Wife Wanting To Change Her Surname To Mine

[SGD]

My wife to be (getting married next week hopefully) wants to change her ID card and passport before applying for a settlement visa for the UK but we are unsure of a few things.

She thinks she has to go all the way back to her home Amphur to change her Tabien Bahn to her married name before she can change her ID card and her passport. As this is miles away and off the beaten track so to speak, it would just waste about 3 days of our time. She also says that as they cannot currently make new ID cards in Thailand, she would only get some paperwork good for 4 months after which time she would have to go back to her home Amphur again for an extension. This in particular seems madness as Thais can now get new ID cards at any Amphur I believe.

So I ask you please, do Thai females have to change their Tabien Bahn before they can change the name on their ID card ? Then what about before changing the name on their passport ? Lastly, if they do have to change the name on their Tabien Bahn first, do they really have to travel all the way back to their remote village Amphur ?

As an afterthought, a Thai born overseas can surely have a passport and perhaps even an ID card (?) without ever appearing on a Tabien Bahn can they not ?

[7by7]

Yes, she will need to visit the Ampur of the area where she is listed on the Tabien Baan in order to change her name.

If she isn't living there one has to wonder why she hasn't changed that before now to where she is living; but that's not really relevant.

The Thai ID card system seems to have collapsed at the moment, and only temporary cards are being issued.

She cannot change her passport unless she has first changed her ID card, although at the moment the temporary one will suffice.

Thais born abroad can obviously have a Thai passport; but they cannot have an ID card unless they first register on a Tabien Baan and at an Ampur in Thailand.

It may interest you to know that there is no requirement under either Thai nor UK law for a woman to take her husband's surname upon marriage. Not changing her name will have no effect on the validity of your marriage or the outcome of any UK visa application.

[SGD]

Thanks for your quick reply 7by7

So if I read you right, the order of doing things is Tabien Bahn > ID card > passport

Is there no other way, even in Bangkok, of changing her name following marriage on the centralised computer which presumably prints out the Tabien Bahn booklets ? I know Thailand can be frustrating but if they can access the information from Bangkok (or elsewhere), which they surely can, then why (apart from the reason just that it is Thailand), cannot they make amendments to that system and like a bank book following ATM withdrawals, just update the printed copy later ?

Normally I would not be so time constrained but this time we are somewhat and losing a few days for what seems like a procedure harking back to pre computer days is frustrating if it cannot be somehow avoided.

[beano2274]

There is no easy way to do it, it seems that the computers in the Provinces and Districts are not linked. You are going to have to plan for the 3 days or so.

Luckily for me my wife is from BKK. Tambien Baan - ID Card - Passport,in that order if I remember correctly.

[beano2274]

I also remember my wife having to get a form signed at the local Amphur, informing them that she had changed her name. This was then certified at the Amphur, then the forms for the Tambien Baan and the ID card were done at the same time. Took about 30 minutes at the most.

[7by7]

Like Beano, I know of no other way of doing it other than taking that 3 day trip. However, my informant (the boss) may be out of date as it's been a while since she did it!

I'm moving this to the general forum, where you may get some more up to date information.

Feel free to post in the visa forum again should you need any assistance with her visa application.

[Kwasaki]

My Mrs did it change her surname to mine because it save a lot of hassle when l pop my clogs and she get my private pension 50% of and a UK pension when she is at retirement age for the UK.:jap:

Edited October 23, 2010 by Kwasaki

[aussiebebe]

My wife changed her surname in the blue house book and got a new ID card on the same day at the same office in Bangkok because that's where her house is. She did the house book first using the marriage certificate. Several months later she used both documents to be issued with a new passport.

This nonsense about the OP's wife having to do an extension isn't needed; she has to go to the district office where her house is, but the entry change takes mere minutes and getting a new ID card at the same place takes little over an hour depending on how busy it is.

[floridaguy]

My wife changed her surname in the blue house book and got a new ID card on the same day at the same office in Bangkok because that's where her house is. She did the house book first using the marriage certificate. Several months later she used both documents to be issued with a new passport.

This nonsense about the OP's wife having to do an extension isn't needed; she has to go to the district office where her house is, but the entry change takes mere minutes and getting a new ID card at the same place takes little over an hour depending on how busy it is.

She cannot get a new card right now, at least not the plastic ID card. Thailand is involved with a payment dispute with the smart card supplier, and since the government is withholding payment, the supplier is withholding cards. I know because I misplaced my card and would have had to get the paper ID card, but luckily found my ID.

