Thai Birth Certificate in English - where to get

[bbz404]

We have our son's (born in 2002) original Thai language birth certificate from Mukdahan. 

For administrative reasons, we now need an English version of the same and our respective Embassy said that English versions can be obtained from any Amphoe.

Now, I just want to ask if somebody knows/can confirm that:

1.) I can get an English version when presenting the original Thai one

2.) I can get it in any Amphoe (not necessarily the one where it was issued)

?

 

Thanks for your feedback!

[Bangkokhatter]

You just need it translating, as long as the translation is done by a reputable company that stamps the translation the Embassy will accept it.

Just got my daughters passport done and I had all Thai documents translated by a company in BKK, no problem even though she was born elsewhere. 

[bbz404]

7 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

You just need it translating, as long as the translation is done by a reputable company that stamps the translation the Embassy will accept it.

Just got my daughters passport done and I had all Thai documents translated by a company in BKK, no problem even though she was born elsewhere. 

Thanks for your reply but that was not my question. I already have a translation that I used for the Schengen Tourist visa application. 
In this case, however, I would need the original document in English, otherwise I must go through a notarized translation process with double legalization and I want to avoid that if I can obtain the English original directly from the Amphoe/District Office. 

[Preacher]

There is no English birthcertificate, only the Thai one. You will have to go to the process you mentioned. 

 

Unfortunately the Thai goevrnment doesn't have international versiosn of documents like a birthcertificate, proof of being alive, proof of address etc.

[steveb6]

It is quite an easy process if either you or your spouse are Thai. Just go to the district office and ask for the English version and pay 10 baht. If neither are Thai than it is a more complicated process. They require that you have your passport certified  at the department of foreign affairs and then after you can request the English version

[bbz404]

1 hour ago, steveb6 said:

It is quite an easy process if either you or your spouse are Thai. Just go to the district office and ask for the English version and pay 10 baht. If neither are Thai than it is a more complicated process. They require that you have your passport certified  at the department of foreign affairs and then after you can request the English version

Thank you for this information. Yes, my wife is Thai. 
Can it be any District Office or only the one where he was born?

[steveb6]

It can be any district office. It is in the computer system so you can go to any district office. It is considered a certified translation

[tabarin]

Just let a visa company / lawyer translate and legalise it, only around 1K baht to get that done. 

[bbz404]

1 hour ago, steveb6 said:

It can be any district office. It is in the computer system so you can go to any district office. It is considered a certified translation

Great thanks. I thought it would be in the computer system and should thus work the same as for the marriage certificate which I can get at any district office for 20 Baht. Thanks for confirming this. 
 

as for “certified translation” that’s fine as it is issued by a Thai authority and in English. This is accepted by my target country. 

[bbz404]

1 hour ago, tabarin said:

Just let a visa company / lawyer translate and legalise it, only around 1K baht to get that done. 

sigh

[bbz404]

For anyone who is interested:

 

Yes, English language birth certificate extracts/copies can be obtained at any District Office/Amphoe (for persons born after 1980). The cost is 10 Baht per copy. Needed are the ID/Passport of the person for who the birth certificate is requested, the ID/Passport of the legal guardian (if applicable) and the Tabien Baan of the requestor. 

We had some issues with the name changes as the first officer issued the certificate with the currently valid names of the parents as saved in their central database. This did not match with the original birth certificate as the names have changed since then. The supervisor corrected this mistake promptly. 

 

Hats off, once again, to Thailand for being able to issue English certificates of official government documents and generally being quite efficient when it comes to government administrative affairs of its citizens. This is something that is not at all done in many Western European countries. 

[khunPer]

On 12/26/2019 at 4:18 AM, bbz404 said:

Now, I just want to ask if somebody knows/can confirm that:

1.) I can get an English version when presenting the original Thai one

2.) I can get it in any Amphoe (not necessarily the one where it was issued)

?

Depending of what you are going to use the English version of the birth certificate to, and what your home country embassy demand, the need might be slightly different from below...

 

In my case, we had the Thai birth certificate translated by a certified translator. This was for example Okay for buying domestic flight tickets and boarding an airplane.

 

For further use we needed to have the translation to be officially legalized. That was done by Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Legalization Division, Department of Consular Affairs, in Bangkok. It's normally done i two working days, but with a same-day VIP-service...

Quote

·  Legalization Division, Department of Consular Affairs :

-    Regular Services : 08:00-15:30 hrs. Queue Tickets until 15:00 hrs. Collection of legalized documents after 2 working days.

-    Express Services : 08:00-12:00 hrs. Queue Tickets until 12:00 hrs. Collection within the same day of submission of

    legalized documents (Please see the website www.consular.go.th) .

    Legalization fee will be levied in accordance with the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

-    Postal Service : For your convenience, Express Mail Service (EMS) for submission of documents and delivery of documents

    is available. Please call 0 2575 1058-60 for more information.

