Registering A Thailand Marriage With The Uk Embassy

[ducknlove]

Hello TV posters,

I got married in Thailand less than a year ago and now i plan to return to the UK.

A friend of mine said i need to register my marriage with the UK embassy in BKK before i leave Thailand, otherwise the British Authorites in UK will not recognise that i am married.

Is this true? If it is true can someone advise me on what docs i need to supply the UK embassy, how long it takes to complete this chore and how much this never ending cycle of visiting the embassy will cost me this time?

Many thanks in advance....

[Lite Beer]

There is no need as you are legally married and it is recognised world wide.

If you wish to do it Details Here

[lopburi3]

As said not required but makes it easier in the UK as paperwork would be available locally in English. I would advise doing so if you plan to live in UK.

[steve187]

I have never registered my Thai marriage with the embassy, and my wife has lived in the UK, and obtained citizenship. I just had a translation done.

[rich54321]

I second all that has been posted - i made sure i had the marriage certificate translated into English

[DTiger]

I have never registered my Thai marriage with the embassy, and my wife has lived in the UK, and obtained citizenship. I just had a translation done.

I second all that has been posted - i made sure i had the marriage certificate translated into English

What you both seem to say is that you had your marriage certificate translated into English and transmitted to UK authorities... What have they done with that? I guess they registered your marriage, no?

I am curious. Being french it may be a little bit different. I have been told and did so, that my own Thai marriage will be recognized by french authorities as soon as they will be aware of: French translation of the Thai registration document.

[7by7]

You cannot register your marriage at or through the British embassy.

All you can do is use the embassy to deposit a copy of your Thai marriage certificate with the General Registry Office.

Doing this does not confer any legitimacy on you marriage that it does not already have. A Thai marriage is recognised as legal in the UK, and has been since the 19th century, if not earlier.

All it does mean is that if at some time in the future you are in the UK and wish to obtain a copy of your marriage certificate you can get one from the GRO rather than contacting the ampur in Thailand where you marriage is actually registered.

We didn't bother, and I don't know any couple who have. In 10 years of living in the UK, whenever we have needed to prove our marriage. including my wife's settlement visa, ILR and citizenship applications, the original Thai certificate with a translation we obtained from an agency in Wireless Road has always sufficed.

[lopburi3]

Normally such a translation would have to be recorded and have the seal of the MFA (for Thailand) to be considered a legal document. As the process at the Embassy would avoid that requirement in the future (where is might be the wife only) I would highly advise doing so. I have seen many reports here of UK citizens taking advantage of this embassy service so I do know it is done.

[lungbing]

It is rare to the point of being unknown that I disagree with Lopburi3, but in this instance I do disagree.

If you record (not register) your Thai wedding with the UK embassy all that happens is that they will take one of your original Thai wedding certificates and lodge it with the General Records Office in London and make an entry in the indices for the quarter of the year the certificate is received. (March quarter for weddings in Jan,Feb Mar: June quarter for weddings in Apr, May, Jun et c.)

If in the future you need a copy of that certificate you can get one by quoting the reference number, year and quarter from the index. You will be given a copy of the original document. The details on it will not be translated nor will they be transcribed to a UK wedding certificate form. You will get exactly a copy of the original certificate. It does mean that in future your descendants will be able to search the indices and find your wedding and think what a lucky chap you were. But that's the only benefit I can think of. Apart from depriving the UK embassy of the exhorbitant fee charged for this service that is.

Simply put, your wedding is recognised as being legal in the UK if it is legal in Thailand.

I believe that it is not necessary to record your wedding with the UK embassy, there is no benefit to you in doing so and that a copy of the original certificate plus an official translation will be accepted by any official body. My pension provider accepted just that from me with no problems at all when I told them I was now married.

[lopburi3]

If they do not indeed provide a legal document then I would agree but my understanding is that what would be provided would be legal for any legal requirement in the UK.

For most countries the copy/translation is not a legal document until it is registered with MFA. For the US we have no option so I made several extra copies after marriage and had them registered with MFA and have used them for US requirements (pension and I believe insurance were my requirements).

[7by7]

Sorry to disagree , Lop, but as Lungbing says, as far as the UK is concerned all that happens is a copy of your Thai marriage certificate is lodged with the GRO and if you later requested a certificate from them, this is all you would get.

Doing this does not legalise the marriage in the UK because the marriage is already legal in the UK.Under the Foreign Marriages Act of 1892 a marriage is legal in the UK if it is legal in the country where it took place (with a few obvious exceptions such as child marriages) and a legal marriage certificate from that country is recognised as a legal document in the UK.

We did have our marriage certificate translated, but certified by the translator only; not the MFA. This translation has been accepted whenever it has been produced; including every government department and agency we have produced it to; from her initial visa application up to and including her application for naturalisation and her British passport, registering with the NHS, obtaining a national insurance number, applying for a driving licence etc.

Of course, if people wish to have the translation certified by the MFA, that is their choice, as is depositing a copy of the certificate at the GRO via the embassy.

With respect, it seems that the rules on this are different in the US to those in the UK.

[lopburi3]

It simply means that you are able to obtain a certified copy of your marriage certificate directly from the GRO, should you need to do so in the future.

The web site says you would obtain a "certified" copy which I take to mean "legal" document. That is my point. A Koh San Road translation may not be accepted but a copy certified by the UK Government would be. If indeed all UK agencies will accept any paper/translation as a legal document agree there would be no need to take this extra step (as long as you are careful to take care of your paperwork) but even then it is a safety net - much like backing up your computer. I still believe it is a prudent step. The more 'official' you keep official documents the better.

[7by7]

The certified copy would be just that; the certification simply says that it is a true copy of the original.

If the original is not a legal document, then a certified copy, even if certified by the UK government, would not be either.

A Thai marriage certificate is acceptable as evidence of a legal marriage in the UK; though, obviously, as very few officials etc. in the UK can read Thai a translation is also usually necessary. As I've said already, we have never had any problem using the translation we had done in an agency in Wireless Road, certified by the agency. If people want to take the extra step of having it certified by the MFA, that is their choice.

Whether people want to pay the large fee for depositing a copy of their marriage certificate with the GRO is their choice; but it does not confer any legality in the UK on their marriage or their marriage certificate which is not already there.