Obtaining Thai Citizenship

[Richard4849]

Just wondering if there were any others out there waiting for their Thai citizenship applications to be approved?

[samran]

yup, my wife.

She applied around this time last year at special branch under married to a Thai. Witnesses bought in and application sent off to minstry of interior. Ticked all the boxes, treated very nicely at special branch.

A few weeks after that we/she had an 'interview' at KFC (of all places) at Victory monument. Their idea of an informal setting.

Since then, nothing.

And you? How long have you been waiting.

[Richard4849]

I put in my application with Special Branch in 2007. Funnily enough, my first interview was at a KFC, too (but not at the Victory Monument one).

Anyway, I had my formal committee interview at the Ministry of Interior in August 2008 (along with about 250 other applicants), and was told informally afterwards that I had passed and that everything was green light.

That was almost nine months ago now.

[gbt71fa]

I put in my application with Special Branch in 2007. Funnily enough, my first interview was at a KFC, too (but not at the Victory Monument one).

Anyway, I had my formal committee interview at the Ministry of Interior in August 2008 (along with about 250 other applicants), and was told informally afterwards that I had passed and that everything was green light.

That was almost nine months ago now.

\

KFC, eh? This proves that KFC is the TRUE power behind the government.....what was the color of the shirts in this particular KFC, hmmm?

[Richard4849]

PS: I'm told, though, that foreign women seeking citizenship on the basis of marriage to a Thai man are handled separately from the rest of us.

[Richard4849]

I put in my application with Special Branch in 2007. Funnily enough, my first interview was at a KFC, too (but not at the Victory Monument one).

Anyway, I had my formal committee interview at the Ministry of Interior in August 2008 (along with about 250 other applicants), and was told informally afterwards that I had passed and that everything was green light.

That was almost nine months ago now.

\

KFC, eh? This proves that KFC is the TRUE power behind the government.....what was the color of the shirts in this particular KFC, hmmm?

This was in 2007, before the whole shirt thing got started.

[samran]

PS: I'm told, though, that foreign women seeking citizenship on the basis of marriage to a Thai man are handled separately from the rest of us.

Thanks for that titbid. I wouldn't be suprised.

It sounds like we are about a year behind you in the queue, if you can call it that. Lets wait and see. Not in a rush to get it, but wouldn't mind a bit of an update from them from time to time (though not counting on it).

Can you tell us a bit about your interview? What was asked etc. My wife's Thai language abilities, are, lets shall we say, limited. She gets lessons from time to time, but raising two kids makes it a bit hard to keep up with it all.

[Richard4849]

I don't think foreign women married to Thai men are subjected to the same interview as others are. I'm just a foreign guy, not even married to a Thai woman.

It was simply a 15 minute chit-chat with a committee of six people. It was conducted purely in Thai. They asked about my life in Thailand, my job, what I thought of the political situation, why I wanted to obtain Thai citizenship, why I hadn't gotten married yet, that kind of thing. Then I had to sing the Thai National Anthem and the Royal Anthem. I'd prepared to do it from memory, but they were allowing people to read it from notes. One thing that almost caught me: they picked out a couple lines of the Royal Anthem and asked me to tell them what the meaning was (luckily I knew). That was it.

I was told than successful applications are then passed to the Interior Minister for his signature, then to the palace, for HM's signature and subsequent publishing in the Royal Gazette. I'm just not sure how long all that is meant to take.

[samran]

thanks for the reply...

[TheChiefJustice]

My application was submitted to the Special Branch in May 2007 and I had my formal Interior Ministry interview in July 2008. I have just been told by one of my informants in the Interior Ministry that the Interior Minister has now signed my application - although I have not received any independent verification of this. I am hoping to receive my Thai citizenship sometime during 2009. Fingers crossed!

[Jungian]

Permanent resident works much better for me I can't imagine giving up my right to travel about the world freely without paperwork hassles and visa fees. Is there a large fee involved in getting actual citizenship?

[samran]

Permanent resident works much better for me I can't imagine giving up my right to travel about the world freely without paperwork hassles and visa fees. Is there a large fee involved in getting actual citizenship?

Thailand has no problem with holding multiple passports.

Unless your own country strips you of your current nationality when you to take out another nationality, there is no problem.

So you really get the best of both worlds.

Fees for applying are a couple of thousand baht at most from memory.

Edited April 29, 2009 by samran

[TheChiefJustice]

The fee is THB 5,000.

[likewise]

Do you need permanent residence first or can you apply for citizenship without having PR?

[TheChiefJustice]

If you are a male or a woman who is not married to a Thai man then you need PR before you are able to apply for citizenship. Foreign women married to Thai men do not need PR before applying for citizenship.

[likewise]

So what about a male married to a Thai female?

[samran]

So what about a male married to a Thai female?

you need PR first.

[TheChiefJustice]

Samran is absolutely correct.

If you are a male it does not matter whether you are married to a Thai female or not - you still need PR first. There are numerous threads about the qualifications for Thai citizenship. Just do a quick search and you'll find all the anwers you are looking for.

