Marriage To Thai Girlfriend - Whats Required

[westsail]

Instead of waiting all afternoon at the MFA in Bangkok we had the MFA mail our documents to our home in Phuket via EMS. We received them in a few days.

We registered the marriage at the Amphur in Kathu last Friday, and had no problems.

[losgrad]

How long are these documents valid?

After getting "Affirmation to Marry" from Embassy, getting Thai translation and then the MFA certification; how many days before one must marry before having to repeat this process?

Thank you.

[robio7]

I'm not sure about the property issues but it was far more important to me (us) that our marriage be recognised in Australia (where I'm from). Various reasons for this but primarily for her Australian Permanent Residency Visa. We intend to live in Thailand when I retire but freedom of movement between Thailand and Australia is important to us too.

After lots of investigating it was far, far simpler for us to marry in Australia. We had already done the Australian Visa thing, which was a pain, but I wanted her to meet my family before we got married anyway. I'm assuming you're not being silly and rushing into this, take your time!

Good luck anyway mate, I'm sure you've had a good read around this site where you'll find a wide range of opinions regarding taking care of yourself in the Land of Smiles.

no not rushing into anything and she has been here to Ireland already and met the family etc.

Like you we are are looking to at a more permanent move to Ireland before eventually settling in Thailand but with the freedom of movement.

I believe the marriage will be recognised in Ireland once we have met all of the requirements and have everything translated back into English.

[robio7]

Instead of waiting all afternoon at the MFA in Bangkok we had the MFA mail our documents to our home in Phuket via EMS. We received them in a few days.

We registered the marriage at the Amphur in Kathu last Friday, and had no problems.

Good to hear and congratulations, I'll only be there for two weeks so might not have the time to wait for MFA to post the documents to us.

I think we will also be married in the Amphur in Kathu

Did your wfie need to supply an affidavit? or just passport/id card/house registration book?

Thanks,

Rob

[Mario2008]

How long are these documents valid?

After getting "Affirmation to Marry" from Embassy, getting Thai translation and then the MFA certification; how many days before one must marry before having to repeat this process?

Thank you.

If I recall corectly 2 months, but it could also be 3 months. It is one of the two.

[Mario2008]

Instead of waiting all afternoon at the MFA in Bangkok we had the MFA mail our documents to our home in Phuket via EMS. We received them in a few days.

We registered the marriage at the Amphur in Kathu last Friday, and had no problems.

Good to hear and congratulations, I'll only be there for two weeks so might not have the time to wait for MFA to post the documents to us.

I think we will also be married in the Amphur in Kathu

Did your wfie need to supply an affidavit? or just passport/id card/house registration book?

Thanks,

Rob

A Thai marriage is recognized in ireland as well.

A Thai doesn't need to submit an affadavid, the maritial status of a Thai is registered in an onli register that will be checked. Only when a Thai is divorced they have to submit the divorce certifiacte they got when they divorced.

[robio7]

A Thai doesn't need to submit an affadavid, the maritial status of a Thai is registered in an onli register that will be checked. Only when a Thai is divorced they have to submit the divorce certifiacte they got when they divorced.

excellent! Thanks Mario.

[jsflynn603]

<br />

.......Why would I say this?    Because once a Thai woman officially marries she loses significant property rights. In addition, in-laws gain significant property rights.  She can inherit land, but cannot purchase, once married......

<br />Totally false information.  There never was any such law and the local procedures that prevented land registration in some cases were changed more than a decade ago.  The only restriction is that funds must not be from a foreign spouse due to land ownership laws but she as Thai has full rights to ownership and ability to purchase.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I'll stand corrected, thank you for pointing that out. Though I'll add that the laws continue to change, and it would be wise to either research them thoroughly and/or hire a good lawyer.

This is excerpted from Thai Law for Foreigners (2008):

"If you marry a Thai in your home country, you will register the marriage there. However, this will not have any effect on your spouse's legal status in Thailand; he or she will still be considered single. To make your marriage valid in Thailand, you have to register the marriage with the Thai embassy or consulate in your home country. If you do not register, it will only be effective in your home country. This may be an advantage for a Thai woman, since her legal rights in Thailand will remain the same. She will still have the title "Miss" as if she was not married, and she can benefit from the legal process as before. Some women choose not to register with the Thai government, so as to keep their rights as a single female citizen."

I tried to follow Thai Civil Code Part 3 and see that indeed, land can be purchased now by a woman married to a foreigner. You say that there never was such a law, and then say that "local procedures that prevented land registration" and you may be correct though is really sort of an oxymoronic statement. Semantics that turn into real life problems can be painful indeed. Also consider that if Thailand insists that the funds used to purchase the land are funds proven to be exclusive funds of the Thai spouse, then it stands to reason that this is a "land protective" move, and if this is the case, then it may point to real complexity upon the death of the Thai spouse relative to property rights of the living spouse.

Unfortunately Benjawan Becker does not elaborate as to just what rights these women who choose not to register their marriage are, and unfortunately I cannot point to the horror story that I remember where the family simply took all property that belonged to the wife upon her death, including property that the farang husband (and his formerly living wife) believed would go to him upon her death. Like so many stories, not all is to be believed, and oftentimes the law really does not follow the law since frequently it seems that a farang is dealt with prejudice.

Perhaps I can sum this up as: It seems, in my opinion, better to marry in a farangs' country of origin, which immediately confers significant rights of that country, and then research as to whether perfecting the marriage in Thailand through registration is a wise or not wise move at a later time.

Since you know Thai law well, perhaps you can voice your opinion and explain why you either agree with Becker's statement that there are advantages to a woman retaining her single status within Thailand, or why you disagree? I think this actually is a very important subject for many of us here at thaivisa.

[lopburi3]

That is not true. No matter where a Thai is married they are legally married under Thai law regardless if they appear to change there documents or not. If they marry again they are a bigamist the same as anywhere else. This used to be a don't ask, don't tell type of ruse to allow purchase of land but as said it is no longer required. The law that was used did not prevent someone Thai with marriage to a foreigner from buying land - it was just a policy decision of Land Office not to allow registration if they knew of this (on basis that a foreigner can not own land and that marriage is a joint property state). This policy has been rescinded and the provision that money is Thai alone used to exclude a marriage claim of ownership by foreigner.