Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That

[Goinghomesoon]

Not sure whether this is better here or in the Thai visa/citizenship section, but here goes...

I am Australian and have an adopted child born overseas. I am listed as the sole parent on this child's court orders and have full custody in two places (her birth country and my country - Australia). The child has citizenship of both countries. I married my Thai husband some years after I adopted my daughter. He considers her to be *his* child, in every way. Except of course he is not legally her parent on paper.

Hubby is very keen for daughter to become a Thai national, among the reasons are that he has property here that he would like her to inherit (he has no other children). And if something happened to me, he would not legally be her parent. While my family would be very happy to include him in parenting decisions, he would prefer to have a solid legal ground on which to stand.

It is not possible for him to adopt my daughter in Australia as we don't reside there. We have received advice from Dept of Social Development and Welfare (DSDW) that the Thais will not process/approve the adoption of a foreign national. They say this should be dealt with in their *home* country, even though we don't currently live there.

It might be possible for husband to complete a step-parent adoption of daughter in her birthcountry. But we'd like to be absolutely certain that this is 100% required before proceeding down this painful, slow and expensive path.

My questions are:

- What steps would we need to take to register her as his child, and to get Thai citizenship?

- What court would we be dealing with in Thailand - if any?

- If not a court, where would we find out about a citizenship application for a foreign child?

If we need local legal representation, grateful if anyone could PM me with the details of any company that they have personally dealt with and achieved positive results.

[Mario2008]

I would advise yu to first contact Isaan Lawyers. Normally a child has the nationality of her parents, in the case of adoption the child can often get the nationality of the adoption parents. Your first step would be to check if that also is the case if a Thai person adopts a child.

Note that often you can make a will stating that who you want to have custody over the child in case you die. In most countries a court will respect that wish, unless there are serious doubt against the person you want to have custody over your child. In a case as your where the person you want to have custody over the child already is taking care of the child together with you there will be little doubt who will get custody.

[gregb]

You need to read the entire text of the Thai Nationality Act. I think the relevant part is as follows:

From Section 12:

"Should the applicant for naturalisation as a Thai, under paragraph one, have children who are not sui juris in accordance with Thai law, and who have a domicile in Thailand, he may concurrently apply for such naturalisation for his children. In this case, such children shall be exempt from possessing the qualifications under Section 10 (1), (3), (4) and (5)."

That means when you, legally married to your husband and living in Thailand, apply to be naturalized as a Thai citizen, you may simultaneously apply to have your children naturalized as Thai citizens. The children are exempt from all normal naturalization requirements except for 10 (2), which is that the child "have good behaviour"

There is no mention in here of "children born to the mother". Only that the applicant for citizenship, you, have children who are not yet of legal age. It would seem to me it makes no difference if your children are adopted or not, as long as they are legally and in every way your children.

Of course, once the children are Thai citizens, your husband can adopt them through the DSDW. I would definitely consult a lawyer about this one though. However, the process does not appear to be prohibited by Thai law. It could run into obstacles because of someone's interpretation of it or lack of knowledge, but I would push strongly in this direction.

The text is pretty clear.

[Mario2008]

It is an option, but one that takes a long time. Probably more as 5 years. In addition, the Thai interior ministry now seems to insist that you renounce your original nationality if you want to become a Thai citizen.

(It also will not establish family ties between the child and the husband).

The Thai adoption law might provide a better option.