Camerata's Guide To The Permanent Residence Process

[GeneralWoundwort]

I plan to apply for permanent residency in the spouse category. However, I have been told by a consultancy that to apply in this category I need to have a Non O visa. My current visa is Non B and I have been on this type of visa for nearly 6 years.

Can anyone confirm if this advice is accurate? If I need to change my visa to Non O in order to qualify it's going to be three more years until I can apply...

Any advice gratefully received.

[thedemon]

I plan to apply for permanent residency in the spouse category. However, I have been told by a consultancy that to apply in this category I need to have a Non O visa. My current visa is Non B and I have been on this type of visa for nearly 6 years.

Can anyone confirm if this advice is accurate? If I need to change my visa to Non O in order to qualify it's going to be three more years until I can apply...

Any advice gratefully received.

It's not correct. I have a friend whose application was accepted 2 years ago. He applied under the family category and has only ever been on extensions based on employment.

Not unusual to get erroneous advice from a visa consultant/agent/lawyer especially regarding PR applications. I'm not against using one (I did in my application) but it's worth keeping in mind whenever you're told something odd.

[mortenaa]

I went to interview today. I guess it was around 15-20 people in for interview. The interview was done by four senior Immigration Police officers, and it was all in Thai. Lasted about 20 mins or so. They asked me a lot about my business (I apply in the business category), and how we conduct our work. They also asked me about my contribution to Thai society. One of the officers, who asked a lot, spoke a bit fast, so I had to ask her to repeat the questions sometimes. All in all, I felt it went OK. They said I will have an answer if I pass or not within a month or so.

[mruniverse]

Hey mortenaa thanks for sharing that! It sounds pretty consistent with past reviews. Can you elaborate on any of the other topics that they asked you about? Any examples of the sorts of things they asked you about your business and the types of answers you gave?

[mortenaa]

Hey mortenaa thanks for sharing that! It sounds pretty consistent with past reviews. Can you elaborate on any of the other topics that they asked you about? Any examples of the sorts of things they asked you about your business and the types of answers you gave?

They asked me about technicalities about my business, which is in the IT-sector. I tried to explain as much as I could.

They also asked me why I choose to setup my business in Thailand, which I answered something like that I liked Thailand in general, and the cost of staff was lower compared to Europe - which they replied I should pay my staff more.. hmm.. So Im not sure that was a good argument.

They asked about where I got the information about PR and why I applied, which I answered "Internet" and "Extending visa every year was time consuming, and I also want the security bla bla.. "

One of the senior officers was going to Norway this summer, so I got the chance to be a tourist guide, and tell him about where to go. He even asked for my phone number, which I gave him.

[Jsu360418]

I went to interview today. I guess it was around 15-20 people in for interview. The interview was done by four senior Immigration Police officers, and it was all in Thai. Lasted about 20 mins or so. They asked me a lot about my business (I apply in the business category), and how we conduct our work. They also asked me about my contribution to Thai society. One of the officers, who asked a lot, spoke a bit fast, so I had to ask her to repeat the questions sometimes. All in all, I felt it went OK. They said I will have an answer if I pass or not within a month or so.

Thanks, that is interesting. It's consistent with the interview I had several years ago when I applied. In fact the interview was video taped as well for their records.

The most troubling question I had was when they asked about my salary and why i was paid so much. Ouch! I told them because I was very smart with very good educational and work credentials, that I brought significant value to the company - - and that while I was making a lot of $$$$, I was also paying a lot in Thai income taxes (almost 35%) that was paying for schools, hospitals, roads and bridges :-)

I don't believe I was ever told that I would get notified of the interview result but perhaps my lawyer was informed.

I knew that I did quite well when one of the Immigration officers gave me the thumbs up sign and smiled. :-)

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[mruniverse]

Thanks again mortenaa

Just to confirm - the interview is at CW immigration?

[mortenaa]

Thanks again mortenaa

Just to confirm - the interview is at CW immigration?

Chaeng Wattana BKK, yes

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[brianinbangkok]

Hello all PR holders.

I was told that now we can use the auto gates at the airport for all PR holders who have a valid passport with minimum 6 months and also who has completed 6 months from the date of issue of the blue book.

Make sure you have atleast 2.30 hours of time before your flight.

