Camerata's Guide To The Permanent Residence Process

[scorecard]

28 minutes ago, scorecard said:

I've asked Thai Immigration Division 1 (the 'management' area of the whole bureau), about this.

 

The answer was NO, under the current philosophies PR holders will never be asked to have health Insurance (Except for the current Covid-19 situation when a PR holder is returning to Thailand)

Good point. I've asked questions about this to 2 of the actual policy providers, their answers made it very clear that they don't know what a 'Certificate or Residence', 'Permanent Residence - PR' is. 

 

One company insisted there is no such thing and told me that I was referring to 'LONG STAY" visa.

 

The twist is that when the tgia offerings first appeared, included in the list of 'categories' was 'Permanent Residents', but it was later removed from the list.

 

I explored further and eventually found a policy appropriate to PR holders, US$100,000 and Covid- 19 mentioned, 2,880Baht for 60 days cover. Please PM to me if you want more details. 

I add; 

In my discussions with the insurer I mentioned just above, they asked me to confirm that I was, at that time, outside of Thailand, normally lived in Thailand, and wanted to return to Thailand. The insurer emphasized that the policy was not available to foreigners located at the time of buying the policy in Thailand. 

[Arkady]

On 10/29/2021 at 7:51 AM, ubonjoe said:

A representative office, regional office or branch office needs to be registered as such to get a work permit and etc.

Although their staff work for a legal entity registered in Thailand, they work for companies incorporated overseas which is what creates the ambiguity. As mentioned, Immigration at the working level took the view in my case that working for the Thai rep office of a company incorporated overseas didn't meet the requirements for PR but when someone intervened at the Pol Maj Gen level on my behalf, they were willing to make the interpretation that working for a legal entity registered in Thailand was acceptable.  

 

Going back to the original question of can you get PR working for a foreign company, while rep offices and branch offices of foreign companies may be in a grey area, especially the rep offices which cannot pay Thai corporate income tax, actually working for a foreign company registered in Thailand is definitely fine, i.e. a company that is allowed to have 100% foreign ownership due to the various exemptions from the FBA.

[scorecard]

34 minutes ago, Arkady said:

Although their staff work for a legal entity registered in Thailand, they work for companies incorporated overseas which is what creates the ambiguity. As mentioned, Immigration at the working level took the view in my case that working for the Thai rep office of a company incorporated overseas didn't meet the requirements for PR but when someone intervened at the Pol Maj Gen level on my behalf, they were willing to make the interpretation that working for a legal entity registered in Thailand was acceptable.  

 

Going back to the original question of can you get PR working for a foreign company, while rep offices and branch offices of foreign companies may be in a grey area, especially the rep offices which cannot pay Thai corporate income tax, actually working for a foreign company registered in Thailand is definitely fine, i.e. a company that is allowed to have 100% foreign ownership due to the various exemptions from the FBA.

In my case it was a company registered in Thailand:

 

- 51% owned by PTT

- 49% owned by very large multinational.

 

The interviewing officer asked a few questions, his main question was whether the multinational took good care of the Thai employees.

 

The multinational concerned is very generous and caring to all employees and I gave few examples to the interviewing officer. He listened and asked for a lot of details of my examples and he was suitably impressed.

 

Ultimately of course, this had little to do with my PR application but I guess it may have helped. 

[jayboy]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That means that the insurance is not intended to be sold to those here in Thailand and are wanting insurance to use here in the country.

Thanks but it's still not completely clear to me.Should I take it that a PR could buy this insurance to cover a return to Thailand?

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, jayboy said:

Thanks but it's still not completely clear to me.Should I take it that a PR could buy this insurance to cover a return to Thailand?

Yes you can.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

Thanks but it's still not completely clear to me.Should I take it that a PR could buy this insurance to cover a return to Thailand?

Yes, correct.

[onthemoon]

8 hours ago, jayboy said:

Thanks but it's still not completely clear to me.Should I take it that a PR could buy this insurance to cover a return to Thailand?

