Felony Record And Visiting Thailand

[lgriceboy]

I would appreciate any advice any of the experienced members could give. It's kind of a long story....

1. I was born in the US to an American father and Thai mother.

2. I was convicted of a felony in the US about 10 years ago and went to prison for about 6 months. (I was stupid... served my time, turned my life around and have been a law abiding productive tax-paying citizen since)

3. I married a Thai girl in Thailand about 3 years ago and we have been waiting for her VISA (my past record has caused issues)

4. I had gone back and forth to Thailand on my US Passport with no issues about 3 times, visiting my wife and my family.

5. During my most recent trip to Thailand, the US Customs stopped me on the way there to perform additional searching on my carry-on because of my criminal record (this stuff happens to me all the time). They found nothing and let me board the plane as normal.

6. While in Thailand I was taken into custody by Thai Customs. They said US Customs/Homeland Security forwarded them my criminal record and due to the fact that I had spent more than 1 day in prison (in any country), I was not eligible to receive the "tourist visa" that is normally issued when you pass through the airport.

7. Craziness ensued, my family intervened where they could and I spent a couple days in Thai jail cells (not recommended) while they worked out the logistics of getting me out of the Thai Kingdom. I also had to sign a document that banned me from entering the Kingdom again.

8. During all this, the Thai Customs official felt bad that he had to make me leave since my whole family was there. So he suggested getting my Thai Passport and entering with that. Turns out that I am a Thai citizen as well.

9. I went through the very confusing process of getting my Thai passport and Succeeded!! Please email me if you have questions about this process... it's tedious.

10. Finally the question: Now that I have a Thai Passport, do you think I will have any issues returning to Thailand to visit my wife?

Thank you to any one who read this far. Like I said, any advice is appreciated.

While I do anticipate some smart remarks about me being a felon, just know that whatever you post is only for your own benefit, I have heard it all before. I'm not proud of my past, but I am glad that by the Grace of God I have been able to overcome it. We all have different paths through life and a person's footprints don't always show where they are going. Well... unless they keep stepping in them I guess =)

Best regards,

Frank

เเฟร้ง

[Maestro]

You will have no difficulty. From now on, always use your Thai passport to enter and leave Thailand, use your US passport to leave and enter the USA. You can never be denied entry into Thailand when you arrive as a Thai national, ie using your Thai passport.

Incidentally, you acquired Thai nationality at birth because one of your parents is a Thai national.

[kawaiimomo]

I cannot help you on your question but I suggest you to do a clearance/expungement of your criminal records. You already served your time and many years have already passed, I think it would be better for you to seal that in order to avoid any future problems.

I am from Europe, in my country you can do this when 2-5 years have already passed (depending on the crime), I guess you can do the same in the USA; if we were not able to do this I wonder how the rehabilitation into society should be possible at all.

I wish you good luck!

[NewlyMintedThai]

You can always enter Thailand freely now that you have a Thai passport. You won't have any more problems.

[beachyman]

I cannot help you on your question but I suggest you to do a clearance/expungement of your criminal records. You already served your time and many years have already passed, I think it would be better for you to seal that in order to avoid any future problems.

I am from Europe, in my country you can do this when 2-5 years have already passed (depending on the crime), I guess you can do the same in the USA; if we were not able to do this I wonder how the rehabilitation into society should be possible at all.

I wish you good luck!

Even if you expunge your record in the us the dept of homeland always have open access to these records. Expungement in the us is only for work applications, educational applications and credit rating. Law enforcement can still find it. I have a driving under the influence from 13 years ago and every time I visit the us I have to go to the special room while they check everything out. I had it expunged in California over 5 years ago.

[Lite Beer]

As you are Thai you will have no problems entering Thailand.

[Javabear]

As Maestro said above, use your Thai passport to enter Thailand and no problem. Use your US passport to enter the US and they cannot legally turn you away there either.

[lgriceboy]

Thank you all for your replies!! I'll let you know how it goes. I'm excited to go register my name in my family's tabien bahn and further learn about and accept my Thai heritage.

[lgriceboy]

I cannot help you on your question but I suggest you to do a clearance/expungement of your criminal records. You already served your time and many years have already passed, I think it would be better for you to seal that in order to avoid any future problems.

I am from Europe, in my country you can do this when 2-5 years have already passed (depending on the crime), I guess you can do the same in the USA; if we were not able to do this I wonder how the rehabilitation into society should be possible at all.

I wish you good luck!

Even if you expunge your record in the us the dept of homeland always have open access to these records. Expungement in the us is only for work applications, educational applications and credit rating. Law enforcement can still find it. I have a driving under the influence from 13 years ago and every time I visit the us I have to go to the special room while they check everything out. I had it expunged in California over 5 years ago.

I agree beachyman. I was able to get my a professional license, but it took extra scrutiny. And the "special room" visit is a 50/50 occurence for me. Sometimes they do it, sometime not. The only time I had an issue was when I was coming back from Columbia for work, they made me wait forever and I missed my connection.

[ivan96822]

Good job for turning your life around. I hope you have good times with your family in Thailand.

