Marrying A Laos Girl In Thailand

[flashpanther]

Where did you get the certificate from for the nail baht to sign please?

[flashpanther]

Nai Bahn (sorry my predictive text)

[nottocus]

Nai Bahn (sorry my predictive text)

The wife told me in lao but I don't know what it's called in English.

In Lao she says it is Hong gahn bok kong. (My transliteration)

She says you could ask the nai bahn where to get it or try at a large photocopy shop.

Edited March 22, 2014 by nottocus

[flashpanther]

How easy is it to get a police report, is it a local one and what does it state about your partner please?

Does my partner need to tell the police it is for use to marry a foreigner as I guess this is where problems and more money may come in to it, which I am worried about.

[nottocus]

How easy is it to get a police report, is it a local one and what does it state about your partner please?

Does my partner need to tell the police it is for use to marry a foreigner as I guess this is where problems and more money may come in to it, which I am worried about.

My wife got the police report from the main police office in Vientiane.

No need to mention what it is for.

[flashpanther]

Sorry to be a pain. How about the 'Hong gahn bok kong', where is this from please?

[nottocus]

Sorry to be a pain. How about the 'Hong gahn bok kong', where is this from please?

It's the lao name for some type of office. I don't know where it is though.

[nottocus]

Nai Bahn (sorry my predictive text)

The wife told me in lao but I don't know what it's called in English.

In Lao she says it is Hong gahn bok kong. (My transliteration)

She says you could ask the nai bahn where to get it or try at a large photocopy shop.

[FACTOR]

Nottocus-can you tell me what you needed to get married in Hong Kong? I've heard that they only require the two people's passports but if I end up going that route, I want to go prepared.

Has anyone here applied for a tourist visa for a Laos girl to visit the states?

Yes -- as I intimated in my previous post: I got my Lao girl friend (at the time, now wife) a tourist visa for the States. We got to the States, went to the county courthouse twice and are now very legally married, and it has a stamp on the back of it from the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs which says they recognise the document. I would say getting your Lao girl friend a tourist visa at the US embassy in Vientiane is better than trying to get in Bangkok.

[a99az]

a99az-I'm American and that is not an option for us-maybe that will be helpful for the posters from the UK. Thanks

So the US does not recognize Common Law Marriage!! Why not?

[ceedub]

a99az-The Federal gov't does not recognize Common Law Marriage and just a handful of states do. An expat is the last person you want to ask why the US gov't does what it does-if I had an answer, I very well might not have felt as compelled to leave!

Nottocus-I can't tell you how good it feels to be in contact with someone that has done what I would like to do. Thank you so much for the time you're spending helping us here.

You mentioned 4. A document saying her place of residence in Lao I have made color copies of the house book/passport/ID but this sounds like another specific form to get.

One of many of her 2-3 day trips was to ask the Nai Bahn where to get some of these things and he knows nothing. In my case, the police and the village don't even speak the same language.

I am going to try to find someone to interpret, rent motorcycles and boats tomorrow and do my best to go back and forth from Luang Prabang to the provincial office 50 or so kilo away where I might obtain some of these papers and then to her Nai Bahn way upstream and see if I can procure these 4 documents while I'm here. It doesn't feel totally legal to be so far away from where falang are. For a good part of her village, I will be the first westerner they've ever seen. I'm concerned showing up at these places might raise the price of getting this done as well.

[nottocus]

a99az-The Federal gov't does not recognize Common Law Marriage and just a handful of states do. An expat is the last person you want to ask why the US gov't does what it does-if I had an answer, I very well might not have felt as compelled to leave!

Nottocus-I can't tell you how good it feels to be in contact with someone that has done what I would like to do. Thank you so much for the time you're spending helping us here.

You mentioned 4. A document saying her place of residence in Lao I have made color copies of the house book/passport/ID but this sounds like another specific form to get.

One of many of her 2-3 day trips was to ask the Nai Bahn where to get some of these things and he knows nothing. In my case, the police and the village don't even speak the same language.

