Thread: Taking Thai/Australian Child OUT of thailand. Permission.

yes i have used the search function. my issue is unique. but with common problems. just looking for advice:

have son with thai girl.
living with her now, since the birth (the mother of the child), we are in a relationship.
not married.
im on the birth certificate and my son has my last name.
i have made him an Australian citizen, he is eligible for an Australian Passport. i do already know how to do this so my queries do not relate to anything other than the thai-side of the laws.

I AM NOT- legitimized as the father. at the amphur.
But apparently i am in the Thai Family book as the father. but i suppose that is because i am on the birth certificate.

His mother and i talk at length about the future. we do not have the financial means to stay in Thailand as a couple for much longer. we have decided that in the best interests of our son he should accompany me to Australia to start his life there, at the moment his mother cannot come. So she is willing and wants to sign anything that needs to be done for him to leave the country.

1. Do i have to legitimise myself as the father, in the amphur in order to then take my son out of the country?

1a. If so does that mean i must also get some kind of parental consent form filled in by the mother for when we decide to leave?

1b. Does the legitimisation have to done in the same Amphur he was registered/ Same amphur as his family book?

1c. or is the legitimisation recorded/entered into some kind of national database?

2. Is the parental consent to travel a separate issue to the legitimisation issue in that it is not necessary to legitimise myself as father for my son and i to travel together. so therefore i would just need a permission letter notorized by Thai officials at the amphur?

and

3. I dont want to have to get two passports for him. is it enough to just have the Australian Passport for him to leave Thailand?

3b. Must i have two passports for him if we were to travel together?


also im covered in tattoos so, just think of the worst possible looking character as though my personality is clean and bright it could make people look at me negatively.


thanks for all your help. they are thai-law related questions, so i would rather appreciate factual comments over opinion and specifically if anyone is in the same position as me and has taken their child out of thailand.

Forgot to mention son is 1yr 2mnths, will be about 18-20months old by the time we decide to travel.

You'll be sweet mate. read my recent thread about this. If he's a citizen he gets a passport. If he has a passport he can freely enter Australia.

I'd imagine you'd only run into trouble if things went sour with the Mrs.

when looking at the pics at the bank counter and the women behind the counter, i always get some doubts...

couldnt another women, with some resemblance to your wife, accompany you on your GFs passport?

Get him a Thai passport and get down your Embassy. They will have all the answers

It really is as simple as applying for a (Australian) passport, receiving it, and hopping on the plane with the kid. Any dispute to legitimacy should have been done at the citizenship by descent stage which has already been done.

irrespective of any issues with you being the official thai father as he would be on a passport under your name (though you should deal with that), there is a treaty in place virtually worldwide to prevent child trafficking.
The immigration people will hold you up and possibly detain if you do not have written permission from the mother to take him out of the country, if they dont, Australian immigration may.
Copy her ID card and the birth cert, have her hand write and sign a note on this copy expressing her consent for you to travel with the child. You will also need similar (translated into english) if you want to take the child back to los in the future.

The Thai missus went to get her and the nipper a Thai passport last week.Getting hers was a breeze and done in a week. She said she couldnt get one for my daughter. I have to go down with my passport when i get back

Originally Posted by 9999

You'll be sweet mate. read my recent thread about this. If he's a citizen he gets a passport. If he has a passport he can freely enter Australia.

I'd imagine you'd only run into trouble if things went sour with the Mrs.

getting the australian passport is not the problem.
does he need a thai passport to leave thailand?
is one passport acceptable (foreign)
i dont really intend for him to come back her so he doesnt need a thai passport.

^^ Same happened with me I was waiting in the car while the Mrs was in getting passport and she had to call me to come in and sign something. Makes no sense, what if Daddy is not around, the kid can;t get a (Thai) passport?

Originally Posted by Akiii

getting the australian passport is not the problem.
does he need a thai passport to leave thailand?

Yeah I see, you need to leave on a Thai passport and worried the Thais won't let you take him out.

Originally Posted by Akiii

is one passport acceptable (foreign)

You'll have trouble getting out I think with a fresh Aussie passport with no entry stamp. Not sure about the rules.

Originally Posted by peterpan

My daughters traveled with me. they had their own passorts, to get permission to leave the counrty they had to present themselves at the amphur office with mother. not the office they are registered in.
The child has to have own passport.
That all you need to know, (in Thailand).
You only need one a passport for him. I doesnt' matter that you are covered in tatts people will assume that you are brain dead anyway as assume you are from Queensland.

hi mate. does that mean your children have two passports?
im hoping to just get away with using one.

and yeh im from adelaide. but im relocating to tasmania, never been in queensland or even sydney

Absoluteley no problems and I always find out who is the right person to approach at the embassy, get their e-mail address and send them a nice request for visa approval detailng all my children's details.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Absoluteley no problems and I always find out who is the right person to approach at the embassy, get their e-mail address and send them a nice request for visa approval detailng all my children's details.

i think you misunderstood. my child is half thai.

Originally Posted by Akiii

im hoping to just get away with using one.

I think if you did that it would have to be Thai passport.

replies from people with half thai/farang children would be more helpful. thanks.

Yeah, I just been through the process of getting Aussie citizenship for my half Thai, Thai born daughter, an Aussie passport for my daughter, a Thai passport for my daughter, a tourist visa for the mrs, etc. It all went rather smoothly.

Originally Posted by 9999

Originally Posted by Akiii

im hoping to just get away with using one.

I think if you did that it would have to be Thai passport.

Why do you say that?

Originally Posted by 9999

Yeah, I just been through the process of getting Aussie citizenship for my half Thai, Thai born daughter, an Aussie passport for my daughter, a Thai passport for my daughter, a tourist visa for the mrs, etc. It all went rather smoothly.

but. you think that you need two passports to leave the country- for your daughter i mean....? is that a requirement?

i mean if you were planning to never return to thailand-

Originally Posted by Akiii

but. you think that you need two passports to leave the country- for your daughter i mean....? is that a requirement?

i mean if you were planning to never return to thailand-

No, I was saying you could have just 1 Thai passport and get a visa for her, but I don't think it will be easy to exit Thailand with just an Aussie passport.

Originally Posted by tsicar

if the kid has a passport: thai or otherwise, then nobody has the right to stop you leaving the country unless other legal shit is involved. (and even then, if you are lucky)

entry into the destination country couild be a problem unless the kid has a visa or is legally a citizen of the destination country.
the child needs the mother's permission to get the passoport, NOT to leave the country.

Just because you haven't been asked for it or you write NOT in caps doesn't mean you don't need it. Both Australia and Thailand are signatories to the hague convention which mandates special controls on single adults traveling with children. Permission of the absent parent is required. (If you wish to have an uneventful trip)