want to marry my Thai lady

[konaboy]

I am a 74 yr. old American. We have been together for 18 years and have a 11 year old son. We live in Pathum Thani

Time to tie the knot.

Can anyone  get me jump started with information?

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Go to the US Embassy website. Find the Freedom to Marry affidavit PDF. Print it and fill it in. If you were ever divorced, you will need proof of that. Make an appointment with the Embassy ACS (American Citizen Services). Be warned, this is several months out now due to Covid. Once there, you'll present your affidavit and swear to the official that you're legally free to marry. Pay 50 bucks for this.

 

While you're there, most amphurs (district offices) also want a certified copy of your passport. Check with them beforehand. If so, that'll be another 50 bucks.

 

Take these to the Thai MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) office at Khlong Toei MRT. You can talk to them directly, but recommended you go through one of the agencies that's around their office. They'll handle translation and submitting everything correctly. When you get these docs back from them, take them to your local amphur to get married. You may or may not need an appointment for that. Cheers and good luck.

[Surelynot]

8 minutes ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Go to the US Embassy website. Find the Freedom to Marry affidavit PDF. Print it and fill it in. If you were ever divorced, you will need proof of that. Make an appointment with the Embassy ACS (American Citizen Services). Be warned, this is several months out now due to Covid. Once there, you'll present your affidavit and swear to the official that you're legally free to marry. Pay 50 bucks for this.

 

While you're there, most amphurs (district offices) also want a certified copy of your passport. Check with them beforehand. If so, that'll be another 50 bucks.

 

Take these to the Thai MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) office at Khlong Toei MRT. You can talk to them directly, but recommended you go through one of the agencies that's around their office. They'll handle translation and submitting everything correctly. When you get these docs back from them, take them to your local amphur to get married. You may or may not need an appointment for that. Cheers and good luck.

That is very good of you.......if it were me I'd now be thinking.......can't be arßsed.

[ChipButty]

want to marry my Thai lady

 

So does every one else

[ubonjoe]

There is a lot good info on this page on the embassy website.

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/getting-married-in-thailand/

[petermik]

Have you thought about asking her first....

[jomtienisgood]

On 7/2/2021 at 7:04 PM, ChipButty said:

want to marry my Thai lady

 

So does every one else

Luckily for him we don't all want to marry the same. 

[Deli]

If you still can: Run Forrest, run !

[Dart12]

Honest question:  What's the benefit of getting marriied at this juncture?

[Tropposurfer]

1 hour ago, Deli said:

If you still can: Run Forrest, run !

such cynicism lol lol ????????????

[4MyEgo]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:42 PM, konaboy said:

Time to tie the knot.

 

I personally can't help you with that information, but wish you many more years of happiness as a legally married couple. 

[konaboy]

To; Dart 12

Social Security Benefits

[pomchop]

Not totally sure but i think you have to be legally married in usa for her and child under 18  to get benefits...maybe possible to get legally married at US embassy?  If not have to take her to USA.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The absolute first thing I'd want to do is check with the marriage staff at the district/amphur office where you plan to get married, and get from them THEIR requirements in terms of documents / witnesses / or whatever.

 

The details of such things can tend to vary quite a bit from province to province, and office to office. So any advice you get here or from the Embassy is only going to be general. You need to make sure you're going to be able to satisfy the demands of the marriage staff at the office where you intend to do the deed.

 

When my wife and I got married a few years back, the first district office we approached was insistent that we had to hire a TH-EN translator (even though my TH wife is fluent in English) AND bring along two separate witnesses (and they wouldn't budge off that).  So we ended up checking around and going to a different district office that required none of the above.

 

In Thailand, some district offices seem to be more friendly, and others far less friendly, to the notion of processing mixed marriages involving Thai citizens. 

 

PS - You're not required to do the marriage process at the district office where you're living or where you wife is registered. You can pick the office of your choice.

[DBath]

“Can anyone  get me jump started with information?”

 

There’s this really wonderful website called Google, ever heard of it?

