Visa Formalities / Resident Permits
In the Sukhumvit Road area as well as in Pattaya, there are a number of law offices which advertise that they handle resident permits for foreigners.
In official language, those granted a residence permit are called immigrants. There are quota and non-quota immigrants. The annual quota for immigrants from each country is 100; there is an annual quota of 200 for stateless immigrants.
Non-quota immigrants are those from the US, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan and India.
To get a residence permit, one must file either at a Thai embassy or consulate abroad or at the Immigration Division in Bangkok an application form secured from the Thai Immigration Division. Together with the application form, a bio data must be submitted. A guaranty fee of 5,000 Baht for adults and 2,500 Baht for each child is to be paid. All applicants for residency are also required to present a working permit issued by the Thai Ministry of Labor.
If the application is approved, a residence certificate or blue book is issued to the alien for a fee of 1,000 Baht. The foreign resident must register his place of residence in Thailand at the local Amphur Office and get a house card. 7 days after receipt of the residence certificate, he must apply for an alien book (red book) at the local police station. He has to re-register there every year, an affair accompanied by a fee of 200 Baht.
If the holder wishes to leave Thailand, he or she must notify the Immigration Division prior to his/her departure. He is issued an Endorsement of Departure which he needs for his return. The residence permit only remains valid if the alien re-enters Thailand at least once a year. Before departure, a clearance from the Revenue Department is also required.
A person’s residence permit does not cover the spouse or any dependents.
Children born in Thailand of foreign parents have a legal status all by themselves. They are not Thai citizens (even those born to a Thai mother and a foreign father are not automatically Thai citizens - only those born to Thai fathers qualify, regardless of the nationality of the mother). On the other hand, children of foreign parents, even if both are just tourists, are not classified as tourists. Technically speaking, they have not entered the country as visitors at all - neither as tourists nor as temporary visitors.
To be considered legal residents, they also don’t need a residence permit. Immigration officers have told this author that those born in Thailand can stay indefinitely without any formalities, at least until they leave the country for the first time on a non-Thai passport. Those born in Thailand do not need a residence permit but must be holders of a Thai birth certificate. The birth certificate is issued by the Amphur (district) office. Processing takes about two weeks and usually is handled by the hospital where the child was born.
Birth certificates are standard forms exclusively in Thai script. Many law offices in Bangkok have their own English translations of these forms which just need to be copied and filled in. A common rate for these translations is 200 Baht.
For more information on residence permits, especially for foreign investors, please see the chapter Business & Employment.
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