You can download the application form in for example .docx format. We used the EMS service, and that worked well.

 

Call in advance and check the actual procedures, or check the website, as we did it a few years ago in 2014 when applying for dual foreign citizenship for the child in my home country.

 

In my case my home country's embassy in Bangkok then needed to verify the legalization before the English version of a birth certificated can be used as a legal document. That procedure was also done by EMS in agreement with the embassy; your embassy might have a different procedure, or let a local consulate verify documents.

????

[bbz404]

30 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Depending of what you are going to use the English version of the birth certificate to, and what your home country embassy demand, the need might be slightly different from below...

 

In my case, we had the Thai birth certificate translated by a certified translator. This was for example Okay for buying domestic flight tickets and boarding an airplane.

 

For further use we needed to have the translation to be officially legalized. That was done by Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Legalization Division, Department of Consular Affairs, in Bangkok. It's normally done i two working days, but with a same-day VIP-service...

You can download the application form in for example .docx format. We used the EMS service, and that worked well.

 

Call in advance and check the actual procedures, or check the website, as we did it a few years ago in 2014 when applying for dual foreign citizenship for the child in my home country.

 

In my case my home country's embassy in Bangkok then needed to verify the legalization before the English version of a birth certificated can be used as a legal document. That procedure was also done by EMS in agreement with the embassy; your embassy might have a different procedure, or let a local consulate verify documents.

????

Thanks for the reply but as I mentioned before, I needed the English one precisely to avoid the double legalization as my Embassy does accept originally issued documents if they are in English. So, for me all is well in the end.

I have used the legalization service before though, for my marriage preparation. A lot of travelling around required, which I don't like.

[ThailandRyan]

Take it to a translation service that is also a notary and will stamp it as such with the notaries signature on it.  Then have it sent along with the original to the MFA in Bangkok for it the copy to be stamped as a legal document from the MFA in Thailand.  It can then be used just like the original Thai birth certificate but as an English version.  Have done this twice now so we had it when completing the Visa process for the USA.  Plenty of Notaries that translate and will take care of the legalization for you at the MFA,  but I can not remember the cost, off hand as it was 2 years ago.  Needed it for my Thai born daughter to enter the USA, as well as for registering her for school.

[bbz404]

6 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Take it to a translation service that is also a notary and will stamp it as such with the notaries signature on it.  Then have it sent along with the original to the MFA in Bangkok for it the copy to be stamped as a legal document from the MFA in Thailand.  It can then be used just like the original Thai birth certificate but as an English version.  Have done this twice now so we had it when completing the Visa process for the USA.  Plenty of Notaries that translate and will take care of the legalization for you at the MFA,  but I can not remember the cost, off hand as it was 2 years ago.  Needed it for my Thai born daughter to enter the USA, as well as for registering her for school.

I think people are not reading the whole thread.

English version available at any Amphoe/DIstrict office. Cost = 10 Baht. Much easier than translation + double legalization. And quicker. And cheaper.

For my Embassy it's enough, so it's enough for me. Other Embassies, of course, may have different requirements.

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by bbz404

[Kalasin Jo]

On 1/13/2020 at 2:35 PM, bbz404 said:

For anyone who is interested:

 

Yes, English language birth certificate extracts/copies can be obtained at any District Office/Amphoe (for persons born after 1980). The cost is 10 Baht per copy. Needed are the ID/Passport of the person for who the birth certificate is requested, the ID/Passport of the legal guardian (if applicable) and the Tabien Baan of the requestor. 

We had some issues with the name changes as the first officer issued the certificate with the currently valid names of the parents as saved in their central database. This did not match with the original birth certificate as the names have changed since then. The supervisor corrected this mistake promptly. 

 

Hats off, once again, to Thailand for being able to issue English certificates of official government documents and generally being quite efficient when it comes to government administrative affairs of its citizens. This is something that is not at all done in many Western European countries. 

So for persons born before 1981, not possible? My wife's birth certificate is a photocopy from a paper register I'm sure. It doesn't look at all official and is handwritten in the blank boxes for completion. The only evidence of this being official is a small blue stamp in Thai plus handwritten date ( Thai calendar) on the copy. Several times been told that's all they can do.

 

That being so is our only option, where a birth certificate is required ( for residency application in France), to have it translated by a recognised translator and get the certificate and translation legalised at MoFA? Groan!!!

[bbz404]

2 minutes ago, Kalasin Jo said:

So for persons born before 1981, not possible? My wife's birth certificate is a photocopy from a paper register I'm sure. It doesn't look at all official and is handwritten in the blank boxes for completion. The only evidence of this being official is a small blue stamp in Thai plus handwritten date ( Thai calendar) on the copy. Several times been told that's all they can do.

 

That being so is our only option, where a birth certificate is required ( for residency application in France), to have it translated by a recognised translator and get the certificate and translation legalised at MoFA? Groan!!!

