Dear readers,
I am from Ghent, Belgium, am 48 and have been in Thailand continuously since March 19, 2015 via TR visa. Unfortunately, I had not informed myself about the permitted length of absence. On the other hand, I did not know in advance how long I would stay.
I recently and indirectly learned that an ex officio deletion report was drawn up on 18 Dec 2015. I immediately contacted the Population of Ghent and the Embassy in BKK. I have given the address where I live. I received two documents from Ghent: an extract from the population register with the title: “new address change pending” where my address in Ghent is still stated in the current address field. The second document is the Model 8 with my specified address as the new primary residence. I can't really reconcile these documents.
Well, I thought I was okay to register with the Embassy and forward these two documents as well. The Embassy does not want to register me because I do not have a long-term visa. Since I still want to marry my girlfriend with whom I live here, we want to make the application at the Embassy. But the answer is: register first.
When I asked how I should solve this, the Embassy replied: “regularize your situation in Thailand first”. But how should I do that? They say I'm not registered anywhere now. I can't get married because I'm not registered, but I can't register because I only have a TR. A catch 22.
How do I fix this now?
Yours faithfully,
Alfons
You go with your girlfriend and with the parents after the town hall in your place of residence
register in the blue booklet (house booklet).
You must also immediately request a yellow booklet because that is for foreigners.
It doesn't take much hope that they will do it right away for you, but make an appointment first
because it is always very busy at town halls, hospitals, etc
greetings and success
Pekasu
He only has a TR visa. That's his problem.
The embassy requires proof of long-term residence in Thailand.
The blue or yellow address book has nothing to do with this
Dear Alfons,
The one document will be to register you back at your address in Ghent.
The other document model 8 is to register at the embassy.
Ghent leaves you the choice.
They sent you 2 documents because they don't know what you are up to.
Register at an address in Belgium or at the embassy.
The municipality does not know which visa you have and you can therefore choose them.
The Embassy will of course know which visa/period of stay you have.
If they say that you cannot register there because you do not have a long-term residence permit, then that is the case.
It seems that you now only have the choice to register again at your old address in Ghent (or another new address in Belgium.)
Then you can arrange the wedding.
You can then apply for a Non-immigrant O on the basis of that official marriage, and then extend the resulting 90-day residence period for a year through your local immigration office. You can repeat this extension annually.
After your marriage, you can deregister again via your town hall in Belgium.
You will then receive another Model 8 from that town hall.
With that Model 8 you can register at the embassy in Bangkok, because then you have a long period of residence.
Also read this
http://diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/Diensten/Diensten_in_het_buitenland/Inschrijving/Voor_uw_vertrek
Success.
As a supplement.
It is normal that the one form of the population register still states your address in Ghent.
It is the last known address.
Then it says “new address change pending”. This means that people in Ghent are waiting to find out what your new address will be. Embassy or a new address registration in Belgium?
You'll have to let me know.
If you re-register in Belgium, the local police officer will always come by.
He can only come by if he receives the registration form from the municipality.
You will receive a letter from him as proof that he visited.
You then have to go to the town hall with that letter, because your address needs to be changed on your ID card.
So it all takes a while.
If you want it to go quickly, you can also contact him. You can usually make an appointment with your local police officer.
I just wanted to let you know so you don't plan too soon.
Yes, the last message from the Embassy reads: try to arrange it back in Belgium. However, this requires a return to B. Which is problematic, not because of legal, financial or other 'suspicious' issues, but because I no longer have any ties there. And meanwhile health problems. And how to get hold of a lease when you're here? Not to mention the emotional impact.
No bridges blown up, mind you, there simply weren't any. No properties, no leases, no relatives (anymore), no payments, no work, no benefits. For me the perfect time to go to my girlfriend in Thailand and start a new life. I honestly thought I was "free".
This is also a bit of an answer to Lung Addie's comment. Yes, 48, never traveled further than a weekend in Paris before and then, after a few holiday trips with a friend to Thailand in quick succession, left alone with a visa to my girlfriend deep in the Isan. Didn't know then how long I could stay (because of the Thai government). And never thought that I would have to indicate this if it would possibly be longer than 6 months. Now I've been here for a year, with all the consequences that entails. My background is spotless, but now I have 1 administrative negligence on my record and I can return.
Naive? Perhaps. Focused too much on Thai legislation regarding visas and neglecting Belgian legislation? Certainly. Lack of travel experience? Absolute.
But also young at heart and brave.
My response is very late, but then I was without electricity all day.
Finally, kudos to Ronny, the hero of this blog. His visa file, his unwavering commitment to answer all questions expertly and well worded… Chapot!
Thank you for so much praise, but now to call me a hero…. 🙂
Not a full answer to your situation, but I'm one myself
Stayed in Thailand for 3 years, provided that I report it to my city administration (Antwerp) as temporarily absent, this may be a maximum of 1 year... (I did that for 3 years, sometimes only 3 weeks in between in Belgium for new visas (triple entry,s) to request.
Since you did not do that, they have written you off administratively.
Think that you should first arrange your residence status in Thaland, at least if you wish to register here at the Belgian Embassy (model 8).
You can also return to Belgium and register again with your address, the quarter agent will come and check this, after which you will be registered there again, and you can return to Thailand if you want for max. 1 year without being deregistered (but apply for a visa) by the Belgian government.
Also remember that you cannot obtain a new passport or EID card or other documents in Thailand if you are not registered at Embassy BKK..!! At most, an entry document to return to Belgium if your passport is lost or its validity expires!
Documents to get married here in Thaland is another chapter ……(you can do it yourself in Belgium provided you walk a lot and travel to Brussels for legalization of your documents of all kinds, even legalization of court signature in case of possible divorce certificates from previous marriage…)
Think our local quartermaster on the blog can fill you in even better if he reads your request.
