai ID card). This assumes that the wife maintains her maiden name for Thai purposes, which is normally the case.

While no problems on this so far, if the Thai side ever closely checks the name on the air ticket with the name on the passport being used to leave or re-enter Thailand, it would be a hassle to explain why the name of the person entering Thailand is different from the name on the air ticket that was used to enter Thailand.

Of course, with heightened security these days, should this ever become a problem the Thai wife could get a one year visa on the US passport and re-enter Thailand as a US citizen (similar to the husband). She would, of course, still keep her Thai passport and ID card as is. It would simply be a matter of cost for the visa.

Most couples I know the wife has changed her surname to husbands on Thai ID card. To not do this is left over from the days when a Thai woman lost some rights when married to a foreigner, which is no longer the case. My wife changed her ID card many years ago and has not suffered any discrimination for it. As we have lived in several countries that required her to get dependent visas based on my working, having the same surname made this a simple process with no need to explain why we had different names.

TH

[Old Man River]

...A very thorough list. One additional thing that should be mentioned in case it comes up is that normally the name on the air ticket is the married name which is OK from the US side as it will be the same name that is on the US passport, but is different from the name showing on the Thai passport (and Thai ID card). This assumes that the wife maintains her maiden name for Thai purposes, which is normally the case.

While no problems on this so far, if the Thai side ever closely checks the name on the air ticket with the name on the passport being used to leave or re-enter Thailand, it would be a hassle to explain why the name of the person entering Thailand is different from the name on the air ticket that was used to enter Thailand.

Of course, with heightened security these days, should this ever become a problem the Thai wife could get a one year visa on the US passport and re-enter Thailand as a US citizen (similar to the husband). She would, of course, still keep her Thai passport and ID card as is. It would simply be a matter of cost for the visa.

Most couples I know the wife has changed her surname to husbands on Thai ID card. To not do this is left over from the days when a Thai woman lost some rights when married to a foreigner, which is no longer the case. My wife changed her ID card many years ago and has not suffered any discrimination for it. As we have lived in several countries that required her to get dependent visas based on my working, having the same surname made this a simple process with no need to explain why we had different names.

TH

From your comments I can see where the name change would be beneficial to you as well as some others, but there are times when not changing it is also important (family businesses etc.). It is good to hear that your wife has not experienced any discrimination in Thailand from the name change.