Depositing A Copy Of Thai Marriage Certificate With Gro In Uk

[tebee]

I'm English, but live in France. At some time in the future I intend to take my Thai wife back with me to France. I've been told that the major problem I will have getting her a visa is proving to the French authorities that my Thai marriage is recognised by the British Government.

I've already had a translation done, got that translation certified by the Thai ministry of foreign affairs and then legalized by the British Embassy here.

In case all this was not enough I was going to deposit a copy with the General Registry Office back in the UK, so I can order a copy from there, but have run into a hitch. My wife, in typical Thai fashion, has had the Marriage certificates laminated and these are not acceptable to the British Embassy. Neither will the accept a certified copy even though this web page says it should be OK.

I am wondering if a copy from the Ampur would be OK - always assuming you can get these ? Any other way round this impasse?

One there thing - I am right in thinking the translation of the certificate does not need to be certified ? I presume the British embassy checks this before sending it off to the GRO - at least I hope they do something for all the money we pay them !

[7by7]

Who told you that you need to prove to the French authorities that your Thai marriage is recognised by the British Government? That is the first I have heard of such a thing. France recognises Thai marriages the same as the UK does.

What do you mean when you say that you have had the translation legalised by the British embassy?

Read your link again; it says certified copies issued by the foreign authority; not a copy made and certified by yourself.

If you are going to deposit a copy with the GRO then the translation needs to be certified by the person that translated it. This is fine for the UK, but the French will want any translation certified by the Thai MFA.

See Depositing marriage documents in the UK.

I must stress that doing this in no way effects the legality of your marriage. If it is legal in Thailand then it is legal in both the UK and France, and most other countries. All you will be doing is placing your Thai marriage certificate with the GRO so at some future date you can obtain a copy from them should you want one; that's it.

Up to you if you want to waste the money.

I assume that you are aware the EEA freedom of movement regulations mean that when the time comes for you wife to join you in France you should apply under the EEA regulations, not the French immigration rules and that her visa and subsequent residence permit will be free.

Check with the French embassy for the procedure.

[cardholder]

I had a discussion with someone who wanted to do this and I also concluded it was simply a waste of money.

I can see no practical purpose that is served by registering with the GRO.

[tebee]

The information that French immigration have demanded proof that a Thai marriage is recognized by the UK comes from some threads on another ex-pat/immigration forum. As that forum also covers Thai immigration matters is probably a rival to this one and I'm not sure about the ethics/policies about giving links to it.

The consensus of opinion seems to be that the French Immigration department have had their noses pushed severely out of joint by being by-passed by the EFTA regulations and are just making life as hard as possible for people who use them.

We had originally planed to get married in France, but after 8 months of trying to sort out the paper work for this and spending in the region of €3,500 in translation and certifications they still refused to give us a wedding date until my then fiancée had been for an interview with the local mayor. As the wedding banns need issuing 14 days before wedding date this would have meant my wife coming for a minimum 3-week trip. Unfortunately she is a doctor and can't get that long off at a stretch from her hospital so this would have meant her having to do two trips at a cost of 40,000 baht a time.

It's possible to get a "Certificate of Legalization" stamped on a document to say that the British Embassy ( and by extension the British government) recognizes the document and it's translation as a true legal document - for a cost of 1,500 baht. Now I'm aware that this should be all I need, but I was hoping that being able to pull a copy from the registry office was a useful second line of attack should I meet an intransigent immigration officer. The struggles I've had trying to get the paperwork for the marriage approved have left me very weary of French bureaucrats - and you can't even bribe them !

The copy of the Marriage Certificate the embassy refused to accept was a copy certified by the Thai ministry of foreign affairs, the translation was certified by the translators but not by the Thai authorities.

I've checked with the Ampor today and you can't get a duplicate certificate, only a copy of the other paper, the marriage details, which they said was much more important, though not to the British government it would appear.