Divorce Thai Wife In Uk. Help Please!

[cookstar]

hiya, i have searched the internet to get any info on this but haven't found out any clear cut answers, so any help would be seriously appreciated!

my wife is here on a marraige visa but the relationship broke down after 2 years of marraige about a year ago, she has only 3 months left on her visa and we had arranged to go back to thailand in march to get an amicable divorce, yet i have just got a phone call from her saying she now wants us to go to the thai embassy in london and get a divorce, i'm concerned over her reasons for this change of heart as i thought the process was a whole lot simpler to do in thailand.

does anybody have any knowledge of the divorce process through the thai embassy in london??? is it possible and recognized that we are divorced in the uk if we do it at the thai embassy?

I do not have any property in my name or much to share that she could get hold of, which she knows so i do not believe her motifs are financial.

i would be very grateful for any help with this matter,

[ThaiVisaExpress]

If you married in Thailand just go to any Amphur with both marriage certificates and passports the cost is 150 baht to get divorced.

Unless you are still in a subsisting relationship you can write to the UK/BA and she will be asked to leave the UK before the visa expires.

You have various options others will add their input.

Edited January 10, 2010 by ThaiVisaExpress

[cookstar]

yes i am aware of how to divorce in thailand, that was the original plan but the wife now for some reason seems intent on doing it at the thai embassy in london, so i need info on if this is possible.

[tigerfish]

yes i am aware of how to divorce in thailand, that was the original plan but the wife now for some reason seems intent on doing it at the thai embassy in london, so i need info on if this is possible.

is she still on the 2 year visa or has she already got the 25 year one? your in the u.k. now and all the cards are in your favour. dont go anywhere near the thai embassy. i am not sure and dont qoute me on this, but i am not even sure if the u.k. fully recgonizes a thai marriage. sounds to me like shes already got something going in the pipeline.(has she got a large group of thai friends in the u.k. that could be advising her?)

[Mosha]

The UK does recognise Thai legal marriages. Go talk to the Citizens Advice Bureau, they will fix you up with a free 30 minute chat with a solicitor.

[7by7]

As Mosha says, if the marriage is legally recognised in Thailand, then it is legally recognised in the UK. However, the same is not true of divorce.

The only way to legally divorce in the UK is through the courts. A divorce at the Thai embassy in London will be recognised in Thailand, but not in the UK.

If you divorce at the embassy then under UK law you will still be married.

For the divorce to be legally recognised in both Thailand and the UK you need to either divorce in Thailand or via the UK courts.

[Kitsch22]

I am not an expert on this but from the facts which you have given it appears that if indeed an "administrative" divorce is available from the Thai Embassy at London, then in your case it would not be recognized under the law of England and Wales. I say that on the basis that in such circumstances the divorce would have been obtained other than by "proceedings" and that at least one of the parties would have been habitually resident in the United Kingdom throughout the period of at least one year immediately preceding the divorce.

I base that opinion upon the provisions contained in section 46(2) of the Family Law Act 1986.

Much safer to proceed on the basis of an ordinary divorce petition issued in your local county court in the usual way.

[Mosha]

Just to warn you, if she comes back to Thailand. You could be in for a long wait, if she stalls on signing the papers. It took me 3 years plus an arm and a leg in fees. Even at the decree nisi stage she still tried her dirty tricks. I had a phone call from her friend saying she was dead.

[sumrit]

Cookstar, DON'T GET DIVORCED IN THE THAI EMBASSY!!

The UK doesn't recognize any divorce from any Thai Embassy, either in London or anywhere else, although Thailand does of course.

If you do divorce in an Embassy you could have untold problems in the future if you ever want to get married again. The UK government won't let you marry again because in their eyes you're still married, but the Thai government won't let you divorce again because in their eyes you're already divorced.

The UK does recognize a divorce obtained in Thailand, both from the Amphur and the courts.