After immigration stamping go to the immigration box right after that and contact the officer and tell them you want to have the auto gate access.

He will ask you for your blue book and passport with the boarding pass.

He will give you a form to fill which needs a local thai contact with their Thai id and address with phone number. Once done you give this to the officer.

Sit down and relax he will do the necessary entries in the system.

Then he will ask you to sit infront of the camera and take your pictures

Then he will do the fingerprints and once thats through he will complete the process.

He will take you to the gate outside and ask you to put the passport in the scanner at the auto gate and you must use your index finger for scanning and look at the camera once it recognises gate opens and you are no more in the que waiting on your way in and out

Say Khopun krap and breeze in and out.

Cheers and a must do for all PR holders

I just did mine and its really cool.

I was told by the immigration officer as I was leaving Thailand to go and have the auto gate access done.

Pretty much as Zam described.

One detail I want to add :

You have to go back to the that office if anything changes like new passport OR NEW Re-Entry permit/endorsement !

So you have to update you auto gate access information at least once a year with a new multi and it makes no sense to do if you are using a single re-entry permit.

[Haddo]

with minimum 6 months and also who has completed 6 months from the date of issue of the blue book.

this seems to be a bit of a catch 22 for anyone in their first year of PR - you need to have completed at least 6 months from the date of issue of your blue book, but they won't do it if there is less than 6 months validity on your re-entry permit!

(as I found out a few days ago when I tried to get it done)

[GeneralWoundwort]

I plan to apply for permanent residency in the spouse category. However, I have been told by a consultancy that to apply in this category I need to have a Non O visa. My current visa is Non B and I have been on this type of visa for nearly 6 years.

Can anyone confirm if this advice is accurate? If I need to change my visa to Non O in order to qualify it's going to be three more years until I can apply...

Any advice gratefully received.

It's not correct. I have a friend whose application was accepted 2 years ago. He applied under the family category and has only ever been on extensions based on employment.

Not unusual to get erroneous advice from a visa consultant/agent/lawyer especially regarding PR applications. I'm not against using one (I did in my application) but it's worth keeping in mind whenever you're told something odd.

Many thanks for this, it's encouraging. I will double-check with Immigration and hopefully apply this year.

[wasisdn]

I plan to apply for permanent residency in the spouse category. However, I have been told by a consultancy that to apply in this category I need to have a Non O visa. My current visa is Non B and I have been on this type of visa for nearly 6 years.

Can anyone confirm if this advice is accurate? If I need to change my visa to Non O in order to qualify it's going to be three more years until I can apply...

Any advice gratefully received.

It's not correct. I have a friend whose application was accepted 2 years ago. He applied under the family category and has only ever been on extensions based on employment.

Not unusual to get erroneous advice from a visa consultant/agent/lawyer especially regarding PR applications. I'm not against using one (I did in my application) but it's worth keeping in mind whenever you're told something odd.

Many thanks for this, it's encouraging. I will double-check with Immigration and hopefully apply this year.

I've just get my PR last month, applied 2 years ago also in spouse category and never had an non-O visa. I'm in Thailand since 14 years with yearly extension based on non-B visa.

Edited May 16, 2016 by wasisdn

[GeneralWoundwort]

I plan to apply for permanent residency in the spouse category. However, I have been told by a consultancy that to apply in this category I need to have a Non O visa. My current visa is Non B and I have been on this type of visa for nearly 6 years.

Can anyone confirm if this advice is accurate? If I need to change my visa to Non O in order to qualify it's going to be three more years until I can apply...

Any advice gratefully received.

It's not correct. I have a friend whose application was accepted 2 years ago. He applied under the family category and has only ever been on extensions based on employment.

Not unusual to get erroneous advice from a visa consultant/agent/lawyer especially regarding PR applications. I'm not against using one (I did in my application) but it's worth keeping in mind whenever you're told something odd.

Many thanks for this, it's encouraging. I will double-check with Immigration and hopefully apply this year.

I've just get my PR last month, applied 2 years ago also in spouse category and never had an non-O visa. I'm in Thailand since 14 years with yearly extension based on non-B visa.

Great to hear, many thanks.

