I Dont Know Where To Start?

[meme]

Hi,

I was just married on July 23rd to my husband who is Thai. We are also getting married in Canada in October. We have not registered the marriage in Thailand yet as I am under the impression that I need to get a document from the Canadian embassy in Bangkok that states I am not married. We live in the South and have not made it up to BKK yet.

I am not sure if its easier to register our marriage in Thailand or in Canada? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Also I will be returning in November. I have always taught in Thailand so have always had a 'non immigrant B'. My new job that starts in November said they want me to enter on a marriage visa (non imm O). So I am assuming I will apply for this when I am in Canada?

I just don't know where to start or what I should be collecting here to bring to Canada.

Many thanks,

Meme.

[lopburi3]

You are not yet married - you must obtain a letter from your Embassy that they notarize and have that translated and registered at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (translation service can do with same day or next day service). You then can go to any District office with passport and husband to register the marriage. That will make it official in both countries and if you plan to live here it is best to have the Thai marriage certificate. Although if you are concerned about legal divorce aspects you might want to check that with a law firm. Thailand is joint property in marriage. You only marry once so you would not have a legal wedding in Canada if already married here.

For your visa you should have the marriage certificate and a signed/dated copy of your husbands ID card for presentation at Consulate for non immigrant O visa.

You can obtain a work permit on the non immigrant O visa and indeed that is the best.

[meadish_sweetball]

You are not yet married - you must obtain a letter from your Embassy that they notarize and have that translated and registered at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (translation service can do with same day or next day service). You then can go to any District office with passport and husband to register the marriage. That will make it official in both countries and if you plan to live here it is best to have the Thai marriage certificate. Although if you are concerned about legal divorce aspects you might want to check that with a law firm. Thailand is joint property in marriage. You only marry once so you would not have a legal wedding in Canada if already married here.

This is correct if she is going to get married in Thailand. But it seems they are planning to get married in Canada.

I do not know about specific requirements for Canada, but I do know that if they are similar to Sweden, provided you are a Canadian citizen, you will not need to bring any papers from Thailand in order to register marriage.

Your husband does though, and again, basing my reasoning on what I know, he would need to bring a letter from his Amphur office as proof of being single and eligible to marry (i.e. not currently married to somebody else, is old enough). Also bring a bai kamnoed (birth certificate), his bat prachaachon (national ID card) and his thabian baan (house registration papers).

Obviously, you should contact the office or church where you plan to get married in Canada, and ask them what they require first, as Sweden may have different rules.

Once you have married in Canada, then you will need to get the marriage papers notarized by a Notary Public and stamped by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then translated into Thai and stamped by a Thai embassy or consulate in Canada. Once you come back to Thailand, you will then submit these documents to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they will give you a certificate to show at the Thai amphur in order to register the marriage in Thailand.

Note that the above is just based on my personal experience of marrying in Sweden and then registering that marriage in Thailand.

Obviously my info may not be relevant to your case - to make sure, you really want to check the requirements for the place where you plan to marry, be it in Thailand or in Canada, as well as your embassy.

[meme]

You are not yet married - you must obtain a letter from your Embassy that they notarize and have that translated and registered at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (translation service can do with same day or next day service). You then can go to any District office with passport and husband to register the marriage. That will make it official in both countries and if you plan to live here it is best to have the Thai marriage certificate. Although if you are concerned about legal divorce aspects you might want to check that with a law firm. Thailand is joint property in marriage. You only marry once so you would not have a legal wedding in Canada if already married here.

For your visa you should have the marriage certificate and a signed/dated copy of your husbands ID card for presentation at Consulate for non immigrant O visa.

You can obtain a work permit on the non immigrant O visa and indeed that is the best.

Thanks so much Lopburi!

Yes I know I am not yet legally married, the wedding in Canada will just be a ceremony if we register our marriage here. We do plan on living in Thailand. If we did not register our marriage in Thailand and then married legally in Canada would we need to have something translated into Thai for my non immigrant visa? Or would I just need the translation for proof that we are married for Thailand? We have a limited time in BKK so if it is possible to register our marriage in Canada that would be eaiser. However, you said that if we live in Thailand it would benefit us to register the marriage here? What would be the down side to registering in Canada if we want to live in Thailand?

Thanks again

[olddog]

This is not so much a reply as a kind of additional request, and although I think it's been more or less answered above, I'd appreciate as much clarity and detail as possible, for obvious reasons!

