Documents Needed To Get Thai Birth Certificate At NY Thai Embassy

[lovethailand2011]

Hello,

I've searched this forum as well as scoured the web and haven't found anything exactly relating to my specific questions so I'm hoping that someone can help me out.

My situation:

• I'm 36 years old, my mother is Thai (born in Thailand) and my father is American (deceased).
• I was born in the US (Pennsylvania) and hold a US passport.

I now want to obtain dual citizenship and get my Thai passport. Based on my research I know the following:

• 
  I have to get a Thai birth certificate in order to apply for a Thai passport.
• It's easier for me to go the Thai embassy here in the US to do this.
• I have to go to the Thai Embassy in New York City since I was born in Pennsylvania.

I'm getting ready to gather the documents that I need to get my birth certificate at the embassy in NYC and want to make sure I have everything I need before I go since it's a 3 hour trip for me and I have to take off work. Based on what I've found online, this is the list I've come up with:

1. Completed application form (which the embassy had to mail to us because we couldn't find it online)
2. Copy of my US passport accompanied by original.
3. Copy of my US birth certificate accompanied by original.
4. Copy of my parents marriage certificate accompanied by original.
5. Copy of mom's Thai ID card accompanied by original.
6. Copy of my mom's US passport and original.

So my questions to the forum members are:

1. Is this list complete? Am I missing anything?
2. I just read on this forum that I also may need to have my US birth certificate officially certified by the state I was born in and then also have the US Federal State Dept. create an official Thai translation to bring to the embassy. Is this true for the Thai embassy in NYC? Any information on how long this takes, etc. would be really helpful if I in fact have to do this.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide in answering my questions!

[Thongkorn]

If you where born in the USA you will never get a Thai passport. Even people who are not of Thai origin born in Thailand cannot get Thai citizenship or passport.If it was your Mother who you say was born in thailand you would have to go to the local Amphur with a blue book from the house you mother lived in , failling that you would have to find some one who knew your mother that lived in the same village to vouch for her.

[lovethailand2011]

If you where born in the USA you will never get a Thai passport. Even people who are not of Thai origin born in Thailand cannot get Thai citizenship or passport.If it was your Mother who you say was born in thailand you would have to go to the local Amphur with a blue book from the house you mother lived in , failling that you would have to find some one who knew your mother that lived in the same village to vouch for her.

Thanks for the information Thongkorn however what you are saying does not match the information that I received from both of the Thai embassies in NY and DC. I thought that if my mother was Thai that I could also apply for Thai citizenship even if I was not born in Thailand.

If anyone else on the forum has additional information please let me know. Thanks!

[Maestro]

The information given by Thongkorn is wrong. Please ignore it.

lovethailand2011, your are a Thai national by birth, regardless of your place of birth, because one of your parents, ie your mother, is a Thai national.

I can't help you with the documents required by the Thai Embassy in New York. Different embassies seem to have different requirements, so it is best if you go by what your embassy instructs you to do. It would be nice if you could get the Thai birth certificate done by mail, but if they want to see you in person that's what you have to do. Hopefully, you can apply for your passport at the same time, because for this your personal presence is mandatory, anyway, as some fingerprints will be taken electronically and your eyes will be scanned for the chip that gets embedded in the cover of the biometric passport.

[samran]

If you where born in the USA you will never get a Thai passport. Even people who are not of Thai origin born in Thailand cannot get Thai citizenship or passport.

The above post is just plain rubbish.

Thai law is clear. A child of a Thai parent is also Thai.

Given you were born in the US, the Thai embassy has jurisdiction over issuing you your Thai birth certificate. As with Maestro, I am unable to help with the exact requirements, though you sound on the right track. The Thai embassy in DC will give you the exact requirements before you apply in NYC.

[jazzbo]

About the only interesting piece of information you have not provided here is the whereabouts of your Mother -- in the USA or back in Thailand?

[samran]

In this case though, I've been pretty much the same position as the OP. I didn't get my Thai BC till my late teens. I was born outside of Thailand, to one Thai parent. BC was issued via the Thai embassy in Australia. So was my first Thai passport.

I've just renewed my 5th Thai passport. My daughters have blond hair and blue eyes, were born in Thailand, and have Thai passports, putting paid to what 'Thongkorn' has said.

See the attached picture of my oldest. She is the one in the middle. She is 5 now. She just got her new Thai passport last week, along with mine.

[lovethailand2011]

About the only interesting piece of information you have not provided here is the whereabouts of your Mother -- in the USA or back in Thailand?

She has been in the US for 20+ years and also has her US citizenship.

To Samran-your girls are adorable! I figure better late than never to get my Thai BC and really want my kids (when I have them) to also have their Thai passports.

I emailed the embassy in NY so I'll post what I find out (I had previously emailed the embassy in DC and they weren't much help which is why I started researching the topic on the web). I'm also going to go through the process of getting my Thai ID card when I go to Bangkok in December and will also post about that process (if anyone has any advice let me know!). It's been hard to find any good information on the web for the process for US citizens and it's been difficult to get started so hopefully my experience will be helpful for others!

[samran]

About the only interesting piece of information you have not provided here is the whereabouts of your Mother -- in the USA or back in Thailand?

She has been in the US for 20+ years and also has her US citizenship.

To Samran-your girls are adorable! I figure better late than never to get my Thai BC and really want my kids (when I have them) to also have their Thai passports.

I emailed the embassy in NY so I'll post what I find out (I had previously emailed the embassy in DC and they weren't much help which is why I started researching the topic on the web). I'm also going to go through the process of getting my Thai ID card when I go to Bangkok in December and will also post about that process (if anyone has any advice let me know!). It's been hard to find any good information on the web for the process for US citizens and it's been difficult to get started so hopefully my experience will be helpful for others!

Your mothers location is irrelevant, so long as she can provide the documentation you need to get the birth certificate issued.

If I was you, I'd just call the consulate in NYC. You always get better service that way.

In terms of getting your ID card - This is how I got my first one, aged 30.

You'll need to enter Thailand on your Thai passport. Go to the Ampur where you wish to be registered - perhaps your parents Ampur. Have the head of the household on the housebook come with you and have you entered onto the housebook. I think you'll need one person to vouch for you as well - another Thai citizen.

You'll be issued with an ID number (probably starting with a '5' indicating you are a Thai citizen born overseas, not that this makes you any less 'Thai').

You'll need your Thai PP with entry stamp, as well as your Thai birth certificate issued by the consulate in NYC.

I also suspect that you'll need your parents details, as these both goes into the housebook.

Best call a relative to go to the Ampur to ask what information they request. It can sometimes vary slightly between location.

[jazzbo]

...And if your mother had chosen to relocate to Thailand that relevant relative who assists you might have been. your mother

[samran]

...And if your mother had chosen to relocate to Thailand that relevant relative who assists you might have been. your mother

ah, yes, mothers. The solution to any problem....

[jazzbo]

Several times at the local Thai IMM Office I have encountered Thai women of about the OP's Mother's vintage who were holding US Passports and had relocated to Thailand as US Citizens following the passing of their US husbands.

... and as per Sir Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho:

Norman Bates: A boy's best friend is his mother.