marrage papers

[gary/em]

Hello people,
please help ive just moved to thailand and live with my wife em in chaiyaphum. i say married but so far have only had local ceramony with monks family and friends in home for party. now we want to get our marrage registered, but are told different storys? we tryed localy but were told we would have to go to bangkok. which is not a problem, but everywhere i look people say it can take tdays? i have my divorce papers pasport visa ect. but have no idea where i have to go or who to see? can anyone out there please give me some advice please? someone said it was apiece of cake took him one hour! hes in england now. would be grateful for any help

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I can't help you with Thai law on this, but having gotten married outside my home country, I can tell you that it's not unusual for the local authorities to have special requirements for foreigners wanting to get married. What nationality are you and your wife?

It may be necessary for you to establish residence in Thailand before your marriage can be registered. (In France, it was a fairly short period - 41 days, I think it was.) There is also normally some notification requirement to your home country (usually through the embassy or consulate) which can take a while, too.

Best short-term alternative might be to contact your home country consulate to ask if they have information about marriage requirements in Thailand. They normally can provide some of the supplementary documents you may need. (Sometimes the consulate has to confirm that their citizens are "eligible" to marry under home country law - i.e. confirm divorce papers, ability to enter into a contract, etc.)

Good luck - I know it can be difficult working your way through a new foreign bureaucracy.
Cheers,
Bev

[synthia]

According to the US embassy web site, a Thai marriage is made by you both going to a local registry office and declaring yourself married. It's not unusual for civil and religious marriages to be separated. I know it works that way in the Netherlands, and (Bev can correct me on this), I think it is true in France, too.

Take a look at the British consulate site.

[KhwaamLap]

Hi Gary/Em,

I was married in Thailand (albeit a decade ago). The easiest way is to use a marriage bureaux (there's plenty in Wireless Road - near the Embassy) - they will tell you the paperwork you need and do the translations etc for you, they usually take you to the Amphur (sometimes jumping the queue) and get you registered - then they will do an official translation of the marriage cert - this is then accepted in most countries. Will cost 5k to 10k I guess, all told (Baht). Look some up and give them a call - or get the Mrs too - PS: I'm assuming Em is Thai.

You may also want to call your Embassy to check what paperwork you may need and to try and get it - divorce cert., freedom to marry etc.

Good luck

[owenjones]

Hi,

This is what we did three weeks ago:
1] If you can use the Internet, go to the Embassy website and download or just copy by hand, the sample 'affirmation of eligibility to marry a Thai'. Make your own affirmation.
2] Book a room in the Nana Hotel, Sukhumvit Soi 4 for two nights. You can walk to the Embassy from there.
3] Take your affirmation to the Embassy; pay your fee and show your passport
4] Go back to the Ebassy the next day and collect it
5] Get it translated in an agency near the Embassy. most of the agencies will fill you full or crap and anxiety. ALL you need is the translation: I paid 200 Baht. You don't need a translator or witnesses to go with you!
6] Take the translation and the English copy and your passport to the Ministry of External Affairs in or near Chang Wattana (ask Embassy). Cost: 250 Baht
7] See the receptionist on the first floor; get required photocopies. Then you have two options:
a] hand the forms in and collect them the next day (free)
b] hand the forms in; pay 400 Baht and collect them 2-3 hours later
8] Take your Thai 'marriage licence' (free) and go to any Ampur in Thailand and get married.

That's as far as I have got so far, but next week 24/03/08, I will get married in the Registry Office in Pattaya and they will supply the witnesses in the form of the nearest secretaries on hand (free); your wife and their staff are the translators (free). It all takes 20-30 mins apparently (including waiting your turn) and is not at all romantic. I'm not sure of the costs. I was told by a friend that three years ago he paid about 1200 Baht. An agency told me it is 6,000B. I haven't met an agency I'd trust yet.

Good Luck,
Owen.
uk-visas-for-thais.the-real-way

[KhwaamLap]

I rerally did not have a problem with the Agency I used. They did all the leg work - back a forth to different offices, translated all the peperwork - including the Thai Marriage Cert post marriage for the British Embassy and, if she comes to the UK, everywhere that wants a copy of the marriage cert (immigration for example). It cost be Baht 5K ten years ago, so am impressed its only 6k now. I'm not sure why you say you haven't met an agency you trust, because what's there to trust - you pays your money and they does the job (actually the other way around) - several people I know used them, and none of them had a problem (some variance in price though). If you are happy to do all the leg work, then go for it - I preferred to sit in their office sipping coffee-yen with my Mrs to be - worth £100 all told to me.

By the way, unless it changed a lot, the Amphur is just sitting at a desk signing ten ton of forms. There was a queue when I went, though smallish, because of all the forms, it was slow. My agent gave someone the nod and they opened a desk for us. As they drove, it also saved on the taxi fare.

[owenjones]

Well, I was pounced on by several people when we left the Embassy (and this goes for every time I've been there; one failed visa attempt, two successful and the recent affirmation of eligibility thing. People stuffing cards into your hand and speaking rapidly in Thai to the missus (Neem). ONE girl spoke to ME and I said I only wanted a translation. 250 Baht she said and lead us up a staircase into an office (right opposite Wireless Road, on Sukhomvit under the walk over). Once in the office the girl left and another one started showing us prices for things in Thai. 1,800B; 6,000B etc. Nobody would talk to ME - the guy with the wallet. By now Neem was starting to worry that maybe we did need guides, translators and witnesses and that I didn't know what I was doing. If they were such good translators, why couldn't they speak to me? All scare-mongery. I only got my translation because I stood up to leave, saying 'OK, then. I'll get it elsewhere'. They understood that ('though I got a bollocking from Neem for being rude). As I left, he said: "Cheap Charlie, anybody can afford 1,800B!". That wasn't nice.
Add to that the number of approaches I had on the three visa applications (two successful) both in Pattaya and Bangkok and I'd say that you're far off better doing it yourself.
It's agencies like this that keep many Thai beaurocratic experiences steeped in mystery. Do it yourself and the mystery falls away.
By the way, I just phoned a friend and he paid 20,000B last year, but I don't remember being offered a serice that expensive.
It seems you were lucky.

Owen.

[KhwaamLap]

Yeah, but like I said, it was ten years ago - there was only two offices I could see down Wireless Road, and only 'advertising' were window posters in English and Thai. People were nice and friendly, spoke to me in English and explained to the Mrs in Thai. There English wasn't terribly good, but it didn't have to be, they had templates for everything and just filled in the blanks. Suppose its just another thing that's become too commercial. I think its a bit easie now too, I remember a friend saying that some of the offices had merged and reduced the amount of places to go for signitures and stamps - there were at least three government offices back then, one of which had to be visitedtwice (either side of getting another bit of paper stamped at a different office) - the offices were not that close tho eachother either - a g ood taxi ride.

[prince20260]

U want marry FOR WHAT ? BEfore u should buy the book: Money Nr. one and read it.

And or perhaps u can not marry her, because she has not the "single paper", I want to say, she has a husband. If there a problems, make the thai way, smile and do nothing. Can be better.