Official English documents from Amphur?

[bbko]

As I was preparing the application to get my Thai wife a US visa, I read this statement off the US Embassy's website:

 

In Thailand, you can request civil registration documents (such as the birth and marriage certificate) in English at any local district office (Thai Amphur). If you have obtained the English version of a required document directly from the Thai Amphur, an English translation of that document will not be necessary.

 

https://th.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/Bangkok-Immigrant-Visa-Instructions-English-September-2021.pdf

 

Is this new? True? A falsehood? Anyone here ever gotten English paperwork from their local Amphur?

Edited February 25, 2022 by bbko

[ubonjoe]

I don't recall any poste by anybody getting a document from a Amphoe in English.

Since you are trying to apply for a visa for another country I have moved your topic to the correct forum

[Doctor Tom]

OP, I'm afraid that will not happen.  You get the docs is Thai, get them translated and legalised, then you are good to go. 

 

Meant to add; some large cities, such as Bangkok ( or whatever the city is called these days)  may have an add on service that operates in the same building, offering the translation and legalization, as a separate but co located service.  This is just a guess. 

Edited February 25, 2022 by Doctor Tom

[Huckfi]

1 hour ago, Doctor Tom said:

You get the docs is Thai, get them translated and legalised, then you are good to go. 

 

Translated documents for a U.S. visa don't have to be legalized. You can take your Thai documents to any translation service that you find fit and the translator will certify that they are competent in both languages by placing either a note or stamp on each translated page and providing a certificate that they are competent as well. You don't even need a translator if you yourself are fully competent in both languages and are willing to do up a certification letter.

 

The average price that we found in BKK was 300-500b a page. OP you can pm me if you want the place we used.

 

Edit: All the documents we ended up requesting from the Amphur were in Thai.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Huckfi

[Doctor Tom]

Just now, Huckfi said:

Translated documents for a U.S. visa don't have to be legalized. You can take your Thai documents to any translation service that you find fit and the translator will certify that they are competent in both languages by placing either a note or stamp on each translated page and providing a certificate that they are competent as well. You don't even need a translator if you yourself are fully competent in both languages and are willing to do up a certification letter.

 

The average price that we found in BKK was 300-500b a page. OP you can pm me if you want the place we used.

Okay, thanks, I didn't know that.  In UK its different. 

[dsj]

6 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

OP, I'm afraid that will not happen.  You get the docs is Thai, get them translated and legalised, then you are good to go. 

 

Meant to add; some large cities, such as Bangkok ( or whatever the city is called these days)  may have an add on service that operates in the same building, offering the translation and legalization, as a separate but co located service.  This is just a guess. 

Yes you are correct in that. My wife legally changed her first name at the Amphur, the one on Soi Thong Lo, and they did offer translation service, but she had to pay for the translation and to legalize, as if she went to a translation place. The Amphur used Saladeang Translation Office.

Edited February 25, 2022 by dsj

[Andycoops]

You would be lucky to meet anyone who speaks English in a rural Amphur, let alone them have documents available in English.

[bbko]

1 hour ago, Andycoops said:

You would be lucky to meet anyone who speaks English in a rural Amphur, let alone them have documents available in English.

I thought the same thing, but why would the US Embassy say "you can request civil registration documents (such as the birth and marriage certificate) in English at any local district office (Thai Amphur)"  (dated Sept 2021) if it didn't have some truth behind it?

 

All my wife's visa documents are already translated to English and stamped by the MFA, this post is to help others in the future.  If the Amphurs have the ability to translate official documents into English, the MFA's business will be cut drastically.

[hotandsticky]

1 hour ago, Andycoops said:

You would be lucky to meet anyone who speaks English in a rural Amphur, let alone them have documents available in English.

 

Consider yourself lucky then.

 

Those documents are available in English.

[bbko]

7 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Consider yourself lucky then.

 

Those documents are available in English.

From local amphurs? Are you speaking from experience or just assuming?

Edited February 26, 2022 by bbko

[Huckfi]

3 hours ago, bbko said:

I thought the same thing, but why would the US Embassy say "you can request civil registration documents (such as the birth and marriage certificate) in English at any local district office (Thai Amphur)"  (dated Sept 2021) if it didn't have some truth behind it?

 

All my wife's visa documents are already translated to English and stamped by the MFA, this post is to help others in the future.  If the Amphurs have the ability to translate official documents into English, the MFA's business will be cut drastically.

You don't need an MFA stamp for US immigration purposes. If this post is to help others, at least get the details correct. 

[rickudon]

There is one document that you can get from the Amphoe in English - a birth certificate. Costs 20 baht. Got a couple of copies in English of my daughters birth certificate. Other documents I have never asked.

[hotandsticky]

On 2/26/2022 at 8:24 AM, bbko said:

From local amphurs? Are you speaking from experience or just assuming?

Experience, a friend needed an English language copy of a birth certificate.

 

I understood that the system is 'linked' nationally, so you should be able to get the document from any amphur. 

 

 

Also:-  

 

 

 

steveb6

Senior Member

Members

 25

105 posts

Posted December 31, 2019

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

Edited February 27, 2022 by hotandsticky