which passport to use ?

[PJG]

She would not have to cross the border to re-new/extend the visa in the UK Passport. As a Thai citizen all she has to do is go to immigration and she can get a 1 year stay visa for B1900. Found this out after wasting money on a border run for my wife earlier in the year.

[hhfarang]

But is an expired passport considered proof of citizenship? I think that is the question.

[squire]

But is an expired passport considered proof of citizenship? I think that is the question.

She should also bring her Thai ID and if possible a House Registration Book (noting her official Thai address).

[Big Boy]

As I suspected a lot of well meaning advice. However, for me the picture is still not clear. I still think on such an important question you should be seeking 'official' advice.

[PJG]

She doe not need the expired Thai Passport just her Thai ID card.

[fach3003]

Hi all...
I am taking all the advice on board...

Thanks again...

[deepee]

There would seem to be one unforeseen issue with dual citizenship passport holders that my wife (Thai) and I discovered just recently.
She has held her Thai citizenship and passport with a permanent residents visa attached for Australia in her passport( renewed every 5 years but due to expire soon ).She also has a new Australian Passport which she has only started to use for travel outside Thailand.The Australian authorities will no longer recognize her Thai passport as she has accepted Aussie citizenship and will therefore NOT grant her a new residents visa for her Thai passport as she is an Australian citizen.This seems to all fall in under the new world security travel arrangements .
Now here we strike a problem. She recently departed Thailand for Australia ,as usual on her Thai passport, but her Aussie visa had only 5 months to go and the airport airline staff laid the" big ploblem" stuff on her about you need 6 months validity etc etc before we can let you on the plane on us so she pipes up about her also having an Aussie passport and then they really started to go off on a spin.
They carried on about you cannot do that anymore and we seemed headed for a stalemate until the supervisor was called away and we just bolted off into departures and immigration leaving a bit bewildered very young staffer left on the desk alone .Phew!.
We now see looming issues as my wife will have to now enter back into Thailand as an Aussie but that posses all sorts of restrictions on us and our lifestyle.
Has any one else dealt with this type of issue and just where will we be left with both countries rejecting dual passport holding?

[PeteC]

I apologize if I'm missing something here Deepee but you really have me confused.

1) When in Thailand and checking into the airline desk to go to Australia she should show her Australian passport, not her Thai passport.

2) After that when proceeding through Thai immigration on the way out, she should show her Thai passport as she did when she entered Thailand.

3) The Australian government is correct in that they can't issue an Australian visa in her Thai passport any longer as she is now an Australian citizen with an Australian passport.

4) (This comment is just a note as this step shouldn't be part of the process any longer anyway.) The airline was wrong if they said they would deny boarding as only 5 months left on an Australian visa in a Thai passport. The restriction is on passport validity of 6 months, not visa validity which can be used up until the very last day of validity.

In summary: Leaving Australia show the check in desk and immigration her Australian passport. Entering Thailand show immigration her Thai passport. Leaving Thailand show the check in desk her Australian passport and immigration her Thai passport. Entering Australia show immigration her Australian passport.

Again, sorry if I'm totally misunderstanding what happened. Pete

[Big Boy]

Thanks Pete,

I've always wondered how it would work, and what passport would be shown when. Your points 1 & 2 are the first time that it's made sense to me.

[charleyboy]

To PRSCCT.
As another poster pointed out previously.
What happens if immigration look at your Thai Passport and realise that you don't have a visa to visit that country?
This happened to a Thai girl I know, she looks European and when she was departing to go to Holland she showed her Thai passport. No visa! She then showed them her Dutch Passport. Overstay! Big fine.

[PeteC]

To PRSCCT.
As another poster pointed out previously.
What happens if immigration look at your Thai Passport and realise that you don't have a visa to visit that country?
This happened to a Thai girl I know, she looks European and when she was departing to go to Holland she showed her Thai passport. No visa! She then showed them her Dutch Passport. Overstay! Big fine.

If she entered Thailand on her Thai passport and that's what was in their computer system, there can be no fine for overstay IMO. I've never heard of what you described as happening so if it has to others, please let us all know as it may be some new kind of procedure. However, it sounds like a scam to me. If Thailand recognizes dual citizenship, they have to recognize dual passports. They can't be selective depending upon what suits them on a given day.

The boarding pass is shown to immigration as a check that the person is a valid passenger and I believe the airline check-in data is available to immigration to confirm that. I wouldn't think immigration has the time or knowledge to check each passengers destination visa, if any is needed.

However, what you say happened so it's possible it could happen again. We need input from others now as I can't go further from any direct bad experiences. Pete

[charleyboy]

Maybe a scam as you say. Her father was on his way back to Cha-am and got a call from his distraught daughter saying that they wouldn't let her depart until the fine was paid.

If you think about it...Immigration probably wouldn't check a Thai passport holder that looked like a Thai, she looks European and they checked her Thai passport, upon realising that she didn't have an appropriate visa to travel she then showed her Dutch passport which was overstay.

[deepee]

Prscct,
you have gotten our story correctly.
your 1st point about that my wife should have shown her Australian passport to the airline staff is a good suggestion. Obviously we did not do that and we shall do just that next time around presuming that Thai Immigration have no need to check the status of the good lady's re-entry visa to Australia.

BTW since we have had this experience we have been told that Thailand officially does not recognize dual citizenship by Thais but turns a blind eye to it at present as so many wealthy and influential Thais also have dual nationality.It's left to the guys at the immigration desk to enforce this point or not so I guess this could be used to top up the tea money fund if you get pinged.The Thai business man who told us this travels on dual passports regularly and did caution us that my wife should never enter Thailand on her Australian passport as this will show up on the data bank in future and will cause some static if she the returns on another occasion on her Thai passport.

And just to add an interesting twist to all this stuff an Australian born Thai friend who was raised from very early age and lived in Thailand holds a Thai ID card but is an Australian citizen and cannot get a Thai passport and cannot own land in Thailand because of this.
All a bit odd for me but I wonder how a very highly ranked Thai person is classified having been born outside of the country also?

[hhfarang]

Pete is correct, when a dual Thai/international citizen is traveling, show international passport when checking in with the airline both in Thailand and at the international location as well as when going through any immigration check point at the international location. Use the Thai passport at the immigration check points both leaving and entering Thailand.

[PeteC]

The internet on this dual Thai/country X and use of which passport is a mess. Minestrone soup mixed with scrambled eggs. I just spent an hour and no joy but to find dozens of conflicting answers and no reference to any definitive source, except to say that both the USA and the UK recognize dual citizenship....and a Thai citizen cannot have his/her citizenship taken away from them for any reason, although no specific reference to allowing dual citizenship. It seems that Thailand wants to keep the issue vague, at least for the moment.

It seems in the past Thailand did strip at least Thai females of their citizenship if they married a foreigner. Apparently Tiger Woods Mom lost her's that way. Assume the Thai Gov is kicking themselves for that now.

Anyway, search if you feel motivated but get ready to spend hours. Let us know if anything definitive found. Pete