Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Permanent Residence applications. For those who are unaware, this is Immigrant Visa status; this is not Non-immigrant status. It is covered under a different part of the Immigration Act. Those who become Thai Permanent Residents don't need to deal with things like 90 day reporting; TM 30 etc., they don't need to deal with Visa renewal either. They have Immigrant status, they have residence in Thailand. That residence is presumably in perpetuity unless they do something to cause a deportation proceeding which is rather unlikely especially as the overall threshold to become a Permanent Residence is quite a high bar to hit.

The reason for this video is, it is March and although it does seem kind of early maybe to some, if you are wanting to do a Thai PR application, it is a good idea to go ahead and get that started sooner rather than later. We have seen in the last couple of years, we have seen the Immigration open the Permanent Residence window in the middle of summer. We have also seen them open it, I believe last year was October, so you shouldn't necessarily wait for them to open the window. I think it is a good idea especially at least to get started, start getting your ducks in a row for permanent residence early and often, just start moving on it.

March, into the first quarter of the year, it is probably a good idea to start looking at that. I am not saying put everything together but it may not be a bad idea to contact a legal professional if you are looking to go that route, and to start getting a game plan put together if you want to apply for PR. The other thing is we don't know exactly when they are going to open the window for Permanent Residence at any given year for the applications and it is hard to predict that. That said, if they open it earlier and you are well prepared, you can get yours in the queue before the crowds come up. For many nationalities the quota, the 100 person per Nationality quota isn't an issue but for some nationalities it very much is, so there is also that to consider. More than that, it is more just their overall backlog. They have cases they have to deal with. They can only deal with so much. If you can get yours in earlier, if they open it again in midsummer like they did 2 years ago, that can be a good thing. If you are well prepared and you are ahead of the pack and you get your case on file and you move along. You just start waiting for them to process it.

So again it is not a terrible idea I think, to start looking at one's PR application preparation at the end of the first quarter of 2021.