Citizenship on a student visa

[khunMato]

I will study at a university in Bangkok for 5 years and thougt maybe I can blend this with the 3 year rule for Thai citizenship.

As I understand it, after they changed the rules/la, if you are married to a Thai you need to stay and be a Thai taxpayer for 3 years. So I thought , maybe there is a way to pay tax while studding. Without having a work permit, i.e. do this on a non-immigrant ED visa.

Info -

I am Swedish

Married to a Thai for 6 years, she has double citizenship.

In 2011 I worked and payed tax in Thailand for 6 months

[Mario2008]

As you are not working, you normally do not pay taxes. If you do pay taxes it would be to apply for Thai nationality, and a could be considered a false claim. That will not help your application at all, and your applicaiton will be checked carefully.

And you need to be working, with a work permit, and that will not be issued on an ED-visa.

[ubonjoe]

You have to work for at least 3 years on a work permit. Just paying taxes is not enough.

[roiethome]

Does anyone know if the three years have to be at the time of application ?

I worked and paid tax for five years from 1996 to 2001, can I use this for application for citizenship ?

[Jasun]

Must be consecutive years, with the same WP still in effect at time of application.

[Baerboxer]

Must be consecutive years, with the same WP still in effect at time of application.

I just love all these "catch 22s"

[lemonjelly]

Does anyone know if the three years have to be at the time of application ?

I worked and paid tax for five years from 1996 to 2001, can I use this for application for citizenship ?

What do you think ?

[iancnx]

You have to work for at least 3 years on a work permit. Just paying taxes is not enough.

It seems barking mad to me. Take a guy married to a Thai, with a family, paying taxes for 3 years on income not derived from working, has lived in Thai permanently for well over 3 years. O visa extensions on marriage. No criminal record. And you say he cannot apply for citizenship? Is this true?

[ubonjoe]

Absolutly true.

It is the same for getting permanent residency as well.

[Gone]

Even if you qualify for everything, citizenship is not guaranteed and could take years even if your application did go through. They only give out so many per year.

[Time Traveller]

You have to work for at least 3 years on a work permit. Just paying taxes is not enough.

It seems barking mad to me. Take a guy married to a Thai, with a family, paying taxes for 3 years on income not derived from working, has lived in Thai permanently for well over 3 years. O visa extensions on marriage. No criminal record. And you say he cannot apply for citizenship? Is this true?

Correct. It's not like applying for citizenship in western countries

[ubonjoe]

Which western countries.

Many are much worse.

[Pib]

Hint...Hint...Thailand really don't like making farangs Thai citizens; if they did they wouldn't have such strange rules and the process after application take nearly forever. But to keep the rest of the world off their back, the Thai govt does approve a low number of naturalizations/citizenships each year.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Pib

[ubonjoe]

Hint...Hint...Thailand really don't like making farangs Thai citizens; if they did they wouldn't have such strange rules and the process after application take nearly forever. But to keep the rest of the world off their back, the Thai govt does approve a low number of naturalizations/citizenships each year.

In reality it is not all of Thailand that does not want farangs to get Thai citizenship or even making permanent residency easier to get. It is a small number of nationalists at high levels within the bureaucracy of the Thai government.

[Pib]

Hint...Hint...Thailand really don't like making farangs Thai citizens; if they did they wouldn't have such strange rules and the process after application take nearly forever.   But to keep the rest of the world off their back, the Thai govt does approve a low number of naturalizations/citizenships each year.

In reality it is not all of Thailand that does not want farangs to get Thai citizenship or even making permanent residency easier to get. It is a small number of nationalists at high levels within the bureaucracy of the Thai government.

I would agree with that, however I also think if citizenship became not overly restrictive to obtain that the great majority of Thai's would become vocal against it because they would feel like farangs are taking over the country, taking away too many jobs, buying up the land, destroying their way of life, would change the little Thai universe too much, etc. Right now the number of foreigners obtaining Thai citizenship is so, so small due to the restrictive requirements and length of the application process it don't even register on the Thai population radar. And I don't foresee this changing anytime in the near future such as the next few decades.

