Recognizing A Uk Marriage (to A Thai Girl) In Thailand

[fhorgan]

Hey there. This is a stupid question I expect. I'm about to get married to a Thai girl here in London. We are going to get an official legal + church wedding in the UK and are going to follow this with a Buddhist wedding in Thailand next summer. We are planning to remain in the UK (I'm Irish by the way but, being European, am treated as British by the system here in the UK) and have no real plans for move to Thailand and live there but that could, of course, happen at some point in the future.

So, my question:

1. Is there any need to or advantage to be gained from registering our UK marriage in Thailand when we are there? i guess the Buddhist wedding will just be ceremonial rather than Legal.

2. A British marriage is completely recognised under Thai law?

3. If we decided to move to Thailand in the future, I'd have to apply for some sort of spousal VISA to be allowed to remain/work in Thailand? Nothing I need to do now?

Thanks,

Flann.

[old wanderer]

Here was my experience in marrying in the USA to a Thai woman.

1. Need to get an official translation of your marriage certificate.

2. They (The Thai consulate) then did an endorsement in her passport for her new married name.

3. When we renewed her passport 7 years later, they would not put her married name in her new passport. She got her single name. This was a PIA as we had tickets to Thailand in her married name...(big hassle at all the airports).

4. We needed to go to where her birth was recorded and we got a certificate from the embassy stating the particulars about our marriage in the USA.

5. The local office would not accept the document to change her Thai ID card, and we had to return 6 hours to BKK and get a "green stamp" from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

6. Got a new Thai ID card, with her married name.

7. Applied for a new passport with her married name back in the USA.

Now some do not think it is worth the wife changing the name. I feel more comfortable (since we own multiple pieces or property in Thailand) with us having the same name, also when checking into a hotel whether she is by herself or with me, more respect. (At better hotels...if you still use the Nana hotel etc. , it makes no difference).

Just be patient and know TIT so they have a lot of little rules to follow.

Edited November 18, 2007 by old wanderer

[lopburi3]

1. You are married by law in Thailand so all that need to be done at this end would be wife change of name/id card. This may involved translation/legalization of your marriage certificate from Ministry of Foreign Affairs but not sure of details. There is no Buddhist Wedding. It will be a blessing type ceremony/alms to the monks affair. It can be a very simple couple/family affair or involve the whole village.

2. Yes.

3. Nothing now. But there is no spousal visa - you would get a visa to visit (non immigrant O) and then extend on a yearly basis with proof of 40k family income. You can not work in Thailand without a work permit from Labor Department and that is only issued after meeting specific criteria. Just being married does not in itself qualify.

[Mahout Angrit]

If you are both happy for your wife to continue to officially use her current Thai name there is no legal requirement for her to change her name to yours either in Thailand or UK. In that case she needs to do nothing. She will still be legally married in both countries.

In the long term if she intends to apply for British (or Irish) citizenship it would make sense to have the passports with the same name in each as the name should match the name on the air ticket(and that could be her Thai name). If she intends to change her name then to get a Thai passport in a new name she must first change her ID card and that is easiest to do in Thailand.

If you move to Thailand in the future you can apply for visas by showing a copy of your wife's passport and your marriage certificate to prove the link (even if your names are not the same) and you will be accepted as married and get the appropriate visas/permissions.

[hansnl]

Register your UK marriage in the local Amphur with a translated and legalised UK marriage certificate. Might come in handy later on. It might even be possible to obtain Kor Ror 2 and 3. Now that might become a very handy set of documents. You never know in Thailand!

[hansnl]

And of course the name in the ID and the passport can be changed there too. Very fast! If you are lucky and play the game right.

[hansnl]

And from what I hear, the EU is planning to make all immigration laws the same in all the member states. Believe me, those laws will not become sweeter! And I experienced that man & wife having the same name gives you a slight advantage with the immigration people in the UK and the Continent, maybe a little less hassle. And maybe also over here, who knows what 23-12 will bring?

[Mahout Angrit]

And of course the name in the ID and the passport can be changed there too. Very fast! If you are lucky and play the game right.

With the new biometric passports I don't believe it is possible to endorse a passport with a name change, you must get a new one and that must be done at a passport office in Thailand or the Thai Embassy in her country of residence, not the local Amphur office

And from what I hear, the EU is planning to make all immigration laws the same in all the member states. Believe me, those laws will not become sweeter! And I experienced that man & wife having the same name gives you a slight advantage with the immigration people in the UK and the Continent, maybe a little less hassle.

Bar stool talk ?

Many married couples from Europe continue to use their maiden names within Europe and worldwide, how can it affect any immigration permission especially when often they are not travelling together. Even a spouse with the same name can be refused immigration permission because they don't qualify, not because they have the wrong name.