[Rinrada]

just go for it and when applying for the one year extension..."O" based on marriage only 400k in the bin  rather than 800 k sitting doing nothing..(assuming you might be on a retired V.)...but will not make assumptions..Chok dee khap..

[brianthainess]

On 7/3/2021 at 6:33 PM, petermik said:

Have you thought about asking her first....

Not easy to get down on one knee when your 74, even worse getting up again. ????

[brianthainess]

12 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

When my wife and I got married a few years back, the first district office we approached was insistent that we had to hire a TH-EN translator (even though my TH wife is fluent in English) AND bring along two separate witnesses (and they wouldn't budge off that).  So we ended up checking around and going to a different district office that required none of the above.

Is there such a thing as an official TH-EN translator?  Took a Thai friend who spoke english well There is a very good reason to have a 'translator' on hand to explain what you are signing for,  not your intended otherwise you might get wrong info.  ????A couple of my wife's friends as witnesses.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

14 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So we ended up checking around and going to a different district office that required none of the above.

Yup. My wife and I were living in BKK at time. We tried several amphurs in and around there. All were quite difficult and reluctant to do it. The boss guy's too busy, you'll also need to do this and that, we could make an appointment. But it'd take a long time for him to show up, perhaps implying some generosity could motivate him. Haha.

 

So we did it here in her Issan home amphur. Quite friendly and easy. No appointment. We just had to bring mom and dad as witnesses. We did have to wait all afternoon tho. Turns out two other couples were getting married, and the boss wanted to do them all at once. He finally showed up, went up to his throne room or whatever to sign the certs, and then he was off.

 

Very cheap, I forgot how much, no motivational money. The only significant, extra charge was a plastic folder to put the certs in.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

21 hours ago, Dart12 said:

Honest question:  What's the benefit of getting marriied at this juncture?

1) Non-O visa, along with 40k income, or 400k in the bank.

2) If your visa's running out and you need a quick extension, an extra 60 day "visit the wife" is possible. But not necessary at the moment with the Covid extensions.

3) Showing the love of your life you're committed. Be sure she's the one. I'm fairly sure of this.

4) As long as you keep your wits about you, and keep thinking with the big head, Thailand's a good place to score a wife. Of course there's crazies and good diggers out there, as there are anywhere, but also some warm, caring, committed women, if you do the right looking. Back in the West, good luck just getting dates, let alone marriage material, with my friends still trudging along through the dating scene, even with their better looks and careers than I.

5) When you're ready to bring your lady home, you'll need that marriage cert. For the US for example, spousal visas are more likely to be approved. If you just want to bring back your girlfriend, unless she's loaded with a cushy job, her tourist visa will most likely be denied.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Is there such a thing as an official TH-EN translator?  Took a Thai friend who spoke english well There is a very good reason to have a 'translator' on hand to explain what you are signing for,  not your intended otherwise you might get wrong info.  ????A couple of my wife's friends as witnesses.

 

IMHO, the only need anyone would have for a translator in doing the marriage documents at an amphur office is just to tell a non-Thai reader what to fill out and where as instructed by the staff, and what original documents to supply when asked.  If the Thai wife can do that, a translator becomes irrelevant.

 

it's not like the amphur staff are giving lectures on the finer points of marriage law in Thailand for the benefit of the newly weds that need to be translated into English.

 

PS - The go-to khet office in Bangkok for mixed marriages, for many years, has been the Bangrak office in the Sathorn area. But my last visit there was 7 years ago, so can't say if things there have stayed the same or changed.

 

[claynlr]

On 7/4/2021 at 6:37 PM, konaboy said:

To; Dart 12

Social Security Benefits

If you are an American I think she has to live in the US for 5 years to be able to get benefits when you pass.

[thaibeachlovers]

If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it!

 

I've known many guys that spoiled live in relationships of many years by getting married. Don't know why exactly, but getting that bit of paper seems to change it for the worse.

[rumak]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it!

 

I've known many guys that spoiled live in relationships of many years by getting married. Don't know why exactly, but getting that bit of paper seems to change it for the worse.

 

"give them an inch .......... and then they think they're a ruler"    comes to mind ????