Immigration Now Accepts Applications For Permanent Residency

[lopburi3]

Applications have been accepted yearly - but none have been approved for the last three years yet.

[Arkady]

Effectively you need to show you have an income hence the thai tax returns. However, last year I was considering applying and was told that you also need to be currently employed and have worked in the current job for more than a year. So according to the officers that accept the applications if you do have an income that only comes from investments (even if you previously worked in Thailand in the past) and also have tax returns each year then this is not enough for the basic application. You also need to be currently working, in addition to the other category specific requirements.

By the way I think the links on the website are dead, there is no information there.

In fact, under the last rules I saw posted on the Immigration website, you need to be in the same job for the entire three years. Since the window for applications closes on 31 Dec and the Revenue Dept only starts issuing Phor Ngor Dor 91 personal income tax receipts after the New Year, that probably means you need to submit your tax tax receipts for 2006-8 as you can't get the receipt for 2009 before 31 Dec. That means the requirement would effectively be for four years working with the same company.

The category for supporting Thai dependents is probably just there for show or if there is some one special they want to do a favour for. I would think it probably a waste of effort to apply without having a reasonably good job in Thailand. Any one with significant investment income in Thailand could easily set up a small office to monitor his investments and qualify that way.

A poster said he had talked to some one at Immigration about his chances of applying on a retirement visa and on the basis of voluntary work done at Chula. Even though the official made polite noises about this, I am afraid this is pie in the sky. You are definitely not qualified for permanent residence on this basis and they can and will investigate you for any work you are doing without a work permit that you are foolish enough to disclose in your application. Perhaps the official was rubbing his hands at the prospect of another farang turning himself for working without a work permit and giving them some more sport.

[Arkady]

With permanent residency status, must the foreigner continue to report to Immigration every 90 days?

Also, does the buy-in for permanent residence amount to nearly 200,000 baht?

1. No you do not.

2. Yes id does, unless you are married to a Thai in which case it is just under 100,000.

Hope that helps.

Hi can you make this clear for me "if you are married to a thai and not officaily diviorced" is that the same !

many thanks

Sorry, no idea! However, you do need a degree of support from your wife, including photos, copies of wedding certificate etc. so if you are not on good terms with your 'not divorced' wife, you may find it difficult.

If you are married to a Thai they will also come to your house and investigate that it is a bona fide marriage these days. That involves interviewing your maid, if you have one, and possibly interviewing the neighbours and/or their maids. My friend was asked for a photo of himself and his wife lying on their conjugal bed together! A fully clothed picture was apparently acceptable but who how knows what lengths they will go to in future to ensure that applicants are truly qualified for the "married discount". It is probably not worth the risk of waiting for years only to have your application torpedoed. Better to get divorced and apply as a single man at full price. I don't thi nk they put much weighting on having a Thai wife and family. They are mainly interested in your job and your income. I was single when I applied and no one ever mentioned that would make it harder and it didn't seem to. In fact, apart from discount which didn't apply in those days when the price was cheaper anyway, I think it is a lot more hassle to apply with a Thai family because that gives them another layer to scrutinise and potentially find fault with. I was also recently told by Special Branch that having a Thai wife would not help some one applying for Thai nationality who has plenty of points already without one. Their advice was - if you have not done so already, don't bother to register the marriage beforehand as you will only complicate things for yourself. I think that advice would also apply to PR applicants, if the discount were not a consideration and I think there may be a time limit to qualify for that.

Edited January 30, 2010 by thaiphoon
Line spacing adjusted

[monty]

Although it's not possible to check at the moment due to the immigration website being down, I was not aware that there was a requirement of holding the same job during the 3 year window.

I personally know 2 persons with residency who changed jobs several times, however their yearly extensions were based on them being married to a Thai national, so they never broke the 3 year continual 1 year extensions.

If you have extensions based on employment, yes, then changing employers would almost certainly break your chain of continuous extensions and thus starting the 3 year period all over!

So there would be no direct requirement for keeping the same job per se, but practically the requirement would be there as to be able to satisfy the 3 year non stop 1 year extensions!

[Dork]

Applications have been accepted yearly - but none have been approved for the last three years yet.

According to immigration, 2 of the 2006 applicants have received the approval letter from the interior ministry.

[Hanimal]

Applications have been accepted yearly - but none have been approved for the last three years yet.

