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Getting Marry In Bangkok


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Dear All,

I have virtually just return from Bangkok.I hope my personal experience will be of help to all who are planning to get marry in Bangkok. We have just got married and about to apply for a visa. I am a British national and my husband is Thai.

1. to get the affirmation. Print out the suggested wordings on the British Embassy website : http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/resources/e...ffirmation-form

Please follow the wordings, word for word and replaces names etc as necessary. The wordings in the document , as I was told is what the British Embassy have in agreement with the Thai government. Thus if the wordings are different, it will not be affirmed. You have to print this out and apply in person to the British Embassy in Wireless Road. No matter how much of a hurry you are in, you can only collect this the very next day. Payment currently is 2750 Baht. ( Due to the weak pound) This was paid with cash but I believe you may pay with a credit card.

My greatest mistake: make sure if you are planning to marry, to enter Thailand with the passport you intend to get your affirmation from. I am of dual nationality and enter on a different passport. I did not think this was the problem but it started when we tried to get married at Amphur where they check the passport and entry stamped! This lead to further certification and more cost to prove that I am of the same person even when I have the exact same name on both passports!

Myth: you do not need to be in Thailand for 3 days before being able to affirm.

Truth: Affirmation can only be done when you are in Bangkok and not from England.

2.Collecting the affirmation: straight forward. You can collect from 9 am the next day. We have it translated in the shopping centre across the road and cost 300 Baht. It is very important to get your partner who knows Thai to check the spellings and wordings that is translated in Thai. THis is important as it will appear later in your marriage application at Amphur.

You do not need an official translator to translate the document. You can translate it yourself.However we found it was convenient and not too expensive and it saves us time.

The next step is to get the translation legalised.

I am thankful to "Mario2008" on the website who suggests the quickest way to

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (The Legalisation Division

Department of Consular Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

123 Chaeng Wattana Road,

Laksi District, Bangkok 10210

The best and quickest way is to use the skytrain (BTS). The nearest station is situated opposite the British Embassy , Phloen Chit station and it cost 40 bht per person to Mo Chit ( 16 mins). From there take exit 3 or 4 and get on a taxi to the Ministry. If there is no traffic, it will take about half an hour. Cost: less than 100 BHT. If you decide to take a taxi, this can be a couple of hours depending on traffic and can cost 200-400 BHT.

Go up to the 2nd floor. Remember to get a ticket from the ticketing machine and at the same time, a form from the enquiry desk. You will need the express service to get the affirmation legalised in a day. Wait your number, and then present the translated version, the British Embassy Affirmation , a copy of your passport and the filled form from the enquiry desk. Payment: 800 Baht. Take a seat and wait for your receipt ( you need this to pick up your document later). If you manage this before 12 noon, go for lunch in the canteen. The staff goes for lunch between 12 noon and 1 pm. They will ask you to return at 2pm for collection.If you arrive very early in the morning, it is very likely you will get it before lunch. If you need further legalisation of any documents, it has to be done here. Thus organise this and do it all in one trip. Our documents was legalised within 2 hours when we came early. Otherwise it can be 3 hours.

3. Going to Amphur to get marry. I was told by the senior person who signs the marriage certificates, that lots of the Amphurs in Bangkok are very reluctant to marry foreigner and Thai as the complexity of checking documentations. Thus lots of the marriages are taking place in Bang Rak ( Translated: District of love). They are very helpful.The most important thing is to get your documents in order and complete set of necessary documents.

For Thai national: They need 2 copies of their ID card, and house log.

For the foreigner: a copy of their passport, entry visa( must be valid and not expired), affirmation letter in Thai and English( stamped by the Embassy)

You need 2 witnesses, however someone at the office can normally stand in if necessary.