Sent from my Samsung S4 (GT-I9500)

[jrtmedic]

If anyone is interested in witnessing the effect of unrestricted immigration I would suggest a visit to the UK/Germany/Holland etc !

[iancnx]

Hint...Hint...Thailand really don't like making farangs Thai citizens; if they did they wouldn't have such strange rules and the process after application take nearly forever. But to keep the rest of the world off their back, the Thai govt does approve a low number of naturalizations/citizenships each year.

In reality it is not all of Thailand that does not want farangs to get Thai citizenship or even making permanent residency easier to get. It is a small number of nationalists at high levels within the bureaucracy of the Thai government.

Which is why we need politicians SIMILAR to Abhisit to get this country out of Siam thinking. Political party is irrelevant here..... External education and international experience is the key..... For us !

[iancnx]

If anyone is interested in witnessing the effect of unrestricted immigration I would suggest a visit to the UK/Germany/Holland etc !

No one is suggesting unrestricted..... But if you have invested upwards of 10m baht.... I think it shows a certain level of commitment to the country where you have chosen to:

Get married,

Have a family,

Knowingly allocated a significant amount in providing for (Thai) family's inheritance,

Made provisions for a significant pension for the missus when the time comes

Become a Buddhist and love the Monarchy unconditionally

Provide untold profits to Singh and Chang, and others.

So I remain very disappointed!

[Arkady]

Must be consecutive years, with the same WP still in effect at time of application.

You need three consecutive years' tax receipts and a valid work permit for those three years but it doesn't need to be the same WP. You can change jobs during the three years qualifying period, as I did, and there was no problem with that at all.

The WP requirement is strictly enforced because the Nationality Act specifies that applicants for naturalisation must have a profession in Thailand and that is a requirement that has existed ever since there was a specific process for naturalisation. The lawmakers proposed that men with Thai wives should be allowed to apply on the same basis as women with Thai husbands, i.e. without a job in Thailand, but that was knocked back by the Interior Ministry's Legal Committee for fear of Thailand being overrun and losing its quintessential Thainess.

[Arkady]

Hint...Hint...Thailand really don't like making farangs Thai citizens; if they did they wouldn't have such strange rules and the process after application take nearly forever. But to keep the rest of the world off their back, the Thai govt does approve a low number of naturalizations/citizenships each year.

In reality it is not all of Thailand that does not want farangs to get Thai citizenship or even making permanent residency easier to get. It is a small number of nationalists at high levels within the bureaucracy of the Thai government.

I would agree with that, however I also think if citizenship became not overly restrictive to obtain that the great majority of Thai's would become vocal against it because they would feel like farangs are taking over the country, taking away too many jobs, buying up the land, destroying their way of life, would change the little Thai universe too much, etc. Right now the number of foreigners obtaining Thai citizenship is so, so small due to the restrictive requirements and length of the application process it don't even register on the Thai population radar. And I don't foresee this changing anytime in the near future such as the next few decades.

Sent from my Samsung S4 (GT-I9500)

That is exactly the thinking is at the Interior Ministry. It is interesting that the original debate about citizenship was what to do about the huge Chinese community in Thailand. They were welcomed to Siam because of the tax revenues they generated but first generation immigrants were only ever granted citizenship grudgingly and after demonstrating that they had embraced Thai culture and could support their families (as well as no doubt pay substantial bribes). Rama VI published an essay lamenting that Chinese no longer assimilated in Siam and fiercely preserved their Chinese culture, describing them as the Jews of the East (khon jiu burapha). Most of the gauntlet that citizenship applicants have to run today was put in place to make it difficult for Chinese to become Thai. Ironically the bureaucrats and politicians responsible for applying these standards and protecting Thainess today are overwhelmingly of Chinese origin.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Arkady