According to immigration, 2 of the 2006 applicants have received the approval letter from the interior ministry.

This is news. Calling immigration gets the reply that everyone is still waiting.

[HKTMAN]

Just curious about your visa status after submitting your application.... do you still have to do your annual visa extensions just like every other year or is there a special "Under Consideration for PR" visa status given???

They'll give you "Under Consideration for PR" visa status for 3 months...then three 3 months...then three 3 months...then three 3 months...then three 3 months...then three 3 months....

That is - until you get approved (Permanent Res Book), very annoying....

How about changing the work to the other company "Under consideration" period. And the present employer is owned another company under his name and want me to move. If I move, then what will happen to my submitted application? Dose anyone met this kind of knowledge and case. Your reply and advise will very useful for me. Thanks

Joe

[inquisitive]

Today I went to the Immigration Department to ask them to look over my permanent residency application to tell me what might be missing. I ended up handing in my papers in their present state. Here is what happened:

When I first arrived the "screening lady" asked me some oviously pertinent questions, such as how long I had stayed continuously in the Kingdom and such. When she asked me about my job and I told her that I was here on a retirement visa, she said she was sorry but that made me ineligible. That one answer was so conclusive that there appeared to be no further reason for conversation and she actually got up to walk out of the room for what she must have thought was a well-deserved break. She remarked that I must be working at the time of the application or I was not eligible. She did not get into any fine details about how long I had to have held the job or anything like that because I had obviously already flunked out. (In my particular case I was applying under the "special exceptions" category, so thankfully for me the employment turned out to not be an issue. Except in, well, exceptional circumstances, that seems to be an ironclad rule, however, so the advice in this forum seems to be correct on that point.)

There is not much else to report except that when I passed the first screening station, sitting at the desk next to mine was a fellow that was having a hard time. There was a lot of teeth gnashing about some missing paperwork and him feeling that he did not have enough time to get it done before the application would no longer be accepted. Some of the comments made me believe that this was the second year that the fellow had the same problem. The immigration officer seemed to be genuinely trying to help and she assured the fellow that he probably could get it done in time, and even if not perfect, his applcation might still be good enough this time around. She also told him that for more than a month they had been available for consultation. She said that it was good practice to bring in the applications even before the time it would be accepted just so the department could check it over and give advice on how to perfect it.

The last two notable lessons today may only apply to my category, but perhaps others could shed further light: the officer told me that after the application was accepted, I would have until the end of January to add any missing papers or supplements. In fact, in my case she suggested that I add some photographs, get the ID cards of my sponsors, etc. I guess the lesson is that if you have your application 98% completed but are waiting for one last part such as a medical exam or a paper from back home, then they might possibly cut you some slack and allow you to turn in the missing part a few weeks late.

And finally, the oddest one of all, I got a stamp in my passport that gives me permission to stay in the Kingdom for 180 days while my application was pending - the so-called "pending" visa. At the same time, the officer also suggested that I not let my retirement visa lapse. Instead she suggested that I keep both the "pending" visa and the retirement visa both active. I am not sure her reasoning, but there you have it.

[aussiebebe]

Hi everyone,

Sorry if my lack of understanding fustrates people but I have read this thread and I'd appreciate any advice.

I'm working in Bangkok and staying on extensions of stay which my employer handles, and I report my address every three months. In the thread, people have said

a) that no-one been granted PR in three years

when the application is accepted, you are given 180 days, and then continuous renewals until sucessful or not

Am I missing something, or is this not a great way to live in Thailand for three years for 7,600baht?

If someone went to the trouble of preparing and submitting an application (okay I've read the requirements and it looks daunting) I think 7,600baht is a bargain - visa runs ain't free

[Mario2008]

You will have to get together all the documents first, which costs a lot of time and money and during these 3 years aplicants had to show up several times for tests etc. It is not the case that nothing hallend in these 3 years, only that the waiting on the final approval takes ages.

[Meridian007]

If applications have been accepted since 2006, but no one has been approved within that time, has anyone been given information that might point towards this year being any different? If they take so long to process, will any applications have enough time to be given a chance? This government has surprised me with how long they've held on to power, but I doubt it will last.

Have any of you who applied in 2006 heard anything that might indicate that your applications are at least being looked at? As well, are you still on those "pending" visas? If you are, this is the only hope I see for anyone to gain PR here, as otherwise the delays seem to be a useful excuse for effectively closing the doors of immigration.