An Amphur divorce is totally free, it takes about an hour, and you just turn up at the Amphur, you don't need to make an appointment. From memory you are asked three questions (about your finances and any property in Thailand, that have both been aquired during your marriage, and who'll be responsible for any children you've had together)and you both have to agree on those points. It's that simple, but everything is written in Thai so if you can't read it take somebody with you who can as a safeguard.

And, of course, you can get divorced in the UK, which is also recognized in Thailand. But because of the UK laws regarding divorce settlements it could prove much more expensive.

Your wife won't be able to remain in the UK legally after her visa expires as the marriage has broken down so the cynical side of me thinks maybe she's just looking for a pay off to agree to return to Thailand for the divorce.

Edited January 11, 2010 by sumrit

[Pitbullman1]

You can't get divoreced by the Thai Embassy in London. It is there to assist THai nationals. The only place that you can divorce in the UK is at the County Court. You can do this yourself without the use of a lawyer. I did! Just go to the County Court ask for the application of Divorce papers complete them and submit them with your Marriage certificates, pay the fee and awit for the Judge to grant you a decree nisi, then you have to wait another 6 weeks for your decree absolute to come through. Why pay the expence og all the airfares and accomodation when you can get it done in the UK. And as another person reported take the papers to the Citizens Advice Bureau, and steer clear of any lawyers unless you can obtain free legal aid.

Good Luck.

[siggie2]

yes i am aware of how to divorce in thailand, that was the original plan but the wife now for some reason seems intent on doing it at the thai embassy in london, so i need info on if this is possible.

English bf and she doesnt want to go back to Thailand?????????????????????

[Pitbullman1]

You can't get divoreced by the Thai Embassy in London. It is there to assist THai nationals. The only place that you can divorce in the UK is at the County Court. You can do this yourself without the use of a lawyer. I did! Just go to the County Court ask for the application of Divorce papers complete them and submit them with your Marriage certificates, pay the fee and awit for the Judge to grant you a decree nisi, then you have to wait another 6 weeks for your decree absolute to come through. Why pay the expence og all the airfares and accomodation when you can get it done in the UK. And as another person reported take the papers to the Citizens Advice Bureau, and steer clear of any lawyers unless you can obtain free legal aid.

Good Luck.

[cookstar]

no she has already expressed her willingness to go back to Thailand, she has her ticket booked for the 28th of march. she has told me she has already been to citizen's advice. After reading that if we divorce at the Thai embassy it will not be recognized as a divorce here i believe that is her plan to divorce at the thai embassy in london then she can go back to thailand and marry who she wants whilst i am unable to marry again in england.

very smart and devious girl.

she will not be happy when i advise her that i will not be going through with that. i will happily divorce her in thailand, but now am actually generally worried for my own personal safety whilst in thailand i.e repercussions from her family.

just wish i'd never gotten myself into this mess, should of listened to people around me who knew better at the time but you live you learn.

[paully]

Cookstar, DON'T GET DIVORCED IN THE THAI EMBASSY!!

The UK doesn't recognize any divorce from any Thai Embassy, either in London or anywhere else, although Thailand does of course.

If you do divorce in an Embassy you could have untold problems in the future if you ever want to get married again. The UK government won't let you marry again because in their eyes you're still married, but the Thai government won't let you divorce again because in their eyes you're already divorced.

Agreed. There is also an additional practical problem in obtaining a divorce in the UK later on in a situation like this: the facts most often used (and the easiest) for proving irretrievable marriage breakdown (the prerequisite for divorce), namely 2 years separation with consent or 5 years separation (consent not required) still require proof that the respondent has been served with the divorce papers. If the respondent wife returns to Thailand, or even 'disappears' in the UK, it can be very difficult to prove service if the wife's whereabouts is unknown or uncertain - and this leads to lengthy delays and hassle.

