Yellow Book issues - Wang Noi District Office

[robwood12]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm trying to get a yellow book from Wang Noi district office, I am married to Thai citizen and we were married in Thailand. I am a UK citizen. They are asking for the following documents and won't provide the yellow book until I can provide them:

 

1) A document confirming that our marriage is legal in the UK. 

2) A document showing my residence in the UK. (I've been living in Thailand for 4 years and technically I'm no longer resident in the UK)

 

Both requests are completely illogical and the British Embassy is clear about the notorial documents it provides and the first one isn't on the list.  

 

Has anyone else ran into this problem?  Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks - Rob

[Will B Good]

Not be asked for either of those.....only document I have been asked to provide is passport translation and certification.....I hope it stays like that. 

[oldcpu]

I had to produce/provide my proof of marriage to a Thai citizen for my Yellow Book.

[scubascuba3]

They are looking for extra money or for you to go to agent, offer them 2k

[brianthainess]

That makes no sense if you married in Thailand, 

48 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

I had to produce/provide my proof of marriage to a Thai citizen for my Yellow Book.

From where ? Outside of Thailand ?

[brianthainess]

It makes no sense if you were married in Thailand, why would anybody register their marriage in their home country ? I was lucky at my district office, no translations were needed of anything, but it was the office we got married in.

[oldcpu]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

That makes no sense if you married in Thailand, 

From where ? Outside of Thailand ?

Thus was in Phuket.

 

We were married in Canada, however our marriage was registered in Thailand. 

[4MyEgo]

16 hours ago, robwood12 said:

1) A document confirming that our marriage is legal in the UK. 

2) A document showing my residence in the UK. (I've been living in Thailand for 4 years and technically I'm no longer resident in the UK)

What I find here is that every office has different rules, some know what they are doing, others don't, this is not only a Thai thing and happens overseas, depends on who you get.

 

But from what I have heard is, there are some offices that don't want to give out yellow books, for what ever reason, that said, we had to provide them with a stack of documents, which included marriage certificate from abroad and overseas address.

 

I believe you need to get your marriage certificate from here stamped at the British Embassy and then here in Thailand for what it's worth, in other words everyone wants a bit of the cherry and it costs at both.

 

As for the address overseas, give them a mates address.

 

Having had the yellow book for years, never used it, so if it's too hard, just let it slide, your here to chill, don't let them spoil that over a piece of paper, that or do as they want and see what they want next.

 

Remember this is the land of no sense and paper pushers,

[ThaiFelix]

Why bother?  I have been here in Thailand for nearly 20 years, worked for over 10 years in Bangkok and have never had a yellow book, never needed a yellow book, never been asked for a yellow book, and never found anybody up my way who knows what a yellow book is (except farang).

 

[Andyfez]

I totally agree with ThaiFelix. Why bother? I also have been here nearly 20 years and the only time a yellow book would have been handy was when they were first handing out covid vaccinations. Apart from that the only other use for the yellow book is proof of address. Which usually you only need once every 5 years for a driving license hardly worth the hassle.

 

My only question is do you have a proper legal Thai marriage document? Or was it a common Buddhist marriage? If it was a proper government certificate then they should not need to ask whether it is legal in the UK.

[Toolong]

Sympathies to robwood12, this kind of bureaucratic c**p can really be annoying.

 

Related to said yellow book, I'm hoping to get one in Pakchong (+ the pink ID card), as I have been told they can help me renew my Thai driving license more easily, without the need to drive up to immigration to get proof of residence. Anyone know if that's right? 

 

Thanks

[Orinoco]

Bother getting a yellow book and pink Id card.

No thank you,

Can go to immigration once every 5 years for Residence certificate for driving license.

No big deal.

 

 

 

 

[Hotrats]

6 minutes ago, Toolong said:

Sympathies to robwood12, this kind of bureaucratic c**p can really be annoying.

 

Related to said yellow book, I'm hoping to get one in Pakchong (+ the pink ID card), as I have been told they can help me renew my Thai driving license more easily, without the need to drive up to immigration to get proof of residence. Anyone know if that's right? 

 

Thanks

Yes. The yellow book, plus the pink ID card, are useful for any time you need to show proof of address; and that includes when renewing your driving license.

[Orinoco]

10 minutes ago, Hotrats said:

Yes. The yellow book, plus the pink ID card, are useful for any time you need to show proof of address; and that includes when renewing your driving license.

