Marriage Registration In Thailand (foreigner/thai National)

[eiaikman]

Hello everyone! I have a couple questions that I hope can be cleared up.

My fiancee' is a Thai national currently living in Thailand, and I am a born and raised American citizen. She is a friend of a Thai friend I have in America, and I have met my fiancee' several times (for a couple weeks or more at a time in America) over the past year. We talk on the Internet and by phone daily and are ready to tie the knot. She will be unable to come back to America for a good while, and we do not wish to pursue a K-1 fiancee' visa, so it is my plan to marry her in Bangkok in April. I am able to travel to Thailand from April 7th to April 20th. Can anyone tell me:

1. If the period of time between April 7th-20th (which amounts to 8 business days when one considers the Songkran holiday) will be enough time to legally process the marriage and have the marriage certificates translated to English?

2. What services there are to assist with the legal paperwork process, arrangement of a small Buddhist ceremony, and also translation services available?

3. Approximate prices for these services?

4. If I must get a statutory declaration from a governmental facility in the United States before travelling to Thailand (she and I have never been married and have no children), and also if I can forward proper paperwork to the U.S. embassy in Bangkok before arriving there in April?

I greatly appreciate any viable help.

[astral]

You must have the statutory declaration that you are free to be married.

I am not sure if one from the US will suffice, as it has to be translated into Thai and

certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, that it is authentic and they

recognise the signature of the official.

You should allow 2-3 days to get this done

Your embassy can probably recommend the translator.

Once you have these papers the actual marriage at the Amphur office where your

fiancee is registered will take about 30 minutes and is very informal.

The total cost of the above should not be more that 2000 baht ($50).

If you want a Buddhist ceremony as well, your wife and her family should be able to

arrange that, but you will have to pay. The cost depends on how elaborate and number of people.

Are you sure that you are doing the right thing?

Your fiancee lives in LOS and is not free to come to live with you, and apparently you have only 2 weeks to visit Thailand??

Good luck

[tutsiwarrior]

when registering a thai-foreigner marriage at the amphur is the thai woman required to change her surname to that of her foreign husband?

[Kf6vci]

Under those circumstances, I would suggest you get married in Hong Kong. (Germany has a lot of red tape - an American divorce needs an apostille and a translation and then the higher court "Oberlandesgericht" needs to rule on the authenticity of the Superior court divorce. which needs to be translated, so in a nutshell, that b.s. would cost a lot more than flying to HKG and booking a nice hotel...) No embassy letter needed!

[TerryLH]

She doesn't have to change her name.

Kf6vci, did you even read the OP?

[DavidS]

I went through this a little over a year ago. Specific departments I mention would differ, as I am not an American, but the procedure with regard to Thai requirements is the same.

1) I got a document from the Registrar of Marriages in my country certifying that I was single (1 week).

2) I had to swear a Statutory Declaration in my home country that I had not entered into a marriage that the Registrar was unaware of. This was probably a local requirement in my country (1 day).

3) I had to take the documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in my country to get them certified as being genuine (1 day).

4)Brought the lot to my Embassy in Bangkok. They said either let them get the translation done, or go to one they recommended. I just let them get it done. I then had to swear an oath in front of the First Secretary that all was true (again, a requirement from my country I think) and he then endorsed the documents (2 trips to the embassy a couple of days apart, the first walk-in, the second with appointment - check with yours).

5) Before the First Secretary endorsed the documents, I had to sign a document whereby I attested to having the means to provide for and would care for my wife-to-be no matter where in the world I took her, and had to provide the names and addresses of 2 citizens of my country who could verify that what I said was true - just a formality, they do not check. This is pretty stone age thinking and I complained to my embassy but the Thai staffer handling my case gave me a sweet smile and said it was a requirement of the Thai government. I just signed the thing, waste of time arguing. (check with your embassy)

6) I then had to take the lot to the Department of Consular Affairs in Chaeng Wattana, Bangkok, to be certified as true. Pay for express service and get it the same day (takes 2 or more hours, depending on the crowd). I saw loads of foreigners sitting waiting for the same day service.

7)Took the lot to the Amphur where my wife-to-be had her blue book issued and registered the marriage. Waiting time about an hour ( because of people ahead of us) and they checked every single document and signature so I was glad I went through every step. Before they would register the marriage, I had to sign a document waiving any claims to the house registered in my wifes name.

8) Wife then had 'Mrs' inserted into her ID, but retained her maiden name. I hear that even having 'Mrs' inserted in the ID is no longer a requirement, but you would need to check on this.

I used http://www.dopa.go.th/English/servi/marry.htm as my guideline, and I called my embassy to get their specific advice on exactly what to do. Really tedious as you can gather from the above, but if you follow every step, things go as smoothly as is possible dealing with bureaucracy anywhere.

Good luck and I hope this helps you.

[baboon]

I suggest you use an agency. They are easy to find [indeed they come looking for you] and very quick. In my case the whole kit and caboodle was completed in about 4 hours and it cost me 7000 Baht. Some may accuse you of "cheating" but so what? Better than slooging around Bangkok in the heat.

[BOK]

I suggest you use an agency. They are easy to find [indeed they come looking for you] and very quick. In my case the whole kit and caboodle was completed in about 4 hours and it cost me 7000 Baht. Some may accuse you of "cheating" but so what? Better than slooging around Bangkok in the heat.

Hiya Baboon,

got wed jan 5th 2009 had to leave early cause work ,will be back end of june and need to sort marrige registration out ,Will be in Buriram ,can you let me know if i need to bring some sort of paper work with me and my wife wants to change her surname to mine.Thanks for input Bruce