[Kitsch22]

no she has already expressed her willingness to go back to Thailand, she has her ticket booked for the 28th of march. she has told me she has already been to citizen's advice. After reading that if we divorce at the Thai embassy it will not be recognized as a divorce here i believe that is her plan to divorce at the thai embassy in london then she can go back to thailand and marry who she wants whilst i am unable to marry again in england.

very smart and devious girl.

she will not be happy when i advise her that i will not be going through with that. i will happily divorce her in thailand, but now am actually generally worried for my own personal safety whilst in thailand i.e repercussions from her family.

just wish i'd never gotten myself into this mess, should of listened to people around me who knew better at the time but you live you learn.

If, as you say, she has booked her ticket to return to Thailand on 28 March, then it really is quite urgent that you issue your divorce petition in your local county court now, without further delay. From what you say there is a real chance that she will fail to sign and return to the court the acknowledgement of service form which is the first step on the respondent's side in the proceedings and in that event you will need to arrange bailiff service or, failing that, obtain an order for deemed service or substituted service of the petition, either of which will be more easily achieved if you do it before she has left the jurisdiction of the court. Once she has left you will, effectively, have lost the opportunity for bailiff service of the petition.

[cookstar]

so if i lose baillif service of the petition and she has left the country never to return what happens then, will i still be able to go through with the divorce in her absence? this is all so complicated, i just want to go through with the original plan of divorcing in thailand quick and easy, no problems. she has obviously got alot of thai friends in the uk advising her on how to make my life as difficult as possible.

2 weeks ago she was quite happy for this to go ahead with the divorce in thailand, now i just spoke to her on the phone and when i told her i would not be divorcing her in the thai embassy in london she went crazy screaming at me down the phone. i would be quite happy to divorce her through uk courts but can see this process being long and expensive with no cooperation from my wife.

i want to try and keep to the original plan but i have to speak to the thai embassy in london about divorce proceedings through them at 2 oclock today, will let you know the outcome, thankyou for responses so far.

[paully]

so if i lose baillif service of the petition and she has left the country never to return what happens then, will i still be able to go through with the divorce in her absence?

Yes - but with some difficulty and after some delay, as I posted earlier.

[sumrit]

so if i lose baillif service of the petition and she has left the country never to return what happens then, will i still be able to go through with the divorce in her absence? this is all so complicated, i just want to go through with the original plan of divorcing in thailand quick and easy, no problems. she has obviously got alot of thai friends in the uk advising her on how to make my life as difficult as possible.

2 weeks ago she was quite happy for this to go ahead with the divorce in thailand, now i just spoke to her on the phone and when i told her i would not be divorcing her in the thai embassy in london she went crazy screaming at me down the phone. i would be quite happy to divorce her through uk courts but can see this process being long and expensive with no cooperation from my wife.

i want to try and keep to the original plan but i have to speak to the thai embassy in london about divorce proceedings through them at 2 oclock today, will let you know the outcome, thankyou for responses so far.

The terms for divorcing at the Thai Embassy are exactly the same as divorcing at an Amphur in Thailand, namely you BOTH have to agree, she can't divorce you there if you say no.

Maybe a little financial persuasion would help her to go back to the original plan of divorcing in Thailand. Her going back with some money would certainly help with her 'saving face' .

[paully]

Yes, a quid pro quo - 'I'll agree to your divorce at the Thai embassy if you agree to promptly complete and send back the acknowledgement of service of my UK divorce petition', accompanied by a little financial sweetener, could work nicely. But - can the OP trust her?

[Kitsch22]

so if i lose baillif service of the petition and she has left the country never to return what happens then, will i still be able to go through with the divorce in her absence? this is all so complicated, i just want to go through with the original plan of divorcing in thailand quick and easy, no problems. she has obviously got alot of thai friends in the uk advising her on how to make my life as difficult as possible.

2 weeks ago she was quite happy for this to go ahead with the divorce in thailand, now i just spoke to her on the phone and when i told her i would not be divorcing her in the thai embassy in london she went crazy screaming at me down the phone. i would be quite happy to divorce her through uk courts but can see this process being long and expensive with no cooperation from my wife.

i want to try and keep to the original plan but i have to speak to the thai embassy in london about divorce proceedings through them at 2 oclock today, will let you know the outcome, thankyou for responses so far.

