QUESTION: How to Authenticate a USA marriage license.

[BadSpottedDog]

My husband and I are both US citizens. We have been living in Thailand for 4 years now on the non immigrant O "retirement visa", and extensions of stay. 

 

For our next extension, we want one of us to be dependent or "ride on" the other's visa. We have heard that we must have our US marriage license validated or certified here. Is this true? If so,

• What is the process to do this?
• Do we have to do it every year?
• How long does it take?

Our US marriage license IS stamped, notarized and has a raised seal, but apparently, that's not enough.

 

Any other advise you can give us about doing this will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[ubonjoe]

You can do a blank affidavit at the US embassy to self certify your marriage certificate that will be accepted by immigration.

You will need to have the affidavit translated to Thai and then be certified by the Consular Affairs Department of the MFA in Bangkok.

It will only need to be done one time.

This statement can be found on the embassy website on this  page. https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/

Quote

Services we CAN provide:

Affidavits
Oftentimes the Thai government requests the U.S. Embassy or Consulate General Chiang Mai “certify” documents listed under “services we cannot provide.” Please note the Embassy and Consulate CAN notarize an affidavit which may or may not satisfy the Thai requirement for “certification.”

 

[BadSpottedDog]

5 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You can do a blank affidavit at the US embassy to self certify your marriage certificate that will be accepted by immigration.

You will need to have the affidavit translated to Thai and then be certified by the Consular Affairs Department of the MFA in Bangkok.

It will only need to be done one time.

This statement can be found on the embassy website on this  page. https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/

 

Thank you! ????

[Zuman]

I used my wife as my dependent for the last 2 years for her retirement extension in Phuket. For those extensions we used a non-Thai certified marriage license. To be on the safe side we will do this process for her next extension.  A few more questions if you don’t mind:

 

What exactly are we certifying with the blank affidavit?  Are we stating that the marriage certificate for xxxx and yyyyy married on (date) is a valid document?  Do both of us have to sign the affidavit?

 

We will need to make the trip from Phuket to Bangkok to do this.  We are not familiar with Bangkok.  

 

Can someone recommend a hotel or general location to stay that is convenient to the US Embassy, the Thai Consulate and translation services?

 

Can someone recommend a translation service that is on Google Maps?  How much time should we allow for the affidavit translation to be completed?

 

What does the “MFA” Consular Affairs Department of the MFA stand for?  Where is it located?  Do you need an appointment?  How much time should we allow to have this done?

 

I appreciate any information that can be provided.  I can see this is going to be painful and expensive.