My work permit comes to and end in February and having been married to my Thai wife for 15 years, and having reached UK retirement age I intend to stay in Thailand and will be applying for a Thai spouse visa. There is one of the supporting documents listed on the criteria for obtaining the visa which can be interpreted in different ways. The actual wording is "....or if marriage was registered in a foreign country, a Thai or English translation of the marriage certificate, certified by the embassy....." We were married in Hong Kong, I have the original marriage certificate and it is in English. I am of the opinion that the certification required is of the translation and therefore because my document is in English no certification is necessary. Others have given the opinion that certification of the original document is what is required. Has any body had the same problem? Most Thai Government documents are in Thai and English and many government officials speak English. I can understand therefore why certification of a document in for example French or German is required.

English is not acceptable for paperwork at a District Office which is where the marriage must be recorded. So you do need to have it translated confirmed by your Embassy and translated into Thai/registered with MFA and then recorded at District Office and copy of the District Office paperwork provided to Immigration.

Or you could use retirement and make it much easier with paperwork if you can meet the financials.

Since you were marreid abroad, immigration now demands that you register the marriage in Thailand at the amphur, for which you need to have the marraige certificate certified by the embassy, than translated and then certified by the Thai foreign office. With that you go to an amphur and have the marriage recorded into the Thai wedding register. Make sure you get proof of the recording into the Thai wedding register for immigration, just a copy of the entry into the mariage register.

Note that if you qualify for an extension of stay based on retirement this is much easier to do, both for you and immigration!

Requirements:

be 50 year or older and meet 1 of the follwoing financial requirements:

have an income of 65,000 a month (can be from abroad)

OR

have 800,000 in a bank account in Thailand for 3 months (in your name only)

OR

have a combination of money in the bank and yearly income totaling 800,000 (money doesn't need to be seasoned)