Marriage Registration

[MrMon]

I have been married to a Thai national for 18 months, and we now have a 3 month old daughter born in Thailand.

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to registering either or both the marriage and birth in UK please.

[Kwasaki]

I would say not unless your going to live and work in the UK.

Official Thai Marriages are already recognized as registered marriages in the UK anyway.

[Mario2008]

The advantage is that you would have proof of the marriage and birth form the British registrar. You could ask a copy from the registrar in the UK should you need proof of either. But the Thai marriage registration and birth certificat would be enough, you just need to have it certified by the Thai foreign office and the UK embassy to use as proof in the UK.

[chickenslegs]

These links to the British embassy site may be useful.

How to register a birth

How to register a marriage

How to record a marriage in the uk

[lungbing]

First I assume you have registered your marriage at the local amphur and have two marriage certificates. If you have not done that and you have only had the monks chanting over you and the party afterwards then you are not legally married, in Thailand nor England.

But let us assume you have registered the marriage at the amphur and do have two wedding certificates. In that case as the marriage is legal in Thailand it is recognised as legal in English law.

You do not have to record your marriage at the British embassy. (note: record, not register). You may chose to do so and they will require a hefty fee and one of the original Thai wedding certificates. This will be permanently lodged at the General Register Office in Southport and you will not be able to get it back. You will be able to get a copy at any time, upon paying the usual fee. But you will get just that, an exact copy of the original. It will not be translated onto a UK style wedding certificate. Your names will also be also entered in the quarterly index to the registers for that year, so your descendants can look you up in the future and they can also get a copy of your wedding certificate.

What I am long-windedly saying, is that to my mind there is no benefit in recording your wedding at the embassy. If your employer, insurance company, pension provider etc. want confirmation (as mine did) then a certified copy and certified translation of the document is sufficient.

However, I know nothing about registering a child born of the union, but I would venture an opinion that it would be in the child's best interest to be recorded, but only if you appear as the father on the Thai birth certificate. That's just an opinion and I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will advise you about that.

[MrMon]

Thanks Chaps, I will update on outcome.