NO

As always in Thailand, it's up to the regional offices how they want to behave. ( best to check first)

what you going to do when they say, no good mister.

Pattaya refused it at one point in time for driving license renewal  ,maybe they still do. anyone know ?

 

 

 

[OJAS]

49 minutes ago, ThaiFelix said:

Why bother?  I have been here in Thailand for nearly 20 years, worked for over 10 years in Bangkok and have never had a yellow book, never needed a yellow book, never been asked for a yellow book, and never found anybody up my way who knows what a yellow book is (except farang).

 

 

44 minutes ago, Andyfez said:

I totally agree with ThaiFelix. Why bother? I also have been here nearly 20 years and the only time a yellow book would have been handy was when they were first handing out covid vaccinations. Apart from that the only other use for the yellow book is proof of address. Which usually you only need once every 5 years for a driving license hardly worth the hassle.

Hear, hear! As part of an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a yellow book several years ago, I was given the dreaded "Bangkok Runaround" by my local amphur which entailed me obtaining some document in person from the British Embassy, followed by traipsing out to the MFA offices to get this document translated into Thai and then verified - only to fall at the final fence when I took the verified translation back to my amphur only for some eagle-eyed official there to spot that the Thai transliteration of my surname didn't exactly match my wife's as stated in her ID card and blue tabien bahn. At that point I simply threw in the towel and haven't needed to look back ever since.

 

In any event, a fundamental difficulty I have with the yellow book is that it omits what is IMHO the single-most important and relevant piece of personal information in our case - namely the date when our current permission to stay in Thailand is due to expire.

 

[nigelforbes]

Sympathies to OJA, been there, done that and had a similar result. The irony is that the districts are required by law to keep a record of all foreigners who live in them and the yellow book is the only real way they can do that.

[OJAS]

6 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Sympathies to OJA, been there, done that and had a similar result. The irony is that the districts are required by law to keep a record of all foreigners who live in them and the yellow book is the only real way they can do that.

Apart from those seeking permanent residency and/or Thai citizenship - for which the yellow book is, I gather, a prerequisite - I really don't think that this particular document is worth bothering about.

 

[nigelforbes]

1 minute ago, OJAS said:

Apart from those seeking permanent residency and/or Thai citizenship - for which the yellow book is, I gather, a prerequisite - I really don't think that this particular document is worth bothering about.

 

Sure, but I don't get bragging rights, especially since I don't have a pink card either, I'm a second class farang. When visitors stop by I can't impress them by telling them how I just went here or there and did this or that and it was all so easy, because, cough cough, I used my tabien bahn and flashed my pink card. ????

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, Orinoco said:

Pattaya refused it at one point in time for driving license renewal  ,maybe they still do. anyone know ?

Used it earlier this year to get my DL at the Chonburi DLT closest to Pattaya.

[BigStar]

51 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Sure, but I don't get bragging rights, especially since I don't have a pink card either, I'm a second class farang. When visitors stop by I can't impress them by telling them how I just went here or there and did this or that and it was all so easy, because, cough cough, I used my tabien bahn and flashed my pink card. ????

Really enjoy spewing this nonsense, eh?

 

Not sure where all this typical rabid ant-yellow book bias comes from. Evidently, sour grapes and envy, as the yellow book holders don't give rat's a**s whether you or anyone else has one. 

[BigStar]

59 minutes ago, OJAS said:

I really don't think that this particular document is worth bothering about.

We'll all note that down carefully. Next.

[nigelforbes]

2 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Really enjoy spewing this nonsense, eh?

 

Not sure where all this typical rabid ant-yellow book bias comes from. Evidently, sour grapes and envy, as the yellow book holders don't give rat's a**s whether you or anyone else has one. 

Go out and try to buy yourself a new sense of humor, you appear to have lost your old one! I already told you that I tried to get a book and couldn't so there's no anti anything involved, just humor. I hope your day gets better and your mood along with it!

[Madgee]

It seems to me that the majority of those that have successfully obtained a 'yellow book' and 'pink' Thailand I.D. card find them useful.

Those that haven't or have been unsuccessful find it a waste of time and effort.

 

Different offices have different stipulations. TiT. Sometimes it's just luck on who you are dealing with.

IMHO, both documents are useful to have but not a life breaker if you haven't.