[Richard4849]

ChiefJustice,

I'm just wondering if you have been working to ease your application's way through the system (so to speak), or just letting nature take it's course?

[skippybangkok]

So what about a male married to a Thai female?

you need PR first.

What happend to the "class action suit" of sexual discrimination ...... there was one guy so gung ho he was gonna do it

died a predictable death.

[Richard4849]

I think they'll make it harder for women before they'll make it easier for men. It's just the way things are. No one would deny that it's much easier for a young Thai man to get a visa to the US (for example) than it is for a young Thai woman. It's just the way it is.

[skippybangkok]

I think they'll make it harder for women before they'll make it easier for men. It's just the way things are. No one would deny that it's much easier for a young Thai man to get a visa to the US (for example) than it is for a young Thai woman. It's just the way it is.

Agreed..... told em so..... but is was something to the effect of "i'll show you you nay sayer" Never mind, lets get back to the toppic. I gotta do this too, just lazy to do all the paper work........

Edited April 29, 2009 by skippybangkok

[samran]

I think they'll make it harder for women before they'll make it easier for men. It's just the way things are. No one would deny that it's much easier for a young Thai man to get a visa to the US (for example) than it is for a young Thai woman. It's just the way it is.

Agreed..... told em so..... but is was something to the effect of "i'll show you you nay sayer" Never mind, lets get back to the toppic. I gotta do this too, just lazy to do all the paper work........

to be honest, the paperwork was a doddle (mostly) very clear instructions. You'll find you've got most of it anyway. And going to special branch is great compared with Suan Phlu...so quiet!

Had a tougher time applying to migrate to the UK to be honest. Endless forms etc.

[Richard4849]

Agreed. It has actually been less laborious than the Thai PR application.

[dbrenn]

I put in my application with Special Branch in 2007. Funnily enough, my first interview was at a KFC, too (but not at the Victory Monument one).

Anyway, I had my formal committee interview at the Ministry of Interior in August 2008 (along with about 250 other applicants), and was told informally afterwards that I had passed and that everything was green light.

That was almost nine months ago now.

I heard nothing for a year and five months from my Interior Ministry interview. I then got news telling me that the Intrior Minister had signed, with a letter arriving around a month later. It then took another 8 months for the King to sanction my application, and another 6 months after that for the Interior Minister to sign off again and hand my application back to Special Branch.

The waiting was very frustrating, but there was nothing much I could do to hurry things along.

[Richard4849]

Thanks; I'll try to remain positive.

Actually, today I was told informally (as with another poster above) that the Interior Minister had signed off on my application in recent days. Perhaps he's just processed a bunch of them.

[dbrenn]

Thanks; I'll try to remain positive.

Actually, today I was told informally (as with another poster above) that the Interior Minister had signed off on my application in recent days. Perhaps he's just processed a bunch of them.

If the special branch people tell you that things are OK, there should be no need for you to worry. It's a slow process, and the lack of any news from the Interior Ministry, even via the Special Branch, convinces you that your application has disappeared into a bureacratic black hole and will never see the light of day again.

I was worried because the Interior Minister that signed my application on the way up, Kongsak Wanthana, was in the Thaksin government. After he had signed my application, there was the military coup and all the paranoia that followed about foreigners owning things and having rights. I was worried that Kongsak's decisions might be reversed, as there was no news whatsoever and the months dragged on. Then the King approved, then Surayudh's Interior Minister Aree Wongseariya finally gazetted my application in one of his ministerial notices. All my fretting turned out to be for no reason at the end of the day.

Chaos and changes in government didn't seem to make much difference to the process. Just be patient and you will get it. For most people, the process takes around 3 years to complete.

Edited April 30, 2009 by dbrenn

[likewise]

Samran is absolutely correct.

If you are a male it does not matter whether you are married to a Thai female or not - you still need PR first. There are numerous threads about the qualifications for Thai citizenship. Just do a quick search and you'll find all the anwers you are looking for.

Thanks for the reply guys, looks like I won't be going through that hassle of PR and just stick to visa's.

[Richard4849]

dbrenn,

Thanks for the encouragement.

Can I ask, once you received your citizenship, did you adopt a Thai name/surname -- or keep your original name in Thai transliterated script (like on your PR book).

I've been trying to weight the advantages/disadvantages.

[dbrenn]

dbrenn,

Thanks for the encouragement.

Can I ask, once you received your citizenship, did you adopt a Thai name/surname -- or keep your original name in Thai transliterated script (like on your PR book).

I've been trying to weight the advantages/disadvantages.

I kept my original name for a the follwowing reasons:

1) You are no longer obliged to take a Thai name. Even if they asked you to choose one when you applied for Thai citizenship, which I had to do, the rules have changed and you will keep your original name when you are naturalised

2) Keeping your original name makes travelling easier - switching passports mid-flight is seamless, but switching names could present problems. The names in my Thai and British passports match, which means that there is minimum confusion if I am asked to show both pasports at the same time

3) As a Thai, you can change your name any time you like. The THai authorities track you by your ID number (which you already have as a PR and won't change when you become a citizen) - whatever name you choose to attach to your ID number is of no real importance, and you can change it as often as you like.