Registering Child With Farang Surname

[sezzo]

I hope this is in the correct forum but if not, Mods, please feel free to move to the correct one.

I am posting on behalf of a friend (Englishman) whos girlfriend is 6 months pregnant. They would like to have the baby's farang fathers surname registered on the birth certificate/amphur registration as being the baby's surname,. This is obviously so the child can get an emglish passport and all the benefits that go along with that.

Is this possible and what process needs to be undertaken to carry this out.

Thanks for any advice in advance

[Sulaphat]

I think that when the baby is born the hospital asks for copies of both parents' ID/passport, marriage certificate and then the hospital registers the birth using these documents along with forms for the baby's name. If the couple does not have a marriage certificate, the hospital will normally provide a form for the father to sign which acknowledges paternity and also allows the child to legally use the father's surname which is then entered on the birth certificate. Your friend might want to check with the hospital to make sure this is correct.

[Thai-Aust]

I don't think just by putting father's surname on the birth certificate will enable a child to have the right to claim it's father's nationality. I think you meant the father will be named as the child's father on the birth cert.

[geoffphuket]

I don't think just by putting father's surname on the birth certificate will enable a child to have the right to claim it's father's nationality. I think you meant the father will be named as the child's father on the birth cert.

The amphur office will only require the father's passport showing a non-O or B visa. No problem for the baby to have dad's surname, however if he's not married, the baby can only get British citizenship if he (dad) returns, has a house and work in the UK. If he get married before the baby arrives, baby can have a Uk passport through the normal process at the British embassy in Bangkok.

[dereklev]

I don't think just by putting father's surname on the birth certificate will enable a child to have the right to claim it's father's nationality. I think you meant the father will be named as the child's father on the birth cert.

The amphur office will only require the father's passport showing a non-O or B visa. No problem for the baby to have dad's surname, however if he's not married, the baby can only get British citizenship if he (dad) returns, has a house and work in the UK. If he get married before the baby arrives, baby can have a Uk passport through the normal process at the British embassy in Bangkok.

If not married then question of citizenship is referred back to the Home Office in London. There is no automatic right for an unmarried father to pass nationality to the child. It is at the discretion of the HO.

I have not heard that you need to be in the UK, working and a homeowner to do this. But all things are possible.....

I believe at present it is a wait of approx 18 months for a decision to be made.

Best to get married before the baby is born!!! Only joking....

[geoffphuket]

I don't think just by putting father's surname on the birth certificate will enable a child to have the right to claim it's father's nationality. I think you meant the father will be named as the child's father on the birth cert.

The amphur office will only require the father's passport showing a non-O or B visa. No problem for the baby to have dad's surname, however if he's not married, the baby can only get British citizenship if he (dad) returns, has a house and work in the UK. If he get married before the baby arrives, baby can have a Uk passport through the normal process at the British embassy in Bangkok.

If not married then question of citizenship is referred back to the Home Office in London. There is no automatic right for an unmarried father to pass nationality to the child. It is at the discretion of the HO.

I have not heard that you need to be in the UK, working and a homeowner to do this. But all things are possible.....

I believe at present it is a wait of approx 18 months for a decision to be made.

Best to get married before the baby is born!!! Only joking....

The big problem is that the baby has to be ligitimate to get Uk citizenship. The embassy web site has all the details. Getting married after the birth, as I said, is still possible but will involve up-rooting and moving back to blighty. Get married first is my advice.......NOT JOKING !!!

[sezzo]

Thanks guys for all the advice.

Will pass it on to my mate.

Cheers

[Nawtilus]

This guy is NOT joking when he is talking about getting married...getting married is not a joking matter, nope, no fun at all.

[N47HAN]

This guy is NOT joking when he is talking about getting married...getting married is not a joking matter, nope, no fun at all.

ok now im gonna need some advice preety quick i reckon.......

had the thai weding ceromony (but not registered the marraige).... because i beleive still to be married in the uk..(how do i not know u may ask?) long story lets just say i got took to the cleaners , left came for a break ... that was nearly two years ago. had zero contact since. i want my child to have dual citizenship(uk / thai) i have no objections making the marraige legal and above board...but what about the silly *** back in blighty ? ive got around 5 mnth to sort this....

help greatly accepted

ty

[geoffphuket]

This guy is NOT joking when he is talking about getting married...getting married is not a joking matter, nope, no fun at all.

ok now im gonna need some advice preety quick i reckon.......

had the thai weding ceromony (but not registered the marraige).... because i beleive still to be married in the uk..(how do i not know u may ask?) long story lets just say i got took to the cleaners , left came for a break ... that was nearly two years ago. had zero contact since. i want my child to have dual citizenship(uk / thai) i have no objections making the marraige legal and above board...but what about the silly *** back in blighty ? ive got around 5 mnth to sort this....

