Marrying A Laos Girl In Thailand

[ceedub]

Elicoz-where did you get the single status paper? Our Naibahn doesn't have any papers himself.

What is your goal in getting married and what country are you from/plan to live in? I wanted to get married early in our relationship partly because of the hassles we were always having with residency and so that I could stay in the village w/o having to worry about getting fined. I have US residency and it's one of the easiest countries to get married in. Furthermore, I've been told the visa process to get her to the US is quicker for a girlfriend than it is a wife. So in our case we will only go to HK or Malaysia if we don't get approved for the fiance visa.

Yesterday, I read a rumor on a similar thread (sorry didn't bookmark it) that people are getting denied when their age dif is more than 20 yrs. According to our birth cert for her, we are 21 yrs apart-one more unconfirmed thing for me to worry about.

Anyone have a referral for a document service, legal representation and or a translator?

[ceedub]

Elicoz-where did you get the single status paper? Our Naibahn doesn't have any papers himself.

What is your goal in getting married and what country are you from/plan to live in? I wanted to get married early in our relationship partly because of the hassles we were always having with residency and so that I could stay in the village w/o having to worry about getting fined. I have US residency and it's one of the easiest countries to get married in. Furthermore, I've been told the visa process to get her to the US is quicker for a girlfriend than it is a wife. So in our case we will only go to HK or Malaysia if we don't get approved for the fiance visa.

Yesterday, I read a rumor on a similar thread (sorry didn't bookmark it) that people are getting denied when their age dif is more than 20 yrs. According to our birth cert for her, we are 21 yrs apart-one more unconfirmed thing for me to worry about.

Anyone have a referral for a document service, legal representation and or a translator?

[Liquorice]

I was married the first time in Jamaica. Second time in China.

Regardless of where you marry, if one of you is a foreigner you will need an 'affidavit of 'freedom to marry' which needs to be legalised by either your Embassy or Foreign Affairs Dept, that then needs to be legalised by the Embassy or Foreign Affairs Dept of the Country in which you are legally marrying, which makes your 'affidavit' a legally accepted document at the marriage registry office.

The process will be bound by the laws of your own Country and by the Marriage laws of the Country you intend to marry.

It is even more complicated when both are foreigners wish to marry in another Country, not of their own.

Only a 'Notary' can legally prepare an 'affidavit' which in effect is nothing more than a sworn statement given to the Notary that you are single and free to marry

However the Notary will also need to see evidence to that effect, divorced decree nisi, widowed a death certificate, single never married a single status certificate from your local Registrars office. Passport, proof of address, birth certificate etc will also be required.

Sometimes you can prepare an 'affidavit' in your own Country for acceptance in the Country you wish to marry.

Sometimes the 'affidavit' has to be made in the Country you intend to marry.

The rules will vary depending on your nationality, your intended spouses nationality and the laws for marriage in the Country you intend to marry.

To say Hong Kong and Malaysia are easier to marry, is misleading. It will vary from national to national, but in each and every case a Marriage Registry Office will not marry you without an approved document of freedom to marry which has been legalised for use in that Country.

You could be a bigamist and they would be committing the crime of aiding and abetting.

For example a British citizen marrying in Hong Kong needs to make an appointment to submit his documents. He then has to wait at least 14 days before the marriage can take place. Although Hong Kong is now an autonomous region of China, it still follows the English law of Marriage.

i.e. A notice of intention to marry must be posted for 14 days to allow objections to the marriage.

In the UK we refer to it as the 'bans'.

Therefore an English citizen would have to spend at least 3 weeks in Hong Kong to complete his marriage, assuming his documents are in order and there are no delays making appointments. Application forms for submission of documents can be made online, but the submission of the application form must be made in person.

For citizen of the USA or Canada the procedure may be far simpler in Hong Kong.

The topic was how to marry a Lao Girl in Thailand. Many of you are asking how to marry a Lao girl in maybe another Country.

The procedure I described above will have to be completed regardless of the Country.

The big problem is that the constitution of the Lao government regulations make no provision for marriage between two foreign citizens, and it is therefore not possible for two expatriates to be legally married in Laos.

Foreigners marrying Lao citizens outside of Lao PDR, can register their marriage at the nearest Lao Embassy after submitting the same set of forms outlined below.

The procedures and documents required for obtaining permission from the Lao Government for a marriage between a foreigner and a Lao citizen vary considerably on a case by case basis. The process is complicated and can be very time consuming. On average, the process for approval of a marriage usually takes from six to twelve months. You can expect to be asked to provide service fees, otherwise known as "tea money" or "petrol money", throughout the process.

