A Few Questions About Name Changes

[Heyal]

Hi All,

Thanks to those who helped with my last post. I have a few questions that I'm unsure about regarding my wife to be changing her surname to mine:

1) On changing my fiance's name on her Thai ID card, the name will be written in Thai. Will this present any problems in keeping the spelling consistent with my surname when it is tranlsated for her new passport?

2) With regards to the UK spouse visa application, can the TB certificate use my fiance's maiden name as we will be submitting her previous passport? (This would make it a lot easier in terms of travelling to and from Bangkok.)

3) After applying for my wife's new passport we hope to catch an internal flight to Krabi for our honeymoon. My wife will show her new Thai ID card (with my surname written in Thai) as proof of ID. I'm booking the flights now and would like to know if the airline will have any problems that my wife's surname on her card will be in Thai, but in English on the ticket?

4) Can we get married in any Amphur, or does it need to be the one my fiance is registered in?

Thank you for your help!

[a99az]

We live in Chiang Mai and got married in Bangkok, if that helps

[chanthas]

Hi All,

Thanks to those who helped with my last post. I have a few questions that I'm unsure about regarding my wife to be changing her surname to mine:

1) On changing my fiance's name on her Thai ID card, the name will be written in Thai. Will this present any problems in keeping the spelling consistent with my surname when it is tranlsated for her new passport?

2) With regards to the UK spouse visa application, can the TB certificate use my fiance's maiden name as we will be submitting her previous passport? (This would make it a lot easier in terms of travelling to and from Bangkok.)

3) After applying for my wife's new passport we hope to catch an internal flight to Krabi for our honeymoon. My wife will show her new Thai ID card (with my surname written in Thai) as proof of ID. I'm booking the flights now and would like to know if the airline will have any problems that my wife's surname on her card will be in Thai, but in English on the ticket?

4) Can we get married in any Amphur, or does it need to be the one my fiance is registered in?

Thank you for your help!

hi heyal

my wife changed her id card in march 09 after we got married,and the new id card was a smartcard type and the name change on these type of card is all in english,only thing in thai was her address,also comes with a chip inserted in the card with all data stored on it,looks a bit like a credit card.

yep the other bit about the tb test,my mrs did the registration and tb test in her maiden name and this was ok for the eco checking,just put her preveous pp in with the application,and the marriage certs,and her name change cert that you get from the umper when registring your marriage.

yes also the mrs advises me that you can get married at any chosen umper

hope this helps in some way

[Heyal]

Thank you. Basically, I'm only in Thailand for 3 weeks (although I did used to live there) and saving time will really help. I'm hoping to sort out all the affirmation to marry forms upon arrival in Bangkok and then try and get as many of my fiance's forms for the settlement visa sorted as possible before I leave. Registering our marriage in Bangkok may help to save some time!

[Heyal]

Can my fiance also change her name (and get a new Thai ID card) in any amphur?

[Heyal]

Can my fiance also change her name (and get a new Thai ID card) in any amphur?

I just spoke to my fiance and she confirmed that to she needs to change her name at the Amphur that she is registered in, but we can get married in any amphur as previous posts have said.

[ianh68]

I am planning to get married in October. I remain to be convinced that it is worth my wife changing her name. I am of the opinion that her future financial dealings in Thailand (e.g buying a house) will be easier if she has a Thai name. So I suppose what I'm saying is the advantages of changing the name are different if you live in Thailand or the West.

[RPCVguy]

When we married, the official at Amphur Muang Chiang Mai transcribed a great deal of info into Thai. Some was with the help of prior documents I had generated while living here... (Including the document certifying my being single that had to go to BKK for processing by my consulate and immigration) so my full name and some other details were available in Thai to the official. Our marriage recording allowed my wife to apply for and receive a new National ID card showing her new, married name. This did need to be done at her Amphur of record. The current ID cards seem to be available in either of 2 formats, one allowing separate lines to show text in both Thai and then in English. We carefully completed forms so that all spellings are consistent and these became the basis for future documents so the effort up front has paid off.

I recommend special care is worth the efforts to do things early correctly - as a way to save time later.

[antony77]

Hi All,

Thanks to those who helped with my last post. I have a few questions that I'm unsure about regarding my wife to be changing her surname to mine:

1) On changing my fiance's name on her Thai ID card, the name will be written in Thai. Will this present any problems in keeping the spelling consistent with my surname when it is tranlsated for her new passport?

2) With regards to the UK spouse visa application, can the TB certificate use my fiance's maiden name as we will be submitting her previous passport? (This would make it a lot easier in terms of travelling to and from Bangkok.)

3) After applying for my wife's new passport we hope to catch an internal flight to Krabi for our honeymoon. My wife will show her new Thai ID card (with my surname written in Thai) as proof of ID. I'm booking the flights now and would like to know if the airline will have any problems that my wife's surname on her card will be in Thai, but in English on the ticket?

4) Can we get married in any Amphur, or does it need to be the one my fiance is registered in?

Thank you for your help!

Why don't you have your wife use her maiden name on her ID and passport. It is now allowed under Thai law that women can use their maiden name after marriage. Then no-one knows she is married to a foreigner and can save a lot of hassles if she wants to buy property.

[Heyal]

Why don't you have your wife use her maiden name on her ID and passport. It is now allowed under Thai law that women can use their maiden name after marriage. Then no-one knows she is married to a foreigner and can save a lot of hassles if she wants to buy property.

Thanks all. It does seem easier for my wife to keep her maiden name, but it's just personal preference that we wish to get it changed really.

For the UK settlement visa application, I'm assuming that there won't be any problem submitting documents using my wife's maiden name and new surname as these will be the most recent at the time and we will submit new+previous passports.

[7by7]

For the UK settlement visa application, I'm assuming that there won't be any problem submitting documents using my wife's maiden name and new surname as these will be the most recent at the time and we will submit new+previous passports.

None at all; the marriage certificate will provide the link.

BTW:

There is no requirement under UK law for a wife to take her husband's name upon marriage; it is up to you whether she does so, and applying in her maiden name will not affect the application.

We recently purchased property in Bangkok in my wife's name and, although she did change her name when we married, we had no difficulties whatsoever.