Hi all long time no speak!!!

Our baby is due in 2 weeks, just a quick question, we want it to have dual nationality Thai and English. Do we have to do anything to declare this when it is born? what does dual nationality really mean? And when we go back to Thailand in Feb, we will have to apply for a British passport will this cause any problems?

Sorry if a bit thick but its the first child and aint got a clue

Thanks in advance

Hi all long time no speak!!!

Our baby is due in 2 weeks, just a quick question, we want it to have dual nationality Thai and English. Do we have to do anything to declare this when it is born? what does dual nationality really mean? And when we go back to Thailand in Feb, we will have to apply for a British passport will this cause any problems?

Sorry if a bit thick but its the first child and aint got a clue

Thanks in advance

Hi Big Spuds,

You'll need to get baby a Thai passport from the consulate in London. Of couse 'baby' can have dual nationality and it shouldn't present any problems. The Thai government have been making noises recently about Thais holding dual nationality due to all the troubles in the deep south, but there's no law that prevents it....at the moment.

I assume you live in good old Brum - I lived in Meriden before comming out here 9 years ago. Why don't you ask at the Thai consulate in the city centre for more info'

Good luck with the new baby

geoffphuket

BIRMINGHAM

Royal Thai Consulate

Exchange Buildings, Stephenson Place, B2 4NN

Tel: 0121 643 9481

Fax: 0121 643 9481

Out of office hours: 07870 673079 (emergencies only)

Website: www.thailand-visa.com

Please note new address from 1st June 2006:

One Victoria Square

Birmingham

B1 1BD

(New contact details will be published shortly)

Also I don't think the British Embassy will issue your babies British passport, just contact the passport office in the UK, the baby will get a passport the same way as any Uk citizen in the UK, by filling out the form & sending off a copy of the birth certificate & photo.

The Thai government have been making noises recently about Thais holding dual nationality due to all the troubles in the deep south, but there's no law that prevents it....at the moment.

I can see absolutely no chance that the Thai Government will institute any Law against Dual Nationality for Thai citizens.

A year or so ago and I did an informal Poll of Thai Golfing friends at RBSC and Rajapreuk - approximately 1 in 7 had two Passports themselves and something like 3 in 10 had children who had two Passports.

These are very senior and well placed Thais; no Government would find any benefit in trying to change the situation, they have much more important problems on their plate.

Patrick

I'm American and we had no trouble getting our son a US passport last year plus he's already a Thai citizen by being born/registered here. Should be the same for the UK even though the embassy is privatized now. For getting him/her the Thai passport, simply head to the Office of Foreign Affairs on Ramintra Road. I'm not sure where to go if you're outside the capital. Good luck with the baby!

Spuds,

Like others have said, your child will be born and automatically have two nationalities. It will be British because it is born in the UK to a UK parent. And it will be Thai because one of the parents is Thai.

You apply for the UK passport in normal way through the passport agency.

For the Thai passport, you'll have to first apply for a Thai style birth certificate at the embassy in London. At the same time you can apply for the Thai passport.

When travelling, follow these simple rules.

Depart the UK on the UK passport.

Enter Thailand on the Thai one.

Depart Thailand on the Thai passport.

Re-enter the UK on the UK passport.

Only ever show immigration ONE passport.

Always show the airline check in ALL the passports, as the passport tells them that the child will not need a visa to travel to that desitination.

And as Patrick has says, given the proliferation of dual nationality amongst powerful and connected Thais, the chances of the Thai government making dual nationality illegal are NILL.