The Lao Prime Minister’s decree (198/PM of 19 December 1994) sets out the law relating to marriage between foreigners and Lao citizens and lists the documents needed to obtain approval to marry. One set of documents should be prepared in the Lao language for the Lao partner and one set of documents should be prepared in both English and Lao for the foreigner. The required items are listed below:

• Official request for marriage - a form from the Municipal/Provincial office
• Biographical details - a form from the Municipal/Provincial office
• Certificate of residence - a form from the Municipal/Provincial office
• Photocopy of identity card or passport
• Evidence of single status - this is a declaration form as well as a letter in lieu of certificate of non-impediment obtainable from the Embassy for a fee

• Certificate of health - from a Lao hospital at an approx cost of USD$50.00
• Character reference/Police Record Check - a statutory declaration may be acceptable

• Four (4) photographs of 4 x 6cm
• Certificate of financial status - a letter regarding employment may suffice
• Statement guaranteeing return of Lao citizen to her homeland according to her wish in case of divorce - a letter should suffice
• Comments of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR - this is usually a stamp on the Certificate of No Impediment and costs approx. USD$15.00

• Comments of the security police service at the provincial or prefectural level - attached to the application by the police after interview
• Comments of the justice service at the provincial or prefectural level - attached to the application by the respective authority

It is common practice, but by no means necessary, to engage the services of a local "agent" to liaise with the authorities on the applicant’s behalf. Such agents are not registered or monitored by the authorities, but may have established relationships with members of Cabinet and/or the police. Anecdotal evidence suggests that fees charged by the "agents" (which range from hundreds to many thousands of U.S. dollars) do not guarantee a successful application.

Applicants should note that the examination to obtain a certificate of health including an HIV/AIDS test (performed at the KM3 Epidemiology Centre), and normal confidentiality procedures are not strictly enforced in Laos. A TB test may also be required.

Application forms for registration of a marriage between foreigners and a Lao citizen may be obtained from the Accounts Section, Foreign Relations Department, Vientiane Municipal Office located near the Australian Embassy (fee 5,000 Kip as of August 2002). You should remember that the Municipal Office in Vientiane or Provincial Office is the contact point if you are uncertain on how to proceed with the application. Usually the documents will need to be signed at the village and district level (by both the administration and police wing) where the Lao partner is living. Provincial police generally interview applicants and make a report to the provincial court and the Bureau of Immigration at the Public Security Ministry. The documents listed above, accompanied by a processing fee of USD$15.00, must then be submitted to the Consular Department, Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Consular Department checks the application, stamps the Certificate of No Impediment and returns the documents to the applicant and provides advice on the next step based on the documentation provided.

The completed application (with a fee of 33,000. Kip) must be lodged at the Marriage Registration Office in the Foreign Relations Department, Vientiane Municipal Office (Tel: 412501, Fax: 413812). This usually entails physically taking the papers to/from ten different offices. Once official permission has been obtained for the marriage, little notice is given of the civil ceremony where the couple need to sign a document, witnessed by the Chief of Cabinet of the Marriage Registration Office and another witness (usually a parent). The Governor of the Province then signs and stamps the document, officially registering the union. A few days later a bilingual marriage certificate is issued which should be taken to the Consular Department, Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs for endorsement at a cost of approximately USD$15.00.

[elicoz]

Faz, thank you for giving us this information but you have copy/pasted a lot of details irrelevant to the latest posts.

I know this thread is about marrying a Lao girl in Thailand but as others said and the info you provided - you cannot get married in Thailand as they require the affidavit of freedom to marry.

That's why we are going to Hong Kong to get married, in HK it is only required to have your passports and the marriage certificate is valid worldwide (HK is also part of the hag apostille convention unlike China) (refer to nottocus original post).

Ceedub, I'm from Israel and we are planning to live here. Unlike what you described, my spouse cannot stay and work here legally if we are not married, and unfortunately we cannot get married in my country as marriage here allowed only between people with the same religion.

My spouse is on her way to Laos now to get the papers done, once I have an answer for you on where to get the single status and the rest I will let you know.

I said before that she already have the single status but I mislead you as she did me, sorry about that.

I believe it can be obtained in the Ministry of Home Affairs (moha.gov.la) but I'm not sure and will let you know once we get it.

