Yellow House Book (Tor Ror 13) & Pink ID Card for Foreigners

Thai civil registration keeps a house registration for every address. Thai nationals are entered in the ordinary book, while foreigners who hold a lawful but temporary stay can be entered in a separate register for non-Thai residents, issued as the Tor Ror 13. The book carries the address, the house number assigned by the district office and the names of the non-Thai residents recorded there, each with a 13-digit identification number.

That number is the practical benefit. It lets a Thai system recognise you as a person with a stable Thai address rather than only a passport number that changes whenever you renew your passport. Banks, mobile operators, Land Transport offices and some hospitals use it to match records, and it is often accepted where an immigration residence certificate would otherwise be requested.

The register does not grant any immigration right, does not count towards permanent residence in itself and does not replace your 90-day reporting or the house owner's TM.30 notification. We explain this at the outset because some clients are told, wrongly, that a yellow book is a form of long-term visa.

District offices generally expect three things: that you are lawfully in Thailand on a visa or extension of stay rather than a short visa exemption, that you actually live at the address, and that the person entitled to the house registration agrees to your entry. Foreign spouses of Thai nationals, parents of Thai children, long-term employees and retirees living in their own condominium unit or a rented house are the most common applicants.

Condominium owners are in a slightly different position, because the unit has its own house registration and the foreign owner may be the house master. In that case consent is your own, but the office may still ask for the title deed of the unit and evidence that you live there. For rented property, the landlord's cooperation is essential and some offices ask the landlord to attend.

Applicants on a short stay, or whose stay will end soon, are frequently asked to return when they hold a longer permission. Where the office has doubts about residence, it may ask for witnesses, such as the village headman or neighbours, to confirm that you live at the address.

Many district offices ask for a document from your embassy confirming your identity and personal details, sometimes including your parents' names, because the register records them. Embassies differ widely in what they will issue: some provide a standard certificate, some only a notarised statement and some nothing at all. We check which document your embassy offers before the appointment.

Foreign-language documents such as marriage or birth certificates usually need a certified Thai translation, and documents issued abroad may need legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 28 February 2027, when the Apostille Convention enters into force for Thailand, documents from other contracting states may be accepted with an apostille instead; until then the legalisation route applies.

We make sure the spelling of your name in Thai is consistent across the register, the identity card and any earlier Thai records, such as a marriage registration or a driving licence. Inconsistent Thai spellings are a frequent cause of later problems at banks and land offices.

Once your name is in the Tor Ror 13, you may apply for the identity card for non-Thai persons. The card shows your photograph, your 13-digit number and your registered address, and it is issued by the district office or a registration office designated by it. It is an identity document only; it is not a travel document and it does not replace your passport at immigration checkpoints.

The card has a validity period, and it must be renewed and updated when your address, name or passport details change. If you move, the registration should be moved to the new address, which means removing your entry at the old address and entering it at the new one, so that your number follows you.

We recommend updating your bank, mobile number, driving licence and any Land Office records with the new number shortly after issue, so that future transactions match a single, consistent identity.

In our experience, refusals at the counter usually concern missing documents rather than eligibility: an embassy letter not prepared, a house owner unable to attend, a translation not certified or a permission of stay too short for the office's practice. Because each office applies the rules in its own way, a file accepted in one district may be incomplete in another.

We therefore contact the office before the visit, ask what it currently expects and bring copies of everything, including the house owner's documents. Where the office declines a registration, we ask for the reason and decide with you whether to complete the file, apply at a later date with a longer stay, or rely on an immigration residence certificate instead.

We do not offer to obtain a registration by any irregular means, and we cannot promise that a particular district office will accept an application; the decision belongs to the registrar. What we can do is present a complete, accurate file that gives the officer what is needed to decide.