Can I get a certificate of residency from a Serviced Apartment ?

[RichardThailand]

I would like to stay in Thailand. First with visa-exempt status and then would like to apply the normal way for a retirement license. 

 

I do not wish to stay in one particular place and would like to stay in some different serviced apartments.  In other words, no lease just long term stay. 

 

Can I get a  "yellow tabien baan" or whatever else may be needed for a driving license to prove address from the serviced residence ?

[chiang mai]

You get your certificate of residence from Immigration, not from the apartment.

[utr]

Can I get a "yellow tabien baan" or whatever else may be needed for a driving license to prove address from the serviced residence ?


no, they are only available from the local amphur. Edited August 5, 2014 by utr

[eppic]

If you stay at serviced apartments for a longer term (for example, at least 30 days) you often need to sign a lease and pay a deposit -- at least this is the case for the Centrepoint properties I stayed at.  It is a normal lease contract, so I would assume that would suffice for proof of address, but I have personally never bothered with a Thai drivers license (my home country or any other English language license should suffice, as far as I am aware)

Edited August 5, 2014 by eppic

[chiang mai]

Can I get a "yellow tabien baan" or whatever else may be needed for a driving license to prove address from the serviced residence ?


no, they are only available from the local amphur.

 

This is not a good answer, the OP is neither married to a Thai national, nor is he a homeowner here, were he those things he would still need a certificate of residency in order to get a yellow tabien baan from the Amphur  hence the answer is self defeating.

 

Perhaps this link will provide further insight.

 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544129-what-is-the-yellow-tabien-baan-what-are-the-requirements/

 

In a nutshell the OP needs a letter from the serviced apartment stating that he lives there, armed with that letter he can approach Immigration and get a letter of residency - that letter of residency will then allow him to get a Thai drivers license.

[ubonjoe]

You will not be able to yellow tambien ban for a serviced apartment.

After you get your extension of stay (not license) based upon retirement you should be able to get a certificate of residence from immigration.

You can also get certificate of residence for your embassy that the drivers license office will accept.

Are you aware you will need at least 15 days remaining on your entry when you do a conversion to non immigrant visa entry as the the first step of getting the extension.

[choochoo]

i think op wants to know requirements for 90 day reporting thing.   how does one prove his stay at a monthly rental.  will immigration accept a receipt?  montly places just dont give leases.

Edited August 5, 2014 by choochoo

[chiang mai]

i think op wants to know requirements for 90 day reporting thing.   how does one prove his stay at a monthly rental.  will immigration accept a receipt?  montly places just dont give leases.

 

I know people who live in hotels on a retirement visa and can get a residency permit on that basis. None of that has anything to do with 90 day reporting and the op has not queried that aspect since he doesn't yet have an O-A visa..

[kanook]

You cannot apply for a Thai driving licence on visa exempt status.

[chiang mai]

You cannot apply for a Thai driving licence on visa exempt status.

 

Once again, this is not true:

 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/749020-can-i-get-a-thai-driving-license-when-on-visa-exempt-entry/

 

Pattaya Immigration was advertising this fact quite openly last year, the fact is that having a Thai license makes life easier for the police hence they encourage applications.

[eppic]

  montly places just dont give leases.

 This is simply not true, at least as a general statement.  I have had full lease agreements at serviced apartments for 30-day stays on multiple occasions. Grand Centrepointe in BKK most recently, but I this is not the only one.  Perhaps there are those that don't give leases, but the ones I have stayed at absolutely do.

[choochoo]

any successess getting leases from weekly or monthly stay 600 baht per night hotels in pattaya?

[eppic]

Pattaya is not my kinda place, so the answer is no.  

 

I was speaking about BKK and at much higher price point; and since I apparently missed the OP's statement that this thread is specifically about low-budget places in Pattaya, I suppose what I wrote can be disregarded. My bad.

[paz]

any successess getting leases from weekly or monthly stay 600 baht per night hotels in pattaya?

Jomtien immigration provides certificate of residence with any kind of receipt you will show.

[chiang mai]

Agreed, there is no requirement that your residence must be on a lease.

[IMA_FARANG]

 In this residence where I live you can get a lease for a 3 month, a 6 month, or a 12 month stay.

A copy of any of those signed lease agreements is, from personal experience, accepted as "proof of residence"  by many Thai government agencies and banks (as to establish a bank account).

As always in Thailand, there is no guarantee, but it worked for me.

At least give it a try.

 

P.S.   This residence runs about 16K Baht monthly on a 3 month lease ..... if that makes any difference.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2014 by IMA_FARANG

[chiang mai]

And in fact my lease expired two years ago and is now on a month to month, but is clearly out of lease. That doesn't stop me using the old lease for Immigration purposes and it's always accepted, even though it says in large prominent letters on the first page that it has expired - my best guess is that a printed Microsoft EULA would probably work just as well!

Edited August 5, 2014 by chiang mai

[NCC1701A]

I live month to month in a serviced apartment in Hua Hin.

 

Make sure you have a international drivers license when you come to Thailand so you are under no time pressure to get a license here.

 

You have to go to immigration first to get your "visa" to stay in the country. That is a whole different subject.

 

My experience as of July 2014, to get a license was AT IMMIGRATION FIRST I took my monthly rent receipt and a sales brochure from the apartment that had the complete address printed on it. This one also had a map of the apartments location printed on the back. The sales brochure was very useful. They want to make copies of everything.

