Thread: Registering UK Marriage in Thailand

My daughter has qualified as a nurse and is now in full time employment. I no longer have an excuse to stay in the UK and the time is fast approaching when I must take the plunge and leave for Thailand.

I would seek to live there on the basis of a Marriage Visa, Although I have been legally married, ceremony in UK, for thirteen years our marriage has not been registered in Thailand and my wife has an ID Card with her Thai surname on it. We tried to take what we though were the first steps to registration last August when were on holiday but didn't have the time to contact the British Embassy.

Will some kind person help, please ? How do I go about registering our marriage. We had a translation of the marriage certificate done for us but the local Amphur would not accept it as there was no Embassy involvement.

Is it possible for me to do anything while I am in the UK ? A step by step list of things I should do would be greatly appreciated. This is a genuine request for help to be given by informed people so please treat it seriously. I am going to be taking a massive step and want to do things properly.

I have searched the forum but have been unable to find guidance on registration.

Thanks

Surely you don't need to involve the embassy,just need the marriage license translated into Thai.

If the amphur is not accepting it, go get it certified in the embassy in bkk.
You may need a new verified translation from chaeng wattana.

Can123, if you are talking a multi entry visa spouse, get one in the UK, no need to registered in Thailand.
Later in Thailand get register the marriage at the Amphor, there is a threat on here where Todd D gives more facts and form numbers, somewhere.

Just as a PS on that, you can register the marriage at the Thai consulate in the UK, plus if you can keep your wife's ID in her maiden name,
Helps if you buy a house, land etc.

Or how about just getting married in Thailand at the Amphur, the Embassy will screw you.

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Or how about just getting married in Thailand at the Amphur, the Embassy will screw you.

Still need a letter from you embassy to say your free to marry, so may as well get the already married form.

Fair enough,find a different Amphur then.

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Surely you don't need to involve the embassy,just need the marriage license translated into Thai.

I know that this is totally incorrect. Why do you offer advice when you do not know what you are talking about ? I don't know what to do and that is why I have asked for help here.

Well i know people who have done it without Embassies and just produced the UK marriage certificate with the translation into Thai.

So if you not want to hear i suggest you do the most logical thing, and contact the dept that deals in Marriage.

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Or how about just getting married in Thailand at the Amphur, the Embassy will screw you.

Still need a letter from you embassy to say your free to marry, so may as well get the already married form.

Yeah - that's the usual procedure from the Amphoe's registry office.

I had to get the translation certified by the Ministry of Foreign affairs..

Originally Posted by CSFFan

I had to get the translation certified by the Ministry of Foreign affairs..

Where is that, please ? I will phone the Thai Embassy in London tomorrow to see if I can do anything while I am in the UK. Unfortunately, I have not found them to be very customer friendly in the past.

I am married and do not need anything which says I am free to marry in Thailand.

I'm not sure, I paid the translation service to do all of that.

TD, if your Thai wife keeps her maiden name, you don't sign anything at the land office saying you make no claim to the lands and all monies are a gift.
Meaning it becomes communal property under family law, in the event of death of your spouse, you inherit not her family ,you have 12 months to sell the land, our make a deal.
In a divorce, Amphore or contested, law does not distinguish between Thais and aliens, you get your share, not having signed away your rights earlier.
Still have to sell the land, or make a deal, but you are entitled to half.

Bogon, you're correct, those shops have already cut a deal with the MFA to provide translations and stamp stuff so they can be taken to the MFA and be certified.

I have been in 20+ of those shops and never seen one who offered translations for foreigner but who couldn't get stuff certified at the MFA. This leads me to believe perhaps the bar is set pretty low and why I said, 'any b/s translating shop'. They're usually clumped together around embassies, or other places foreigners need stuff translated.

James, I'm gonna hafta get back to you on your assertions about a thai wife keeping her maiden name versus taking a foreign one.

I googled for a couple hours in thai and english yet was unable to verify ANY of the things you said. That doesn't mean it's not true, just that I couldn't find it.

There was nothing out there but Tom, Dick or Somchai foreigners weighing in with a bunch of total b/s reasons about why their thai wife should or should not take their last name.

I didn't see anything concrete; as in not one person quoted anything but rumor, innuendo, "I heard ..." or "My thai wife said ..." <-neither which cut any ice with me ( because I trust foreigners and thaiz about as far as I can piss on a good day)..

I don't believe that the laws are written or interpreted differently because a thai woman married to a foreigner has taken their husband's last name or not, nor what rights a foreign guy has if their thai spouse who didn't take his surname died versus one who did. It piqued my interest enough to make some calls and I've got some people gonna get back to me about it. BUT I admit I don't know for sure.

Now if by some wild chance you can find me the thai version of the laws, or the english translations, that spells out what you've outlined, and that's NOT on some free thai law website in engrish for Nakhon Nowhere, I'd be more than happy to eat my KISS logo baseball caps (or at least one of the old ones I don't wear anymore)..

