Under the qualifications deeming an applicant eligible for a Thailand Privilege Visa, an applicant:

• Must not have a record of criminal conviction, bankruptcy, or being deemed mentally unfit.
• Have a clear criminal background check

Therefore, if you were to have a criminal record, this could result in a rejection of your Thailand Privilege application, only if your criminal record has not been expunged yet.

However, a criminal record does not always result in a rejection.

Which criminal offences lead to rejected applications?

Immigration Officers assess each criminal act based on its severity level:

• Some criminal actions are minor and not all result in imprisonment. An officer might not automatically disqualify you if any of these are present on your file.
• If it’s a very minor misdemeanour that existed many years ago (especially during childhood), then there is a possibility you might not be disqualified.
• If a crime is extremely serious and has led to imprisonment, this can be a sign that your application might be rejected.

It is sometimes hard to tell whether a Thai Immigration Officer will approve an application based on an applicant’s criminal past. While it is too late to change one’s past, applicants should still take into account the seriousness of the crime that was committed. 

If you are concerned about how this will affect your application, you can reach out to our consultants for advice on next steps, or whether the criminal activity on file is severe enough to get you rejected during the background check.