Registering My Name In Our House Document

[OJAS]

I would welcome comments from other Thaivisa members on the advantages and benefits, if any, to getting our names registered in house documents, bearing in mind all the bureaucratic hoops which we foreigners in particular are required to go through first. Based on my recent fruitless attempts to get my name added to my Thai wife’s in our house document, I am now far from convinced that the ends justify the means in my case at any rate.

Firstly, we were informed by our local Amphur office that I needed to obtain a residency letter plus a certified copy of my passport from the British Embassy. That proved to be relatively straightforward.

The fun and games started after we got these 2 documents translated into Thai and then set about what emerged to be the daunting task of getting them endorsed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We underwent a tedious 7-hour session at the Ministry as a result of their querying several aspects of the Thai versions of both documents. That meant that we had to obtain fresh translations (which, fortunately, proved possible without our having to leave the Ministry’s premises). The Ministry subsequently raised further queries on the revised translation of 1 of the documents, which necessitated a third translation of the document in question!

After what felt like an eternity, the Ministry eventually handed back to us both documents duly endorsed. I was quietly confident that we were now on the home straight. Wrong!

When we returned to our local Amphur office the following day, they refused to accept the endorsed documents on the grounds that the spelling of my surname in the Thai versions differed slightly from that in our Thai wedding certificate, which my wife has subsequently incorporated into her ID card and passport. Quite understandably, she does not relish the prospect of amending the Thai spelling of our surname in our wedding certificate and, hence, her ID card and passport as well. So I would appear, if I were so minded, to have little choice other than to start all over again from scratch with a fresh residency letter and certified passport copy from the British Embassy.

The sole reason for my seeking to have my name registered in our house document in the first place was to enable me to provide clear evidence of my address to Immigration. In the event, my local Immigration office have not asked me for any proof of address as part of either of the 90-day reports which I have to date provided to them. And it is clear from ubonjoe’s and Lite Beer’s responses to my posting at http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Applying-Annual-Extensions-Stay-t261496.html that the registration of my name in our house document is unlikely to prove a specific prerequisite to my obtaining annual extensions of stay dating from the expiry of the latest “admitted to” date stamped in my passport within the lifetime of my existing multiple-entry O-A visa for retirement purposes.

I do not intend, therefore, to waste any more of my time, money or energy on what might well now be a completely pointless exercise for me in any event.

[samran]

To be clear: Are you trying to get your name on the blue coloured house registration? If you are, then you will have no luck, as it is impossible for foreigners to get on it, unless they have permanent residency in Thailand.

What you can do however is get put on the yellow coloured house book, specially designed for foreigners. While not uncommon, not every amphur knows about them if they haven't got a large expat community.

More about yellow tabieen baans here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Yellow-Tabie...hn-t156485.html

[abdulrahman]

To be clear: Are you trying to get your name on the blue coloured house registration? If you are, then you will have no luck, as it is impossible for foreigners to get on it, unless they have permanent residency in Thailand.

What you can do however is get put on the yellow coloured house book, specially designed for foreigners. While not uncommon, not every amphur knows about them if they haven't got a large expat community.

More about yellow tabieen baans here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Yellow-Tabie...hn-t156485.html

Probably you're right,looking at the documents requested,he wanted to put his name on the blue Tabien Ban:mission impossible.

For the yellow Tabien Ban you need much less paperwork!

[OJAS]

To be clear: Are you trying to get your name on the blue coloured house registration? If you are, then you will have no luck, as it is impossible for foreigners to get on it, unless they have permanent residency in Thailand.

What you can do however is get put on the yellow coloured house book, specially designed for foreigners. While not uncommon, not every amphur knows about them if they haven't got a large expat community.

More about yellow tabieen baans here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Yellow-Tabie...hn-t156485.html

Probably you're right,looking at the documents requested,he wanted to put his name on the blue Tabien Ban:mission impossible.

For the yellow Tabien Ban you need much less paperwork!

Yes, I can, indeed, confirm that my intention was to get my name included in my wife’s blue book, so thanks for the info about the yellow book, chaps. However, I have concluded that it would probably not be worth my while going through even the less hassle apparently required for the yellow book. I have not so far in my 6 months of living in Thailand encountered any undue difficulties with, for example, Immigration (as noted in my original post) or opening bank accounts as a result of not being the proud possessor of this particularly coloured book.

My doubts about the usefulness of this book in my case at least have been reinforced by the following exchanges included within Samran’s link:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Tabian-Baan-Blue-Yellow-Books-t108439.html&hl=yellow

However, are there likely to be any situations which I have yet to encounter where life really would not be worth living without the yellow book?

[InterestedObserver]

However, are there likely to be any situations which I have yet to encounter where life really would not be worth living without the yellow book?

NO. There are plenty of expats living in Thailand without a yellow house book.

[Riley'sLife]

I obtained my Yellow Book several years ago ....so long ago, in fact, that I have forgotten why I applied for it !!! I have never found any use for it and it lives in the bottom of my documents drawer, in a plastic wallet, in pristine condition.

Maybe I got it to obviate the need for Proof of Address letters which I couldn't obtain from Immigration and couldn't be bothered to trek to Bangers to my Embassy to obtain. Anyway, I have never used it.

Just asked wifey, and she says it will make it easier to get my house book when we build our next house. Ha. We'll see!

[kamalabob2]

A yellow House book is one of two possible items to prove your place of residence when obtaining a "permit to build House" in Thailand. A yellow house book seems to satisfy some Government offices, certainly utility offices when setting up original or even temporary service. A Thai citizen must produce the blue house book if the utility in it the Thai person's name, but a foreign person need only be in a yellow house book to obtain utility service in their name.

[samran]

However, are there likely to be any situations which I have yet to encounter where life really would not be worth living without the yellow book?

NO. There are plenty of expats living in Thailand without a yellow house book.

very true. We only got it cause my wife has applied for thai citizenship, and having the yellow book was required as part of the process. The OP should perhaps aim for getting a letter certifying residency at Suan Phlu?

Having said that, we have found it mildly useful as having a yellow house book means you are allocated a Thai ID number and that you are 'in the system'. Given that most government departments can access the central ID database, this comes in useful from time to time when my wife needs to prove her ID to the government. This includes:

- Extend her DL without a letter from the embassy.

- Getting her ID used for our childrens Thai birth certificate and passport applications

- Useful to prove residency when entering national parks etc (ie getting the Thai rate).

- Used as part of my wifes annual visa extension.

As you see, not hugely useful, but it definetly is the 'show stopper' in terms of ID. Definetly trumps any official when they ask for an (expensive) letter from the embassy.