You have already been told that a "Thai Embassy" divorce will not be effective under the law of England and Wales.

Time is not on your side. Get the petition going in the County Court now. If you let her leave the Country without first being validly served, then obtaining a divorce will become (in the absence of her cooperation) enormously more complicated and expensive.

[Mosha]

Go see a solicitor, if possible drag her along. If she tells the solicitor she is willing to give you a divorce, it will be much easier. At one stage of my farce, I was considering coming here and dragging her to the Amphur. Thai friends warned me against that, they thought physical violence against me was probable.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Mosha

[Kitsch22]

Go see a solicitor, if possible drag her along. If she tells the solicitor she is willing to give you a divorce, it will be much easier. At one stage of my farce, I was considering coming here and dragging her to the Amphur. Thai friends warned me against that, they thought physical violence against me was probable.

Why suggest that he goes to a solicitor and pays a lot of money (at a rate almost certain to be in excess of £100 per hour) to do what he can do himself with a little effort and some Internet surfing?

If the OP takes his wife to see a solicitor then the first thing the solicitor will do will be to ask him for money up front on account of costs and the second thing the solicitor will do will be to send the wife off to see another "independent" solicitor who will ask her for money up front on account of costs and will then encourage her to squeeze as much advantage (financial or tactical or both) out of the OP as she possibly can.

If the wife is willing to let the proceedings go uncontested, then all she needs to do is to sign the Acknowledgement of Service form to that effect once she has been served with the petition.

The OP needs to issue his petition as quickly as possible. Doing anything else is wasting valuable time.

[gregchambers]

If the divorce at the embassy is recognised in Thailand can the OP not take the divorce certificate from the Thai embassy in UK and go alone to the amphur in Thailand (without telling the wife to avoid possible family retribution) and then get a second divorce cert from the amphur which would then be recognized in the UK, surely they would not need the wife's signature because as far as Thailand is concerned she has already given it in the Thai embassy???

Alternatively, get her to sign and acknowledge the UK divorce petition before they go to the Thai embassy.

Lucky for the OP that he has insufficient money for lawyers to have a field day

[MAJIC]

no she has already expressed her willingness to go back to Thailand, she has her ticket booked for the 28th of march. she has told me she has already been to citizen's advice. After reading that if we divorce at the Thai embassy it will not be recognized as a divorce here i believe that is her plan to divorce at the thai embassy in london then she can go back to thailand and marry who she wants whilst i am unable to marry again in england.

very smart and devious girl.

she will not be happy when i advise her that i will not be going through with that. i will happily divorce her in thailand, but now am actually generally worried for my own personal safety whilst in thailand i.e repercussions from her family.

just wish i'd never gotten myself into this mess, should of listened to people around me who knew better at the time but you live you learn.

Cookstar

Being the eternal cynic,the thought has ocurred to me there is no such thing as maintenance for an ex wife in Thailand but there is in the UK,suggest you get good legal advice as a Brit friend of mine did,wont cost too much for just advice.There does seem more to this than meets the eye.

And as a previous poster pointed out no doubt her Thai friends in the UK will have wised her up as to her best options.

My friend went to see a Solicitor who put him in touch with a English Solicitor who was familiar with Thai law as well.

[MAJIC]

yes i am aware of how to divorce in thailand, that was the original plan but the wife now for some reason seems intent on doing it at the thai embassy in london, so i need info on if this is possible.

is she still on the 2 year visa or has she already got the 25 year one? your in the u.k. now and all the cards are in your favour. dont go anywhere near the thai embassy. i am not sure and dont qoute me on this, but i am not even sure if the u.k. fully recgonizes a thai marriage. sounds to me like shes already got something going in the pipeline.(has she got a large group of thai friends in the u.k. that could be advising her?)

