Getting Half Thai baby (born in Australia) into Thailand

[snowpea83]

Hi All,

We are having our baby in a few days in Australia. She will of course automatically be an Australian citizen having being born here to an Aussie mother. We will then go straight away and get her an Aussie passport..

My question is, what do we need to get her back into Thailand? Do we need to apply for her Thai passport while still in Australia? Or do we enter Thailand on the Aussie passport.. and in that case do we need to get her a visa? Or do we enter as visa exempt and then sort out her Thai citizenship and passport after we get to Thailand.

Can we get a Thai passport for her in Australia? Because I think it would be easier to do it that way, as in Thailand we don't live near any major cities..

Any advise would be great!

Thanks!

[benalibina]

Look up on thai embassy website or give them a ring.

[Mario2008]

You apply for the Australian birth certificate and once you have that you apply for a Thai birth certificate at the Thai embassy. At the same time you can apply for a Thai passport for the child. This will take a few months. With the Thai birth certificate the babies Thai nationality will be established.

Only if you don't have that time do you let the baby enter on a Australian passport, as with that the child will be subject to immigration rules.

It is possible to get the Thai birth certificate in Thailand and apply for a Thai passport, but that will take more time and still goes through the Thai embassy in Australia.

Look on their website for more info (forms and if you can use one of the general Thai consulates like Sydney)

[p_brownstone]

All assuming that you, the father, are a Thai Citizen of course?

Patrick

[snowpea83]

Thanks guys,

I looked up Melbourne's thai embassy website, but all their information for Thai's such as applying for a passport etc was in Thai (and the husband wasn't with me to translate) I'll look up the main one in Canberra and try to get the forms.

Thanks!

[krisb]

Its actually easier to get this done in Thailand depending where in Aus you live and what month of the year it is.

We live in Adelaide. Our choices are book in(limited places) with the Thai consul for the 1 day of the year the embassy sends a rep over from Canberra, fly to Canberra, or get it sorted in Thailand. So far we just use her Aus passport.

[snowpea83]

OK, so the whole process is taking a really long time. We will now not have enough time to get her Thai passport in Australia. Does anyone know if I can apply for her thai passport in Chiang Rai? I know I can do it in Chiang Mai and Bkk, but when I asked the lady at the thai embassy whether we could do it in Chiang Rai, she said, and I quote 'you can check that for yourself' so helpful....

Thanks for all the previous info

[Mario2008]

You cannot apply for a Thai passport in Chiang Rai, that would have to be done in Chiang Mai.

You can only apply for a Thai passport if the child already has a Thai birth certificate and if you apply in Thailand itself, the child must also be on a household registration book.

I guess the paperwork for the birth certificate isn't finish yet, as a passport doesn't take long. It means that the child will have to travel on the Australian passport. Officially a visa would be required and on proof of her Thai nationality the child can get 1 year extensions of stay.

Once she has her Thai paspsort in Thailand, she would exit on her Australian passport and return to Thailand on her Thai passport.

[snowpea83]

You cannot apply for a Thai passport in Chiang Rai, that would have to be done in Chiang Mai.

You can only apply for a Thai passport if the child already has a Thai birth certificate and if you apply in Thailand itself, the child must also be on a household registration book.

I guess the paperwork for the birth certificate isn't finish yet, as a passport doesn't take long. It means that the child will have to travel on the Australian passport. Officially a visa would be required and on proof of her Thai nationality the child can get 1 year extensions of stay.

Once she has her Thai paspsort in Thailand, she would exit on her Australian passport and return to Thailand on her Thai passport.

Thanks Mario.

Just to clarify, we should get her Thai birth certificate in about 2 days. The Thai embassy in Canberra says that the passport can take up to 5 weeks. We are heading back to Thailand on the 16th of Jan. I asked them if I should apply for the thai passport here anyway and then have it forwarded to us in Thailand and they said no, get it done in Thailand.

My husband got his passport done in Chiang Rai, so you mean that a foreign born or half thai cannot get it there?

When you say to apply in Thailand the child must be on a household registration, you mean for a thai born child or any child? If we go to Chiang mai to apply, do we need that? I don't know where to even start to get her on a household registration!

My plan was to go in on her Aust passport and get a visa exempt 30 day entry and hope that we had her thai passport by the time 30 days was up and then go to mae sai and do a border run and bring her back in on the thai passport.

[Mario2008]

There are several passport offices in Thailand, but I checked again and there is no passport office in Chiang Rai. There is however sometimes a mobile unit that visits Chaing Rai and other towns. So if you are lucky you can apply for the passport there.

There is no distinction in the law between a Thai national born in Thailand and one born abroad. You are simply Thai or you are not.

Any Thai child must be on a household registration, this would normally be done in the book of a relative that lives in Thailand. A simple process, but will require ging to the district office with some family members and the house owner. Your husband should now someone who will allow the child to be placed on the household book.

Swapping passports at landborders is difficult, as they check for entry and exit stamps from the country you are coming from. So if you want to try it at Mai Sai, be sure to confirm with Thai immigration that they will allow it.

[snowpea83]

Hate to disagree with you but there is now a permanent passport office in Chiang Rai, it used to be a mobile thing but the office came in early this year, it's out near the airport.

Anyway, we can put her on my husbands families household registration that shouldn't be a problem. I will check with immigration about the mae sai border.

Thanks for the help, I wish it was an easy process but it never is, is it

[Mario2008]

Nice to know Chiang Rai now has a permanent passport office. (The Thai government is often slow with updating its info on websites).

I myself are on a household book as a foreigner, much harder to do. But my district office and local municipality took care of it in half an hour. I only had to wait a few hours because the person that had to sign the book wasn't in, but they simply brought the book to my house so I didn't have to wait. (Small community where everyone knows eachother has it perks).

So it can be a very painless procedure, depending on the local administration.

[tom21]

as far as I know there is no penalty for a minor who overstays there visa