Still that's a little far afield of the topic of the thread, but I admit I opened this can 'o by questioning you..

Thanks for the help. One final question - am I correct in saying that the British Embassy play no part in me proving that I am married ? I suspect that the Thai people we made contact with last August all made the wrong assumption that we were going to get married rather than we wanted to prove that we were actually married.

I spoke to two consulates in the UK and was given conflicting advice on visas. The Thai Embassy website in London gives incomplete advice and I now make mention of an important point which others may find of help -

I am in receipt of a State Retirement pension and, apparently, this is all I need to allow me to get a visa to stay in Thailand. Of course, there are conditions attached, 90 day matters, etc.,but it avoids all the rigmarole of police checks, health certificate and in depth financial details. I also removes the need to deposit large amounts of money in Thai banks.

I believe that this is also the case for US and Australian citizens. I have read on some forums that men from the UK do not benefit in this way but it seems that the forums have been wrong. UK, US and Aussie citizens are treated similarly.

Can anyone throw light on this, please ? It is of vital importance to men of a particular age. I will not name the consulate which told me this as all I am seeking is the truth and don't want to be seen to criticise those who are acting under the wrong interpretation of Thai law. One of the consulates is definitely giving incorrect advice as they cannot both be correct.

can123; (SORRY THIS IS LONG)
Just so you know, I called the British Embassy here in Bangkok and asked about them "certifying" a marriage certificate from the UK. They said because it has a seal on it from the Ministry of Silly Walks or some other governmental agency in the UK, they do NOT do certifications on them.

Remember what you are doing is asking Thai consulates and embassies about how things are done whilst you're still where ever you are. They don't know what you do once you're here, because the embassies and consulates are run by the ministry of foreign affairs NOT by Thai immigrations who run things visa-wise once you're here.

IF in fact your pension exceeds the threshold of proof for finances; 40k baht a month for a marriage extension and 65K baht a month for being over 50 (retirement) you do not need to show banked money here in thailand for a yearly extension of stay.

There is NO special treatment for citizens of this or that country. ANYONE who can show proof of funds from their home country via a notarized embassy letter once they're here is entitled to use that avenue as a way to meet the financial requirements. Period end of story..

What causes the problem is, some embassies don't issue those letters at all thereby excluding their citizens from going that route. Other embassies like the UK will NOT issue letters like that without proof that the amount you're putting on the letter is actually backed up by something (pension statements, etc). In fact they write the letter for you. So, as it would appear you're from the UK; you will need to show the embassy here proof of your pension for them to write the letter for you..

Other embassies (US, Oz, Sweden, and a couple others) are much more lackadaisical about the letter and you can put what every you want on it. Those embassies don't verify what you're putting on the letter is correct, they verify that the person who's name is listed at the top actually signed the letter in front of them.

More and more immigrations offices are dialed into this fact and CAN ask for proof that the embassy letter is backed up by something (bank deposits, pension letter, etc). They don't always ask, but they certainly are within their rights to ask.

You're confusing what your choices are in your home country dealing with the embassy and consulates versus what your choices are once you wash up here. They are gurlz from different go-go barz entirely... You trying to compare apples to durian..

My advice, FWIW; (which appears to be not that much really)

• FIRST get here; even if you fly in on a 30 day visa exempt stay (you can still extend that another 30 days for 1900 at immigrations giving you a total of 60 days).
• Get your UK marriage recorded here in thailand.
• Go to the UK embassy and get a proof of funds from abroad letter by showing your pension statement
• Go to Bangkok Immigrations and apply for a single entry 90 day Non-O visa based on the fact you're going to apply for a yearly extension of stay because you're married to a thai national. (That will go under review for 2 weeks and they'll stamp the 90 day visa into your passport along with a new permission to stay until stamp dated 90 days out).
• Once there's 45 days left on that stamp
• Go back to the UK embassy and get another proof of funds from abroad letter showing your pension statement again.
• Go back to immigrations and apply for a yearly extension of stay based on being married to a thai national. Now, because it's for a yearly extension based on marriage it'll go under consideration for 30 days, but after that you show back up and they stamp a year extension stay into your passport

Now going this route, you might have noticed I mentioned getting the letter of funds from the UK embassy twice. That's not a mistake. You'll hafta pony up the money to get two proof of financial letters from the UK embassy. One will be used when you apply for the initial 90 day Non-O visa, and one will be used when you apply for the yearly extension of stay. They' won't accept a copy of that letter they hafta be originals both times. Other than that, it's pretty darned straight forward. Honestly it's far more time consuming than anything else.

Please, note my experience is ONLY dealing with the main Immigrations office at the Chaengwattana Government Complex in Bangkok. I don't know and honestly don't care (all that much) what other immigrations offices which are run like little fiefdoms scattered around the country do. What I'm telling you will work IN Bangkok just like I outlined it.

