Hi guys, yes I,m a newbie. I can,t get away with telling you any different as the forum lets you know anyway.

Is there any benefit to registering my legal Thai marriage(affirmation done, translation done, married at the Amphur etc) at the British Embassy? It was mentioned to me by a well known Chiang Rai Farung recently as the right thing to do, even though he hasn,t done it himself yet. He indicated that it would be easier for our spouses to receive pension benefits etc. God forbid anything should happen to us(motosy aksident, nam toooam, assasination etc). Is it worth doing or is my marriage already recognised by the British government to give my wife all the benefits that she should be entitled to.

p.s. I,ve been here for quite a few years and been married for quite a few years also. So I don,t want any Be careful answers as most of you Chiang Rai guys know me (but hopefully not my wife

I will move this to visa section and the Scouser will respond I'm sure

I will move this to visa section and the Scouser will respond I'm sure

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanx Bronco. Keep on bucking

My personal opinion is that it's worth neither the effort nor the cost.

A marriage can't be registered at the British embassy, only recorded. What this means is that a certified translation of your Thai marriage certificate is lodged with the Hatch, Match, and Despatch (Births, Marriages, and Deaths - aka the General Register Office) in the UK, allowing you to obtain copies from them as you would for a marriage which had occurred in the UK. Providing you have your own certified copies in your possession, there's no benefit to be achieved with recording the marriage at the embassy.

Here's a link to the relevant embassy website page.

Cheers,

Scouse.

thanx for that scouse.Still haven,t seen the game from the weekend. Don,t know the score Waiting for the repeat. If the rain/cloud doesn,t prevent me from watching it

I would agree completely with what the good Scouser says and answer one point you raised but he missed.

The UK government recognises your marriage if it is legal in Thailand. So if you registered your marriage at the amphur and have got certificates then your are legally married in the eyes of the UK government and your wife will receive anything due to her as your wife and in hopefully umpteen years time as your widow.

If you only went through the Buddhist and/or Isaan ceremonies and did not go to the amphur, then you might be married in the eyes of her community, but you are not legally married, and of course if, God forbid, anything goes wrong you don't then need a divorce either.

The only point I can think of in favour of recording your marriage at the Embassy is that in many years time your descendants might be tracing their family tree, find your wedding via the deposited wedding certificate and think what a lucky old falang you were.