No. I believe 1980 is the cutoff date for the government maintaining a central IT database. I've had the same issue with my wife who was born in 1979. For her Schengen visa applications, we needed to get the village chief to go to the Amphoe with her and a relative certifying when she was born and where. This was accepted as an alternative to the birth certificate. The French Embassy is well aware that birth certificates weren't commonly issued or even kept by the parents, especially in rural Thailand. So they do accept this is instead. Of course, it will need to be translated and double legalized. 

If you are legally married and the marriage is registered with the French Embassy or any other French government institution, you should have a family book (Livret de famille). This might be sufficient for the visa application instead of the birth certificate. But it seems unlikely that you comply with this scenario as you would have had to have her birth certificate when you asked for the freedom-to-marry certificate.

[prakhonchai nick]

From reading the above it would seem the amphur can provide an English birth and mariage certificate. Can they also provide an English death certificate of a farang who died in Thailand?

[ThailandRyan]

4 hours ago, bbz404 said:

I think people are not reading the whole thread.

English version available at any Amphoe/DIstrict office. Cost = 10 Baht. Much easier than translation + double legalization. And quicker. And cheaper.

For my Embassy it's enough, so it's enough for me. Other Embassies, of course, may have different requirements.

 

I asked specifically about obtaining one in English at the Amphoe when I did the process as I described.  They indicated that only Thai la gauge is used on the birth certificate and not in English.  They indicated I needed to do what I did.  Not sure where you found your information about them.giving you a copy in English for 10 baht.  

[bbz404]

15 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

I asked specifically about obtaining one in English at the Amphoe when I did the process as I described.  They indicated that only Thai la gauge is used on the birth certificate and not in English.  They indicated I needed to do what I did.  Not sure where you found your information about them.giving you a copy in English for 10 baht.  

It's not so much that I found my information but actually have the papers at home. We went to Bang Khen and Chatuchak District Offices in Bangkok and both said that English transcripts of birth certificates (among other documents) are readily available. And then they printed it for us. Now, this is not the original birth certificate of course (that one is only available in Thai AFAIK), but an English transcript issued by the Thai authorities for use overseas. In Thailand, the Thai language one will prevail in all cases. 

 

I've attached the redacted version for your reference.

 

English birth certificate Thailand_print.pdf

Edited January 16, 2020 by bbz404
attach file

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, bbz404 said:

It's not so much that I found my information but actually have the papers at home. We went to Bang Khen and Chatuchak District Offices in Bangkok and both said that English transcripts of birth certificates (among other documents) are readily available. And then they printed it for us. Now, this is not the original birth certificate of course (that one is only available in Thai AFAIK), but an English transcript issued by the Thai authorities for use overseas. In Thailand, the Thai language one will prevail in all cases. 

Thank you for the clarification.

[Kalasin Jo]

On 1/15/2020 at 1:41 PM, bbz404 said:

No. I believe 1980 is the cutoff date for the government maintaining a central IT database. I've had the same issue with my wife who was born in 1979. For her Schengen visa applications, we needed to get the village chief to go to the Amphoe with her and a relative certifying when she was born and where. This was accepted as an alternative to the birth certificate. The French Embassy is well aware that birth certificates weren't commonly issued or even kept by the parents, especially in rural Thailand. So they do accept this is instead. Of course, it will need to be translated and double legalized. 

If you are legally married and the marriage is registered with the French Embassy or any other French government institution, you should have a family book (Livret de famille). This might be sufficient for the visa application instead of the birth certificate. But it seems unlikely that you comply with this scenario as you would have had to have her birth certificate when you asked for the freedom-to-marry certificate.

No livret de famille. I am British with French residency. We married in Bangkok. Had the marriage certificate and English translation MoFA legalised then their stamps and signatures legalised by British Embassy Bangkok. Used many times since to obtain short stay Schengen "famille UE" visas for her and she has a current one now. Never a call for her birth certificate for this, although we have the paper copy I mentioned and an English translation, not legalised. We offered it the first time but told not needed. I've always understood birth certificates only needed for children for such visas and there is no mention of these needing to be legalised, just translated in to French or English. Only marriage certificates are specifically mentioned as having to be legalised.

 

However we don't know what the future holds for such visas with Brexit. I cease to be an EU citizen, practically a dead cert. now,on 31 January, and will be a Foreigner( tcn) with residency and, hopefully, Withdrawal Agreement rights. But no one has yet been able to tell me what her rights and requirements as my wife will then be for short stays other than thst her current visa is good until expiry in August.

 

So we are exploring the possibility of her entering France on that visa and then asking for permanent residency for her in country, piggybacking on my EU rights during Transition.

 

Sorry for the long explanation, but for that request we will need to produce her birth certificate, as I had to produce my British one, but only translated, not legalised, to obtain my French permanent residency card.

 

So not clear whether we should get her birth certificate double legalised but it looks as if it would be wisebe. Tiresome!!