Is a foreign baby born here entitled to Thai passport?

[Bristolian]

...............I just checked my son's passport and it states under Nationality : British Citizen and place of birth as Bangkok. He also has a Thai passport

VERY interesting

Bristolian

May I ask - Is his mother a British Citizen?

No, his mum/my wife is Thai

I just did a further check, my son's birth was registered with the British Embassy in BKK and they produced the British Birth Certificate.

There is one section on the certificate which is titled "Claim to Citizenship". Typed in the section is "S11 (1) British Nationality Act 1981"

[nanyang]

You have now Pete

I'm Brit and Mrs.T is Thai.

Our two sons were born here in Thailand

They are Thai Nationals and possess Thai Passports

They CANNOT be UK citizens unless they go to UK on a settlement Visa and stay for at least 3 years.
British citizenship is NOT theirs by right, but they can possess UK passports. This has been so since 1982

But - if you go as an illegal immigrant then I understand that these days you are treated somewhat better.................

Where on earth did you get that pearl of wisdom from?

Your son's passports should state: British Citizens, under the heading Nationality.

British Nationality Act 1981

2 Acquisition by descent.
(1)A person born outside the United Kingdom [F17and the qualifying territories] after commencement shall be a British citizen if at the time of the birth his father or mother—
(a)is a British citizen otherwise than by descent; or
(b)is a British citizen and is serving outside the United Kingdom [F18and the qualifying territories] in service to which this paragraph applies, his or her recruitment for that service having taken place in the United Kingdom[F19or a qualifying territory]; or
(c)is a British citizen and is serving outside the United Kingdom [F20and the qualifying territories] in service under a Community institution, his or her recruitment for that service having taken place in a country which at the time of the recruitment was a member of the Communities.

[Terry]

........ Where on earth did you get that pearl of wisdom from?.........

Thank you for your erudite statement
But the 'pearl' came fro the Embassy consular section

I HOPE YOU ARE RIGHT AND THEY ARE WRONG

We shall see anyway as I have just applied for British Passports for both of them

I have been constantly informed by the Embassy that if they had been BORNE in England then they would be UK citizens - but they were borne in Bangkok. I am their father and their Mother is Thai.

When we went to UK in 1999 we had to get SETTLEMENT Visas for my wife and the then, very young eldest son. We did not stay the three years - returning here in 2000.

I can't wait to see the outcome and will get back to the Embassy as soon as I can to clarify this.

Thank you

[Bristolian]

Terry, as you are only now applying for their UK passports I can only assume that your very young son, in 1999, must have then been on a Thai passport and hence the settlement visa.
Providing your children have UK birth certificates issued here in Thailand, then you will have no problems for sure in obtaining British passports.

[oakdale160]

This may not be helpful, but its my experience. My children were born in the US! I was green carded so they becameUS citizens. I had their births registered at the UK and Canadian consulates. I was prompted to do this as the VN War was on and I wanted my son to have the way out of being drafted in future wars.

Many years later when they wanted to move, one to theUK the other to Canada, it was easy because of this registration.

[nanyang]

........ Where on earth did you get that pearl of wisdom from?.........

Thank you for your erudite statement
But the 'pearl' came fro the Embassy consular section

I HOPE YOU ARE RIGHT AND THEY ARE WRONG

We shall see anyway as I have just applied for British Passports for both of them

I have been constantly informed by the Embassy that if they had been BORNE in England then they would be UK citizens - but they were borne in Bangkok. I am their father and their Mother is Thai.

When we went to UK in 1999 we had to get SETTLEMENT Visas for my wife and the then, very young eldest son. We did not stay the three years - returning here in 2000.

I can't wait to see the outcome and will get back to the Embassy as soon as I can to clarify this.

Thank you

The proof of the pudding ............

We arrived in the UK, my Thai wife, our two 'luk kreungs' aged 10 and 6 and myself on November 28, 2013.
Waltzed through immigration, they even invited my missus, the alien, to accompany us through the European section.
They both started school on the seventh of this month in class sizes of 20 and 24.
Hopefully, the Tinglish will soon disappear - no more strawberreeee.


Terry, you'll be home and dry once you sort out the paperwork.

[HHTel]

Absolutely correct.
My daughters were born in the UK. Myself, British and my wife Thai. They were automatically British and my first daughter had a UK passport when she was 5 days old. My wife of course was not granted British citizenship until she had been in the UK for 4 years and had to prove she had followed the rules. So for a time, her daughters were British citizens but she was not!

Incidentally, Nangyan, it's StrawbeLLeeeee!!!

[Terry]

Well the UK Passports for my two sons, both born here in Thailand to my Thai wife - have arrived.

