report of Birth Abroad in Thailand Dear John, If you will always have 800,000 baht of income from outside of Thailand or that much money in your Thai bank here, then a retirement visa is easier to keep because you will always be over 50, but you migh

Now home, the mother in-law begins to work her magic. Playing on my wife’s fear of childbirth, she has convinced wifey that it would be much better to have and raise the child in Thailand, world class medical care and superior child rearing practices and all. Now my wife is in danger of losing her immigration status, and more importantly to me, separating me from her and my child. Reasoning with her when her mind is made up is an exercise in futility. Her friends have been told by the family to mind their own business.

So for better or for worse, the line in the sand has been drawn. Stay in Thailand and go it on your own or come back and all is fine. Up to you. At this point it looks like I’m screwed.

Our marriage is not registered in Thailand, but we are legally married in America. I doubt she will put me on the birth certificate. I am positive she would not register the birth with the US embassy and apply for a US passport. I will make every effort to be in Thailand when the baby is born if she decides to stay. If not, could a good lawyer act as my proxy and get me on the birth certificate and deal with my embassy? From what I have read the Thai courts seem to be pretty fair with regards to custody and only look at who can best provide for the child.

I don’t want to separate our child from her, but I also don’t want to be cut out of the picture. I am willing to support the baby but not anyone else. If she thinks I intend to take the child, she might pull a runner, hide the baby or claim she had a miscarriage.

Sorry to hear about your situation. However, you are in luck in that I  am also an American and our law firm, PAPPA Co., Ltd. has represented dozens of foreigners of multiple nationalities who have had children with Thais and we have got child custody for the fathers.

Some were legally married and some were not. In all cases so far we have prevailed and either resolved the situation with the mother or received court action in our favor so the father was allowed to visit the child and have partial custody and to have the child registered as the biological child of the foreign father. In some cases the father has been given custody of the child. This, however requires divorcing the mother, your wife.

We may need to have a court ordered blood test and if so you would have to come to Thailand. If she does not dispute that you are the father then it will not be required and the case gets easier.

If you don't get divorced and you do get US citizenship for the child we can help you take the child home if that is what you want.

Typically what we do is send a registered letter to your wife in Thai announcing our concern and involvement in the case as your legal counsel and requesting to hear her side of the disagreement. We then have one of our female Thai staff go to her home and get her side of the story.

My staff is all the while telling her and her family that you have the same rights to the child as she does and that being able to hold a US citizenship as well as Thai citizenship is a great benefit to the child, especially as the child ages and wants to attend school or work in America or any Western country.

You will need to go with us to the US Embassy along with your wife and the baby to complete the Consular interview for Report of Birth Abroad in order to get US citizenship and a passport for your baby.

There are many variables at work here so we really need to talk to review all of the possible scenarios . The bottom line is TeakDoor.com is the right forum to post for good advice and PAPPA Co., Ltd. Law Firm is the most successful law firm in Thailand at assisting foreigners with child custody, divorce and getting property and businesses back from Thais.

If you want to hire us then email me at drew@PattayaLawyers.com (we work all over Thailand) or call me at +66841117999. 

Drew Noyes

Managing Director

PAPPA Co., Ltd. Law Firm