I am going to try to find someone to interpret, rent motorcycles and boats tomorrow and do my best to go back and forth from Luang Prabang to the provincial office 50 or so kilo away where I might obtain some of these papers and then to her Nai Bahn way upstream and see if I can procure these 4 documents while I'm here. It doesn't feel totally legal to be so far away from where falang are. For a good part of her village, I will be the first westerner they've ever seen. I'm concerned showing up at these places might raise the price of getting this done as well.

My wife got all the forms. If I'd turned up then it could have been more tricky.

As she was in Vientiane it was probably easier than trying to do it up country.

She has said that have you thought about moving to Vientiane for 2-3 months, changing the place of residence in the blue book and then doing everything you need in Vientiane where it is easier (supposedly)?

[ceedub]

I've come very close and I know some good people to know but I haven't had any luck getting work in Vientiane.

I had a successful and fairly glamorous guitar making business in America. I made it through the recession but when I looked at the books around this time of in 2011, I realized it was not going to survive new legislation slated for Jan 2012. So I came to South East Asia looking for a new place to set up shop and start over(immediately saw that it was not an option but unexpectedly fell in love). After around 3 years here, my savings from the liquidation out west is getting uncomfortably low. We live month to month on my tiny salary. My financial picture is not enough to sponsor a Laos girl coming to the States on a K visaand my family and friends are too scared of the liability of sponsoring her . So the tourist visa is particularly interesting.

I'm still only 45 so it's scary but it's not game over yet. I'd still like to have a family and a modest career. I have a 2 or more month paid break now that I'm using to try and get the tourist visa while I still have enough money to buy plane tickets.

I have the birth cert form-it has a little English on it.

I assume getting the police report will be easy.

Can I trouble you for a pic of the header on the affidavit of singleness or the place of residence paper?

It would be so much easier for me to show the random police offices I turn up at what I'm looking for since I don't know the official names and they would probably lost in translation on my phone if I did.

Either way, thanks again, CW

[nottocus]

Can I trouble you for a pic of the header on the affidavit of singleness or the place of residence paper?

It would be so much easier for me to show the random police offices I turn up at what I'm looking for since I don't know the official names and they would probably lost in translation on my phone if I did.

I don't have the original. It's back in Laos.

Why don't you get your girlfriend to go? She can ask for the exact documents required.

[flashpanther]

My fiancee got this document from Laos.

I am guessing can't use this to get an affirmation to marry for marrying in Bangkok lol?

Dunno what the document is. Struggle sometimes with translations.

Think it is an initial application to marry from the Nai Bahn with further signatures required.

Who knows. Had hoped my fiancee would get english translations or I'd have time to translate in Bangkok.

Unfortunately I am not in Bangkok till Saturday evening and her first UK visit visa appointment is Monday.

I'll add it to her supporting documents anyway. Better in than left out. Can't do any harm.

Would love to know what it is though.

Edited May 29, 2014 by flashpanther

[ceedub]

I talked to a lawyer yesterday and asked if I could get the affidavit of singleness from the Laos embassy in BKK just as I would from mine so that we could marry in Thailand. He said no and that in order to marry a Laos girl in Thailand, I would have to do all the same paperwork one would have to do to get married in Laos. Maybe there's someone on the forum that has married a Laos girl in Thailand?

Hong Kong and Malaysia seem to be the ticket if you want to get married first. I have an issue about getting married first. I might not qualify to sponsor my fiance and I might need a friend or family member to sponsor her. In American law, if we are married first, it seems there is much more liability for the sponsor than if we come in on a fiance visa. I think the sponsor stays the sponsor for the first 10 years that the person has their green card when they are entering America already married.