Although the office officially closes at 4pm, do arrive early as on the day we got married, there was 15 couples waiting by 3pm and they have to turn people away. It takes up to 40 mins to 1 hour to marry a foreigner/Thai as they need to check the documentation thoroughly.They will also need to hand type whatever statement on your affirmation letter on to the marriage documentation.This takes time.For a Thai couple, all their documentation are in the computer system thus they are quicker to be dealth with. We were the last couple that day and we waited till 17.30pm! The poor officer did not even have lunch that day.The payment is 40 Baht for the marriage certificate, you can also buy a special folder to put your certificate in for 450 Baht.It is not cumpulsory but we like it. There is also a rickshaw in the office for you to take pictures! It is nicely set up.While we were there, there was a foreign/thai couple where one of them has been divorced.It is necessary to bring the original official divorce document.If not , the woman will need to have pregnancy test to prove she is not pregnant.This is to avoid the complication as to whom the father of the child is, as I was told. If the woman is pregnant it is very likely the marriage will not be registered that day( if the official divorce papers are unavailable).You have to be divorced for 310 days before being able to get marry again.

4. We are at the stage of applying for a spouse visa.The other necessity is to get a TB test, as he is going to be in the UK longer than 6 months. The test is necessary even though he has been in the UK previously on work permit for years and have been registered under the NHS.

The TB test is straigtforward. You need to go to :-

International Organisation for Migration (IOM) :

Kasemkij Building

8th Floor, 120 Silom Road

Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

Tel: +66 2 234 7950-5

Fax: + 66 2 234 7956

Email: [email protected]

Attendance is by appointment only and the full test fee of 2600 Baht must be paid in advance.

What you need to do is to pay the fees at IOM, then you are given 2 choices of Hospitals to go to: Phayathai2 or Bangrungrat Hospital. At the hospital, they will take a chest x-ray and in 15 mins, you will get the radiological report. You will then have to take this back to the IOM and a certificate will be issued. This should take you only a couple of hours. We did it in a morning. No sputum test necessary unless if the chest x-ray shown otherwise.

Our next step is to apply for the visa which he will be doing in the coming week. Up to this point, we have not use an agency. The process is straigtforward as long as you are willing to do all the legwork.We believe it is a test of our teamwork to a marriage.

I hope the above information is helpful to all those people out there who wishes to get married in Bangkok. Thank you to all who have help me previously.Good luck to all who are about to go through this!

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Dear All,

I have virtually just return from Bangkok.I hope my personal experience will be of help to all who are planning to get marry in Bangkok. We have just got married and about to apply for a visa. I am a British national and my husband is Thai.

1. to get the affirmation. Print out the suggested wordings on the British Embassy website : http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/resources/e...ffirmation-form

Please follow the wordings, word for word and replaces names etc as necessary. The wordings in the document , as I was told is what the British Embassy have in agreement with the Thai government. Thus if the wordings are different, it will not be affirmed. You have to print this out and apply in person to the British Embassy in Wireless Road. No matter how much of a hurry you are in, you can only collect this the very next day. Payment currently is 2750 Baht. ( Due to the weak pound) This was paid with cash but I believe you may pay with a credit card.

My greatest mistake: make sure if you are planning to marry, to enter Thailand with the passport you intend to get your affirmation from. I am of dual nationality and enter on a different passport. I did not think this was the problem but it started when we tried to get married at Amphur where they check the passport and entry stamped! This lead to further certification and more cost to prove that I am of the same person even when I have the exact same name on both passports!

Myth: you do not need to be in Thailand for 3 days before being able to affirm.

Truth: Affirmation can only be done when you are in Bangkok and not from England.

2.Collecting the affirmation: straight forward. You can collect from 9 am the next day. We have it translated in the shopping centre across the road and cost 300 Baht. It is very important to get your partner who knows Thai to check the spellings and wordings that is translated in Thai. THis is important as it will appear later in your marriage application at Amphur.

You do not need an official translator to translate the document. You can translate it yourself.However we found it was convenient and not too expensive and it saves us time.

The next step is to get the translation legalised.

