Thai Passport For My Son In 30 Days?

[a man with a plan]

Hi there, my wife and myself after 4 years of living in the UK decided that we just want to go back to Thailand. We've just had a child and there's a stack of things to do but I'm one of these that when my mind's made up I want to do it asap. We've got to register his birth with the Thai embassy in London, then apply for his thai passport, then apply for his british passport. Is it possible to just do his british one, then get to Thailand, register his birth right away and apply for his passport there? Obviously it's possible but the only thing is that when he enters the country it'll be on a british passport meaning he has a limited time to get sorted. I suppose to get more than the 30 days I could get a tourist visa for him from the thai embassy London. So what's the most efficient way of getting that sorted?

Also, another issue, seeing as we've been here this long and got the wife's ILR and all, it'd be nice to get a british passport so that if we want to go somewhere like Australia or Singapore or something, she can go with a british passport rather than faff about with getting visas for a thai one. It seems like it's a lengthy process getting citizenship and then the passport (on the site it says and average time of 6 months). Is there a quick way of doing it? Or - someone told me it was possible to do all that stuff at the english embassy in bangkok - though I really can't imagine that's true; swearing the oath and becoming a british citizen while in bangkok. But I thought I'd ask as if it was possible that'd be great. I'm just trying to cut things down as much as possible; with all the things we have to do - and the fact that each thing requires original documents like passports, so we have to do them one at a time it can easily mount up to a year or more. Son's british passport, 2 months, his thai passport, 2 months wife needs a new passport (hers will expire soon), don't know how long that would take, wife citizenship, 6 months, her british passport, 2 months - and that's if there's no delays along the way.

I just want to get back over to thailand, ideally in about 6 months. Any suggestions?

[a man with a plan]

or what if I do his thai passport first (here in the UK) then go over to thailand and get my son's english passport from the British Embassy in Bangkok? Then it wouldn't have the time constraint of him being on a visa.

[lopburi3]

You should take care of the Thai passport in the UK as it will be easier that way. Believe it is register birth with Embassy and apply for passport.

Your other questions are probably best asked in the other visa forum so will move there.

[Mario2008]

Not only easier, but you can only obtain a Thai passport if you register the birth first with the Thai embassy in London. You will not be able to do that in Thailand itself, as the child was not born in Thailand.

30 days should be enough, believe it takes about 3 weeks to complete the birth registration and passport. Both have to sign the papers, which can be downloaded from the embassy website.

and Congratulations with your child!

[7by7]

You say that your wife has ILR, but you don't say how long she's been in the UK.

In order to apply for naturalisation as British and then a British passport she needs to not only have ILR, she also needs to have been living in the UK for at least the three years prior to applying.

See Requirements for naturalisation if you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen for full details of the requirements.

It is not possible for her to apply for naturalisation whilst outside the UK.

[a man with a plan]

You say that your wife has ILR, but you don't say how long she's been in the UK.

In order to apply for naturalisation as British and then a British passport she needs to not only have ILR, she also needs to have been living in the UK for at least the three years prior to applying.

See Requirements for naturalisation if you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen for full details of the requirements.

It is not possible for her to apply for naturalisation whilst outside the UK.

Yeah, I didn't think it would be possible gain citizenship while outside the country. She's been in England with me on a settlement visa since nov '05 and she got her ILR status the end of september '09. We've been living here continuously for the past four years. So I believe we meet all the criteria in that link. In that case how quickly can the process be done? I saw an ad for an agency - which I would usually avoid but it seemed like they could get it done much faster than the six months that they implied on the homeoffice website.

[7by7]

From what you have said, she certainly meets the residential requirement so there is no reason why she should not apply now.

Applications are dealt with in the order they are received. How long it takes depends partly on how many applications are ahead of your wife's in the queue. They also need to make checks and enquiries with other agencies concerning the statutory requirements; and a lot depends on how quickly they receive answers to those. See Waiting times

I don't see how any agency could speed things up, and I am sure that no reputable agency would claim to be able to do so. In fact, there is no real need to use an agent unless your wife's case is for some reason unusually complex.

Applying via the Nationality Checking Service seems worthwhile.They will check the application is correctly completed, which may avoid delays, and you will get your original documents, including passport, back immediately.

See Ways to apply for British citizenship or nationality.

[seaeagle]

May be against your nature, but DO slow down a bit!

1) Get your wife's citizenship and passport. If it takes a while, then so be it. It's a pain in the but dragging a Thai around the world with the hassles of getting visas. My own wife is Thai here, but as soon as she's through immigration on the way out, she's British. Makes life very easy.

2) Registering birth and getting Thai passport is easy. Get a date with the embassy in London, go through the paperwork, and catch the train back home. Our daughter's Thai passport arrived within 10 days of our trip.

3) The first British passport for your child will be easy. May take a bit longer than a replacement, since it's a first one, but at this time of year, it will go through relatively quickly.

Many people come to Thailand unprepared. I think if you DON'T conclude the above matters, you'll be unprepared also for the future. Please do go through what needs to be done, and you'll enjoy your life here all the more. Don't come half-cocked.

All the best.

[mrbojangles]

I can't remember the exact details but your son doesn't need a visa for Thailand. They don't do children for over staying. My Mrs takes my daughter over to Thailand for 3 months at a time. The daughter only has a UK passport at the moment, never a problem.

Additionally, even though your child was born in the UK, you can get your child's birth registered at a Thai Embassy in other countries, not just the UK. The documents will take longer to sort out because they do go back to the UK for verification but if you can't make it to London, it's an option.