How to get an Affirmation of Residence (Residence Certificate) in Thailand

If you’ve spent any amount of time in Thailand, you’ve probably needed to obtain one of these documents.

They have a variety of uses including buying and selling vehicles, getting a driver’s license as well as applying for a work permit.

Unfortunately, the requirements for this document are not straight-forward and depend on your circumstances in Thailand as well as your nationality (as we have different embassies).

There are currently two ways to get a Residence Certificate:

Immigration – This is the most common way to get it. You’ll need to visit your local immigration office. For example, if you live in Bangkok, that would be Chaengwattana.

Every immigration office is different, and have different rules. Chonburi will give a Residence Certificate to tourists, but in Bangkok you will find it almost impossible. Even as a non-immigrant visa holder, I cannot get my residence certificate from Bangkok because they also require that you’ve completed a 90 day report – which I have not as I don’t spend longer than 90 days in the kingdom without traveling somewhere.

Your embassy – Your embassy is the quickest, easiest and most expensive way to get a Residence Certificate. Using the British Embassy took just 45 minutes, whereas in Bangkok it’s an hour just to get to the immigration building, where you’re likely to spend half the day and then they’ll take 2 weeks to mail the certificate to you (if at all).