I am thankful to "Mario2008" on the website who suggests the quickest way to

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (The Legalisation Division

Department of Consular Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

123 Chaeng Wattana Road,

Laksi District, Bangkok 10210

The best and quickest way is to use the skytrain (BTS). The nearest station is situated opposite the British Embassy , Phloen Chit station and it cost 40 bht per person to Mo Chit ( 16 mins). From there take exit 3 or 4 and get on a taxi to the Ministry. If there is no traffic, it will take about half an hour. Cost: less than 100 BHT. If you decide to take a taxi, this can be a couple of hours depending on traffic and can cost 200-400 BHT.

Go up to the 2nd floor. Remember to get a ticket from the ticketing machine and at the same time, a form from the enquiry desk. You will need the express service to get the affirmation legalised in a day. Wait your number, and then present the translated version, the British Embassy Affirmation , a copy of your passport and the filled form from the enquiry desk. Payment: 800 Baht. Take a seat and wait for your receipt ( you need this to pick up your document later). If you manage this before 12 noon, go for lunch in the canteen. The staff goes for lunch between 12 noon and 1 pm. They will ask you to return at 2pm for collection.If you arrive very early in the morning, it is very likely you will get it before lunch. If you need further legalisation of any documents, it has to be done here. Thus organise this and do it all in one trip. Our documents was legalised within 2 hours when we came early. Otherwise it can be 3 hours.

3. Going to Amphur to get marry. I was told by the senior person who signs the marriage certificates, that lots of the Amphurs in Bangkok are very reluctant to marry foreigner and Thai as the complexity of checking documentations. Thus lots of the marriages are taking place in Bang Rak ( Translated: District of love). They are very helpful.The most important thing is to get your documents in order and complete set of necessary documents.

For Thai national: They need 2 copies of their ID card, and house log.

For the foreigner: a copy of their passport, entry visa( must be valid and not expired), affirmation letter in Thai and English( stamped by the Embassy)

You need 2 witnesses, however someone at the office can normally stand in if necessary.

Although the office officially closes at 4pm, do arrive early as on the day we got married, there was 15 couples waiting by 3pm and they have to turn people away. It takes up to 40 mins to 1 hour to marry a foreigner/Thai as they need to check the documentation thoroughly.They will also need to hand type whatever statement on your affirmation letter on to the marriage documentation.This takes time.For a Thai couple, all their documentation are in the computer system thus they are quicker to be dealth with. We were the last couple that day and we waited till 17.30pm! The poor officer did not even have lunch that day.The payment is 40 Baht for the marriage certificate, you can also buy a special folder to put your certificate in for 450 Baht.It is not cumpulsory but we like it. There is also a rickshaw in the office for you to take pictures! It is nicely set up.While we were there, there was a foreign/thai couple where one of them has been divorced.It is necessary to bring the original official divorce document.If not , the woman will need to have pregnancy test to prove she is not pregnant.This is to avoid the complication as to whom the father of the child is, as I was told. If the woman is pregnant it is very likely the marriage will not be registered that day( if the official divorce papers are unavailable).You have to be divorced for 310 days before being able to get marry again.

4. We are at the stage of applying for a spouse visa.The other necessity is to get a TB test, as he is going to be in the UK longer than 6 months. The test is necessary even though he has been in the UK previously on work permit for years and have been registered under the NHS.

The TB test is straigtforward. You need to go to :-

International Organisation for Migration (IOM) :

Kasemkij Building

8th Floor, 120 Silom Road

Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

Tel: +66 2 234 7950-5

Fax: + 66 2 234 7956

Email: [email protected]

Attendance is by appointment only and the full test fee of 2600 Baht must be paid in advance.

What you need to do is to pay the fees at IOM, then you are given 2 choices of Hospitals to go to: Phayathai2 or Bangrungrat Hospital. At the hospital, they will take a chest x-ray and in 15 mins, you will get the radiological report. You will then have to take this back to the IOM and a certificate will be issued. This should take you only a couple of hours. We did it in a morning. No sputum test necessary unless if the chest x-ray shown otherwise.

Our next step is to apply for the visa which he will be doing in the coming week. Up to this point, we have not use an agency. The process is straigtforward as long as you are willing to do all the legwork.We believe it is a test of our teamwork to a marriage.