help greatly accepted

ty

Apparently the UK law regarding citizenship for illigitimate children has just changed (this month). I'm waiting to hear from Fourbaht who is attending an interview at the embassy in Bangkok shortly, to ask for citizenship for his baby. From what I understand, the child may now take it's nationality from the father, regardless of where he's living. Fingers crossed

[smartecosse]

i had been informed ( not sure if rightly or wrongly) that as long as the fathers name is one the birth certificate once the "mess" that a few of us find ourseleves in is sorted back in the UK and we do marry our pertner here that that will "legitimize" the birth and thus allow for the application of a UK passport for the child........

[Tarragona]

i had been informed ( not sure if rightly or wrongly) that as long as the fathers name is one the birth certificate once the "mess" that a few of us find ourseleves in is sorted back in the UK and we do marry our pertner here that that will "legitimize" the birth and thus allow for the application of a UK passport for the child........

Out of interest, what exactly do you mean by "mess" and it being "sorted back in the UK"?

[thaigene2]

When one of our Thai-Farang kids was born - 1st one - in a Bangkok hospital we had to sign a form saying why we gave him a Farang name (first and last - we're legally married here).

It was explained that the Amphur required this because too many Thais were taking Farang first names to copy those of the Thai soap stars (lots of them are thai-farang). They said names like Wil-LEY and Cin-DEE were really popular..

[The Dan Sai Kid]

When one of our Thai-Farang kids was born - 1st one - in a Bangkok hospital we had to sign a form saying why we gave him a Farang name (first and last - we're legally married here).

It was explained that the Amphur required this because too many Thais were taking Farang first names to copy those of the Thai soap stars (lots of them are thai-farang). They said names like Wil-LEY and Cin-DEE were really popular..

Does that mean that people are not allowed to give a farang name without proper justification?

[thaigene2]

When one of our Thai-Farang kids was born - 1st one - in a Bangkok hospital we had to sign a form saying why we gave him a Farang name (first and last - we're legally married here).

It was explained that the Amphur required this because too many Thais were taking Farang first names to copy those of the Thai soap stars (lots of them are thai-farang). They said names like Wil-LEY and Cin-DEE were really popular..

Does that mean that people are not allowed to give a farang name without proper justification?

That was never really clear to me. But it seemed a bit sinister to be sure. When we wrote down "because the father is [farang]" that seemed to satisfy them. Didn't experience it again with our second child, so maybe it was a temporary xenophobic thing by the local Amphur. The hospital staff seemed a bit embarrassed by it..

[Nawtilus]

We did not experience this at all at bumrungrad and she has english first and last names, was never questioned or asked to sign anything except for the birth certificate stuff.

It is important, no matter what your future plans may be, make sure your surname is on the birth certificate and make sure it is spelled correctly in Thai...pot luck really. But also MAKE SURE you get a thai and an english version of the certificate from the hospital, bumrungrad does this and then it is official really no matter if they get it a little wrong or not.

[skinnymat]

We did not experience this at all at bumrungrad and she has english first and last names, was never questioned or asked to sign anything except for the birth certificate stuff.

It is important, no matter what your future plans may be, make sure your surname is on the birth certificate and make sure it is spelled correctly in Thai...pot luck really. But also MAKE SURE you get a thai and an english version of the certificate from the hospital, bumrungrad does this and then it is official really no matter if they get it a little wrong or not.

Hello. im in a similary situation to this with my girlfriend 6 months pregnant and would like to know how i could get my name converted into thai so that i can get the birth certificate sorted.

[think_too_mut]

I think that when the baby is born the hospital asks for copies of both parents' ID/passport, marriage certificate and then the hospital registers the birth using these documents along with forms for the baby's name. If the couple does not have a marriage certificate, the hospital will normally provide a form for the father to sign which acknowledges paternity and also allows the child to legally use the father's surname which is then entered on the birth certificate. Your friend might want to check with the hospital to make sure this is correct.

At Samitivej hospital:

- mother's ID

- father's passport (a faxed copy was sufficient)

and NOTHING else. I was not even there when the baby was born, signed nothing, not married.

All they insisted I do was to wire (no credit card unless present in person) the money to cover the cost.

Birth certificate issued in both English and Thai. Later it was accepted upcountry by whoever does "house papers" and the baby is registered as family member.

[chatette]

There's no restrictions on what name you call your child, and the family name is what it is. There USED to be a requirement for family names to be `Thaiaized' based on the misconception that noone wld be able to tell the origin of immigrants, but in practice has made it pretty easy to tell people's heritage without ever meeting them.