To add to the confusion, I understand you are only exempted if you have Thai Social Security. 

[Bubbha]

For those PR who are retired and sill maintaining Social Security insurance as an individual payer (432 Baht per month) –

 

Have you done anything for an ID card since the annual ID cards were discontinued four years ago?

 

I went to the Social Security Office 3 years ago to apply for their new form of ID but never received anything.

[jayboy]

20 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes you can.

That's reassuring.Nonetheless on this particular policy there's provision for people on different kinds of visa but nothing for a PR.

[cocoonclub]

Does anyone know anything more about this year’s application window?
 

I’m getting a bit nervous that my company is jumping through all those hoops to get all those paperwork for me just to find out that it was a waste of money and time because for whatever reason PR isn’t happening this year…

[Dogmatix]

2 hours ago, cocoonclub said:

Does anyone know anything more about this year’s application window?
 

I’m getting a bit nervous that my company is jumping through all those hoops to get all those paperwork for me just to find out that it was a waste of money and time because for whatever reason PR isn’t happening this year…

I believe they will announce it. A few years ago they announced very close to New Year but extended the deadline to Jan 31. For many years it was always announced in December but since the coup, they have tended to be more considerate and announced earlier. But it needs a cabinet resolution which is what can cause a hold up.

[orientalist]

19 hours ago, Bubbha said:

For those PR who are retired and sill maintaining Social Security insurance as an individual payer (432 Baht per month) –

 

Have you done anything for an ID card since the annual ID cards were discontinued four years ago?

 

I went to the Social Security Office 3 years ago to apply for their new form of ID but never received anything.

My hospital told me they just use the number now. I had my last card laminated and always show that to them, but often they ask for my passport as well, presumably so they know I am the owner of that number.

[sinthavee]

I think Immigration will announce opening of PR applications for the year soon. On 29th October, there was a notification signed by PM.

 screenshot of the notification is in the attachment.

[Bangel72]

Does this work for those extending sso on PR?  Works on my SSO via employment option.

 

https://ssoconnect.mywallet.co/

[Bubbha]

Bangel72 - thanks so much.

 

This worked very well indeed. And I hadn't known about it. Really appreciate you sharing.

 

I am currently in the US and headed back to Bangkok early January - and can now use this for proof of insurance. Thanks again...

 

9 hours ago, Bangel72 said:

Does this work for those extending sso on PR?  Works on my SSO via employment option.

 

https://ssoconnect.mywallet.co/

 

[onthemoon]

17 hours ago, Bangel72 said:

Does this work for those extending sso on PR?  Works on my SSO via employment option.

 

https://ssoconnect.mywallet.co/

I am a bit suspicious here because of the domain mywallet.co. How can this be an offical Thai government website?

 

They ask for ID number and phone number. What does the SocSec office have to do with my phone number? Looks more like a phishing site to me. 

[marquess]

The P.R medical now requires a Covid test at the same hospital in which the medical is carried out. Does anyone know the best hospital for this? Monkut Wattana (who did my WP medical last year)  can't do it. 

[cocoonclub]

20 hours ago, marquess said:

The P.R medical now requires a Covid test at the same hospital in which the medical is carried out. 

Where did you get that information from? 

[marquess]

6 minutes ago, cocoonclub said:

Where did you get that information from? 

Went to the PR Division at Chang Wattana last week and the medical form that they handed me has a Covid requirement on it. 

[mortenaa]

On 11/3/2021 at 7:47 AM, onthemoon said:

I am a bit suspicious here because of the domain mywallet.co. How can this be an offical Thai government website?

 

They ask for ID number and phone number. What does the SocSec office have to do with my phone number? Looks more like a phishing site to me. 

Just go to the landingpage: https://www.mywallet.co/landingpage

[onthemoon]

1 hour ago, mortenaa said:

Just go to the landingpage: https://www.mywallet.co/landingpage

I'm not clicking on that, thanks.