My wife continues to use her Thai name, she has never had a single problem getting a visa for EU countries, neither have I ever had any problem getting visas for Thailand and our marriage certificate is only in English and Afrikaans

Edited November 19, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[Manchester]

And from what I hear, the EU is planning to make all immigration laws the same in all the member states. Believe me, those laws will not become sweeter! And I experienced that man & wife having the same name gives you a slight advantage with the immigration people in the UK and the Continent, maybe a little less hassle. And maybe also over here, who knows what 23-12 will bring?

And you heard that from a " friend in the know" . Absolute rubbish.

Edited November 19, 2007 by Manchester

[hansnl]

And from what I hear, the EU is planning to make all immigration laws the same in all the member states. Believe me, those laws will not become sweeter! And I experienced that man & wife having the same name gives you a slight advantage with the immigration people in the UK and the Continent, maybe a little less hassle. And maybe also over here, who knows what 23-12 will bring?

And you heard that from a " friend in the know" . Absolute rubbish.

Really?

Wait & See

[hansnl]

And of course the name in the ID and the passport can be changed there too. Very fast! If you are lucky and play the game right.

With the new biometric passports I don't believe it is possible to endorse a passport with a name change, you must get a new one and that must be done at a passport office in Thailand or the Thai Embassy in her country of residence, not the local Amphur office

And from what I hear, the EU is planning to make all immigration laws the same in all the member states. Believe me, those laws will not become sweeter! And I experienced that man & wife having the same name gives you a slight advantage with the immigration people in the UK and the Continent, maybe a little less hassle.

Bar stool talk ?

Many married couples from Europe continue to use their maiden names within Europe and worldwide, how can it affect any immigration permission especially when often they are not travelling together. Even a spouse with the same name can be refused immigration permission because they don't qualify, not because they have the wrong name.

My wife continues to use her Thai name, she has never had a single problem getting a visa for EU countries, neither have I ever had any problem getting visas for Thailand and our marriage certificate is only in English and Afrikaans

I cannot remember that I have been to a bar, nor do I have a barstool at home.

However, you really think immigration people do not look to the colour of the skin?

Try Duesseldorf in Germany, European name, less trouble and faster services!

Really?

Yes!

Wife alone, or together with me, less hassle!

You really think the "mood" in Europe is not changing?

Do sleep further, and try not to fall off your barstool.

[Mahout Angrit]

.

However, you really think immigration people do not look to the colour of the skin?

Try Duesseldorf in Germany, European name, less trouble and faster services!

So you were talking about racism in the immigration service, maybe, I have no proof of that but in UK (where the OP is based) there are more coloured faces on the immigration staff doing the checking than amongst those being checked

With the mix, especially in the UK today and for a long time now, a Polish, African, Russian or even German name is almost as common as a traditional UK name. take a look at any school register and you would be hard pressed to decide which country the school was in.I still believe it's the nationality of the passport that would cause problems if they are to occur, not what name is in it, and that has been my experience.

[hansnl]

.

However, you really think immigration people do not look to the colour of the skin?

Try Duesseldorf in Germany, European name, less trouble and faster services!

So you were talking about racism in the immigration service, maybe, I have no proof of that but in UK (where the OP is based) there are more coloured faces on the immigration staff doing the checking than amongst those being checked

With the mix, especially in the UK today and for a long time now, a Polish, African, Russian or even German name is almost as common as a traditional UK name. take a look at any school register and you would be hard pressed to decide which country the school was in.I still believe it's the nationality of the passport that would cause problems if they are to occur, not what name is in it, and that has been my experience.

Ah, you think coloured faces, or better the owners of the coloured faces do not discriminate?

Most certainly they do, found that out on Schiphol and Heathrow, together with my Thai wife.

Maybe open your eyes to reality, and maybe very much an eye-opener to talk to some non-Thai women.

Most of them think Thai women are dangerous for them, and if the immigration officer is a woman, well, there you are.

And the EU is hosting talks for all members to "unify" the immigration laws, and the tendency at this moment is to go the Danish/Dutch/Spanish way, and that is not nice for you and your Thai woman.

They simply want to stop illegal immigration, cannot really stop the African/Arab/Turkish illegals, so the easy way out is to pester people from Asia, which is called SCORING POINTS

For getting a new passport for your Thai wife, indeed, the Passport Bureau is the place to be, sorry.

However, in Khon Kaen it are nearly the same premises.

And indeed, your wife will get a new passport.

Delivery time, sent from BKK is now 4 days, which is absolutely fabulous!

And what 23-12 will bring, he who knows, please tell.

However, reading the papers, it is very disturbing that in the North and Northeast Army officers are changed "out of season".

So, maybe, getting yourself as much Thai'd as possible might be a good idea.

And that includes the necessary steps to and in the Amphur for the UK marriage.

Sorry for the lengthy stories.