Marriage Process For Expats

[Rhubarb69]

We are an expat couple (Malaysia & English) who have got married in Thailand through a religious ceremony (we have a marriage religious cert .). We now wish to make the marriage legal by registering it under thai civil law. Does anyone here have experience of this process? We want to know where to register the marriage (in BKK) and how long it takes - we are only in BKK for a couple of days and hope that this is suficient time.

Thanks! P & F

[digitalchromakey]

You need to complete Affirmation of Freedom to Marry documents for your respective Embassies to sign, declaring/confirming that you are both eligible to marry; this also involves producing original divorce certificates if applicable.

You can find information on the UK Embassy website re the Affirmation Document's format which you actually draft yourself as there is no form as such, however I have no idea re the procedure for a Malaysian Citizen in Bangkok..

The Affirmation Documents are then signed by your the respective Embassies.

Take these documents and get them translated into Thai, then take them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legalisation Division, Dept of Consular Affairs for a verification stamp [Confirm that the translation is good and that the Embassy Signature is valid] - use the express service.

Go to an Amphur with the legalised, verified translations and they will marry you for a small fee..

Technically possible in two weekdays, but you will be pretty busy running around.

[Crossy]

Yeah, I agree with the gist the above. As you're both foreigners I think you can go to any Amphur office.

IIRC there are a number of small outlets near the British Embassy (corner of Suk and Wireless) which will do much of the running around for a fee (not necessarily small). The place that does your translations will point you in the right direction (or do it themselves).

Once you've got your final certificates I think you may have to go back to the Malaysian embassy to get your marriage legalised in Malaysia (perhaps someone with experience can confirm please).

[shaunoro]

Crossy,i agree with you with using a translation service as i used that service 6 years ago.

It cost 6,000THB at the time and they saved a lot of running about, but you still have to do some legwork.

A lot of those translation place have been demolished now.

I wonder where they are located now?

[sunholidaysun1]

I had to show the British Consulate (Chaing Mai ) my divorce documents and then I was issued with a stamped letter giving me freedom to marry a Thai . I took this to a local lawyer , near the consulate who deals with this sort of thing every day . He Did the Thai side of things for 3,000 bht . I recieved all the documents back in the post 2 weeks later. Then taking all this to the Amphur, signed a few documents with them and hey presto , married again .

Good Luck.

[SunbeltAsiaExpert]

Foreigners can easily get legally married in Thailand. We are happy to assist you in this matter and suggest that you act expeditiously if you only plan on being in Bangkok a few days. Thai marriage is considered legal in most countries of the world. Both parties will need to visit their respective embassies to obtain a "Affidavit of Freedom to Marry". This basically states they are not already married. They will need to provide divorce or death certificates if such is applicable.

We will then legally translate both affidavits and our lawyers will have the translation notarized, and the consul signature verified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government fee for this is 400 Baht per document. Translation, notary, and signature verification process is normally 2-3 days. A power of attorney (to verify the documents) could be given in the case if the Foreigners are not available to visit the said ministry.

After you have the completed documents you are eligible to marry in Thailand at any local District Office (also known as amphur). Please Note: If you are interested in a Pre-Nuptial agreement, it must to registered at this time. *

Our professional fees are 10,500 THB plus VAT and any traveling costs. Please call or email to set up an appointment.

www.sunbeltlegaladvisors.com

[gotlost]

I had my letter from the US Consulate in Chiang Mai. translated and registered with the MFA in Bangkok for 3,000 baht with Star Visa 100 meters west of the entrance.

[Raesum]

Seeing as you have left yourselves such limited time I suggest you absolutely go with Sunbeltadvisors.I did similar paperwork for 2 friends-English and Australian.There was a divorce involved.We allowed ourselves a week including the Thai marriage at the local Amphor(which took over 3 hours alone).It took 5 full days including all translations, cross country checks etc etc They were pleased to have the 2 day respite before the Thai "wedding ceremony" which was for photo , DVD and celebration purposes only

[Rhubarb69]

Thank you to everyone for your help on this

In conclusion I think we will get assistance through sunbelt or a similar company.

Regards to you all

P & F