Points System For Citizenship

[manarak]

In another thread it was mentioned that there was a "points system" by which an application for Thai citizenship was rated.

It was mentioned that a PR earns 20 points, and that there are 80 possible points in total, while 50 are required to be eligible.

Can someone please point me to the list/system of how much points are awarded for which things?

Thank you in advance

[manarak]

hmm... nobody?

[aidenai]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/121353-story-of-my-thai-citizenship-application/

[manarak]

Thank you for the link.

I was able to find the information in that thread.

And thanks to Arkady who posted it.

Seems I would score between 50 and 60 points.

I quote Arkady here again:

OK. Here is the outline of the new points system.

March 2010

1 Age & Education 25

1.1 Age 10

1.2 Educational Level 15

2 Security of Profession 25

3 Residence in Thailand 20

4 Knowledge of Thai Language 15

5 General Knowledge about Thailand 10

6 Personality 5

Total 100

Before March 2010

1 Age & Education 25

1.1 Age 15

1.2 Educational Level 10

2 Security of Profession 35

2.1 Income 10

2.2 Tax Payments 25

3 Residence in Thailand 10

4 Relationships with Thailand & Thai People 10

5 Knowledge of Thai Language 10

6 Personality 10

Total 100

What has changed?

1. points for residency have increased from 10 to 20. A perfect 20 requires 10 years with all PR documents. 5 years with a tabien baan but without PR gets you the minimum of 5 points. 10 points for 5 years with PR and 15 points for 7 years with PR. (Nil for time with only non-imm visa and work permit.) I am not sure yet whether a yellow tabien baan counts here. I have a feeling that the previous guidelines specified a Thor Ror 14 (blue tabien baan) in another part of the text but I haven’t checked through the whole 34 pages yet.

2. points for Thai language have been increased from 10 to 15 and now include points for ability to read and write. You get 8 points for being able to speak and understand Thai, 2 points for being able to sing the National and Royal Anthems, 2 points for being able to read Thai and 3 points for being able to write it. Previously there were 5 points for speaking and understanding Thai and another 5 for being able to sing the two anthems.

4. points for age and education are unchanged at 25 but the emphasis has been reversed so that 15 points are awarded for education and 10 for age, while it was previously the other way round. You now get the maximum of 10 points for being aged 41 to 50, 8 for being 51 to 60, 5 for being over 60 or 31 to 40 and 2 for being 20 to 30. Education points are now: up to Mor 6 or Por Wor Chor 3 points; equivalent to Higher National Diploma or Junior College 5 points; Bachelors Degree 8 points; Masters Degree 10 points; Doctoral Degree 15 points.

5. Security of profession has been reduced from 35 to 25 points and it is now based on either monthly salary or tax paid, whereas there were previously 10 points for salary and 25 for tax paid. Max 25 points are awarded for salaries over B100k for those with no relationship with Thailand and B60k for those with Thai wives or children and graduates of Thai universities. Minimum 15 points are awarded for a salary of 80k for those with no relationship with Thailand and B40k for those who have one.

6. The 10 points for relationship with Thai people have been eliminated. 5 points used to be awarded for working in Thailand which was superfluous, since all applicants must have a job. There used to be another 3 points for having a Thai wife and 2 more for one or more Thai children. On the other hand salary requirements are still lower for those with Thai family and I think the numbers on this are unchanged.

7. The personality points have been reduced from 10 to 5. I think these are awarded after the interview with the head of the Special Branch Naturalization Office.

In conclusion it looks as if the ministry is trying to eliminate a lot of the points that most applicants could get by falling off a log and have put more emphasis on knowledge of the Thai language and Thailand and the all important permanent residency. Needless to say the test on general knowledge of Thailand is conducted in Thai and would need a pretty good knowledge of Thai. Most countries require a fairly lengthy period of residence and knowledge of the language and culture for citizenship and it is hard to fault them for these changes, although some might argue that it has become harder to accumulate the points for years of PR, since the logjam appeared in the processing of PR applications. However, I think that has to be considered as a separate and hopefully temporary issue. Probably the final pieces are falling or have fallen into place to implement the exemptions given to applicants with Thai wives in the 2008 Nationality Act. Certainly those with Thai wives are already able to opt not to sing the anthems which are now only worth 2 points anyway but it looks as if it would be a struggle for someone without PR, poor Thai and no PhD to get the minimum 50 points required. If you include the general knowledge test and the personality interview, there are now 30 points that depend on Thai language skills. Thus some one with a Thai wife but no PR, no Thai and no PhD could not score more than 45 points. However, good Thai language skills could theoretically carry some one without PR through and it is my guess that is the way they have decided to play it and who could blame them, even though knowledge of Thai is no longer required by the Nationality Act for those with Thai wives. The new requirement for the embassy certified declaration of intention to renounce existing nationality, if approved for Thai nationality, has already been discussed in this thread although it still remains unclear to me how the ministry intends to implement this. More may be revealed in the body of the text when I get round to reading it.