Edited January 17, 2015 by elicoz

[Liquorice]

Elicoz, you are quite correct, the second half of information is pasted and cut from here:

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/thailand-thailande/consular_services_consulaires/marriage_laos-marier_laos.aspx?lang=eng

It is probably the most informative site though of the procedure a Lao citizen has to go through to get an affidavit of marriage.

Hong Kong is now an autonomous region of China. Some procedures are still handled the same as when it was considered a colony of the UK.

It's a bit of a mish -mash at the moment. It has it's own ruling government, subject to Chinese law, but with the power to amend and make up their own laws to suit the residents of HK. Just look at the problems and riots there now because of the enforced indoctrination of accepting Chinese laws.

The CPR of China denounced the 'Hague Convention Agreement' in 2012 with reservations. Hong Kong is still going through a transition period.

I had a British friend who married a Chinese citizen in Hong Kong back in 2008. He thought it would be nice to spend the honeymoon there.

He didn't need an affidavit, but his Chinese wife did.

To my surprise, the UK doesn't request 'affidavits' in order to marry either. A fact confirmed only yesterday in a private e-mail by another member.

Divorce decree nisi's or Death certificates from other Countries are usually accepted as proof of freedom to marry.

If they are in doubt, they contact the Registrar in your home Country.

Of course you'd have to apply for a Marriage Visa if your not a British citizen, but it is another alternative

Edited January 18, 2015 by Faz

[flashpanther]

Faz, thank you for giving us this information but you have copy/pasted a lot of details irrelevant to the latest posts.

I know this thread is about marrying a Lao girl in Thailand but as others said and the info you provided - you cannot get married in Thailand as they require the affidavit of freedom to marry.

That's why we are going to Hong Kong to get married, in HK it is only required to have your passports and the marriage certificate is valid worldwide (HK is also part of the hag apostille convention unlike China) (refer to nottocus original post).

Ceedub, I'm from Israel and we are planning to live here. Unlike what you described, my spouse cannot stay and work here legally if we are not married, and unfortunately we cannot get married in my country as marriage here allowed only between people with the same religion.

My spouse is on her way to Laos now to get the papers done, once I have an answer for you on where to get the single status and the rest I will let you know.

I said before that she already have the single status but I mislead you as she did me, sorry about that.

I believe it can be obtained in the Ministry of Home Affairs (moha.gov.la) but I'm not sure and will let you know once we get it.

Any news or info from others experiences so far. Could do with an update.

The UK laws and visa regulations are changing again from 6th April.

Now there is an additional cost of a Health Surcharge of £500 per spouse/fiancee and dependant for 2.5 years. for any visa over 6 months. So £1000 each extra during the settlement visa process if you look to relocate your Laos nationals family members to UK (off topic a little but another kick in teeth for my position).

There has been experiences (Successful) of people getting married in UK on a visit visa. Not strictly allowed and wording on visa previously was ambiguous with use of the term 'no intent' to marry. Saves on additional cost of a fiancee visa which lasts only 6 months so an extra cost of around £900.

Checked with registry offices and designated ones in UK for marriage. No affirmation of freedom to marry required. But from 6th of April the registry offices will now check the foreign nationals visa and confirm with Home Office. So getting married on a visit visa looks dead and buried now.

If you are not looking to live in the UK coming to the UK on a marriage visa may be an option depending on peoples circumstances (i.e. not looking to live in UK or Laos). Esp. with all the paperwork involved in getting marriage done and recognised in Laos. Maybe an option for those who stay in Thailand. I dunno.

I am looking to bring my family, Laotian - one fiancee and her two daughters (one is Thai), to the UK for settlement. We are trying for a visit visa again this summer. Lost the option now to get married on visit visa with new check ups. Marriage in Laos too difficult as I am not located there. Will cost more with fiancee visa application. But with my fiancee having two dependents I feel it would be better to get married before any visa settlement application otherwise the acceptance of the two dependents I feel would be a lot harder to get accepted. Considering a flight to Hong Kong now to get married. Making further inquiries with Hong Kong government regarding. My Laotian fiancee I believe would require a visa to visit Hong Kong though. If we went ahead with it we can try to register the marriage afterwards with Laotian consulate in Hong Kong as previous posts.

Love to hear if anymore updates or experiences of getting a marriage registered in Hong Kong.

[nottocus]

The last guy had a bit of a nightmare trying to register his marriage with the consulate in HK. They basically told him to bugger off and register it with the MOFA in Laos first.