In other words, can anyone give us some hope that there may be a future chance of obtaining PR in Thailand?

[Arkady]

Today I went to the Immigration Department to ask them to look over my permanent residency application to tell me what might be missing. I ended up handing in my papers in their present state. Here is what happened:

When I first arrived the "screening lady" asked me some oviously pertinent questions, such as how long I had stayed continuously in the Kingdom and such. When she asked me about my job and I told her that I was here on a retirement visa, she said she was sorry but that made me ineligible. That one answer was so conclusive that there appeared to be no further reason for conversation and she actually got up to walk out of the room for what she must have thought was a well-deserved break. She remarked that I must be working at the time of the application or I was not eligible. She did not get into any fine details about how long I had to have held the job or anything like that because I had obviously already flunked out. (In my particular case I was applying under the "special exceptions" category, so thankfully for me the employment turned out to not be an issue. Except in, well, exceptional circumstances, that seems to be an ironclad rule, however, so the advice in this forum seems to be correct on that point.)

There is not much else to report except that when I passed the first screening station, sitting at the desk next to mine was a fellow that was having a hard time. There was a lot of teeth gnashing about some missing paperwork and him feeling that he did not have enough time to get it done before the application would no longer be accepted. Some of the comments made me believe that this was the second year that the fellow had the same problem. The immigration officer seemed to be genuinely trying to help and she assured the fellow that he probably could get it done in time, and even if not perfect, his applcation might still be good enough this time around. She also told him that for more than a month they had been available for consultation. She said that it was good practice to bring in the applications even before the time it would be accepted just so the department could check it over and give advice on how to perfect it.

The last two notable lessons today may only apply to my category, but perhaps others could shed further light: the officer told me that after the application was accepted, I would have until the end of January to add any missing papers or supplements. In fact, in my case she suggested that I add some photographs, get the ID cards of my sponsors, etc. I guess the lesson is that if you have your application 98% completed but are waiting for one last part such as a medical exam or a paper from back home, then they might possibly cut you some slack and allow you to turn in the missing part a few weeks late.

And finally, the oddest one of all, I got a stamp in my passport that gives me permission to stay in the Kingdom for 180 days while my application was pending - the so-called "pending" visa. At the same time, the officer also suggested that I not let my retirement visa lapse. Instead she suggested that I keep both the "pending" visa and the retirement visa both active. I am not sure her reasoning, but there you have it.

Well done for getting your application accepted. What category did you actually apply under? As far as I know there are 5 categories: 1) investors; 2) expat workers; 3) those supporting or being supported by a Thai; 4) those supporting or being supported by a PR; and 5) experts. I don't think investors or experts would qualify unless they are working with a WP (but I think investors can apply with less than 3 years' WP). So that seems to leave only categories 3 and 4.

[MikeyIdea]

My 'Under consideration' extensions are for 6 months at a time.

They are free, and very quick and simple. No photo's, just go and fill in the form and 5 minutes later off you go with the new stamp.

The 90 day reporting obviously depends on your exit/re-entries to the country, if any. If you never leave the country and they are in sync., they will remain so.

I just did my application and my passport is stamped "Under Consideration" until 1 Nov 2010 (the date of my current extension). I wonder if I will get 6 month extensions after that or if they will continue with the one year ones. Anyone knows?

[MikeyIdea]

In fact, under the last rules I saw posted on the Immigration website, you need to be in the same job for the entire three years.

I talked to the immigration officer specifically about this and no, you don't have to work for the same company for all 3 years. You do have to be working for "the last company" for at least a year to qualify though - the company you work for when you apply, that is

Edited January 5, 2010 by MikeyIdea

[Arkady]

In fact, under the last rules I saw posted on the Immigration website, you need to be in the same job for the entire three years.

I talked to the immigration officer specifically about this and no, you don't have to work for the same company for all 3 years. You do have to be working for "the last company" for at least a year to qualify though - the company you work for when you apply, that is

If that is so, then I stand corrected. It does seem more logical. If you also need three years' tax receipts (PNG 90 or 91), does that mean that you actually need to have worked for four years because you can't file a tax return before January and applications close on 31 Dec, e.g. applicants in Dec 09 would have had to submit tax returns for 06, 07 and 08? Or did they allow applicants in Dec 09 to submit their 09 tax returns in Jan 10?