I hope the above information is helpful to all those people out there who wishes to get married in Bangkok. Thank you to all who have help me previously.Good luck to all who are about to go through this!

:DIs the TB test a legal requirement? my wife has been in the UK for several years, without ever having one done, yet has never been asked about the test by either her Doctors or hospitals.

We were married in Bangla Mung.

However I do remember going to a "Doctors clinic" in Hua Hin to get a medical report for my retirement visa, he took my passport, went into another room and came out 2 minutes later with completed report. Cost 60Baht.

That is the first time I have had a "medical" without even being in the same room as the Doctor. :o

Hope you both enjoy yourselves in the UK.

Edited by khundon
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My husband moved to UK on a SV 2004 & had to have a tb test on arrival at Heathrow but I believe they now have to have the test done prior to applying for the visa & has been this way for at least a year now.

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Quite.

Anyone who arrived to settle in the UK prior to the introduction of the current test with the application requirement does not need to have one.

Unless they left the UK and their leave to remain has lapsed and they are applying for a new one.

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All applications who enter the UK for 6 months or more are required to have a TB test and submit it with the application.

Relevant information can be found TB Requirement

Requirement for Tuberculosis testing for applicants visiting the UK for longer than 6 months

All applicants submitted in Thailand wishing to come to the United Kingdom for a period longer than six months will need to obtain a certificate confirming that they are free from infectious tuberculosis (TB) before submitting their visa application. The categories of applicant that will be affected by this new requirement include long-term students, work permit holders, other employment and domestic workers, volunteer workers (plus all dependants of the aforementioned), and all settlement and marriage cases. Please note that those failing to submit a certificate at the time of application will be refused and the visa fee not refunded

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My husband moved to UK on a SV 2004 & had to have a tb test on arrival at Heathrow but I believe they now have to have the test done prior to applying for the visa & has been this way for at least a year now.

:D My wife got her ILR in Dec 2002 and had been in and out of the UK since 2000 so maybe she did not require one.

At least I hope she does'nt :D

Love the Dance :o

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  • 11 months later...
All applications who enter the UK for 6 months or more are required to have a TB test and submit it with the application.

Relevant information can be found TB Requirement

Requirement for Tuberculosis testing for applicants visiting the UK for longer than 6 months

All applicants submitted in Thailand wishing to come to the United Kingdom for a period longer than six months will need to obtain a certificate confirming that they are free from infectious tuberculosis (TB) before submitting their visa application. The categories of applicant that will be affected by this new requirement include long-term students, work permit holders, other employment and domestic workers, volunteer workers (plus all dependants of the aforementioned), and all settlement and marriage cases. Please note that those failing to submit a certificate at the time of application will be refused and the visa fee not refunded

Does this also apply to republic of Ireland

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  • 10 months later...

3. Going to Amphur to get marry. I was told by the senior person who signs the marriage certificates, that lots of the Amphurs in Bangkok are very reluctant to marry foreigner and Thai as the complexity of checking documentations. Thus lots of the marriages are taking place in Bang Rak ( Translated: District of love). They are very helpful.The most important thing is to get your documents in order and complete set of necessary documents.

For Thai national: They need 2 copies of their ID card, and house log.

For the foreigner: a copy of their passport, entry visa( must be valid and not expired), affirmation letter in Thai and English( stamped by the Embassy)

You need 2 witnesses, however someone at the office can normally stand in if necessary.

Thank you for your very useful informations.

I have one more question and I hope somebody have answer this: Can I marry if I have one year non-imm visa but I already used for last entry date. Sorry, I try too explain: I can't enter again to Thailand with my one year visa but I can stay in Thailand more than2 months (border stamp in my passport.

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I have just joined up here, and i want to say thanks for posting this.