[flashpanther]

The last guy had a bit of a nightmare trying to register his marriage with the consulate in HK. They basically told him to bugger off and register it with the MOFA in Laos first.

Registering any marriage with the Laotian Consulate in Hong Kong would just be a bonus for us in my position anyway. Looking towards UK Settlement for my family so just require the marriage.

[Liquorice]

flashpanther, on 25 Mar 2015 - 09:54, said:

elicoz, on 17 Jan 2015 - 23:03, said:

Faz, thank you for giving us this information but you have copy/pasted a lot of details irrelevant to the latest posts.

I know this thread is about marrying a Lao girl in Thailand but as others said and the info you provided - you cannot get married in Thailand as they require the affidavit of freedom to marry.

That's why we are going to Hong Kong to get married, in HK it is only required to have your passports and the marriage certificate is valid worldwide (HK is also part of the hag apostille convention unlike China) (refer to nottocus original post).

Ceedub, I'm from Israel and we are planning to live here. Unlike what you described, my spouse cannot stay and work here legally if we are not married, and unfortunately we cannot get married in my country as marriage here allowed only between people with the same religion.

My spouse is on her way to Laos now to get the papers done, once I have an answer for you on where to get the single status and the rest I will let you know.

I said before that she already have the single status but I mislead you as she did me, sorry about that.

I believe it can be obtained in the Ministry of Home Affairs (moha.gov.la) but I'm not sure and will let you know once we get it.

Any news or info from others experiences so far. Could do with an update.

The UK laws and visa regulations are changing again from 6th April.

Now there is an additional cost of a Health Surcharge of £500 per spouse/fiancee and dependant for 2.5 years. for any visa over 6 months. So £1000 each extra during the settlement visa process if you look to relocate your Laos nationals family members to UK (off topic a little but another kick in teeth for my position).

There has been experiences (Successful) of people getting married in UK on a visit visa. Not strictly allowed and wording on visa previously was ambiguous with use of the term 'no intent' to marry. Saves on additional cost of a fiancee visa which lasts only 6 months so an extra cost of around £900.

Checked with registry offices and designated ones in UK for marriage. No affirmation of freedom to marry required. But from 6th of April the registry offices will now check the foreign nationals visa and confirm with Home Office. So getting married on a visit visa looks dead and buried now.

If you are not looking to live in the UK coming to the UK on a marriage visa may be an option depending on peoples circumstances (i.e. not looking to live in UK or Laos). Esp. with all the paperwork involved in getting marriage done and recognised in Laos. Maybe an option for those who stay in Thailand. I dunno.

I am looking to bring my family, Laotian - one fiancee and her two daughters (one is Thai), to the UK for settlement. We are trying for a visit visa again this summer. Lost the option now to get married on visit visa with new check ups. Marriage in Laos too difficult as I am not located there. Will cost more with fiancee visa application. But with my fiancee having two dependents I feel it would be better to get married before any visa settlement application otherwise the acceptance of the two dependents I feel would be a lot harder to get accepted. Considering a flight to Hong Kong now to get married. Making further inquiries with Hong Kong government regarding. My Laotian fiancee I believe would require a visa to visit Hong Kong though. If we went ahead with it we can try to register the marriage afterwards with Laotian consulate in Hong Kong as previous posts.

Love to hear if anymore updates or experiences of getting a marriage registered in Hong Kong.

You need to apply for the Marriage Visitor Visa

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa

They are not your dependants unless you are married or in a civil partnership.

She will then have to return to Thailand and then apply for ‘Family of a settled person’ Visa in order for her to remain in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family

[nottocus]

The last guy had a bit of a nightmare trying to register his marriage with the consulate in HK. They basically told him to bugger off and register it with the MOFA in Laos first.

Registering any marriage with the Laotian Consulate in Hong Kong would just be a bonus for us in my position anyway. Looking towards UK Settlement for my family so just require the marriage.

No worries.

[ceedub]

Everything came together for us. I took a couple of weeks off work, went to Vientiane and muscled my way into an interview at the American Embassy. We got the Fiance visa without a sponsor and have both been in America for a week now. If we can do it, anyone can. We started with no paperwork on her, not even a housebook; My income working in Thailand did not always meet the minimum requirements.

In the coming months, I will take our American marriage certificate to the Lao embassy here to get a Lao one.

If anyone is considering doing what we did and needs help, feel free to pm me. Good Luck to all.

[elicoz]

Just and update on my situation:

We got married in HK using a law firm uder 5 minutes. No papers needed only passports.

