Yellow House Books

[ph55059]

Hi All,

Last time I was in Udon I managed to procure something called a yellow book - not to be confused with the Thai blue book which AFAIK cannot be obtained by non-Thai nationals.

Lots of Amphur visits and paperwork were involved, copies of all my docs, Wife's docs, Sponsor

[wazza]

Its a valuable document and saves heaps of paper work and needless revisits if u need drivers licences , buying a car, renting , marrriage and u need immigration letters . Mine was easy to get with one 1 hour visit to the amphur. cost was approx 200 baht ??? Cost me more for the extra larger pictures required.

Its the 2nd best thing to your passport if your dealing with the Thai agencies etc.

Its also very helpful when ur applying for work visa's for other countries and u go to the Embassies in BKK, once they see that book, its a lot easier, as its getting harder to apply for visas from outside your country that has issued your passport. It establishes ur residency in Thailand. so ur not see to be transitting and applying for visa's on the run.

[lee]

What paperwork do you need for this book? This sounds like the ideal solution for me at the moment because I will at some stage apply for a drivers licence and transfer the truck into my name. It may save a few trips to immigation atleast!

[wazza]

Lee

I got mine when i was engaged etc and my fiancee was a Doctor and we just walked in with my passport ( it did have my " expert" work visa from the KK Uni where i was teaching trauma medicine )

she needed her home book, she is the owner of the house, her Id card , etc.... a few forms and my large pictures and it was ready in 3 days. didnt even have to go to the immigration in Udon.

Having said that, my mate in KK, tried with his wife who was from Nam Pong but they live in KK and Nam Pong had never heard of them b4 !

He went to a solictor in BKK to get it in the end, as it was too complicated as it was 2 provinces,

I imagine u will need the log term support of the person on whose book u will go under, then ur visa ( not sure of a tourist visa will be enough ) BUt if u have sponsors letters ???, passport,

Back in Udon next week after 9 weeks in Algeria, see u in Down Under bar ??

Warwick

[arjay]

The yellow and blue books being referred to are the "tabien bahn" (house registration papers), are they not? Farangs can only have/be in yellow books. They are what help you get a driving licence too.

[lee]

I imagine u will need the log term support of the person on whose book u will go under, then ur visa ( not sure of a tourist visa will be enough ) BUt if u have sponsors letters ???, passport,

Back in Udon next week after 9 weeks in Algeria, see u in Down Under bar ??

Warwick

Thanks mate, I'm actually on a non-immigrant B visa at the moment but I don't have a partner so house papers may be a little difficult. Maybe company registration papers may suffice, or it may just be easier to pop along to the immigration when I need the driving license etc.

Thanks for the information anyway.

See you at the downunder in 9 weeks, have a good time in Algeria.

Lee

[Astana]

Lee,

I think Wazza said... "back in Udon next week after 9 weeks in Algeria

[valentine]

Yellow Tabien Bahn house paper. You must first of all have a permanent residence here in Thailand, it can be where you live with your wife or girl friend but she must be the senior name on the normal blue one for the residence. Her parents house paper will not do.You must be here on at least a semi-permanent basis, ie; long term visa.Now a few misconceptions. You still must always have your passport with you, it is not a replacement for that legal requirement. It does not give you ANY additional rights as a Thai citizen. ie;you cannot vote, stand for polictical office, nor is it a permission to work.As regards the rules for obtaining one in Thailand. If you qualify you can get very easy, in quick time. The hard bit comes in the details needed from your home country. It goes without saying, criminal record check, what is not often realised is a check is made that there are no outstanding court orders for maintenance of ex wives or dependent children, so if you have watch out for that registered letter and possibly deductions from your pension or other income at source.Now the following applies to the UK but I am not sure about other countries.You renounce your right to any further use of the National health Service, also you are barred from obtaining any further cost of living pension increases. If you are over 70 your UK driving license is forfeit.
You will receive annual requests from the Pension office to get a doctor certified letter to state you are indeed still alive.Your address on the yellow book has to be recorded with your embassy for future reference.
Okay, a few plusses. You can use the book as proof positive when applying for driving license, purchasing a car or motorbike or opening a Thai bank account.Maybe, just maybe, you can get into a national park at Thai price, they all seem to have different rules on this.
In my opinion, and I don't have any maintenence orders outstanding.The benefits are outweighed by the hassles involved, and I can easily get the proof of residency from the immigration office if I want to do the aforementioned things.
Just a further note. You cannot get a yellow book if there is not an official blue tabien bahn to cover the property you will be staying at. So sole ownership of a condo for example will not qualify you.

[wazza]

For Australian Citizens the financial issues that Val has quoted for UK guys actually occur when u leave Australia and u have signed ur declaration as a non-resident of Australia for taxation purposes. That is if you dont sign off from Australia, u can still travel and work, however, they can then still nail u for taxation, as ur still regarded as resident for taxation purposes, no matter what people with their own personal experiences have.
Any tax audit will soon advise you of the obligations.

Australia does have a tax sharing agreeement with Thailand, so Aust citizens working and paying tax in Thailand ( eg schools / or private companies ) will still have their names registered some where in BKK. KPMG generally arent wrong on these types of issues.

MODS - sorry if this is seen as drifting away from the original topic. God lets not have a topic on Taxation issues for all of us !!!

[Prenders88]

Val,

What documents would one need, to get affirmed at the British Embassy for the Yellow Book?
Once these documents have been affirmed, which Thai Government agency needs to rubber stamp them?
Foriegn Affairs or Immigration?