[bandos2000]

Hi all, i married a girl from laos in bkk around 5 years ago , what a pain all the red tape was.and the runarounds we got. cant remember all the details, suffering from c.r.a.f.t. i think , but for me easy, just needed the document from my embassy to say free and easy to marry, done in 5 mins. at the time i was working in macau , so things had to be done in stages whenever i could get time off, but first she paid around 300 usd for some documents in vientiane that were supposed to mean the same thing , free to marry, and from memory they said take these to the laos embassy in bkk, so off we went and if memory serves me waited for ages , to have this guy finally come to the counter and say , this document no good, and walked away , i said hey hey but he just ignored offering no reason or help, so that pissed me off a bit .after talking with some thai guy who owned the guesthouse we were staying, he seemed to think try again , so next day he took my girl back , i didnt bother going back to that f...ing nut house, but when they returned , still no joy, said something along the lines of ,this document if want marry a thai man in thailand, have to get these documents fixed in vientiane , funny really, as the police in vientiane who gave the documents sent us to the embassy in bkk.so we were at a stalemate going nowhere.later that day i was at an internet cafe in bkk that had a girl there doing tours as well , and i noticed she had pics behind her of couples married, so i asked her could she marry us with these documents we have, she said yes , can do it in 2 days, im thinking <deleted> , asked her how much , something like 25000 baht, im thinking <deleted> agian, but at my wits end by this stage , didnt have 2 days to spare so left her the documents and said we will be back in a month , she said no probs, came back in a month , straight to the registry office and it was done.looking back it prob wasnt that big a headache, even less if you just want pay to get it done , but for those trying to go the road alone ....mission impossible almost. after all that marriage lasted 2 years, been separated for 5 years or so , great girl, still talk , good luck to anyone trying to marry their laos girl.

[brewsterbudgen]

Any updates from the OP or anyone else?

Sunbelt Asia have told me that marrying in Thailand is straightforward and they can assist us, although they appear to be saying that getting the Freedom of Affirmation to Marry documents is down to us! Mine should be easy, but as this thread shows, getting hers from the Lao Consulate in Bangkok not so.

Maybe Bandos2000 could PM me the contact details for the Bangkok agent he used?

[bandos2000]

Hi Brewster, the lao embassy in bkk is basically no help at all , my girl got all her docs from vientiane, didnt take anywhere near 2 years , cost was around 300 usd i think, but twice i made treks to that embassy , and basically the staff there were just rude f....ers and didnt want help at all. but its strange cause when i asked the agent she said she could get what we needed from the embassy,( for a price ) after that its a breeze .i would assume there are a lot of agents that could do this , but the one i found was in an internet /tour shop in suk soi 4, maybe 4 or 500 meters down on the left side, have to walk up a few stairs and its right beside a minimart, or 7/11 cant remember which now.the girl there was quite helpful , and the price somewhere between 25-30k baht, a lot of money for all she had to do , but worth it i guess if you get the end result without the hassle, all the best.

[brewsterbudgen]

Hi Brewster, the lao embassy in bkk is basically no help at all , my girl got all her docs from vientiane, didnt take anywhere near 2 years , cost was around 300 usd i think, but twice i made treks to that embassy , and basically the staff there were just rude f....ers and didnt want help at all. but its strange cause when i asked the agent she said she could get what we needed from the embassy,( for a price ) after that its a breeze .i would assume there are a lot of agents that could do this , but the one i found was in an internet /tour shop in suk soi 4, maybe 4 or 500 meters down on the left side, have to walk up a few stairs and its right beside a minimart, or 7/11 cant remember which now.the girl there was quite helpful , and the price somewhere between 25-30k baht, a lot of money for all she had to do , but worth it i guess if you get the end result without the hassle, all the best.

Thanks Bandos. I will probably give it a go, but I'm beginning to think it will be easier to marry my GF in the UK and then come back to Thailand. At least she can then get a dependant's visa for Thailand. And if we go to Laos as far as I'm concerned we will be legally married, despite what the Laos authorities might think!

[elicoz]

We got married in Hong Kong.

Went to the Lao consulate the day after and they said we should have informed them beforehand.

Saying that, they translated our marriage certificate to Lao, stamped it and then the wife popped back to Laos get it stamped by the relevant ministry and inputted in their computer and ....done.

Hi, I am so happy to find this thread.