The Lao consulate in HK is a *****!

They/him refused to certify and translate the marriage certificate for us and told us to go back to Lao and marry there.

In the end we went back to Vientiane and lodged the HK certificate with the Ministry of Justice, they are the doing all the official translations to English as a notary office, so if u need to translate Eng to Lao or vice versa this is the only place - no need to pay extra for translation companies.

They translated the certificate for us and stamped with their nice red Lao symbol then we went to the MOFA and they accepted it with no questions asked and stamped for us with a stamp that says: "seen in the MOFA"

We are not officially recognized as married in Laos because they still keep records in books and not computers but we do have a certified Lao version marriage certificate from HK.

As of today we stay in Israel and my wife got a working visa and we are in the process of getting her the citizenship which will take up to 5 years.

Thank you all for support.

[phuketrichard]

1. u can get married in Singapore without the affirmation of being single, https://www.rom.gov.sg/reg_info/pdf/Marriage%20Process%20at%20a%20Glance.pdf

2, to marry in HK u need something saying she is single ( i am looking at marrying my Khmer GF there) as her village head chef gave us the paper an her id card states she is single

Thailand need the affirmation letter confirmed by the respective embassy and not sure about Laos but the Cambodian embassy wont do it.

heres the link to get married in HK; http://hongkong.angloinfo.com/information/family/marriage-partnerships/

need a letter or something saying she is single

Elicoz; what law firm? what did it cost you?

Edited February 9, 2016 by phuketrichard

[bwpage3]

Tourist VISA to the States.

The authorities have to be convinced she will return.

You write the letter in detail explaining how/why she will return.

Does she own land, house, kids, family, job, any of the logical reasons she will return?

How long you have lived in Thailand? Your work, etc. your reason to return together?

The whole tourist VISA is biased whether or not they believe the evidence provided is believable that she will return from the USA.

If you have convincing evidence, she will get a VISA

[brewsterbudgen]

Good to see this thread updated.

I have decided to marry my Lao GF in the UK (I'm British). HK was an option, but as I have family in the UK, it made more sense to make a trip back home and let the GF experience the UK. It will involve 2 trips - one to give notice of intent to marry; and then a return trip a few months later for the marriage. The waiting times meant that doing it in a single trip would mean staying about 6 weeks - too long!

As we already have a 1 year old child (and there's a 30-year age difference between us), I've given up any hope of Laos recognising our marriage when we get back. It doesn't really concern me, as we have no intention of living in Laos and I've always been able to visit and stay in her village without hassles in the past.

At least when we're married she can stay as my dependent in Thailand and I will have parental rights for my kid (in Thailand).

[farang95]

it is really hard to get marry ....incredible... Good luck All..you may need some....

[lovelaos]

Good to see this thread updated.

I have decided to marry my Lao GF in the UK (I'm British). HK was an option, but as I have family in the UK, it made more sense to make a trip back home and let the GF experience the UK. It will involve 2 trips - one to give notice of intent to marry; and then a return trip a few months later for the marriage. The waiting times meant that doing it in a single trip would mean staying about 6 weeks - too long!

As we already have a 1 year old child (and there's a 30-year age difference between us), I've given up any hope of Laos recognising our marriage when we get back. It doesn't really concern me, as we have no intention of living in Laos and I've always been able to visit and stay in her village without hassles in the past.

At least when we're married she can stay as my dependent in Thailand and I will have parental rights for my kid (in Thailand).

If you do decide to get your marriage recognized in Laos give me a shout, I can help with that.

[brewsterbudgen]

Good to see this thread updated.

I have decided to marry my Lao GF in the UK (I'm British). HK was an option, but as I have family in the UK, it made more sense to make a trip back home and let the GF experience the UK. It will involve 2 trips - one to give notice of intent to marry; and then a return trip a few months later for the marriage. The waiting times meant that doing it in a single trip would mean staying about 6 weeks - too long!

As we already have a 1 year old child (and there's a 30-year age difference between us), I've given up any hope of Laos recognising our marriage when we get back. It doesn't really concern me, as we have no intention of living in Laos and I've always been able to visit and stay in her village without hassles in the past.

At least when we're married she can stay as my dependent in Thailand and I will have parental rights for my kid (in Thailand).

If you do decide to get your marriage recognized in Laos give me a shout, I can help with that.

Cheers, I will do. Just submitting her Marriage Visitor visa application for the UK. If she gets it we go in April, although won't actually marry there until August.