[garrya]

Thank you for the link.

I was able to find the information in that thread.

And thanks to Arkady who posted it.

Seems I would score between 50 and 60 points.

I quote Arkady here again:

OK. Here is the outline of the new points system.

March 2010

1 Age & Education 25

1.1 Age 10

1.2 Educational Level 15

2 Security of Profession 25

3 Residence in Thailand 20

4 Knowledge of Thai Language 15

5 General Knowledge about Thailand 10

6 Personality 5

Total 100

Before March 2010

1 Age & Education 25

1.1 Age 15

1.2 Educational Level 10

2 Security of Profession 35

2.1 Income 10

2.2 Tax Payments 25

3 Residence in Thailand 10

4 Relationships with Thailand & Thai People 10

5 Knowledge of Thai Language 10

6 Personality 10

Total 100

What has changed?

1. points for residency have increased from 10 to 20. A perfect 20 requires 10 years with all PR documents. 5 years with a tabien baan but without PR gets you the minimum of 5 points. 10 points for 5 years with PR and 15 points for 7 years with PR. (Nil for time with only non-imm visa and work permit.) I am not sure yet whether a yellow tabien baan counts here. I have a feeling that the previous guidelines specified a Thor Ror 14 (blue tabien baan) in another part of the text but I haven't checked through the whole 34 pages yet.

2. points for Thai language have been increased from 10 to 15 and now include points for ability to read and write. You get 8 points for being able to speak and understand Thai, 2 points for being able to sing the National and Royal Anthems, 2 points for being able to read Thai and 3 points for being able to write it. Previously there were 5 points for speaking and understanding Thai and another 5 for being able to sing the two anthems.

4. points for age and education are unchanged at 25 but the emphasis has been reversed so that 15 points are awarded for education and 10 for age, while it was previously the other way round. You now get the maximum of 10 points for being aged 41 to 50, 8 for being 51 to 60, 5 for being over 60 or 31 to 40 and 2 for being 20 to 30. Education points are now: up to Mor 6 or Por Wor Chor 3 points; equivalent to Higher National Diploma or Junior College 5 points; Bachelors Degree 8 points; Masters Degree 10 points; Doctoral Degree 15 points.

5. Security of profession has been reduced from 35 to 25 points and it is now based on either monthly salary or tax paid, whereas there were previously 10 points for salary and 25 for tax paid. Max 25 points are awarded for salaries over B100k for those with no relationship with Thailand and B60k for those with Thai wives or children and graduates of Thai universities. Minimum 15 points are awarded for a salary of 80k for those with no relationship with Thailand and B40k for those who have one.

6. The 10 points for relationship with Thai people have been eliminated. 5 points used to be awarded for working in Thailand which was superfluous, since all applicants must have a job. There used to be another 3 points for having a Thai wife and 2 more for one or more Thai children. On the other hand salary requirements are still lower for those with Thai family and I think the numbers on this are unchanged.

7. The personality points have been reduced from 10 to 5. I think these are awarded after the interview with the head of the Special Branch Naturalization Office.

In conclusion it looks as if the ministry is trying to eliminate a lot of the points that most applicants could get by falling off a log and have put more emphasis on knowledge of the Thai language and Thailand and the all important permanent residency. Needless to say the test on general knowledge of Thailand is conducted in Thai and would need a pretty good knowledge of Thai. Most countries require a fairly lengthy period of residence and knowledge of the language and culture for citizenship and it is hard to fault them for these changes, although some might argue that it has become harder to accumulate the points for years of PR, since the logjam appeared in the processing of PR applications. However, I think that has to be considered as a separate and hopefully temporary issue. Probably the final pieces are falling or have fallen into place to implement the exemptions given to applicants with Thai wives in the 2008 Nationality Act. Certainly those with Thai wives are already able to opt not to sing the anthems which are now only worth 2 points anyway but it looks as if it would be a struggle for someone without PR, poor Thai and no PhD to get the minimum 50 points required. If you include the general knowledge test and the personality interview, there are now 30 points that depend on Thai language skills. Thus some one with a Thai wife but no PR, no Thai and no PhD could not score more than 45 points. However, good Thai language skills could theoretically carry some one without PR through and it is my guess that is the way they have decided to play it and who could blame them, even though knowledge of Thai is no longer required by the Nationality Act for those with Thai wives. The new requirement for the embassy certified declaration of intention to renounce existing nationality, if approved for Thai nationality, has already been discussed in this thread although it still remains unclear to me how the ministry intends to implement this. More may be revealed in the body of the text when I get round to reading it.

it doesnt seem to be difficult

[keestha]

It would be nice if people who actually acquired citizenship would comment.

