Can I Thai Divorce Be Made Legally Recognizable/Valid For Usa/California Through The Us Consulate?

[thaidiver]

Hi Again,

Per my previous post(noted below), I'm an American Citizen seeking a divorce from my Thai wife, in Thailand. We were married in Nevada, but resided in California for 8 years. Neither of us has resided in the USA for years; and she no longer has a US Greencard anyways. By California law, I cannot even start the divorce process as I have not been a resident for the last 6 months. As noted below, I can easily register the marriage in Thailand, then get a quicky divorce all in a day. But will the US Consulate here legalize(by affidavit) the divorce, so that it is recognized/valid in the US?

P.S. I have just got off the phone with the US Bangkok American Citizen Services and they informed me to get a lawyer. ( I was under the impression that I could sign an affidavit at the consulate that would make the Thailand divorce valid in the USA)

Hi,

Currently living in Thailand, as is my Thai wife; she does not have a valid greencard or travel visa for USA. We are separated but communicating on good terms and seeking a "no contest" divorce which will be legal in the USA/California.

We were granted a K1 fiance visa in 1999, and married in the state of Nevada. We lived together in California until 2007 when she returned to Thailand for good and we separated. Her greencard is expired and presently she has no way of going to the States to have the divorce executed there.

As previously stated, we need to execute this divorce in Thailand so that i can take the neccesary paperwork back to California and file the divorce. I'm not sure what this entails or how to go about either getting divorced in Thailand or what needs to be done back in the States once it is completed here. Any advice appreciated....

Cheers .

Not that difficult. First you and your soon to be ex-wife need to register the mariage at an amphur (district office). For that you need a letter from your embassy, (affadafid that that your marriage document is true), next you have it translated into Thai by a tranlation agency and then have is certified by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, consular department.

When that is done, you both simply go to the amphur and have the marriage recorded into the Thai wedding register. Now there is a record of your US wedding and you should be able to divorce in Thailand by simply stating that you want to divorce. (You will need 2 witnesses, not related to 1 of you).

It is probably also posible to legalise the marriage document in the US, through the Thai embassy. You could ask them about that.

I would select a big district office , where a lot of foreigners live. In Bangkok Bangrak is very popular. Ask them beforehand if you can register the marriage and get divorced in one go, in that case it should be not more than 1 hour before everything is settled.

If you have any assets to split you can make an agreement before you go to the amphur and enter the agreement into the divorce register. make sure it also complies with the law of the state where you are living in.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Mario2008
put in quotes

[Mario2008]

American citizen service is not allowed to give legal advise, that is probably why they refer you to lawyer. As divorce is regulated by state law, a lot will depend on the state in question.

The US consulate should verify the divorce certificate as true. If they don't, another option will be to have it certified in the US by the Thai embassy