 

Immigration is very interested in where you live, and every time I have had to draw a map for them. I had a complete year long lease for a house at one time, and I still had to draw a map.

 

Also needed was a letter from a doctor in Thailand saying I can operate a car.

 

Now you have your letter from immigration saying you can get a license and a letter from a doctor.

 

Of course your passport is always with you during this process.

 

Also bring your current drivers license from your home country, that way you will not have to take the written test.

 

If you do take the test, study for it, because as of June 2014, the test is harder to pass, the English translation on some of the questions is wrong or misleading, the illustrations are very hard to understand and Thailand has some interesting right of way laws that may be completely different than your country. 50 questions and you can only get 5 wrong. The test is slightly different each time and is from a pool of 1000 questions.

   

Please note the following things. No doctor examined me at the clinic I went to.

Your Thai drivers license does not have your address printed on it.

 

Welcome to Thailand.  

 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2014 by NCC1701A

[1BADDAT]

You cannot apply for a Thai driving licence on visa exempt status.

 

I did.  Not sure about the rules but I got mine that way.

 

(edit:  see post #10)

Edited August 6, 2014 by 1BADDAT

[hugh2121]

If you stay at serviced apartments for a longer term (for example, at least 30 days) you often need to sign a lease and pay a deposit -- at least this is the case for the Centrepoint properties I stayed at.  It is a normal lease contract, so I would assume that would suffice for proof of address, but I have personally never bothered with a Thai drivers license (my home country or any other English language license should suffice, as far as I am aware)

 

Eppic, looks as if you may be driving illegally and, therefore, without insurance. A western licence is only valid with an international licence valid for one year. After that you need to get a Thai licence. It's a simple procedure at a licensing station for those who can be bothered and wish to stay legal.

[swoods58]

The easiest Certificate of Residency is to do the Declaration at your Embassy. I got mine on my first day staying in a Hotel/Serviced apartment from the Australian Embassy. It's a Statutory Declaration they just stamp and you write on it whatever you want. Mine said something like "I am currently residing at ... ". No problem with acceptance at Chiang Mai licence place.

[horsewell]

I helped a guy get a licence and he just got the contract from the condo that he was renting (for a week) and took that to immigration and got the certificate... smooth as that. You could probably even get a certificate from immigration based on a hotel receipt it's just a document that holds your current address and tourists can get drivers licences if they want. 

 

Mind you it may take a couple of tries based on the new tests... I've read on this site that the failure rate is pretty high but really just brings things more in line with western countries that have always been strict.

[tboxcar]

To get a Thai drivers license I simply went to the US Embassy ( as I had not a work permit) and signed and affidavit swearing my residence (as my wife and I keep an apartment here), then there is the usual medical certificate and our course the DL test itself, the only drawback was that by not having a WP my license is only good for one year and next extension is for only for one year, you need a WP to get the 5 years license I was told.

[paz]

To get a Thai drivers license I simply went to the US Embassy ( as I had not a work permit) and signed and affidavit swearing my residence (as my wife and I keep an apartment here), 

 

The small difference is that the affidavit is done in Bangkok or other US consulate only and cost $50, while residence certificate is at any Immigration office and cost Bt. 200.

[ubonjoe]

To get a Thai drivers license I simply went to the US Embassy ( as I had not a work permit) and signed and affidavit swearing my residence (as my wife and I keep an apartment here), then there is the usual medical certificate and our course the DL test itself, the only drawback was that by not having a WP my license is only good for one year and next extension is for only for one year, you need a WP to get the 5 years license I was told.

If you can get a certificate of residence from immigration they will do the 5 year license. You don't have to have a work permit.

Many people without work permits have 5 year licenses.

[swoods58]

As I am sure do the many here on retirement visas who can't work.

[duanebigsby]

To get a Thai drivers license I simply went to the US Embassy ( as I had not a work permit) and signed and affidavit swearing my residence (as my wife and I keep an apartment here), then there is the usual medical certificate and our course the DL test itself, the only drawback was that by not having a WP my license is only good for one year and next extension is for only for one year, you need a WP to get the 5 years license I was told.

I got my 1 year and then renewed for the 5 year without ant work permit. You can have marriage or retirement extension as well.

[chiang mai]

The one year license is a provisional, the five year license is a full license which is granted only after the one license has expired - the type of visa held by the drivers is irrelevant..

[ozyjon]

I'm in the same situation as you so i thought to myself,, i have an option to put to you,, would you like to share a rental property in Bangkok,, i know of some very cheap ( i would not live in them) but can rent, we can pay half 50% 50% each and get the "certificate of residence" and the apartment (just a room) can be there for ever,, i think i saw the rent as 1500 baht per month, it could be worth it for legal status,,, let me know.

[chiang mai]

I'm in the same situation as you so i thought to myself,, i have an option to put to you,, would you like to share a rental property in Bangkok,, i know of some very cheap ( i would not live in them) but can rent, we can pay half 50% 50% each and get the "certificate of residence" and the apartment (just a room) can be there for ever,, i think i saw the rent as 1500 baht per month, it could be worth it for legal status,,, let me know.

 

You haven't read this thread, you don't need to go to that extreme, just use your room receipt, rental receipt etc etc.