afternoon all

my thai gf and i are looking to marry in bkk this coming july,as it stands my gf is still married to her ex,who she hasnt seen in over 4 yrs

she has been in contact with him abt going to the amphur and signing the paperwork but he is not playing ball,we thk he is living up north of thailand and also thk his visa has expired so that is one reason why he wont commit,would his visa have to be valid to get divorce?

we dont really wanna go through the hassle of the courts,as it should be straightforward enough but for him playing hardball

does anyone know off any other ways around this??

thks for taking time to read

a frustrated annnick

offer to pay his overstay in exchange for the divorce?

No ways around it. You either go both to the amphur or if you can't agree you have to go to court and in that case file for divorce on one of the grounds mentioned in the law.

His visa will not be checked, although they will want to see his passport (as means of ID) and might notice his overstay. What they will do than is anybodies guess.

As Boo said, offer to pay is overstay. He could next go abroad and return with a tourist visa.

You don't have to divorce at the amphur you got married. So she could visit him up North and confront him there to get things over with. For a divorce you do need both wedding certificates they got when they married.

Overstay, maximum fine 20,000 Baht. If I was the husband I'd hold out for more as the OP is wanting to be married in July. The husband is in the driving seat even though he may be on overstay. Court seems the likely outcome, unless 20,000 Baht can be improved on.