My Girlfriend and I plan to get married the end of December this year, and your post has made the whole thing seem a lot less daunting. (I'm Irish so will be using the Irish Embassy, just hope everything will go nice and smooth for us)

Good luck with the visa :-)

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congrats to you both, i seen you are a dual national did you consider a EEA visa for your husband.

normally very easy to get  and a added bonus being the cost £0.00, he will get  a 6mth visa and as soon as you 

get to the U.K apply for the 5 yr extension

i went this route and the wife got her visa within 2 weeks 

p.m me for any advice

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One caution I have with original post is that to my personal knowledge (unless there has been a major change) the Embassy document must be certified by a licensed translator or MFA will not stamp it. Most people will likely have the translation service take care of the MFA stamping also.

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I have just joined up here, and i want to say thanks for posting this.

My Girlfriend and I plan to get married the end of December this year, and your post has made the whole thing seem a lot less daunting. (I'm Irish so will be using the Irish Embassy, just hope everything will go nice and smooth for us)

Good luck with the visa :-)

Please contact the Irish Consulate (they only have a consulate in Thailand) as they require some documents from Ireland and they have a lengthier procedure compared to Brits and Americans in issuing the affirmation of freedom to marry. This is based on our recent experience of assisting an Irish client who recently got married in the country. Feel free to contact us if you need assistance. Have a nice day!

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thanks for the info on how to get there, was very helpful.

I would like to let everyone know you can do the official translation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (I found this out from a translation service that I asked to do the translation, they said they would be cheaper, but maybe I wanted to do it all in one day in one place - how considerate).

We slept in and didn't get there until 10.30 but got it all done and were out with Freedom to Marry document before 3pm.

For the translation you can go to the small newsagent next to the 7-11 on the ground floor, just inside the main entrance, next to the escalators. It costs 500B.

They say it takes 2 hours, but I went back to check after 1 hour 20 minutes and they were done, they just wanted to check the Thai spelling of my fiance name, and 45 seconds later I had my document.

Then you go up the escalator and up the small staircase on the left side.

Here you fill out a form to legalise documents (which you can do while you are waiting in the cafeteria if you are getting the official translation - just pick one up and take it back down).

When you have the form and your documents and translation you take it all to the information counter. They ask you some questions and give you a number.

If it is a normal white number you take a seat and wait for the number.

If you go express then you get a green card with a number that says "Supervisor" and you go through the door with Supervisor on it to the left of the main counters. Here you wait on a seat and then you see a lady who looks over your papers and writes something on your form. Then you go back to the information counter line and they give you a white number. Then you take a seat and wait for them to put your ticket number up on the queue board and proceed to counter (number 2 in my case).

Then you have to take a seat again and they call your name (they have quiet voices so don't sit in front of noisy americans or you will miss it) and you go to counter 6.

Then you pay your cash (800B for express). They say come back in 2 hours.

So back to the caferteria. We went back to the counter upstaris after 1 hour and 45 minutes and the papers were ready (just take your receipt and ask at counter 6 if you think they may have called your name).

You get your documents back, taped together with an official green and red stamp ont he corner and another on the back.

And it is all finished - in one day after sleeping in too, yay : )

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I thought it might be interesting to add our experience.

Went to the embassy just before opening time and was about 7th or so in the queue. Could have been dealt with more quickly had a couple of idiots in front been able to read or follow instructions properly (full birth certificates mean exactly that for instance).

Make sure you have the form printed out properly. Not rocket science but ....

Paid up, headed out for some shopping and came back at 12:45 for a 13:00 opening. This time there were about 15 people in front of us and it was a toss up whether we'd have put up with standing in the sweltering sun for an extra 15 to 30 minutes to be at the front of the queue. My guess is that it isn't worth it. We got out about 13:45, again after some delays due to old timers who took forever to complete their business.

We were going to go to Mo Chit via BTS but thought sod it, get the taxi outside on Wireless straight to the MFA. The drive wasn't that bad at that time of day and the BTS / taxi option would have been no quicker and probably longer.

Did a deal for a fast translation at Bt300 plus Bt200 if quick and it certainly was. Don't care if we jumped a queue, that is what we paid for. We got the requisite copies provided, got the fast track service, went for our "interview" which is just a rubber stamp process and were done by 15:00. We had to wait until 16:00 to pick up the translation.