- If I (a male) marry a Thai woman, what visa/residency rights/restrictions does this confer?

- After marriage, what do I have to do to benefit from these rights (if any?)

- Is it best to marry in Thailand?

- What documentation do I need to get married?

- Any hidden traps/disadvantages?

I'm sure this information is available spread out over this site (and the web generally) but if you have the time to reply here, so I have all the information in one place, I would REALLY appreciate your effort.

Thanking you in advance -

Old Dog

(EDIT: I posted this as a "reply" rather than a new topic, because it's very similar in nature - if it should be a new topic, please let me know - I don't want to complicate or divert the original poster's request!)

Edited August 20, 2007 by olddog

[meme]

You are not yet married - you must obtain a letter from your Embassy that they notarize and have that translated and registered at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (translation service can do with same day or next day service). You then can go to any District office with passport and husband to register the marriage. That will make it official in both countries and if you plan to live here it is best to have the Thai marriage certificate. Although if you are concerned about legal divorce aspects you might want to check that with a law firm. Thailand is joint property in marriage. You only marry once so you would not have a legal wedding in Canada if already married here.

This is correct if she is going to get married in Thailand. But it seems they are planning to get married in Canada.

I do not know about specific requirements for Canada, but I do know that if they are similar to Sweden, provided you are a Canadian citizen, you will not need to bring any papers from Thailand in order to register marriage.

Your husband does though, and again, basing my reasoning on what I know, he would need to bring a letter from his Amphur office as proof of being single and eligible to marry (i.e. not currently married to somebody else, is old enough). Also bring a bai kamnoed (birth certificate), his bat prachaachon (national ID card) and his thabian baan (house registration papers).

Obviously, you should contact the office or church where you plan to get married in Canada, and ask them what they require first, as Sweden may have different rules.

Once you have married in Canada, then you will need to get the marriage papers notarized by a Notary Public and stamped by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then translated into Thai and stamped by a Thai embassy or consulate in Canada. Once you come back to Thailand, you will then submit these documents to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they will give you a certificate to show at the Thai amphur in order to register the marriage in Thailand.

Note that the above is just based on my personal experience of marrying in Sweden and then registering that marriage in Thailand.

Obviously my info may not be relevant to your case - to make sure, you really want to check the requirements for the place where you plan to marry, be it in Thailand or in Canada, as well as your embassy.

Thanks MS!

From what my mom(she looked into it for us on the Canada side) said he did not need anything to get married other then his birth certificate. But I will double check.

But I guess it looks like registering the marriage would be easier in Thailand.

Does anyone have the address for the of the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Bangkok? And then we can go to a district office in Bangkok to register our marriage? How many days would this take roughly?

[lopburi3]

Having the Thai marriage certificate makes it easier for visas and extensions of stay as no translations or MFA registrations are required. It can be done in a day or two (depending on your Embassy) if you use a marriage/translation service in the area of the British Embassy. I don't know the legal requirements in Canada but assume he will travel with a tourist visa and most countries are not exactly happy to see that turn into marriage (as they figure it was a ploy to enter the country).

Marriage for foreigners in Thailand should be performed according to Thai Law. Procedure and requirements are as follows:

1. Appear in person with your passports at your Embassy in Thailand to complete declarations attesting that you are single and free to marry in accordance with Thai Law (blank forms are available at the Embassy).

1. Take the completed declaration to a reputable translation office to have the contents of the declaration translated into Thai.

2. The documents together with translation and copies of passports have to be taken to the Legalization Division of Consular Affairs Department (address: 123 Chaengwattana Road, Laksi, Bangkok 10210 Tel: (66-2) 575-1056-60 Fax: 575-1054 E-mail: [email protected] ) where the Consular Official's signature will be authenticated. This normally takes 2 days. The documents and translation are then ready for submission to the District Registrar who will register the marriage and issue the marriage certificate in Thai.

2. In case of the woman is a widow or a divorcee, the dissolution of the former marriage must have taken place at least 310 days before the next marriage

Doctor's pregnancy test is accepted if the time between the former marriage and the next marriage is less than 310 days; but this rule shall not apply if;

1. a child has been born during such period, or

2. the divorced couple remarry, or

3. there is an order of the Court allowing the woman to marry.

♥ All documents must be translated into Thai before submission to the District Registrar.

♥ The documents together with translation must be submitted to the District registrar at least one day prior to the marriage registration day.

♥ For more information, please log in the web site of Provincial Administration Department.