[cocoonclub]

2 hours ago, marquess said:

Went to the PR Division at Chang Wattana last week and the medical form that they handed me has a Covid requirement on it. 

Thanks. Any other information you got that could be worth to know? Did they say anything about the application windows this year maybe? 
Thanks for sharing! 

[marquess]

1 hour ago, cocoonclub said:

Thanks. Any other information you got that could be worth to know? Did they say anything about the application windows this year maybe? 
Thanks for sharing! 

The woman whom I spoke to said that applications could be submitted in December.  

[mattkbv]

I am a permanent resident but haven't had a work permit since 2008 and have no idea about my social security history (my previous employer also provided fabulous health cover).  Now I'd like to get a social security number to use as proof of COVID insurance for next Thailand entry.  I'm quite willing to pay monthly social security payments.  Can anybody suggest how I can go about this?

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

4 minutes ago, mattkbv said:

I am a permanent resident but haven't had a work permit since 2008 and have no idea about my social security history (my previous employer also provided fabulous health cover).  Now I'd like to get a social security number to use as proof of COVID insurance for next Thailand entry.  I'm quite willing to pay monthly social security payments.  Can anybody suggest how I can go about this?

My understanding is that when you end your employment, you then need to arrange to continue to pay the monthly premium by yourself. I think there is a short window of time at the end of employment to make this arrangement with the social security office.

[cocoonclub]

On 11/3/2021 at 11:33 AM, marquess said:

The P.R medical now requires a Covid test at the same hospital in which the medical is carried out. Does anyone know the best hospital for this? Monkut Wattana (who did my WP medical last year)  can't do it. 

Did you find a suitable hospital? 

[scorecard]

On 11/5/2021 at 3:57 PM, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

My understanding is that when you end your employment, you then need to arrange to continue to pay the monthly premium by yourself. I think there is a short window of time at the end of employment to make this arrangement with the social security office.

Yes the arrangement to continue personal monthly payments must be completed very quickly or the opportunity is gone.

[DrJoy]

On 11/1/2021 at 9:11 AM, cocoonclub said:

Does anyone know anything more about this year’s application window?
 

I’m getting a bit nervous that my company is jumping through all those hoops to get all those paperwork for me just to find out that it was a waste of money and time because for whatever reason PR isn’t happening this year…

Notification of Immigration Bureau Admission of application for residential permit in the year B.E. 2564(2021)

According to the notification from Minister of interior by approval of the cabinet issued on 18 October, B.E. 2564 (2021) regarding quota of aliens to have residence in the Kingdom for the year ฺB.E.2564 (2021) the following stipulations are applied

1. 100 persons of each nationality, Colony or colonies of each country shall be considered as one country while each Sovereign state shall be considered as one country and 50 persons for stateless people.
2. The application can be submitted on the date 22 October, 2021 – 30 December, 2021 during office hours.
3. Place to submit the application:

In Bangkok : can be submitted at Sub-Division 1 (Counter D) ,Immigration Division 1, The Government Complex Commemorating His Majesty The Kings 80th Birthday Anniversary, 5th December, B.E. 2550 (2007), Building B, 2nd Floor, 120 Moo 3, Chaengwattana Road, Thoongsonghong Sub-District, Laksi District, Bangkok 10210.

In other regions : Contact at Immigration Office in local area /or near by Immigration Office (If there is no Immigration Office located)

[marquess]

On 11/13/2021 at 12:45 PM, cocoonclub said:

Did you find a suitable hospital? 

Yes, I went to Chula Hospital in the end, a petty efficient service; though they used their own form as opposed to the one that I received from immigration. Their form covered all the necessary areas.

[cocoonclub]

On 11/24/2021 at 2:21 PM, marquess said:

Yes, I went to Chula Hospital in the end, a petty efficient service; though they used their own form as opposed to the one that I received from immigration. Their form covered all the necessary areas.

Thanks.
Did you check with immigration whether they accept the form?