Marrying A Thai Who Has Children

[camerata]

If I were to marry a Thai who has children from a previous marriage to a Thai, would I automatically become the kids legal guardian? If they were to travel overseas, would they still need written permission from their biological father?

[davethailand]

I think you have to actually register in BKK as the legal guardian, I'm sure it does'nt come automatically, I'm in the same situation.

[lopburi3]

No you would not. Believe it involves a court order (those who support child and use that for visa have to go through this process).

I have never needed permission for children to travel but they must have a passport and that will require parents for application.

[Flummoxed]

I'm in this situation also. Any info from anyone regarding this and actual experiences would be very interesting to read.

[lopburi3]

The is the answer I provided a year ago to an adoption question - nobody has ever updated so not sure if they found the information needed or not:

Believe you should talk with your Embassy or the MFA at the following address:

Naturalization & Legalization

What would you like to know about our service?

- Guidance for Legalization

- Application for Naturalization as a Thai

- Guidance for Child Adoption

- How to register marriage under Thai law.

Location : Legalization Division , 3rd floor

Department of Consular Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

123 Chaeng Watthana Road

Bangkok 10210

Tel : 0-2575-1056-59 Fax : 0-2575-1054

Service hours : 08.30 - 14.30 hrs. (Closed on Saturday - Sunday and Public Holidays)

[ProfessorFart]

I'd say consult a lawyer to make sure that everything is done to the letter of the law.

[GuestHouse]

No, you will not be the legal guardian unless you adopt, which just like in the west requires a court order.

If the father is still alive, you will need either his permision to adopt his children or a court order that you can adopt in the absense of a father that the court accepts has abandoned his children.

You then need to get he adoption registered with your own embassy.

[toklong]

Your a good guy for wanting to do this.Beware of the Thai father.He may try to extort money from you.

[SK1972]

I don't see the reason why you would need to adopt the children, marry the mother and you become the stepfather.......and if you adopt them now and later you get divorced what happens then?

I agree with toklong, the biological father may try to extort money from you to adopt his children.

The children can travel overseas provide they have a valid passport.

Dont get me wrong, I think it's a noble thing to do but you have to think about the pros and cons.

[bkk_mike]

If the father doesn't provide for the kids in any way, and doesn't keep in contact with them, I believe you can get a "Por Khor 14" which means that the remaining parent can do things like get passports, visas, etc. without the father's permission.

Just ran into the problem myself. Wife wants to take kids to WB Movieworld in Aus for Songkran, and the Australian embassy is having issues with the stepdaughter because in the 6½ years, and 4 house moves, living in two different countries, since we got the Por Khor 14, we've lost it...

We've never had an issue getting a visa (settlement, or tourist) for any other country - but Australia appears to have different rules. (We do have something official which shows we HAD a Por Khor 14 when we applied for the child's first passport, I'm just hoping they accept that for a tourist visa).

I just wish Hong Kong Disneyworld was open already. Then we wouldn't have bothered with the Oz visas.

(and if you're wondering why I haven't adopted. - I did start the process in the UK, but wanted to do an inter-country adoption as, at the time, Thailand wasn't a signatory to the Hague convention, so it was either an inter-country adoption, or adopt in one country, then adopt in the other, to get the adoption registered in both. Unfortunately, my local council in the UK dragged it out so long that we ended up moving to Thailand before it got anywhere near complete - and as we're no longer residing in the UK, we can't adopt there - so have to start all over again.

At least Thailand is now a Hague signatory, so, I think, I can just do a regular Thai adoption, which since I've been married to her mother for years now, should be a straightforward process...

[brubo1]

I couldn't get a visa for my future stepdaughter without a Phor Khor 14 AND a letter from the natural father stating that he allows his daughter to travel abroad and that he relinquishes all rights to his daughter!

I believe however that the second letter is only a requirement from the Australian Embassy.

Phor Khor 14 required the signatures and photos of the mother, father and daughter took hours of waiting in the Amphoe office.