Scoring criteria for Thai naturalisation applications

The breakdown of the Thai citizenship points test for naturalization as a Thai citizen (‘เกณฑ์การให้คะแนน กรณีการขอแปลงสัญชาติเป็นไทย’) is outlined below. This test relates to people who are applying based on being married to a Thai wife, or those who are applying having already held Thai permanent residency for five years.

The Thai citizenship points test does not apply to women who are applying for citizenship through a Thai husband. For those applicants, please read this page).

Summary

The authorities have set a maximum point allocation of 100. The threshold of being able to apply for citizenship via the Thai citizenship points test is to score a minimum 50 of the 100 required points to have your application considered.

  1. Qualifications of the applicant (maximum 25 points)

1.1 Age (10 points)

1.2 Education (15 points)

  1. Security of profession (25 points)
  2. Length of civil registration (20 points)
  3. Thai language ability (15 points)
  4. General knowledge about Thailand (10 points).
  5. Personality, appearance and expression (5 points)

AGE AND EDUCATION

Age

AgePoints
20 to 302 points
30 to 405 points
40 to 5010 points
50 to 608 points
Over 605 points

Education qualification

LevelPoints
Up to Mor 6 or vocational training3 points
Diploma5 points
Bachelors Degree or equivalent8 points
Masters Degree or equivalent10 points
Doctorate level15 points

SECURITY OF PROFESSION

This is done via an assessment of income, and can take two forms.

  • Assessments based on verifiable income in the year of application; and
  • Assessments based on verifiable tax payments from the tax year immediately prior applying

Readers should note that the thresholds for verifiable income in the year of application are more generous, and should aim to apply using that measure.

Verified monthly income in the year of application

a) Income for general applicants who do not have other ties to Thailand (as outlined below)

Income (baht per month)Points
80,000 to 90,00015 points
90,001 to 100,00020 points
100,001 and above25 points

b) Income for applicants who are designated ethnic minorities*:

Income (baht per month)Points
40,000 to 50,00015 points
50,001 to 60,00020 points
60,001 and above25 points

c) Income for applicants who are designated ethnic minorities* and who have held an Alien ID Card for at least 10 years:

Income (baht per month)Points
20,000 to 30,00015 points
30,001 to 40,00020 points
40,001 and above25 points

d) Income for applicants married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from secondary educational institution in Thailand:

Income (baht per month)Points
40,000 to 50,00015 points
50,001 to 60,00020 points
60,001 and above25 points

e) Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities* married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:

Income (baht per month)Points
20,000 to 30,00015 points
30,001 to 40,00020 points
Over 40,00125 points

Alternatively, Special Branch are able to allocate points based on verified taxable income based on the based on tax returns made in the year immediately before the submission of your citizenship applications. These thresholds are higher than those outlined above, which are based on your current income in the year of application.

We’ve put it in here as it is part of the formal information sheet given by Special Branch. The use of these thresholds may suit some people.

f) Income based on previous years tax returns for general applicants who do not have other ties to Thailand

Income (baht per month)Points
80,000 to 100,00015 points
100,001 to 120,00020 points
120,001 and above25 points

g) Income based on previous years tax returns for applicants who are designated ethnic minorities*:

Income (baht per month)Points
40,000 to 60,00015 points
60,001 to 80,00020 points
80,001 and above25 points

h) Income based on previous years tax returns for applicants who are designated ethnic minorities* and who have held an Alien ID Card for at least 10 years:

Income (baht per month)Points
20,000 to 40,00015 points
40,001 to 60,00020 points
60,001 and above25 points

i) Income based on previous years tax returns in the case of those married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:

Income (baht per month)Points
40,000 to 60,00015 points
60,001 to 80,00020 points
80,001 and above25 points

*Note: Ethnic minorities are outlined in this link from BORA (Thai language only).

RESIDENCE IN THAILAND

Type and length of residencePoints
Has evidence of civil registration (i.e. yellow tabien baan) showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years but no Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate5 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 5 years10 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 7 years15 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 10 years20 points

Note: Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate are documents issued to permanent residents. As such, the maximum score that can be issued to non-permanent residents is 5 points.

KNOWLEDGE OF THAI LANGUAGE

LevelPoints
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai8 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai and sing the National and Royal Anthems10 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read Thai13 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read and write Thai15 points

KNOWLEDGE OF THAILAND

This is a multiple choice test which will be administered by Special Branch as part of your formal application. For more details on this test, please click here.

Level of knowledge of ThailandCorrect answers requiredPoints
Medium1 to 5 correct answers5 points
Good6 to 8 correct answers8 points
Very good9 to 10 correct answers10 points

PERSONALITY

Special branch officers will also undertake an assessment based on the personality, physical appearance of the applicant, taking into account attributes such as speech, Thai manners, attitude towards Thailand, its culture and ceremonies. The officer will be allowed to award 5 points for this category.

Thai citizenship

Long time resident of Bangkok. Married, three daughters. Managing director of CLC Asia (www.clc-asia.com). Lots of interesting knowledge and experience built up over time which I hope can be of use to people.

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1 Response

  1. 28/06/2018

    […] We’ve outlined in detail the points system in an article here. […]

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