My friend English - wants to marry a Cambodian woman

[YorkshireMan]

My friend wants to marry a Cambodian woman he met a couple of years ago. I've been scouring the net as best I can for info for him, found the following via google.

How to Marry a Cambodian Woman – What is required by Cambodian Law.

Find a Cambodian Woman

1. 1. Find a girl that speaks English. (or enroll her into a local English school)
2. 2. Get her a Cambodian passport (if she doesn’t have one already). Cost $120.

Get Affidavit
Make an appointment with your embassy. Ask for an “Affidavit for Eligibility to Marry.”

Get Paperwork to Get Married
Request a marriage applications from the Legal and Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFA) of the Kingdom of Cambodia, located at 3 Samdech Hun Sen Street, Sangkat Tonle Basac, Khan Chamkamorn, Phnom Penh. The application form lists seven supporting documents that must be provided by foreigners and attached to the application. The application also says that foreigners must legalize five of these documents at their respective embassies.
Upon obtaining and certifying the necessary documents, fill out the application form, and submit it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reviews and gives advice on the application and accompanying documentations of the foreign applicant, and if all documents are in order, the application is forwarded to the Ministry of Interior.
The Ministry of Interior will review and register the application of the foreign applicant that was forwarded from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and inform appropriate officials in the province, city, district, khan and commune where the Cambodian applicant is domiciled about the marriage application, before providing feedback and returning the application to the foreign applicant. The foreign applicant must then submit the application to the civil registrar at the commune/sangkat where the Cambodian applicant is permanently domiciled. The Cambodian applicant will also need to submit the marriage application to the civil registrar at the commune/sangkat where they are domiciled, together with the marriage application of the foreign applicant.
The civil registrar at commune/sangkat has the duty to review and decide on the marriage applications of foreigners and Cambodians based on the laws and related regulations of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The U.S. Embassy plays no role in determining whether a marriage application is approved or refused, and cannot represent U.S. citizens in this process, or in any way influence the decision of Cambodian authorities on marriage applications.
.
New Marriage Requirements
According to new marriage requirements issued on by the Government of Cambodia on March 7, 2011, males wishing to marry Cambodian women must:

• Be under 50 years of age, and
• Have a monthly income of at least US $2,500

Get Married
With the Yellow Paper from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Marriage Certificate, you are now officially married, but you need a ceremony with pictures (for Visa purposes)
Quick and Dirty Ceremony
1. Get the Bride’s Mother, Father, Brothers and Sisters.
2. Go to any Photography Store located all over Phnom Penh.
3. Pay to have full garb marriage pictures made.
4. Go to Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh.
5. Find a Monk (If you don’t know one already, it’s easy, just walk in and start asking the first one you see. Seriously.)
6. Get the monk to do a brief marriage ceremony where they tie strings around your wrists, etc.
7. Take Pictures of the ceremony. Get the two of you and especially the family in both posed and candid shots.
A Note Regarding Marriage Ceremonies
The quick and dirty Ceremony is used to obtain her Visa. You can explain to the Consular Officer interviewing you (he will obviously see the pictures as “not exactly real”) that you just did a quick ceremony here, but the real ceremony will take place in your country (at a later undetermined date) as per the tradition of your family.
Traditional Ceremony
Let your Bride/Bride’s family handle this. A Phnom Penh Wedding may cost something like $5000 (or more). A countryside wedding can be done for only $2000.



A bit longwinded and many may not wish to read any or all of it. For those who can be bothered - is it valid? Seems to be slanted towards an American national who wants to marry a Cambodian woman. My friend is as English as Yorkshire pudding. Does the above apply?

[nigelandjan]

I hope she is worth it ,, what a bloody palava

[kingwilly]

I'm sure it applies equally to Brits as it does Yanks. After all, we all look the same!

[BaitongBoy]

^Did you hear about the Brit who went off in the bushes with two Yanks?...

[pseudolus]

Had to wipe down his shoes?

[Neverna]

A bit longwinded and many may not wish to read any or all of it. For those who can be bothered - is it valid? Seems to be slanted towards an American national who wants to marry a Cambodian woman.

Probably because a lot of it was copied from the US Embassy website. Have you looked at the British Embassy website for similar information?

[Kurgen]

must be a 3 holing swallower.

[BaitongBoy]

Luci Thai is already American, innit?...

[beerlaodrinker]

There you go. some info for your erm Cough, "Friend"

New Marriage Requirements



According to new marriage requirements issued on by the Government of Cambodia on March 7, 2011, males wishing to marry Cambodian women must:

• Be under 50 years of age, and
• Have a monthly income of at least US $2,500

Cambodia has imposed a partial ban on foreign men marrying local women - would-be bridegrooms will now have to be less than 50 years old.
The government says it is trying to prevent exploitation - and promote true love and what it calls "honest marriages".

[nigelandjan]

There you go. some info for your erm Cough, "Friend"

555 how cynical tut tut

[beerlaodrinker]

Ok, he can just go straight for the Quick and Dirty Ceremony. "Cough"

[kingwilly]

Personally I'd go straight for the consummation part...

[Yasojack]

Jeez a cambo passport costs $120, get a thai bird the passports are a lot cheaper, how can a country say who you can marry,? have to be under fifty looks like cambo birds are not going to be very popular.

[wasabi]

True a fifty + male non Cambodian resident cannot marry in Cambodia, but they can still marry in a neighbouring country, and it is still valid in Cambodia.

[BaitongBoy]

Again, wasabi, you have solved the problem with your clear thinking...Our friend -cough, cough- can now procede with his wedding plans...