Good luck.

James; rather than clog this thread with those off topic (and IMHO very liberal translations) about สินสมรส community property and สินส่วนตัว personal property why didn't just P/M me the link?
I would have told you I found it already and discounted it because it doesn't mention a single thing about a thai spouse changing their surname to a foreign one being treated differently, not a word! Nor how a foreigner who didn't sign the letter when his wife bought property after they were married would be treated differently either.

Good try though.. next time just P/M me the link huh?

Originally Posted by toddaniels

My advice, FWIW; (which appears to be not that much really)
FIRST get here; even if you fly in on a 30 day visa exempt stay (you can still extend that another 30 days for 1900 at immigrations giving you a total of 60 days).
Get your UK marriage recorded here in thailand.
Go to the UK embassy and get a proof of funds from abroad letter by showing your pension statement
Go to Bangkok Immigrations and apply for a single entry 90 day Non-O visa based on the fact you're going to apply for a yearly extension of stay because you're married to a thai national. (That will go under review for 2 weeks and they'll stamp the 90 day visa into your passport along with a new permission to stay until stamp dated 90 days out).
Once there's 45 days left on that stamp
Go back to the UK embassy and get another proof of funds from abroad letter showing your pension statement again.
Go back to immigrations and apply for a yearly extension of stay based on being married to a thai national. Now, because it's for a yearly extension based on marriage it'll go under consideration for 30 days, but after that you show back up and they stamp a year extension stay into your passport

Todd, thank you for th effort made on my behalf. My request for help now reduces to two issues :

(i) how to do I record my marriage in Thailand using the English marriage certificate ?

(ii) how do I obtain my second letter which shows pension entitlement, please ? The first I will bring into Thailand with me but how do I get the second ? By e-mail ? Do I need to return to the UK to get it ?

Oops, I seem to have misread your post. Do you meant that the Thai authorities require two letters and that the Embassy must write two letters at different times ?

Nobody in the UK has been able to give me a definitive answer to point (i) and every Thai my wife has spoken to gives a different answer, as do all the consulates.

I outlined how you do that here earlier.. All you're gonna need to bring from the UK is the original marriage certificate (and your thai wife obviously).. It's the bullet points about half way down...

Originally Posted by can123

Nobody in the UK has been able to give me a definitive answer to point (i) and every Thai my wife has spoken to gives a different answer, as do all the consulates.

STOP asking thai officialdom in the UK at the various consulates and embassies what you do once you're inside thailand. Plain and simple they don't know shit from Shinola about procedures here inside the country. Now if you're going to try to get a visa from them BEFORE you show up here, well, you jump thru what ever hoops they make you do.

However you don't need ANY visa, just show up on a 30 day visa exempt stamp and get the process started. You'll be fine..

Remember, just having the letter of pension entitlement isn't enough to get anything here visa wise from thai immigrations. That document is used to prove to the UK embassy in Bangkok that you get xxx dollars a month as a pension. It's the UK Embassy here that writes the letter for you based on the information you show them (pension entitlement). They're only gonna want a copy of it, you keep the original.

Originally Posted by can123

Oops, I seem to have misread your post. Do you meant that the Thai authorities require two letters and that the Embassy must write two letters at different times?

CORRECT! If you go the route I outlined, you're gonna need two of those letters from the UK Embassy here in Bangkok. One when you apply for a 90 day Non-O visa and once again, when you apply for a yearly extension of stay based on being married to a thai national. You'll still have the original pension entitlement letter you showed them the first time and you just show it to them again and they write a letter again.

Believe me you ain't the first brit on a pension to show up twice at the UK Embassy in Bangkok for that letter. They known you sometimes need two of them at different times.

One last time, don't confuse what you do HERE to get a yearly extension of stay, with what you do THERE before you come here to get a visa from a thai embassy..

Sorry that it reads so convoluted, honestly it ain't that bad a process to go thru. It just requires time, the correct paperwork. Just so you know, these people (that would be the thaiz) LOVE paperwork, especially any that requires stamps, seals or embossing!

That's all I got man.. Good Luck...

Thanks, Todd. Everything makes perfect sense now and I am confident that all will go smoothly.

Hopefully this thread will prove useful to others, especially in view of the misinformation flying around all over the web and the consulates.

I have done a lot of work on the importation of pet dogs into Thailand and will start a different thread for the information of others within the next few days. For now I am going to have a lie down

if you can reside here on a retirement visa, then why do you want to jump through all the hoops necessary to secure a visa based on marriage.

my wife keeps her thai maiden name when in thailand, and uses her married name when in the UK.

the property is in joint names, i have my tabien baan and she has hers.

the british embassy need never be visited or contacted and visa renewal is simplicity itself. if you are living here then 800,000 in the bank account is no problem.