[xxxarte]

Today I sent my lawyer to Land Department in Bangkok. Despite showing the Pink Thai ID card for foreigner and blue Tabien Ban they insisted to see the Blue Book as the ID card is not valid for them. Any similar experience?

[Arkady]

Today I sent my lawyer to Land Department in Bangkok. Despite showing the Pink Thai ID card for foreigner and blue Tabien Ban they insisted to see the Blue Book as the ID card is not valid for them. Any similar experience?

I think it falls between two stools. On the one hand BORA regulations oblige district offices to issue pink IDs to foreign permanent residents. On the other hand PRs are legally required to carry their alien books around as ID. There are no regulations to say in what circumstances the pink card is acceptable as ID.

[beeper]

Update report: I went through the interview at the date indicated mid May. Heard through a source this week that ( after last minute "document missing" call) apparently my application is complete and immigration will pass on to Interior Ministry for approval. Been told this is a very good sign. If all goes well can expect word around end of the year. Also heard that of the 200+ applications around 150 or so have been completed and will be passed on to IM. The remainder are "pending".

Edited June 27, 2016 by beeper

[Arkady]

Update report: I went through the interview at the date indicated mid May. Heard through a source this week that ( after last minute "document missing" call) apparently my application is complete and immigration will pass on to Interior Ministry for approval. Been told this is a very good sign. If all goes well can expect word around end of the year. Also heard that of the 200+ applications around 150 or so have been completed and will be passed on to IM. The remainder are "pending".

Glad to hear things are proceeding at a reasonable clip under the military government. Interior Minister Gen Anuphong has advanced ideas for a military man. Not only does he want to be fair and transparent to foreigners applying for PR and citizenship but he has also proposed reclassifying yaba to a class B drug from class A in a bid to relieve the overcrowding in Thai prisons and to rehab rather than criminalise the small time users who currently pack the prisons.

In the 90s, when I applied, and up until Thaksin became PM, Immigration used to give a virtual guarantee that PR applications filed in December would all get processed before they opened for applications again the following year. There were 2 or 3 batches of announcements then, starting around June. So those in the first batch got their PR in about 6 months. I got mine in the last batch but no problem.

[Bangel72]

Has anyone has any issues with there alien registration book in remote areas?

I had to jump through a few hoops the first time I registered, no books, nobody knew about the process at all, nobody senior enough to sign anything, no 5 year option so it took a few days.

Anyway I have a renewal coming up, calls to make an appointment have not been that promising so if anyone has some experience on doing the renewal at remote police stations that would be useful.

Is the renewal, new red/brown book or just an update stamp in the current one?

I travel quite a bit so if this one proves problematic then I'm thinking of just re-registering somewhere in Bangkok, if anyone has done the change of address step, sharing what was involved would be appreciated. One risk here is that whilst I can get a house owner and their house papers for registering at their address in Bangkok I would not have time to get on a yellow book before renewal date.

On the original one it was get the red/brown book first then get on a yellow book, but what I am not sure about here in the renewal step if the yellow book has to be there before renewal which may be problematic if I switch the renewal to a new address.

Thanks in advance.

[THAIJAMES]

Be patient because the next renewal will last you 5 years.

I also called and no answers so I just went there without appointment.

I did mine in Chiang Mai a couple of weeks ago. In the past you could just show up and get it in an hour. Now they require you to come back in a week to pick it up.

It is just a stamp in the existing book.

You don't actually need to show any documentation besides the red book. so the process for renewing is (should be) much easier than getting your book the first time.

[Bangel72]

Thanks Thaijames, I believe there is an expiry date on the first page, is it just superseded by future stamps? Talking with the police station over the phone we are currently getting a resounding we do not know, what stamp etc so yep patience is required.

[THAIJAMES]

Yes they just add another stamp to a new page.

[Bangel72]

Any chance someone could post/send me a picture of the renewal stamp page, I know it sounds a bit ridiculous but the locals at my station seem to need a bit more hand holding than most, hoping I don't have to actually find and bring the stamp with me.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Bangel72

[THAIJAMES]

Any chance someone could post/send me a picture of the renewal stamp page, I know it sounds a bit ridiculous but the locals at my station seem to need a bit more hand holding than most, hoping I don't have to actually find and bring the stamp with me.

