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[SADWING]

My foreign girlfriend and I had a baby 5 mo's ago. I want to bring the boy to America to introduce him to my family. When I return with him, what kind of Visa hurdles will I have when I start teaching again?

Thanks for your input.

[Mario2008]

You talk about girl friend, so you are not married. That means that you need to legitimise the child first to become the father. The procedure for that depends on the country where the child was born. I suspect Thailand, which means you will have to go to court to become the legal father.

Especially when the child doesn't have your last name, you will need permission from the mother to take the child out of the country (or is she going with you?).

When leaving the country, you need to show the Thai birth certificate. That explains why there are no immigration records of the child and after the paperwork for that has been sorted she can leave. (A small delay only)

Returning to Thailand the child will need a visa of its own, including extensions of stay. If the child has not been legiimised it will be a dependent of the mother, not you.

[SADWING]

You talk about girl friend, so you are not married. That means that you need to legitimise the child first to become the father. The procedure for that depends on the country where the child was born. I suspect Thailand, which means you will have to go to court to become the legal father.

Especially when the child doesn't have your last name, you will need permission from the mother to take the child out of the country (or is she going with you?).

When leaving the country, you need to show the Thai birth certificate. That explains why there are no immigration records of the child and after the paperwork for that has been sorted she can leave. (A small delay only)

Returning to Thailand the child will need a visa of its own, including extensions of stay. If the child has not been legiimised it will be a dependent of the mother, not you.

I am the father of the baby. He has a consular certificate from America as well as a passport from which I obtained from the American Embassy. He is an American Citizen.

I guess my question is, what kind of visa will I have to get for the baby when I return here to Thailand? Will I have to take him on 15 and/or 30 day border runs or will I be able to be somehow connect him to my Non-B Visa and Work Permit?

[Mario2008]

You have legitimised the child under US law, but not under Thai law. As far as Thailand is concerned you are not the father. In case of a split, you will have no rights.

With his US passport you should not have a problem. Apply for a non-O visa for him and you show proof of having a non-B visa yourself.

In Thailand you can apply for extensions of stay, simply based on your extensions of stay.

(all presuming you have the same last name)

[TommyTucker]

Ever thought about getting him a Thai passport?

[lopburi3]

Who said anything about he or the mother being Thai?

[TommyTucker]

Apologies, did not read the original post correctly.

[SADWING]

Ever thought about getting him a Thai passport?

Yes. It's not possible. Even though he was born in Thailand, he is not eligible for a Thai passport. They changed that law several years ago...

[SADWING]

You have legitimised the child under US law, but not under Thai law. As far as Thailand is concerned you are not the father. In case of a split, you will have no rights.

With his US passport you should not have a problem. Apply for a non-O visa for him and you show proof of having a non-B visa yourself.

In Thailand you can apply for extensions of stay, simply based on your extensions of stay.

(all presuming you have the same last name)

I disagree. The fact that the child is not Thai and is an American citizen, how could they say he isn't?

So, I think an O-Visa is out of the question. I will have to do more research, but I think it really depends on what province I go to teach. I've learned that different offices have different rules....non of them seem to be on the same page.

[SADWING]

Who said anything about he or the mother being Thai?

Exactly.

[lopburi3]

Yes. It's not possible. Even though he was born in Thailand, he is not eligible for a Thai passport. They changed that law several years ago...

More like decades ago I suspect. Malaysia is the choice for birth citizenship in the area I believe - have seen people turned around at that border if suspicion they were travelling there to give birth.

[Mario2008]

You have legitimised the child under US law, but not under Thai law. As far as Thailand is concerned you are not the father. In case of a split, you will have no rights.

With his US passport you should not have a problem. Apply for a non-O visa for him and you show proof of having a non-B visa yourself.

In Thailand you can apply for extensions of stay, simply based on your extensions of stay.

(all presuming you have the same last name)

I disagree. The fact that the child is not Thai and is an American citizen, how could they say he isn't?

So, I think an O-Visa is out of the question. I will have to do more research, but I think it really depends on what province I go to teach. I've learned that different offices have different rules....non of them seem to be on the same page.

You are free to disagree, but the child is born in Thailand and as such should be legitimized under Thai law. US law determines if the child is a US citizen, Thai law determines if the child is legitimized or not.

The O visa is for "other reasons", such as being married to a Thai or being the child or wife of a person working in Thailand. But you don't apply for the category, you only state the reason for the visa and the consulate determines the category.

[SADWING]

You have legitimised the child under US law, but not under Thai law. As far as Thailand is concerned you are not the father. In case of a split, you will have no rights.

With his US passport you should not have a problem. Apply for a non-O visa for him and you show proof of having a non-B visa yourself.

In Thailand you can apply for extensions of stay, simply based on your extensions of stay.

(all presuming you have the same last name)

I disagree. The fact that the child is not Thai and is an American citizen, how could they say he isn't?

So, I think an O-Visa is out of the question. I will have to do more research, but I think it really depends on what province I go to teach. I've learned that different offices have different rules....non of them seem to be on the same page.

You are free to disagree, but the child is born in Thailand and as such should be legitimized under Thai law. US law determines if the child is a US citizen, Thai law determines if the child is legitimized or not.

The O visa is for "other reasons", such as being married to a Thai or being the child or wife of a person working in Thailand. But you don't apply for the category, you only state the reason for the visa and the consulate determines the category.

My child was born in Thailand, but not to a Thai woman. I have the Thai birth certificate stating I'm the father and who the mother is.

So, basically you are saying when I go to the US, I should apply for an O-Visa so he can come with me? I don't know about O-Visas...do they require border runs and such?

[wayned]

If you have a Thai birth certificate, the first thing that you need to do is have it translated to English and legalized by the MFA. You should then apply for a US passport at the Embassy, then sort out the visa. If he is your child and even though born outside of the US, he/she is legally a US citizen. Once you get the passport and a proper visa,you can add him/her as your dependent. You will need to get the passport before traveling to the US.

[lopburi3]

An O visa would allow a 90 day stay. If you obtain an extension of stay and child is your dependent a matching extension of stay would be available from immigration but that will require proof and his birth certificate is Thai and by Thai law he is not legally your son as pointed out above as you are not married to his mother. Anyone could have been listed on that birth certificate as father. They only know the mother delivered the child.