How To Leave As A Brit And Return As A Thai ?

[palusa]

I keep coming up against a brick wall with the thai authorities and hope someone can help. I am married to a thai and we have an 18 year old daughter who was born in the UK. We now live in thailand. We went through all the red tape and expense and finally got our daughter a Thai I.D. and passport. Now the Thai immigration say that my daughter still has to report every 90 days and still has to apply for her yearly visa. Immigration also told us she cannot fly out of Thailand on her UK passport and fly back in on her Thai passport. Can anybody help.

[Briggsy]

As Nike said, just do it! Keeping the British passport handy at Thai immigration as she comes back in, ready to be inspected if necessary by the immigration officer, she could simply request to be admitted on her Thai passport.

Flights to KL and back are relatively cheap.

[vont]

Did the Thai Immigration tell you in English? Or did your good wife/daughter interpret it into English for you?

As every farang knows, as far as the Thai Immigration Laws are concerned, if your daughter enters into the kingdom by using any other means than the Thai pp, then she has to do what every other farang has to do.

But if your daughter enters with her Thai pp, then she just declares herself a Thai citizen and as the Thai Laws go, a Thai can stay in Thailand as long as he/she likes.

Did your daughter originally enter into Thailand with a foreign passport? If she does, then now that she also possesses a Thai pp, as someone already suggested that she should exit Thailand with that same foreign pp to Penang, KL or S'pore, to cancel out and close out the immigration record.

Then upon returning to Thailand, she can just enter Thailand with her Thai pp.

She can then like many hundred other dual nationality persons remain indefinitely in Thailand, if so wish. Hope, this is not confusing you further.

Edited August 3, 2010 by vont

[Mario2008]

She has to leave Thailand on her UK-passport and re-enter on her Thai. Some immigration officials don't like dual citizenship and think it is ilegal, but there is no way they can not allow her to enter on a Thai passport.

[vont]

She has to leave Thailand on her UK-passport and re-enter on her Thai. Some immigration officials don't like dual citizenship and think it is ilegal, but there is no way they can not allow her to enter on a Thai passport.

Mario is correct.

If any Thai immigration officer refuses to accept a legitimate Thai Passport as a means of entering the kingdom, he/she, if reported, would be subject to severe reprimand.

But I really doubt that any reasonably intelligent immigration officer would behave that way, just to wait for a bribery, perhaps.

However, I do hope that the daughter would have a smooth sailing back into Thailand to rid any remaining anxiety from this family.

[gregb]

I don't really have any stake in this, but I am curious.

Don't Thais usually fill out a card when they exit Thailand, and they have to submit this card when they reenter? Even if the Thai subhect loses that card, it is still in the computer system.

In this case though, there would be no corresponding exit to match the entry. How does Thai immigration deal with this? Is there a special procedure that is used the first time a Thai born overseas enters on a Thai passport? If so, what is it?

[MikeyIdea]

She has to leave Thailand on her UK-passport and re-enter on her Thai. Some immigration officials don't like dual citizenship and think it is ilegal, but there is no way they can not allow her to enter on a Thai passport.

Mario2008 is 100% right. I had a friend some years ago who also struggled with why his Thai nationality son I think it was had to do visa runs. Cleared by cancelling out the immigration record by leaving on the western passport and entering on the Thai passport.

Edited August 4, 2010 by MikeyIdea

[Mario2008]

I don't really have any stake in this, but I am curious.

Don't Thais usually fill out a card when they exit Thailand, and they have to submit this card when they reenter? Even if the Thai subhect loses that card, it is still in the computer system.

In this case though, there would be no corresponding exit to match the entry. How does Thai immigration deal with this? Is there a special procedure that is used the first time a Thai born overseas enters on a Thai passport? If so, what is it?

Correct, one has to explain why there is no departure card, but that is all there is to it and should not lead to any problem.

There is a problem with some officers thinking it is illegal two hold dual nationality, based on this article of the Thai nationality act:

Section 14. A person of Thai nationality, who was born of an alien father or mother and has acquired

the nationality of the father or mother according to the law on nationality of the father or mother, or a

person who acquired Thai nationality under Section 12 paragraph two or Section 12 bis (2) and (3) is

required, if he desires to retain his other nationality, to make a declaration of his intention to renounce his

Thai nationality within one year after his attaining the age of 20 years, according to such forms and in the

manner as prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

If, after consideration of the said intention, the Minister is of opinion that there is reasonable ground to

believe that such person may acquire the nationality of his father, mother, or a foreign nationality, he shall

grant permission, except in cases where Thailand is engaged in armed conflict or is in state of war, he

may order the dispensation of any renunciation of Thai nationality

How ever, there is no consequence to not choosing between nationalities. The law doesn't give someone the authority to remove Thai nationality if no choice is made and many Thai people have dual nationality without any problem.

In the case of the OP any discussion can be prevented by pointing out that the child is not 20 years old yet.

[samran]

I don't really have any stake in this, but I am curious.

Don't Thais usually fill out a card when they exit Thailand, and they have to submit this card when they reenter? Even if the Thai subhect loses that card, it is still in the computer system.

In this case though, there would be no corresponding exit to match the entry. How does Thai immigration deal with this? Is there a special procedure that is used the first time a Thai born overseas enters on a Thai passport? If so, what is it?

True, but it is no big deal. There must be thousands of Thai citizens born outside of Thailand each year, and they have to enter Thailand at some stage for the first time.

That was certainly the case with me (granted this was 17 years ago). In that case the immigration officer had a bit of a tiz cause there wasn't a corresponding stamp, but a quick chat with his superior saw to it that I was stamped in as normal.

Compare this to my sister who got her first Thai passport in about 30 years in London last year. She came back to Thailand with a blank passport and was stamped in without a blink of an eye.

Given that it is clear that the OP's daughter was born in the UK, which it will show on the passport, then it will even be clearer that this is her first entry as a Thai citizen, and she will be stamped back in no worries.

To the OP: Daughter simply leaves on the British Passport next time she flies somewhere, and gets stamped back in on the Thai passport.

Main moral of the story, if you have an overseas born child with Thai citizenship, it is much easier to organise your first Thai passport at the thai embassy overseas before you return to Thailand.

[phuketrichard]

I keep coming up against a brick wall with the thai authorities and hope someone can help. I am married to a thai and we have an 18 year old daughter who was born in the UK. We now live in thailand. We went through all the red tape and expense and finally got our daughter a Thai I.D. and passport. Now the Thai immigration say that my daughter still has to report every 90 days and still has to apply for her yearly visa. Immigration also told us she cannot fly out of Thailand on her UK passport and fly back in on her Thai passport. Can anybody help.

NO PROBLEM

my daughter holds thai and us passport. she comes into and leaves thailand on her thai passport and everywhere else she travels on her us passport (except Vietnam and Laos where she does not need a visa)

Edited August 8, 2010 by phuketrichard

[Artabus]

Just curious...

Has your daughter kept her British nationality? If not, why not?

Apologies if this has been covered, and I missed it.

[dixonbm]

Clarification on how to travel to/from Thailand with two passports using USA as an example.

Book air travel using USA/other country passport.

Arrive in Thailand and show Thai immigration your Thai passport.

You shouldn't have a problem.

When you leave Thailand:

Show the airline your US passport upon check-in.

When going through customs for your exit stamp you should show the Thai customs your *Thai* passport.

My wife and son are both US and Thai citizens. They go through this every time they visit Thailand. As a bonus I also get to go through the Thai entry/exit line when I travel with them.