Here you go

Edited July 11, 2016 by THAIJAMES

[thedemon]

Has anyone has any issues with there alien registration book in remote areas?

I had to jump through a few hoops the first time I registered, no books, nobody knew about the process at all, nobody senior enough to sign anything, no 5 year option so it took a few days.

Anyway I have a renewal coming up, calls to make an appointment have not been that promising so if anyone has some experience on doing the renewal at remote police stations that would be useful.

Is the renewal, new red/brown book or just an update stamp in the current one?

I travel quite a bit so if this one proves problematic then I'm thinking of just re-registering somewhere in Bangkok, if anyone has done the change of address step, sharing what was involved would be appreciated. One risk here is that whilst I can get a house owner and their house papers for registering at their address in Bangkok I would not have time to get on a yellow book before renewal date.

On the original one it was get the red/brown book first then get on a yellow book, but what I am not sure about here in the renewal step if the yellow book has to be there before renewal which may be problematic if I switch the renewal to a new address.

Thanks in advance.

I am a bit confused about your mention of a yellow book which I presume means Tabien Baan.

As a PR, your name should be listed in a blue TR14, not a yellow TR13.

[tamvine]

Hello all PR holders.

I was told that now we can use the auto gates at the airport for all PR holders who have a valid passport with minimum 6 months and also who has completed 6 months from the date of issue of the blue book.

Make sure you have atleast 2.30 hours of time before your flight.

After immigration stamping go to the immigration box right after that and contact the officer and tell them you want to have the auto gate access.

He will ask you for your blue book and passport with the boarding pass.

He will give you a form to fill which needs a local thai contact with their Thai id and address with phone number. Once done you give this to the officer.

Sit down and relax he will do the necessary entries in the system.

Then he will ask you to sit infront of the camera and take your pictures

Then he will do the fingerprints and once thats through he will complete the process.

He will take you to the gate outside and ask you to put the passport in the scanner at the auto gate and you must use your index finger for scanning and look at the camera once it recognises gate opens and you are no more in the que waiting on your way in and out

Say Khopun krap and breeze in and out.

Cheers and a must do for all PR holders

I just did mine and its really cool.

Got mine done too. It is cool.

However what could be downsides if at all ?

Any thoughts ? Anyone Devil's advocate....

[stbkk]

Hello all PR holders.

I was told that now we can use the auto gates at the airport for all PR holders who have a valid passport with minimum 6 months and also who has completed 6 months from the date of issue of the blue book.

Make sure you have atleast 2.30 hours of time before your flight.

After immigration stamping go to the immigration box right after that and contact the officer and tell them you want to have the auto gate access.

He will ask you for your blue book and passport with the boarding pass.

He will give you a form to fill which needs a local thai contact with their Thai id and address with phone number. Once done you give this to the officer.

Sit down and relax he will do the necessary entries in the system.

Then he will ask you to sit infront of the camera and take your pictures

Then he will do the fingerprints and once thats through he will complete the process.

He will take you to the gate outside and ask you to put the passport in the scanner at the auto gate and you must use your index finger for scanning and look at the camera once it recognises gate opens and you are no more in the que waiting on your way in and out

Say Khopun krap and breeze in and out.

Cheers and a must do for all PR holders

I just did mine and its really cool.

Got mine done too. It is cool.

However what could be downsides if at all ?

Any thoughts ? Anyone Devil's advocate....

The only thing I can think of is that you have no record in your passport about when you have left or entered the country. Maybe not so important for Thailand, but for myself I may have to prove someday to the UK taxman where I have been and when, for example.

[jayboy]

Hello all PR holders.

I was told that now we can use the auto gates at the airport for all PR holders who have a valid passport with minimum 6 months and also who has completed 6 months from the date of issue of the blue book.

Make sure you have atleast 2.30 hours of time before your flight.

After immigration stamping go to the immigration box right after that and contact the officer and tell them you want to have the auto gate access.

He will ask you for your blue book and passport with the boarding pass.

He will give you a form to fill which needs a local thai contact with their Thai id and address with phone number. Once done you give this to the officer.

Sit down and relax he will do the necessary entries in the system.

Then he will ask you to sit infront of the camera and take your pictures

Then he will do the fingerprints and once thats through he will complete the process.