[Arkady]

It would be nice if people who actually acquired citizenship would comment.

Of course that would be nice but bear in mind that, since the entire process generally takes at least three years, it is unlikely there are any naturalized Thais who applied under the new points system introduced in 2010. In addition nearly all, if not all, existing naturalized Thais obtained PR first as the exemption for males married to Thais only came in in 2008. Whether you have PR or not has a significant bearing on the 20 points allocated for residence in Thailand.

For those who are interested in the nitty gritty of the points system here is my own rough translation. The original Thai version downloaded from the Special Branch website is attached. Good luck to all who decide to take the plunge.

Thai Citizenship - Points Allocation (minimum 50/100 required for further consideration) 2010

AGE AND EDUCATION

Age:

20 t0 30 - 2 points

30 to 40 – 5 points

40 to 50 – 10 points

50 to 60 – 8 points

Over 60 – 5 points

Education:

Mor 6 and above – 3 points

Diploma – 5 points

Bachelors Degree – 8 points

Masters Degree – 10 points

Doctrate – 15 points

SECURITY OF PROFESSION

Income (monthly):

80,000 to 90,000 – 15 points

90,000 to 100,000 – 20 points

Over 100,000 – 25 points

OR

Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities (e.g. stateless persons of hill tribe, Burmese, Vietnamese origin – Arkady’s note):

40,000 to 50,000 – 15 points

50,000 to 60,000 – 20 points

Over 60,000 – 25 points

OR

Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities holding an Alien ID Card (type issued to stateless persons – Arkady’s note) for 10 years or more:

20,000 to 30,000 – 15 points

30,000 to 40,000 – 20 points

Over 40,000 – 25 points

OR

Income (monthly) in the case of those married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:

40,000 to 50,000 – 15 points

50,000 to 60,000 – 20 points

Over 60,000 – 25 points

OR

Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:

20,000 to 30,000 – 15 points

30,000 to 40,000 – 20 points

Over 40,000 – 25 points

Alternatively points for security of profession based on salary tax paid in the year before application and this is somewhat confusingly based on salary rather than amount of tax paid. Points for payment of tax used to be allocated over and above those allocated for salary and it is not clear what is the purpose of this alternative in the 2010 points section, unless it is just a surreptitious way to raise the bar slightly. If anyone knows, please post. Omitting the minorities this time, it is thus.

Income (monthly) on which tax paid:

80,000 to 100,000 – 15 points

100,000 to 120,000 – 20 points

Over 120,000 – 25 points

OR

Income (monthly) on which tax paid in the case of those married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:

40,000 to 60,000 – 15 points

60,000 to 80,000 – 20 points

Over 80,000 – 25 points

RESIDENCE IN THAILAND

Domicile:

Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years but no Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate – 5 points

Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 5 years – 10 points

Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 7 years – 15 points

Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 10 years – 20 points

(Arkady’s note: “evidence of civil registration” refers to the Civil Registration Act which, as amended in 2008, requires all residents to be registered in House Registration Books or tabian baan, including foreigners residing temporarily in Thailand).

KNOWLEDGE OF THAI LANGUAGE

Able to speak and understand spoken Thai – 8 points

Able to speak and understand spoken Thai and sing the National and Royal Anthems – 10 points

Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read Thai – 13 points

Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read and write Thai – 15 points

KNOWLEDGE OF THAILAND

Has a medium level knowledge of Thailand

(1-5 correct answers) – 5 points

Has a good knowledge of Thailand

(6-8 correct answers) – 8 points

Has a very good knowledge of Thailand

(9-10 correct answers) -10 points

PERSONALITY

Assessment based on personality, physical appearance and bearing, speech, Thai manners, attitude towards Thailand, Thai culture and ceremonies - 5 points

Points system TH 2010 2.1_06062553.pdf

Edited December 8, 2011 by Arkady

[aidenai]

Perfect information as usual.

Always there to help other members concerning Thai Citizenship information.

Thank you very much, Arkady.