 

 

[nigelforbes]

3 minutes ago, Madgee said:

It seems to me that the majority of those that have successfully obtained a 'yellow book' and 'pink' Thailand I.D. card find them useful.

Those that haven't or have been unsuccessful find it a waste of time and effort.

 

Different offices have different stipulations. TiT. Sometimes it's just luck on who you are dealing with.

IMHO, both documents are useful to have but not a life breaker if you haven't.

 

 

Exactly. I'd like to have one but there's a limit to which I  will go to get one, I'm not about to battle the system. And since I can't get one easily, the downside is limited to me having to pay for a residents certificate from time to time, I wouldn't even have to do that if I was prepared to wait and get one for free. As you say, nice to have but not a life breaker.

[Andrew Dwyer]

To sum it up:

The yellow book/pink non-Thai id card are nice to have but their uses are limited. If your Amphur makes life difficult for you to obtain one give it up, it is not worth a lot of time, effort or expense.

[Thingamabob]

At Nonthaburi office about 10 years ago they took copies of my passport and copies of our Taiwan marriage certificate which had previously been endorsed by the Thai embassy in Hong Kong. They took my 'photo, and then issued me my yellow book, and a pink ID card which I hadn't asked for.

 

(For clarification, my Thai wife and I were married in Taiwan in 1990. There is no Thai embassy there which is why we had the marriage certificate endorsed by the Thai embassy in Hong Kong).

[Thingamabob]

5 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

To sum it up:

The yellow book/pink non-Thai id card are nice to have but their uses are limited. If your Amphur makes life difficult for you to obtain one give it up, it is not worth a lot of time, effort or expense.

Both were useful in dealing with the police following a burglary at our Bangkok house, and again with the police on a couple of other issues.

[seajae]

I got a yellow book for our other house very easily then when we built the new one we tried to have the address changed over for the new house as it is in a different district plus immigration said we needed to do it. When we went to get it done at the local offices they told us we cannot change it and refused to help in anyway what so ever,  they said we have a yellow book already and that we do not need to get the address changed while immigration is saying they cannot accept it as it has the wrong address in it, trouble is the local office is very hard to deal with and refuse to do anything that they dont agree with, we pointed out that immigration said they need to change it but the head person says its their office so their rules, unfortunately in Thailand many officres do things their own way and totally disregard the rules even when its pointed out to them, they like to think they are the "be all & end all" and what they say trumps any regulations

[Kalasin Jo]

4 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

believe you need to get your marriage certificate from here stamped at the British Embassy and then here in Thailand for what it's worth, in other words everyone wants a bit of the cherry and it costs at both.

Why would they want either of these? Because they can make it up as they go. But so do the equivalent administrators in many other countries.

 

My Ampur wanted a BE stamped copy and translation of the ID page of my passport. Never got round to that!

 

What the OP might try is to get his Thai marriage certificate legalised by the British Embassy which gets that Embassy's stamp and a Consul's signature on it.

 

To do that the OP needs to get the certificate legalised by the Thai MoFA with their Thai stamp and a signature. This certifies that the document is genuine.  Then take it to  the British Embassy and request that they legalise those stamps and signatures. Note, the BE will not certify that the marriage is legal as the OP (and I) discovered but they should be willing to legalise it as a document, not specifically a Marriage certificate, once the OP has the MoFA stamps and signature on it. The Embassy is not certifying that the marriage is legal but it IS certifying that the MoFA signatures and stamps are genuine whilst MoFA have certified that the document is genuine and not a forgery.

 

I'm not saying this will work but it might fool the Ampur

 

I went through this in order to get to be able to get  EU family member visas for my wife to enter France ( when I was still an EU citizen and living in France ) with me. The French Embassy insisted on a BE stamped Certificate and a translation ( English was ok). BE said we don't certify a Thai marriage certificates, nor even a translation of it. True. They don't and were very unhelpful about what I could do. But the French insisted that was baloney, they had seen BE stamps on them. After much research I learned about notarisation and legalisation of documents from one country for use in another....and succeeded. I had nearly given up.

 

Good luck! As others have said it's probably not worth the hassle and cost for the limited value of possessing a yellow book.

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

I'd like to have one but there's a limit to which I  will go to get one, I'm not about to battle the system.

I enjoyed the battle and won. Pattaya has strict requirements, too, to help keep out all the riff-raff.