I would like to marry my Lao girl soon and as far as I see the only option for me is to marry in Hong Kong.

Is it possible to contact you for questions regarding all the documents and paperwork I need for my wife?

Can anyone else share his experience?

She already got a birth certificate and a single status paper signed by the nai bahn. Do we need to stamp the MOFA on all of these papers and the English translated copies before going to HK?

Thank you so much

[elicoz]

Funny.. I notice only now that I'm already referring to her as my wife

[tropo]

Any update on this please? I am pulling my hair out. My girlfriend is Laotian. I have had a wedding ceremony in Isan, Thailand. Was hoping to get a wedding certificate on my return to her and she wants the ceremony again in Laos. I also wanted to apply next visit to her for a visitor VISA to UK and work towards a settlement VISA for her and her 4 yr old daughter. I would do the marriage paper work in Bangkok if easier. Seems getting an affirmation to marry from Laos embassy will be difficult though. Sounds like i even need permission and much paperwork to just get engaged to her. What are my best options now please? Any help and experiences appreciated please. I am now put off visiting Laos. She is talking about also visiting Vientaine in Laos for her passport and VISA. I am worried to do this now with the worry of police targeting me for a hefty fine by accusing me of breaking their law. I wish she was Thai now. I am not giving up. I love her. I guess i could just get married in UK and work on UK VISA for that but need to show an engagement and Laos embassy seem to make that as difficult as marriage recognised by them between a foreigner and a Laotian. ARE. HELP PLEASE. I am not giving up on the woman who is the one person I want to spend the rest of my life with. She is 26. I am 36. Any further updates on previous posters experiences and advice?

You may want to look into marrying her in Hong Kong. A lot of Filipinos marry foreigners there because a lot of the red tape is rendered irrelevant.

This may help:

http://mangoesandpears.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/getting-married-in-hong-kong-for-foreigners/

[nottocus]

We got married in Hong Kong.

Went to the Lao consulate the day after and they said we should have informed them beforehand.

Saying that, they translated our marriage certificate to Lao, stamped it and then the wife popped back to Laos get it stamped by the relevant ministry and inputted in their computer and ....done.

Hi, I am so happy to find this thread.

I would like to marry my Lao girl soon and as far as I see the only option for me is to marry in Hong Kong.

Is it possible to contact you for questions regarding all the documents and paperwork I need for my wife?

Can anyone else share his experience?

She already got a birth certificate and a single status paper signed by the nai bahn. Do we need to stamp the MOFA on all of these papers and the English translated copies before going to HK?

Thank you so much

I'll help you with what I can. Was 5 years ago..so will help with what I can remember.

If I was u I'd get them translated before you go…but don't need a MOFA stamp.

[brewsterbudgen]

We got married in Hong Kong.

Went to the Lao consulate the day after and they said we should have informed them beforehand.

Saying that, they translated our marriage certificate to Lao, stamped it and then the wife popped back to Laos get it stamped by the relevant ministry and inputted in their computer and ....done.

Hi, I am so happy to find this thread.

I would like to marry my Lao girl soon and as far as I see the only option for me is to marry in Hong Kong.

Is it possible to contact you for questions regarding all the documents and paperwork I need for my wife?

Can anyone else share his experience?

She already got a birth certificate and a single status paper signed by the nai bahn. Do we need to stamp the MOFA on all of these papers and the English translated copies before going to HK?

Thank you so much

If you have the single status paperwork, can't you get married in Thailand?

The reason I am considering Hong Kong (or the UK) is my GF is already 18 weeks pregnant and getting the documentation from the Lao authorities seems too difficult, time-consuming and expensive.

I've been quoted a price of 6,000 HK dollars by lawyers in Hong Kong to process the paperwork and do the organisation for us.

[nottocus]

We got married in Hong Kong.

Went to the Lao consulate the day after and they said we should have informed them beforehand.

Saying that, they translated our marriage certificate to Lao, stamped it and then the wife popped back to Laos get it stamped by the relevant ministry and inputted in their computer and ....done.

