What visa should I apply for if my wife is a Thai citizen by descent but currently lacks a Thai passport or ID?

Nov 18, 2021
3 years ago
Stephen ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Ok I need some help. My wife is Thai with no thai ID or Passport. She was born In Thailand but has lived in Germany all her life and is a German and Thai citizen. Her mom is a thai citizen and has a thai ID and Passport. My wife and I are planning to move to Thailand but don’t know what visa we need to apply for. Take in mind once we get there we have to apply for her thai ID and passport. What we don’t want to is to apply for a visa that cannot be changed to a marriage visa. Does anyone know what visa we should apply for in this situation?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The best option for the couple is for the wife to enter Thailand using her German passport, as she is a Thai citizen by descent. Upon entering, she should apply for her Thai ID and passport with required documents, such as her birth certificate and her mother's ID. As for visa options, the husband can apply for a 90-day Non-O visa based on marriage, which is changeable to a yearly extension of stay after meeting certain criteria. Alternatively, he could enter under a tourist visa and then apply for the marriage visa while in Thailand.
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Benjamin ******
This has gone far enough.

1. > My wife is Thai with no thai ID or Passport. She was born In Thailand but has lived in Germany all her life and is a German and Thai citizen. Her mom is a thai citizen and has a thai ID and Passport.

This is not a "How do I get a Thai passport" group. Your wife can enter Thailand on her German passport, and get a one year extension of stay based on being a former Thai citizen. She will need proof that she is a Thai citizen though.

2. > What we don’t want to is to apply for a visa that cannot be changed to a marriage visa.

You can apply for a single entry tourist visa, and it can be changed into a Non-O visa based on marriage IF the immigration office is willing to sell the in-country Non-O visa, and you meet the legal requirements (Marriage is reregister in Thailand, you have the 400K THB, etc.). I do not know if you can get a one year extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai national if the wife is on a one year extension of stay based on being a Thai citizen.
Dawn **********
Go to Thai embassy in Germany with birth certificate and parents ID and apply for Thai ID card first and for Thai passport. I’d imagine If she arrives in thailand 🇹🇭 on a foreign passport she will be subject to same restrictions as any foreigner.

I found that out when I arrived in the UK on my Aussie passport when my UK one had expired. Was told I was not permitted to stay in the UK longer than 6 months even tho I was born and raised there was also not allowed to work or gain access to public funds (unemployment) or housing.

My Thai wife didn’t have a current ID card when they updated to microchip version she was issued one on the spot in Sydney.
Stephen ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Dawn *********
😳😳😳
Tod *********
okay, the wife's situation can be sorted out by contacting the thai consulate/embassy in Germany AND seeing as a thai doesn't need a visa to get in that's all I'm gonna say about that. 😮

You on the other hand can apply for a 90 day single entry Non-O visa based on being married to a thai. Then come in get stamped in for 90 days and after that apply for the year marriage extension.

OR

come in on a visa exempt or a 60 day tourist visa, apply for the in country 90 day Non-O visa based on marriage at your local immigration office and then apply for the yearly extension of stay.
Stephen ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
thank you.
John ******
She can get a temporary passport at the Thai embassy or Consulate. With this passport she can enter Thailand and get the ID card and the permanent passport.
Stephen ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thank you everyone 😊
Gregor **********
if she is born to a Thai mother, she is automatically a Thai citizen and can apply for a Thai passport at the embassy in your country. She will need her birth certificate, her mothers ID and some other documents. Only the Thai embassy will be able to tell you how to proceed
Ellie *******
Contact to Thai embassy there to check if she can get a Thai ID and passport.

If she can have a Thai ID and she enters Thailand on whatever passport other than Thai, she can apply for an extension being Thai national.

Or, if she cannot get a Thai ID nor passport, prepare the documents to prove the relationship with her Thai mother, there is the extension called (or translated to) "In the case of a person who used to have Thai nationality or whose parent is or was of Thai nationality visiting relatives or returning to his or her original homeland:"

If you want/need to apply for a visa (not entering a visa-exempt scheme), SETV is the most flexible one for you.
Ticha *****************
If she is Thai nationality. Then she can apply for Thai id card at royal thai embassy Germany and get Thai id card. The system is connected worldwide.

Except that she only has Thai blood but not registered in Thailand system. Then she is only German.
Reiner *********
@Ticha ****************
Yes but she need a prove of it …,

Did you read the post ?
Wannikea *********
@Tod ********
will be here in the morning.
Reiner *********
With registered on mothers place …
Reiner *********
Then …. All easy to apply for Thai ID card
JF *******
Surely we will need to apply for a Thai passport. That will be the best option long term
Álvaro **********
Regarding her situation, I'd say a visit to the Thai consulate in Berlin should get her a Thai passport if she is Thai citizen - but without ID surely it will be needed more paperwork.

Maybe she could just travel to Thailand under her German passport, and arrange everything (ID and passport) while in the country, what surely will be easier. Then travel back to Germany (to get the out stamp) and back to Thailand with her new Thai passport
Reiner *********
Witch passport she has… if German she need to come in with a 60 days tourist… and here going to here birth village or and with her mother … to get a Thai birth certificate
Reiner *********
Ok

The first thing is that she has a Thai mother … she need a Geburtsurkunde… is her mother in Germany or here?

If here
Stephen ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Reiner ********
her mom is thai but she live in Germany. She has a house in in Thailand which my wife is already registered under. We have her Thai birth certificate because she was born in Thailand. She just needs to get the Thai ID but if she comes into country she will be considered a tourist. Will she have to leave to be considered Thai.
David ************
@Stephen *****
I am born in the Netherlands and both my parents are Serbian. In the Netherlands through the Serbian embassy I have arranged my passport.

I think that in your wife's case she should be able to do the same in the country she is born in with the Thai embassy.
Stephen ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@David ***********
I wish but she has to go back to Thailand. She can’t even get the Thai passport with out the Thai id. She can’t get the iD unless she is in Thailand. Ugh I know it’s stupid.
Harry ******
@Stephen *****
do you guys have the household registration booklet (blue book) on hand?
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