He will take you to the gate outside and ask you to put the passport in the scanner at the auto gate and you must use your index finger for scanning and look at the camera once it recognises gate opens and you are no more in the que waiting on your way in and out

Say Khopun krap and breeze in and out.

Cheers and a must do for all PR holders

I just did mine and its really cool.

Got mine done too. It is cool.

However what could be downsides if at all ?

Any thoughts ? Anyone Devil's advocate....

One downside is that it has to be done every year.If you are an infrequent traveller who travels business class it is scarcely worth bothering with.

[Jsu360418]

Automate 1st time: I had a business trip to the Middle East last week so I decided to apply for the autogate privilege since i am a PR holder. I would recommend that you get there at least 3 hours before check-in. You'll need time to pass through both security and immigration lines. Once I passed Immigration I went to the Immigration booth and told them that I wanted to apply. There seemed to be a fair amount of confusion amongst the staff - finally a more senior officer came and said it could be done. So I filled out the documentation and gave them my passport and PR booklet. Note. Make sure you have the Thai name and ID card number of your reference as it is required on the application. Then I had to wait about 30minutes so they could take digital fingerprint and pictures. Frankly I don't think this crew had done it before as they seemed astonished that it worked. In fact, the officers asked me to take photos with them which I am sure will show up on a newsletter somewhere.

Anyway, I was processed and explicitly told that on my return flight several days later to use the autogate otherwise I would have problems. I believe it had to do with me going through Immigration line, getting stamped, and then applying for the autogate and being processed through that. Suffice on my return I breezed through the Immigration using the autogate while the Immigration line was snaked out to the beginning of the Immigration section - all was good.

I'll need to go through this every year but it is sure a very convenient method to exit and re-enter Thailand. Don't know how it will work if you leave through Don Muang or a land border crossing.

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[Jujus]

On 15/06/2016 at 8:33 PM, xxxarte said:

Today I sent my lawyer to Land Department in Bangkok. Despite showing the Pink Thai ID card for foreigner and blue Tabien Ban they insisted to see the Blue Book as the ID card is not valid for them. Any similar experience?

Hi, I got my PR earlier this year and I have never heard about this pink Thai ID... I have 3 documents in my possession related to my PR:

1. Certificate of Residence (blue book)
2. Alien Registration (red book)
3. Tabien Baan (long blue book)

Did I miss something? By the way, could someone clarify the real use of the Alien Registration, except for getting a Non-Quota Immigrant Visa & Endorsement before temporarily leaving the country? Also, the police officer told me that I need to re-register in 6 years after issuance (but I read somewhere that I need to re-register every year)?

Some contradictions here and I would greatly appreciate some clarifications from long-time PR holders. Many thanks in advance!

[stbkk]

2 hours ago, Jujus said:

Hi, I got my PR earlier this year and I have never heard about this pink Thai ID... I have 3 documents in my possession related to my PR:

1. Certificate of Residence (blue book)
2. Alien Registration (red book)
3. Tabien Baan (long blue book)

Did I miss something? By the way, could someone clarify the real use of the Alien Registration, except for getting a Non-Quota Immigrant Visa & Endorsement before temporarily leaving the country? Also, the police officer told me that I need to re-register in 6 years after issuance (but I read somewhere that I need to re-register every year)?

Some contradictions here and I would greatly appreciate some clarifications from long-time PR holders. Many thanks in advance!

1. Pink id is completely separate from your PR documents. You just go to your local amphur office (where you got added to your tabien baan) with the 3 docs above + passport and work permit in my case. If they are one of the offices who have heard about this it should be a simple quick operation to get it, mine took about 30 mins. If they have never heard of it or are playing dumb you will probably have a real hard time, if you can get it at all. There are a couple of posts further up the thread with advice on how to approach it in this case.

2. Alien Registration. I have only ever taken it out to go to immigration for my non-quota visa for re-entry. No idea if it has any other uses! I understand that you should get it for 1 year, and then renew after one year for 5 at a time. However I got a full 6 years (1 + 5) up front for some reason, so you may have got the same. I think from memory there is a renewal date on it somewhere, but I'm not sure and am travelling at the moment, so cannot check.

Welcome to the PR club! Its expensive, but I think peace of mind is priceless whenever there is another 'visa crackdown' in the news.