Hi, I am so happy to find this thread.

I would like to marry my Lao girl soon and as far as I see the only option for me is to marry in Hong Kong.

Is it possible to contact you for questions regarding all the documents and paperwork I need for my wife?

Can anyone else share his experience?

She already got a birth certificate and a single status paper signed by the nai bahn. Do we need to stamp the MOFA on all of these papers and the English translated copies before going to HK?

Thank you so much

If you have the single status paperwork, can't you get married in Thailand?

The reason I am considering Hong Kong (or the UK) is my GF is already 18 weeks pregnant and getting the documentation from the Lao authorities seems too difficult, time-consuming and expensive.

I've been quoted a price of 6,000 HK dollars by lawyers in Hong Kong to process the paperwork and do the organisation for us.

Sounds about right…I paid 7K

[elicoz]

Sounds about right…I paid 7K

Sorry for the late response.

I've contacted Vongs.hk by email/phone and I got this general idea that they simply don't want to work.

I don't know how it was back when you got married, but after my first inquiry they stopped answering my emails and phone calls.

I gave up after some time and found a different law firm (Civil Celebrant) to do this for me.

I have already submitted the Notice of Intend to Marry to the HK government and I will be there on the 2nd of February to collect the certificate and proceed with the marriage ceremony.

I understand that for the HK goverment I don't really need any documents (other than passports), but to translate the marriage certificate to Lao (at the Lao consulate) and for it to be recognized in Lao do I really need the following?:

1. A police report from Lao

2. A document saying that she was single and eligible to marry

3. Birth certificate

4. A document saying her place of residence in Lao

I'm very excited as it is going to happen very soon, and I hope not to encounter any special problems during the whole process.

I haven't got her the visa to HK yet.. she is going to apply for it next week at the Chinese Embassy in Vientiane (I hope they will not refuse as I already got flight tickets, hotel reservation and paid the initial deposit for the lawyers)

I would be very happy if my spouse could speak with your wife on the phone and get exact information about the whole Lao process, procedures, document names and instructions to be done by her. Is it possible to get your phone number in PM?

Thank you again for everything,

Eli

[ceedub]

I'm still working on this.

We are not connected and I think we've had bad luck with the whole process.

#1, my fiance is Khmu:dark skin, poor and we run up against jeaulosy and racism frequently.

We lived together for years and when a dam was built, the villagers were moved to an internment camp and the village flooded, and the Thai red marked her passport and told her they would not admit her anymore despite the bribes that had been working for months. So not knowing where to go, I came to America and started the K1 process.

Of all the simple documents, I never did get the police report and have no idea how to get one still.

I'm worried that since the village is gone, I might have trouble having an ID card and house book that are matching and valid when she goes for her interview. I have a very official looking,color, signed, sealed birth cert but it does not have a number in the upper right hand corner (?)

Some things that might help you guys: 1- I found a guy in America that does translation via scans -PM for his email.

2-I was wondering where the NVC sends packets to and I heard that in Laos, you're supposed to pick it up at the Embassy, procure whatever docs are requested, return it and that's when they give you an interview appointment. I have the documents in order: financials and such but I still mean to call the embassy and find out how long it takes to get an appointment once the documents have been presented.

Does anyone have a referral for someone that can help with documents in Laos, preferrably in Luang Prabang?

Good luck folks!

[nottocus]

Sounds about right…I paid 7K

I understand that for the HK goverment I don't really need any documents (other than passports), but to translate the marriage certificate to Lao (at the Lao consulate) and for it to be recognized in Lao do I really need the following?:

1. A police report from Lao

2. A document saying that she was single and eligible to marry

3. Birth certificate

4. A document saying her place of residence in Lao

Advise calling the Lao Consulate in HK and finding out what they require.

[elicoz]

Yeah I thought about it, but I don't want to "wake up the dead". Maybe they will say it is not possible or tell me to marry in Laos bureaucracy or even refuse to recognize the marriage. I'm spending here a lot of money I don't really have and I'm just afraid to make any mistakes.