[lgriceboy]

Follow-up Question:

All,

I certainly do appreciate all of your knowledgeable replies, but I have one more question:

Do you think that when I signed the document banning me from the Kindgom, I was in essence "blacklisted"? Can Thai citizens be "blacklisted"? I wasn't known as a citizen before, but now I am.

I saw the term "blacklisted" mentioned in an article on this Forum talking about the new electronic Thai passport entry system. So I did a little internet research and people were saying that being blacklisted is a very serious thing and there was no getting around it. However, I never saw someone in my situation where I now have a Thai passport as a Thai citizen.

Thank you!

[maprao]

You were blacklisted on your US passport. They can deny you a Thai passport renewal but then you would have to stay in Thailand

[Soutpeel]

Follow-up Question:

All,

I certainly do appreciate all of your knowledgeable replies, but I have one more question:

Do you think that when I signed the document banning me from the Kindgom, I was in essence "blacklisted"? Can Thai citizens be "blacklisted"? I wasn't known as a citizen before, but now I am.

I saw the term "blacklisted" mentioned in an article on this Forum talking about the new electronic Thai passport entry system. So I did a little internet research and people were saying that being blacklisted is a very serious thing and there was no getting around it. However, I never saw someone in my situation where I now have a Thai passport as a Thai citizen.

Thank you!

If you enter Thailand on a Thai passport..they cannot blacklist you, they cannot ban you....you are a Thai citizen, if however you tried to enter on your US PP...yes you could be prevented from entering as a US citizen.

The crime you committed was as a US citizen in the US, not as a Thai citizen in Thailand

Further "Maprao's" comment regarding not being able to renew your Thai PP....Absolute rubblish, you never committed a crime in Thailand as a Thai citizen....there are no grounds to be denied a Thai PP renewal....

A rather famous Thai Ex-politican got his Thai PP reinstated not so long ago and he is a fugitive from the Thai justice system..!!!

While in Thailand, you choose to be a Thai citizen, there is absolutely nothing Thai authorities can do to you, however be in Thailand as a US citizen and the game changes

[lgriceboy]

Follow-up Question:

All,

I certainly do appreciate all of your knowledgeable replies, but I have one more question:

Do you think that when I signed the document banning me from the Kindgom, I was in essence "blacklisted"? Can Thai citizens be "blacklisted"? I wasn't known as a citizen before, but now I am.

I saw the term "blacklisted" mentioned in an article on this Forum talking about the new electronic Thai passport entry system. So I did a little internet research and people were saying that being blacklisted is a very serious thing and there was no getting around it. However, I never saw someone in my situation where I now have a Thai passport as a Thai citizen.

Thank you!

If you enter Thailand on a Thai passport..they cannot blacklist you, they cannot ban you....you are a Thai citizen, if however you tried to enter on your US PP...yes you could be prevented from entering as a US citizen.

The crime you committed was as a US citizen in the US, not as a Thai citizen in Thailand

Further "Maprao's" comment regarding not being able to renew your Thai PP....Absolute rubblish, you never committed a crime in Thailand as a Thai citizen....there are no grounds to be denied a Thai PP renewal....

A rather famous Thai Ex-politican got his Thai PP reinstated not so long ago and he is a fugitive from the Thai justice system..!!!

While in Thailand, you choose to be a Thai citizen, there is absolutely nothing Thai authorities can do to you, however be in Thailand as a US citizen and the game changes

Wow, you are all straight-shooters! I love it!

[NanLaew]

I cannot help you on your question but I suggest you to do a clearance/expungement of your criminal records. You already served your time and many years have already passed, I think it would be better for you to seal that in order to avoid any future problems.

I am from Europe, in my country you can do this when 2-5 years have already passed (depending on the crime), I guess you can do the same in the USA; if we were not able to do this I wonder how the rehabilitation into society should be possible at all.

I wish you good luck!

Even if you expunge your record in the us the dept of homeland always have open access to these records. Expungement in the us is only for work applications, educational applications and credit rating. Law enforcement can still find it. I have a driving under the influence from 13 years ago and every time I visit the us I have to go to the special room while they check everything out. I had it expunged in California over 5 years ago.

I agree beachyman. I was able to get my a professional license, but it took extra scrutiny. And the "special room" visit is a 50/50 occurence for me. Sometimes they do it, sometime not. The only time I had an issue was when I was coming back from Columbia for work, they made me wait forever and I missed my connection.

On its own, a first, second or third DUI is normally a misdemeanor. However, some states will change it to a felony depending on the actual circumstances such as level of intoxication, severity of (any) injuries and/or damage and if there are any existing 'priors' including any unrelated to DUI. Most US citizens and resident aliens with a DUI manage to get on with their lives, stay employed and avoid harassment by law enforcement. However, a foreigner's DUI will always need 'investigating' by the ICE people each time one passes through US Immigration. This isn't going to change in the foreseeable future.

From the quandary presented by the OP, it is pretty clear that ICE are happy to pass your criminal record freely to other countries. Why they chose to do this with the OP and why they considered his felony sufficiently bad that Thai Immigration required a special alert is not clear. The fact that Thai Immigration acted in an unusually draconian manner implies that it wasn't a 'nice' felony. But, if a simple DUI gets you on the ICE radar, then there's no knowing what level of 'secondary inspection' other low-order offenses can incur.