[laphanphon]

yikes, doesn't sound like worth the trouble. don't think usa has any rules of lost pension. gov't medical is useless overseas anyway. sure the registration info would be appreciated by anyone looking for you.

still asked/required to have immigration letter to purchase car/truck, well at toyota anyway.

[FrazeeDK]

U.S. government regulations for gov't/Mil pensioners are quite strict in stating that if you take the citizenship of a foreign country they can indeed stop your pension.. Would they do it??? Probably, if you did a formal renunciation of your citizenship at a U.S. Embassy (they have a form for this).. But, for merely attaining a residency permit I haven't seen any penalties....

[valentine]

Val,

What documents would one need, to get affirmed at the British Embassy for the Yellow Book?
Once these documents have been affirmed, which Thai Government agency needs to rubber stamp them?
Foriegn Affairs or Immigration?

You have to get a certified Thai translation, then take to Ministry of Foreign affairs for stamping. Takes one day normally but most translation offices will do it for you, about 500bht inc postage to your home.

[arjay]

Incidentally, the yellow book/tabien bahn/house registration book, is not about citizenship.

I got one on the house I lived in in Udon, on the back of my Thai landlady's blue book.

I was not asked for any translations of anything certified by the British Embassy, nor was I asked for any evidence of income, nor any evidence of no criminal record wherever, nor did I have to renounce my right to use the NHS in the UK, nor did I have to supply a medical certificate.

I did have to provide copies from my passport and sign forms and pay a little money, and my landlady provided copies of her blue book and ID card and signed forms. Oh and some photos.

It's to confirm you live at the address stated and is useful if buying motor vehicles, contracting to receive an electric supply, installing telephones, subscribing to UBC, etc in YOUR NAME.

If such things are set up in your GF/wife's name, then a yellow book is less essential.

[valentine]

There are always exceptions to the rules and obviously you were lucky this time Arjay. although I do wonder about your" I paid a little money" quote. the details I gave where given me by the department that gives the yellow book and therefore I must assume them to be correct.

[arjay]

As I recollect it was done at the City Hall. We went with our landlady - a school teacher of longstanding. I had to pay for some photo-copies and I think was asked for 200 baht.

I can see of no reason why they would expect you to relinquish rights to NHS treatment in the UK, or indeed know anything about it. Also I can see no reason for them wanting to know about pension income etc, UNLESS it was to confirm you had sufficient income to support yourself here.

[valentine]

I don't really want to get into a long detailed discussion on this as most of the information can be found in a leaflet issued to pensioners living abroad , outside of the common market. It states quite clearly, you will no longer be eligble for further annual increases in your OAP. You may forfeit the right to further National Health benefit after residing out of the country for over 2 years. you must also notify your GP to have your name removed from his register. The rest regarding outstanding maintenance payments etc are of a consequence of recording your emmigrating .Further details can be obtained from: The Overseas Pension Dept located at Newcastle Upon Tyne.NE98 1BA
Tel: 44 191 218 7777 or fax 44 191 218 7293. They also have a website but I'm afraid I don't know the link.

[arjay]

I don't really want to get into a long detailed discussion on this as most of the information can be found in a leaflet issued to pensioners living abroad , outside of the common market. It states quite clearly, you will no longer be eligble for further annual increases in your OAP. You may forfeit the right to further National Health benefit after residing out of the country for over 2 years. you must also notify your GP to have your name removed from his register. The rest regarding outstanding maintenance payments etc are of a consequence of recording your emmigrating .Further details can be obtained from: The Overseas Pension Dept located at Newcastle Upon Tyne.NE98 1BA
Tel: 44 191 218 7777 or fax 44 191 218 7293. They also have a website but I'm afraid I don't know the link.

Re your first sentence - Agreed.

Bearing in mind the topic here was obtaining a yellow book in Thailand, regarding the rest of what you have said in the quote above, and your previous posting (about de-registering with the NHS Doctor in the UK etc) you made it sound as if that was a requirement of applying for a yellow book (tabien bahn)here in Thailand.

I was trying to make the point that, that is certainly not the case. There's no connection between them, or indeed should there be - (as far as I am aware).

Or to put it another way, the UK NHS are neither aware, nor interested in, whether I have applied for a yellow book here, anymore than I would expect the local authority here to have any knowledge of, or be interested in my status with the NHS in the UK. Nor can I conceive that they would have any right to know about my NHS status in the UK.

Maybe you know something to the contrary regarding the authorities here. If so, I apologise and stand to be corrected.

[valentine]

Richard if you read my first post on this subject you will see there is a requirement to obtain some documents from the home country, which I know you didn't do. However if you had done, the connection would have been apparent. It seems fairly logical that if you are signing in as a resident of one country that you must sign out of the other. We are talking residency here not citizenship.The fact that you haven't told the UK authorities of your emmigration doesn't alter your non entitlement to certain welfare benefits. You are simply still eligible by deception. I know you are in the process of moving house and as a consequence will have to change your registration anyway. Thats when you may encounter the problems.I hope not

[keg]

I don't know much about the yellow book but have some questions. Is it not only a document that registers you to a house that you either own or live in permanently here in Thailand and nothing to do with being a permanent resident of Thailand? I don't think many of us here are permanent residents, but rather live here long term on temporary non immigrant visas. If that is all that it is, why would your home country or embassy be involved?

We have a one year lease on a house here in Udorn but my wife is still on her parents blue book in Loei. She can change her residency to Udorn but can she get a blue book on the rented house, then I in turn get a yellow book?

If you read my thread on "problems obtaining drivers licenses" l posted recently in the immigration section, you will see I had some issues with Immigration and had to bring my land lord there with me in person. I think a yellow book would have eliminated a lot of my problems and may be worth the hassle to get.

Keg