A word of caution here. There were quite a few people who were told their translation was wrong. Ours was ok and we went back to the condo, this time going by taxi to the end of the MRT and then onwards to our destination.

Next day we got up and went to get married at the amphur in Lak Si as it is near the MFA. This took about 2 hours in total with a fair bit of waiting and photocopying. Witnesses or counter staff as they were brought the total "donation" to Bt1000 which the wife said she had agreed with the boss woman, who had apparently started blabbering on about witnesses costing many thousands. Much form filling, a bit of signing, lots of her rubber stamping things and trying to translate into Thai.

A note here is that I was asked for 2 different referees to those on the affirmation of freedom to marry. I had some addresses but quite what they would have done otherwise I do not know. I guess I'd have made it up. We were also asked for receipts for the translation at the MFA.

Certificates ready, 2 copies and some other paperwork and we were on our way back to the MFA to get it translated into English. All the usual photocopying, translated by the same mob as the previous day, just a tout who spoke English really and back it comes in 15 minutes. No need for the quick service today as we're off away for a few days.

Wife wants to change her name so off on the bus to her village to do the Tabien Bahn > ID card > Passport routine. She drops that off at the MFA and we'll pick both sets up in a few days.

So totally feasible within 2 days and actually within 1 day if you were willing to pay around Bt5000 and have people come out from the amphur to marry you wherever you wanted, out of hours. They would even do so before you got all the paperwork together. Very TIT and absurdly practical if you were short on time post marriage.

Minimum time to get the marriage certificate translated into English and certified is 2 days without bribery.

What would I have done differently ? Largely nothing. Don't fret about taxis versus BTS/MRT as there is little difference as long as you are not traversing Bangkok multiple times. Picking your amphur is paramount. We phoned a few asking waiting times, how busy they were etc.

The real mess about is the change of her name if you want to. Not necessary in 2010 but a waste of time if she is registered far away. You could however go with her and marry at the local amphur, saving time that way.

Some good news is that you can apply for the visa in her new surname as they tell you her passport number and details when she applies for it - you do not have to wait until you pick it up.

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  • 1 month later...

I didn't need my birth certificate, but we married over 10 years ago and things do change. However:-

From the Royal Thai Embassy, London

The following documents are required in ORIGINAL.

Passport

Evidence of termination of any previous marriages (i.e., death certificate, divorce certificate)

From the British Embassy, Bangkok

Please bring with you to the Embassy your passport, as proof of identity, and evidence that any previous marriages have been dissolved/terminated (death certificate or divorce certificate(s) as appropriate.

No mention of needing birth certificates on either.

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I didn't need my birth certificate, but we married over 10 years ago and things do change. However:-

From the Royal Thai Embassy, London

The following documents are required in ORIGINAL.

Passport

Evidence of termination of any previous marriages (i.e., death certificate, divorce certificate)

From the British Embassy, Bangkok

Please bring with you to the Embassy your passport, as proof of identity, and evidence that any previous marriages have been dissolved/terminated (death certificate or divorce certificate(s) as appropriate.

No mention of needing birth certificates on either.

No, nothing has changed, no birth certificate needed, I got back from there a few hours ago.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I thought it might be interesting to add our experience.

We got out about 13:45, again after some delays due to old timers who took forever to complete their business.

We were going to go to Mo Chit via BTS but thought sod it, get the taxi outside on Wireless straight to the MFA. The drive wasn't that bad at that time of day and the BTS / taxi option would have been no quicker and probably longer.

Did a deal for a fast translation at Bt300 plus Bt200 if quick and it certainly was. Don't care if we jumped a queue, that is what we paid for. We got the requisite copies provided, got the fast track service, went for our "interview" which is just a rubber stamp process and were done by 15:00. We had to wait until 16:00 to pick up the translation.

Thanks for your post.

Please can you confirm that you managed to get from the Embassy to the Ministry, get a translation and complete your application at the Ministry in 1 hour 15 mins?

Where did you do a deal for the fast translation?

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  • 4 months later...

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