Marriage certificate for visa

[PhillipJ]

Hi all, I'm an Australian citizen married to Thai lady (Australian marriage certificate) and currently living in Australia. We are hoping to relocate to Thailand soon and hope that i can extend a non-immigrant visa on basis of my marriage. My question is: do I need to register the marriage in Thailand or is a translation of our Australian marriage certificate ok to present to the authorities?

Any advice will be much appreciated

[lopburi3]

I would not worry about this as I am sure it will be accepted but have not done so myself, and nothing is ever set in stone here, so will not say so for sure, for sure.  They may not even need a translation if in English.  It should not be a big deal and even if you had to register here would not take more than a couple of days.  It is probably best to ask immigration a few weeks prior as the requirements can change.

[sevinnow]

Contact your nearest Thai Embassy in Aus which is where you want to request your non-immigrant visa anyway, and they will explain the proceedure.

Good luck for the future.

Sev

[bapak]

At Thai Consulate in Sydney you can get Multiple 1 year "O" Non-immigrant visa if you present your Australian marriage certificate, photostat of main page of your wife's passport and her Thai ID card.

Enjoy... Bapak

[PhillipJ]

Thanks for the advice, I can do witout the extra hassle of registring our marriage at the local amphur office. I will cantact the local embassy as sugested though

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Where in Oz are you ?

[PhillipJ]

I'm in sydney. I am aware that I can obtain the original non-O in Australia with our Australian marriage certificate, but processing a one year extension in Thailand using our Australian marriage certificate i am just not sure about.

Thanks for your comments ::

[JimGant]

My marriage to a Thai was in the States, so like Philip, my license was not issued in Thailand. But possibly unlike Philip, my wife kept her Thai surname, which is legal in the States and is thus duly reflected on the license. I've had no problems obtaining a non-immigrant O visa from the Thai embasssy in DC -- even tho Thai law says (said?) my wife was obligated to change her surname. I understand this law may have changed(?), but I'm not sure, having been back in the States several months now.

Anyway, as I rattle on, if the law has indeed been changed, forget all the following. But if not, my question is: Will an American marriage license override the Thai requirement to have the wife's surname changed? Hopefully so, since changing her name after 25 years of marriage is not an option. But I would hate to find out that 1) I have to register our marriage in Thailand in order to extend non-O/obtain retirement visa; and 2) by registering, she has to change her name. If so, I guess I would have to put 800,000 baht, not 250,000, in the bank, and then play single to get a retirement visa. Sigh.

Jim Gant

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Phillip  You will need a certified Thai translation of your marriage certificate for the one year extension.

Jim The law has changed and it is now legal for ladies

to retain their family name. No problem.

[MrSam]

Yeah, in fact that law change was made just a couple of months ago or so...

I didn't read the long posts up above, but I will say this. From WHAT I'VE HEARD (don't know if it's actually true) you SHOULD NOT register your marriage here though. For the visa, it should be okay, but don't register with the Thai government as being married. As I understand, this negates her right to own land/a house in Thailand.

Like I said, that's only what I've heard, and heard it many places. Can anyone verify the accuracy of that info?

[lopburi3]

As I understand, this negates her right to own land/a house in Thailand.

False.  Any Thai can own land in Thailand but it will not be part of marriage common property.  There will be no marriage common property rights as the foreign husband will sign these away prior to purchase by saying he understands the money used to buy property belonged to Thai party only.  This has been the case for several years now.  The old restrictions were considered unconstitutional and policy was changed.

[MrSam]

Oh, so that was the way it used to be then?

Like I said, I just hear it a lot, never verified that myself though. My marriage was never registered here. In fact, I never use it to my benefit at all here. I don't want to give people the impression that I married my wife so I could stay here. I maintain my current job and continue to remain in the country through that, as to not give that impression to anyone.  

[dr_Pat_Pong]

It is only a rumour...no truth whatsoever