You could possibly have a family member do it at her home town if you grease enough palms, gift money of course. For us Thais, the Tabien Baan almost seems more important than anything. All ID's and Passports depend on it. So, see if one of her family can change it for her, then fax her a copy of the Tabien Baan with the page showing her new name. From there, it is all in an hour or two in Bangkok for a new ID, paper or otherwise, and a new passport on order. New ID or paper ID is immediate, passport takes 3 days or so.

Good luck.

[old wanderer]

I got quite an education abut this. About 5 days before we were to fly from the USA to Thailand, I asked my wife about how much longer her passport was good for??? "It's OK" was the reply, but I pushed to see...turns out it was almost ready to expire in 3 weeks. So a dash to the consulate office. The informed us they could issue a new passport but in her maiden name as it matched her ID card. The old passport that had already had a 5 year extension showed a page for my sir name...We would have to go to her home to change the ID card...However they made sure we had all the papers that would be required.

Well got to the airport, but of course the tickets were in my sir name, and her passport in her maiden name...big hassle in security.

Then made the trip to SiSaKet, Surin to change the ID card...they would not accept the marriage license and documents from the embassy without a green stamp from the office of foreign affairs in BKK...tea money did not work. Returned to BKK and eventually got the green stamp on the documents, but ran out of time to return to Surin...9 months later we returned and got the ID changed, (Finally). Then the passport when we returned to the USA.

The final hassle was when we were buying so more land, and the land office asked about how long we had been married (15 years), well some of our other land purchases used her single ID card....so it was a day long hassle to straighten out land titles...

There is nothing like bureaucracy to really screw up your schedules.

Edited October 24, 2010 by old wanderer

[Kwasaki]

I got quite an education abut this. About 5 days before we were to fly from the USA to Thailand, I asked my wife about how much longer her passport was good for??? "It's OK" was the reply, but I pushed to see...turns out it was almost ready to expire in 3 weeks. So a dash to the consulate office. The informed us they could issue a new passport but in her maiden name as it matched her ID card. The old passport that had already had a 5 year extension showed a page for my sir name...We would have to go to her home to change the ID card...However they made sure we had all the papers that would be required.

Well got to the airport, but of course the tickets were in my sir name, and her passport in her maiden name...big hassle in security.

Then made the trip to SiSaKet, Surin to change the ID card...they would not accept the marriage license and documents from the embassy without a green stamp from the office of foreign affairs in BKK...tea money did not work. Returned to BKK and eventually got the green stamp on the documents, but ran out of time to return to Surin...9 months later we returned and got the ID changed, (Finally). Then the passport when we returned to the USA.

The final hassle was when we were buying so more land, and the land office asked about how long we had been married (15 years), well some of our other land purchases used her single ID card....so it was a day long hassle to straighten out land titles...

There is nothing like bureaucracy to really screw up your schedules.

Good for you and your wife in the end and much better position to be in, goodluck for you future. :jap:

Edited October 24, 2010 by Kwasaki

[samran]

I got quite an education abut this. About 5 days before we were to fly from the USA to Thailand, I asked my wife about how much longer her passport was good for??? "It's OK" was the reply, but I pushed to see...turns out it was almost ready to expire in 3 weeks. So a dash to the consulate office. The informed us they could issue a new passport but in her maiden name as it matched her ID card. The old passport that had already had a 5 year extension showed a page for my sir name...We would have to go to her home to change the ID card...However they made sure we had all the papers that would be required.

Well got to the airport, but of course the tickets were in my sir name, and her passport in her maiden name...big hassle in security.

Then made the trip to SiSaKet, Surin to change the ID card...they would not accept the marriage license and documents from the embassy without a green stamp from the office of foreign affairs in BKK...tea money did not work. Returned to BKK and eventually got the green stamp on the documents, but ran out of time to return to Surin...9 months later we returned and got the ID changed, (Finally). Then the passport when we returned to the USA.

The final hassle was when we were buying so more land, and the land office asked about how long we had been married (15 years), well some of our other land purchases used her single ID card....so it was a day long hassle to straighten out land titles...

There is nothing like bureaucracy to really screw up your schedules.

Sorry, don't understand while you are blaming the bureacracy on this? You let the passport get to close to expiry to travel and booked the tickets in a different name to the passport? Your wife purchased land without alerting the authorities that she was married to a foreigner, which requires the foreign husband to sign a form giving up claims to the land.

And you tried to bribe them to iron out irregularities (which they didn't accept!)

How is this the bureacracy's fault?

Having worked for the Thai government, and not being a fan of bureacracy myself, I've got to stick up for the ID and Passport processing people in LOS. For the most part, they are efficent, courteous and could give public servants in the west a few lessons in flexibility, helpfulness and understanding.

Oh, and the three day passport turn around time for a high tech e-passport, all for 1000 baht.

Edited October 25, 2010 by samran