They both state very clearly - BRITISH CITIZEN

So - the personage at the Embassy gave me bum information in the first place - very helpful I must say

Anyway - mission accomplished and thanks to those who offered better advice here.

[chaspul]

Nanyang

Slightly off topic but worth re-stating for other forum members.
As I have mentioned on this forum before.
Regarding Immigration to the UK, if you are "Brit" or "EU", but your family is non "Brit" or "EU" you have a right to take them through the local channel, don't wait to be "invited".
This used to be a much shorter route to take my Canadian wife ( a subject of HM Queen Elizabeth II ) who would if entering on her own, have to take the long line of "other nations".

Chas

[Frank La Rue]

My son was born and raised in the UK, and obviously has a British Passport. It wasn't until he was 21 (when he decided he wanted to move with us when we retired to Thailand) that we registered his birth at the Thai Embassy in London. He now holds dual nationality.

[Edit] Sorry, should have said Thai mother (also dual nationality) and English father.

Getting a thai passport was that a straight forward thing- quick formality?

[Big Boy]

My son was born and raised in the UK, and obviously has a British Passport. It wasn't until he was 21 (when he decided he wanted to move with us when we retired to Thailand) that we registered his birth at the Thai Embassy in London. He now holds dual nationality.

[Edit] Sorry, should have said Thai mother (also dual nationality) and English father.

Getting a thai passport was that a straight forward thing- quick formality?

It was straight forward, but it wasn't easy i.e.:

My son migrated to Thailand with us. He couldn't get a Thai passport at that stage because he didn't yet have an ID card.

To prevent improper stamps in his UK passport, he couldn't use it to travel to Thailand. I had to arrange for a certificate of identity (not all airlines will accept this, so check before booking) at the Thai Embassy in London. Also travelling without a passport is not easy - he was taken from us by the authorities at both Mumbai and Suvanbhumi (but both places gave him back).

A couple of weeks after arrival, went travelled up to the Amphur's office where my wife was registered to obtain his ID card. The difficult bit about this was 'persuading' the head of the village that she'd known him all of her life, and he had made regular visits. The persuasion was easy and she basically rubber stamped his application.

Once he had the ID card, the passport was easy.

[Frank La Rue]

My son was born and raised in the UK, and obviously has a British Passport. It wasn't until he was 21 (when he decided he wanted to move with us when we retired to Thailand) that we registered his birth at the Thai Embassy in London. He now holds dual nationality.

[Edit] Sorry, should have said Thai mother (also dual nationality) and English father.

Getting a thai passport was that a straight forward thing- quick formality?

It was straight forward, but it wasn't easy i.e.:

My son migrated to Thailand with us. He couldn't get a Thai passport at that stage because he didn't yet have an ID card.

To prevent improper stamps in his UK passport, he couldn't use it to travel to Thailand. I had to arrange for a certificate of identity (not all airlines will accept this, so check before booking) at the Thai Embassy in London. Also travelling without a passport is not easy - he was taken from us by the authorities at both Mumbai and Suvanbhumi (but both places gave him back).

A couple of weeks after arrival, went travelled up to the Amphur's office where my wife was registered to obtain his ID card. The difficult bit about this was 'persuading' the head of the village that she'd known him all of her life, and he had made regular visits. The persuasion was easy and she basically rubber stamped his application.

Once he had the ID card, the passport was easy.

If my next question is irrelevant for the issue but is there a reason to "prevent omproper stamps in the UK passport", i.e. is there anything Ishould look out for with my son's Norwegian passport?

He travels in and out of Thailand with his passport and get the usual stamps, including extensions, where stays beyond 30 days areconcerned

[Big Boy]

No, my son was coming and staying. No visa etc. He could have been stamped in, but if travelling anywhere once his permission to stay on his UK passport had expired, he'd have been an over stayer. By doing it the way we have, everything is legal.

[Bristolian]

By doing it the way we have, everything is legal.

Legal no......but also not enforceable

Being a little pedantic, under Thai law, I understand it is not possible/legal to have dual nationality. My son also has both Thai and British Passports. However I understand it's simply a law that is no longer enforced, It's referred to as a "dead letter law". TIT and few bother to apply the law as written as we know.

The prior law on this matter was clear that at the age of 20 +_ 1 year the holder dual passports needed to decide which passport/nationality he or she was going to keep. Simply today, there are not enough government officials to monitor the paper trail and they do not try to enforce unless a legal situation occurs where it is to the governments advantage to enforce the law.

However, I'm with you BB, simply don't give them a paperwork tail to follow.

[Big Boy]

I've got a letter from the Thai Embassy confirming that it is legal. OK, I know this is Thailand, and what one official might say could be different to the rest, but circumstances mean that it suits me to believe what they've told me .