Marrying At Embassy?

[Yanto]

Hi. I just joined the forum. Any help will be gratefully received. I am planning on marrying my thai fiancee in Bangkok in January 2010. If we marry at an Amphur office, will it have any bearing on the application for spouse visa that we will make for her to come to uk permanently? If so, is it possible to marry at British Embassy? If yes, how is this arranged and what are the total costs involved please? Many thanks in advance for your kind help

Ian

[Thongkorn]

You can marry at the Amphur office , you can walk in off the street any time to get married. Its not expensive 3000/4000baht i think ,You will have to get your marriage certificate translated in to English . also you will have to apply for an Affirmation to marry at the British Embassy before you get married, I would book your Visa application on line about two weeks before you go to Thailand , Apply for your affirmation to marry and get your Lady's chest ex ray and get married in three days , put all your relevant papers in your visa application , then submit it at the appointment time given to you when you book on line. marrying at the Amphur will not be a problem.The biggest cost will be the settlement visa fee and the plane fare.

[Yanto]

Thongkorn- Thank you so much for your reply. My plan is to marry me fiancee on January 18th 2010 but she will not come to UK until June 2010 as she has work commitments until then. So marrying at an Amphur office will not have a negative effect on our application for her permanent spouse visa? My fiancee seems to think that if we are married at the embassy it will be better for getting her visa. Out of interest, how easy is it to obtain a settlement visa for uk and what costs will we be looking at, excluding flights? Again thank you so much

[bifftastic]

Thongkorn- Thank you so much for your reply. My plan is to marry me fiancee on January 18th 2010 but she will not come to UK until June 2010 as she has work commitments until then. So marrying at an Amphur office will not have a negative effect on our application for her permanent spouse visa? My fiancee seems to think that if we are married at the embassy it will be better for getting her visa. Out of interest, how easy is it to obtain a settlement visa for uk and what costs will we be looking at, excluding flights? Again thank you so much

Marrying at the Amphur will not have a negative efect on your visa application as it is the only way to get legally married in Thailand. If your marriage is legal in Thailand it is recognized as such by the UK government (you need to show them the marriage certificate). As far as I'm aware, marrying at the UK embassy would not be a legally recognized marriage as the Thai authorities would have no record of it and therefore you would not have a marriage certificate, and not be married.

Others will be able to give you sound advice about the settlement proccess.

Good luck with it all

[Yanto]

bifftastic - again, thank you for your help. Looks like it will be marriage at the Amphur office then. Can all of this be done in one day?

Ian

[pagallim]

bifftastic - again, thank you for your help. Looks like it will be marriage at the Amphur office then. Can all of this be done in one day?

Ian

No, it can't be done in one day. Firstly, you need to ensure that you have any supporting documents with you to prove that you're single (i.e. divorce decree), and these must be originals. You should get the Affirmation document from the Embassy/Consul in one day, but this then has to be translated into Thai (at an official translation company), who will then send it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Bangkok), for their seal of approval. I would allow 1 week for this process.

Lastly, when you finally get your Marriage Certificate at the Amphur, you should have it translated into English, and given to the UK Embassy who will forward it to the UK Records office. This will assist in your subsequent visa application for your wife.

[beano2274]

Does registering your marriage with the Embassy actually help your Visa Application?

I would think not, as when you apply you have a copy or the Original Thai Marriage certificate, this is a recognisable document and all the people who grant visas will have seen it before.

Registering the marriage in the UK may be a good idea, but expensive. Just get married here, then apply for Visa, when in the UK goto the local Registry with a copy of your marriage certificate and translation and see if they will register your marriage.

[pagallim]

Does registering your marriage with the Embassy actually help your Visa Application?

I would think not, as when you apply you have a copy or the Original Thai Marriage certificate, this is a recognisable document and all the people who grant visas will have seen it before.

Registering the marriage in the UK may be a good idea, but expensive. Just get married here, then apply for Visa, when in the UK goto the local Registry with a copy of your marriage certificate and translation and see if they will register your marriage.

Actually, on the advice of a British Consul, registering your marriage with the Embassy will help with a visa application. Also, the Embassy will arrange UK registration of the marriage if you provide them with a translated copy of your Thai marriage certificate (though don't know the cost of this, but will do in a week or so when I get married).

[beano2274]

The sending of the documents to the UK, does not help visa application, it is only a record. It also helps as you can get copies of your marriage certificate.

Costs involved are for translation services (not over 1000baht) and sending of the Certificate and copy to GRO costs 2100baht.

From the Website

Benefits of depositing your certificate:

• When you are not in Thailand, you can obtain certified copies of your documents without having to apply to the Thai authorities
  
• Your marriage documents will become an official record.
  

[beano2274]

also from the website

You can't register an overseas marriage or civil partnership in the UK but you can deposit your foreign marriage certificate with the General Registry Office (England / Scotland / Northern Ireland) in the UK.

[pagallim]

also from the website

You can't register an overseas marriage or civil partnership in the UK but you can deposit your foreign marriage certificate with the General Registry Office (England / Scotland / Northern Ireland) in the UK.

Good clarification. I've not been there yet, but will be in a couple of weeks.

[Yanto]

So, to clarify, from the moment i go to British Embassy to get my affirmation to marry, how many days is it likely to take before we can actually marry at amphur office please? Do we need chest x-ray for marriage or is that for visa application? Thanks

Ian

[Mario2008]

It will take only few days before you can marry. Getting the letter from the embassy is easy and than you have to have it translated, which is maybe 30 minutes of work. next you have to legalize it, that part takes now a few days. As soon as it is done you can go to any amphur and get married.

The photo is not for getting married, so I guess for the visa application.

[Yanto]

Mario-thank you. How do i legalize things please?

[bkk_mike]

It will take only few days before you can marry. Getting the letter from the embassy is easy and than you have to have it translated, which is maybe 30 minutes of work. next you have to legalize it, that part takes now a few days. As soon as it is done you can go to any amphur and get married.

The photo is not for getting married, so I guess for the visa application.

Has it really changed that much...?

I remember doing it all in one day... - embassy for letter saying I can marry, with the amphur and MFA (and multiple trips to the translation service).

(The translation service was extremely useful as they knew exactly where and what to do next as it's their bread and butter... Admittedly, we also had an off-duty police officer helping with the running around, jumping queues at the amphur etc., as a friend of the wife's family was fairly high up in the police...)

(All this is 10 years ago... - visas were cheaper, no life in the UK test, and my wife had her ILR after a year in the UK... so I know things change...)

[Farma]

I think it was back in September or October the MFA said they wouldn’t be doing the same day legalization service. Friends married in mid October and were lucky to get it done by the following day.

They used a translation service to get the translation legalized and offered to pay for priority service. The agency didn’t charge the priority fee and were surprised the MFA processed it so quickly.

[kennkate]

Yanto Be aware that the X Ray your future Wife requires is for her entry into the UK and is only valid for 6 Months from date of issue.

If she is not able to come to the UK before June This could be a problem if she gets it too early

All the best