Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[onthemoon]

13 hours ago, Arkady said:

 

It is one of a number of recent disappointments and irritations about Thailand.  He wants to quit working but needs to continue for citizenship. Remittance tax is the reinterpretation of the Revenue Code by Revenue Department order P 161/2566 in September 2023 which means that foreign source income earned after 1 Jan 2024 have to be taxed, if remitted to Thailand, at regular personal income tax rates.  That has caused a number of expat retirees to review whether they want to remain as That tax residents or will spend less than 180 days a year in the Kingdom and avoid that tax. 

 

I had another friend whose goal was to get PR and stay in Thailand.  Finally he got his PR application together with the help of a law firm but found after a few months dound that they had screwed it up and he was rejected.  He could have reapplied the following year but he was so upset that he left Thailand and got a job somewhere else. Some people can be affected like that feeling a strong sense of rejection.  However, many others of us have families here and can't easily up sticks and have to persevere. In my case I had real curved balls thrown at me while applying for both PR and citizenship but kept fighting and managed against all odds o get the applications back on track without having to reapply.  I was told I was unqualified for PR and my citizenship file was knocked back to SB from the MOI.  I think of it like a combination of an obstacle course and a war of attrition where you mustn't fall into despair during long waits with no news.

I guess some people just give up while others persevere. People are different.

[saakura]

@Marcati Congratulations, and hope all goes well with the final process. I had my NIA interview and all documents were sent to MOI in 2020, so hopefully in 2rys time I will get lucky. I am planning to retire in 2026, so it is really worrying.

[Arun Mai]

On 4/26/2024 at 8:37 PM, saakura said:

@Marcati Congratulations, and hope all goes well with the final process. I had my NIA interview and all documents were sent to MOI in 2020, so hopefully in 2rys time I will get lucky. I am planning to retire in 2026, so it is really worrying.

I don't plan on retiring just yet, but I agree that it is frustrating.  Essentially I can't retire as long as this process is ongoing.  My file was sent to the MOI in July 2022 and I am still waiting for THE interview.  Still, I tend to put it out of my mind and every now and again I come back to check to see if there have been any developments.  Happy for @Marcati.  Congratulations.

[onthemoon]

My file was sent to MOI in April 2019 and received in May that year, so I am celebrating my 5-year anniversary of waiting for the interview. I plan to retire in six years, and I hope the process will be completed by then.

Of course, before I applied for citizenship, I had to have my PR for 5 years. And in order to apply for the PR, I had to be on the same work permit for 3 years. From PR application to getting it took 6 years, that's 14 years. I lapsed 1 year before applying for citizenship (lazy me!) and have now been waiting for my interview for 5 years.

 

So, we are talking 20 years and no end in sight. One thing you learn in Thailand is patience. 🙂

[david143]

16 hours ago, onthemoon said:

My file was sent to MOI in April 2019 and received in May that year, so I am celebrating my 5-year anniversary of waiting for the interview. I plan to retire in six years, and I hope the process will be completed by then.

Of course, before I applied for citizenship, I had to have my PR for 5 years. And in order to apply for the PR, I had to be on the same work permit for 3 years. From PR application to getting it took 6 years, that's 14 years. I lapsed 1 year before applying for citizenship (lazy me!) and have now been waiting for my interview for 5 years.

 

So, we are talking 20 years and no end in sight. One thing you learn in Thailand is patience. 🙂

My Brother i salute your patience