I can confirm a Thai marriage at the Amphur office whereby they issue the Marriage Certificate x 2 is fully recognised in the UK,presented with English translations and official stamps by a Notary Public.

Of course the Village wedding is not worth a light.

One would think that if the Amphur wedding is recognised under UK law then so would a Divorce at the Amphurs office,but I am not sure of that.

[MAJIC]

yes i am aware of how to divorce in thailand, that was the original plan but the wife now for some reason seems intent on doing it at the thai embassy in london, so i need info on if this is possible.

is she still on the 2 year visa or has she already got the 25 year one? your in the u.k. now and all the cards are in your favour. dont go anywhere near the thai embassy. i am not sure and dont qoute me on this, but i am not even sure if the u.k. fully recgonizes a thai marriage. sounds to me like shes already got something going in the pipeline.(has she got a large group of thai friends in the u.k. that could be advising her?)

[kennkate]

Cookstar If you haven't got wads of cash you can get Legal Aid in the UK Ask at Citizens Advice. Personaly I would not contemplate going back to Thailand

Just get it started in the UK If She goes back before its in court. You can say she has Deserted you and gone back to Thailand

You need to get this over with. It should not cost much if you do it here in the Uk. It could prove very costly if you return to Thialand

The Law is the Law in the UK can't say that for Thailand.

All the very best

[sumrit]

If the divorce at the embassy is recognised in Thailand can the OP not take the divorce certificate from the Thai embassy in UK and go alone to the amphur in Thailand (without telling the wife to avoid possible family retribution) and then get a second divorce cert from the amphur which would then be recognized in the UK, surely they would not need the wife's signature because as far as Thailand is concerned she has already given it in the Thai embassy???

Because Thailand recognizes an Embassy divorce they wouldn't allow a 'second' divorce at an Amphur because they can't divorce somebody who's not married, and in Thai law they're not.

You can only get proof of a marriage/divorce from the original Amphur you went to in Thailand, you can't just go to any Amphur, and you can't get a second/new certificate.

If you no longer have your original marriage/divorce certificate you must first get a Thai police report to confirm it's 'lost', then take that to the Amphur where you were married/divorced and they will issue you with a certified photo copy of the relevant page of the original ceremony in their register.

They don't issue replacement certificates.

[sumrit]

yes i am aware of how to divorce in thailand, that was the original plan but the wife now for some reason seems intent on doing it at the thai embassy in london, so i need info on if this is possible.

is she still on the 2 year visa or has she already got the 25 year one? your in the u.k. now and all the cards are in your favour. dont go anywhere near the thai embassy. i am not sure and dont qoute me on this, but i am not even sure if the u.k. fully recgonizes a thai marriage. sounds to me like shes already got something going in the pipeline.(has she got a large group of thai friends in the u.k. that could be advising her?)

An Amphur wedding is recognized in UK law but a local village ceremony isn't

I can confirm a Thai marriage at the Amphur office whereby they issue the Marriage Certificate x 2 is fully recognised in the UK,presented with English translations and official stamps by a Notary Public.

Of course the Village wedding is not worth a light.

One would think that if the Amphur wedding is recognised under UK law then so would a Divorce at the Amphurs office,but I am not sure of that.

Yes, a divorce in either a Thai court or an Amphur is recognized in UK law ................. but an Embassy divorce is not.

[MAJIC]

yes i am aware of how to divorce in thailand, that was the original plan but the wife now for some reason seems intent on doing it at the thai embassy in london, so i need info on if this is possible.

English bf and she doesnt want to go back to Thailand?????????????????????

English Boyfriend or not he wont be able to help her stay in the UK.

On the UK Settlement Visa it clearly states "VISA SPOUSE/CP - Spouse/CP of XYZ (birthdate of mr.XYZ)

So in other words if she is not still with mr XYZ when it becomes time to renew her Visa then a boyfriend has no chance of filling the vacancy.So the home office will send her back to Thailand.

In spite of the critisism we give our Politicians they do favour British Citizens sometimes.