This part only concerned my own experiences, and I never had a problem with this, you should have reported it, now you just disappeared…
I read about possibly registering a marriage. You can read in my 'reaction' how 'informally' I solved it because I encountered too many problems and cumbersome procedures at the Dutch Embassy. I had no 'income' .nl in the Netherlands.
Regarding obtaining a new passport: I have never had a permanent and registered residential address in Thailand, but I could simply apply for a new Dutch passport. It took a little longer because it has to be sent to the Netherlands and back by courier. No problem!
Hello. I have been living in Thailand for twenty years. My procedure. I went to the municipality when I left. There they had me fill out model 8. After a wait of 1 week - necessary to check your papers, etc., they gave me the document. Proof of deregistration, proof of no late payments, etc. Went to the Bangkok embassy with this document for registration. Been here for so long now without any problem.
A situation for you to cry is a reason for me to laugh. Sorry but your situation is so ridiculous. I am Dutch and have been in Thailand for 20 years in total, but also back in the Netherlands for shorter and longer periods. Sometimes signed myself in and out and sometimes did nothing because I didn't know how long I would be gone. Afterwards it turned out that the Municipality had unsubscribed me, but I never knew who had tipped them off. I was married and divorced in Thailand. All actions that I had not involved the Embassy in, but arranged myself at the local Amphoe. My Thai wife who bore my family name could go to the Netherlands with me without our marriage being registered in the Netherlands, if I had someone who guaranteed her visa. When we arrived in the Netherlands I immediately applied for a 'marriage' and immediately asked how I can marry a woman I was already married to in Thailand? Would I have to marry the same woman again in every country where I temporarily settled? A judge in Amsterdam ruled that if the Marriage Documents had been translated into English, the marriage concluded in Thailand had to be respected and registered in the Netherlands with retroactive effect. I couldn't give a permanent address in Thailand after I got divorced 16 years ago and had the 3 children with me. I have moved around 20 times in Thailand. My question is, do you have your own house or permanent address in Belgium? If so, isn't that your official 'home port' and postal address? Do you have benefits? are you financially dependent and who is involved? Why did you register at your Embassy in Bangkok?
I turned 65 in February and had to apply for my AOW and Pension and the question was whether I had been abroad in the period from the age of 15 to the age of 65. I have never kept track of this exactly, so I requested it from the relevant municipalities at the time. Which periods exactly was I registered or deregistered? The last time I did it very formally and neatly. When I applied for my AOW at the SVB (Social Insurance Bank), responsible for my AOW, I turned out to be registered as married to my Thai 'ex'! I got divorced in 2001 and I inquired with the last municipality where I had been registered and they confirmed that I had been registered as 'divorced' there. I asked the current Municipality how I was registered, as 'divorced'! Why am I with the SVB, which has access to the same information through my 'Sofie number'!? The authorities involved advised me to solve the problem with the relevant departments myself. I have now been in the Netherlands for 5 years and am confronted with only official blunders that I can solve, but how many people could not do that or do not know what they are getting themselves into? I think you should contact the Administration of the Municipality in Belgium where you still have a residential address? you can simply say that you are 'traveling' with the intention of returning to your home address. Does your situation perhaps have to do with the tax authorities? I have now resolved everything. My 'Thai son' is now in the Netherlands, has a passport and ID card, has a municipal care coach, will take over my rental agreement in the fall and will continue to study here. I deregister so that I no longer have to pay health insurance and payroll tax (tax) here and I receive my pension here in a bank account with which I use Internet banking in combination with a Thai bank account. My 'residence' in Thailand will be the address of the 'in-laws' of one of my daughters living in Thailand. The question remains where I will stay in the practice? I wish you the best of luck in solving your problem.
A wise lesson for anyone who wants to leave the Netherlands and settle in Thailand, whether for a short or long term. First find out what the procedures are and what you need to arrange before you leave. Even if you don't know for how long. Don't think either, I will arrange that, because you see that the bureaucracy is the same in every country and if something is not right in the 'chain' then it is very difficult to put things right. Don't forget that there is enough messing around with residence permits or residence statuses and the government is very wary. Unfortunately for those who do have the good intentions.
In the first place, the questioner is a “BELG” and although the procedure is largely the same for the Netherlands as for Belgium, there are some differences. Alfons has made a decent mess of it and there will be some work to do to get this all back on its feet. By the way, it is amazing that someone just leaves for another country at the age of 48 and has no idea for how long…. but well, the wonders are not out of the world.
The fact that the Belgian embassy fobbed off Alfons is somewhat normal. The embassy is there for Belgians who have been deregistered from Belgium and are registered at the embassy. For the rest, the embassy is there to solve real "emergencies". However, the Alfons case was not an emergency but a personal choice. You certainly don't tell me that he was completely ignorant about the residency rules in Thailand….
The best thing he can do is return to Belgium as quickly as possible and arrange everything administratively there and then return to Thailand in a legal manner and also arrange everything administratively there. If he continues to dredge like this, he runs the risk of becoming persona non grata in Thailand because even his current visa (TR) is not the correct visa he should actually have. And even before his affairs are in order, both in Belgium and Thailand, he will not be able to marry and thus try to avoid the administrative burden. Documents from the home country are required for a marriage and he is in fact "without a trace" there until he proves otherwise.
Also don't forget that you must already fill in a tax return for the current year upon departure, when you leave Belgium, and you must pass on / register with the "non-residents" service, otherwise you run the risk that after a few years you will receive additional claims + fines + increases in assessment due to no tax returns for past years
Here link with Q&Answers (+address links)
:http://www.minfin.fgov.be/portail2/nl/themes/declaration/non-residents.htm